Viola strode with purpose out of the room. Hannah walked down before Ella, looking back over her shoulder with an encouraging smile. Merida held up the back of the ensemble from behind. “We will wait in the alcove until I have signaled the pipes to start, and ye will walk down the center with Hannah attending ye. Kenneth Macleod waits halfway down and will escort ye to the front where Pastor Paul waits with Cain and his brothers.”

“Where is Pastor John?” Hannah asked.

“Gideon could not find the man this morning. He had to ride all the way to Gunn territory to bring Pastor Paul.” Merida tsked.

They reached the bottom of the steps, and the hum of people came from the great hall. There would be a lot of witnesses to the wedding. Would the Sutherlands accept the union? Had Jamie been revealed to them? Would they support her young brother, or would they choose a new chief and war against Cain when they rode to Dunrobin? Kenneth would have to ferry Jamie and Florie here to Girnigoe to keep them safe. She rubbed a hand across her stomach.

Stopping in the shadow of the alcove before the archway, Ella turned to Merida. The woman’s eyes met hers, and they looked wise. “You have the sight,” Ella said to her. “To predict outcomes.” Merida neither agreed nor disagreed, but Ella continued. “Tell me, will this union bring more death, or will it bring peace to our clans?”

She glanced past Ella toward the people gathered beyond. “No one knows for certain.”

Ella frowned. “You told George Sinclair he would die that day, and he did,” she whispered.

Merida huffed and leaned in to her. “Child, I told my brother he would die every day of his life, except for church days. Aye, I warned him he would die that day, but it had become our jest.”

Ella’s chin dropped, her mouth opening. “So, you…cannot see?”

The woman looked closely into her eyes. “I can see that the two of ye are suited for each other, and that Scotland will be stronger if we are united,” she said with a brisk nod. “But ye both need to learn to trust each other for anything more to bind ye together.”

Hannah ran in through the archway. “The musicians are beginning,” she said, her smile bright.

Merida squeezed Ella’s hand. “Hannah, grab the back of her skirt, and I will go to the front. When I lift my hand in the air, ye can start walking.” She hustled down the center, and Ella moved to the open archway.