Rionna dropped beside him, her face nearly as gray as Keeley’s. “Keeley?” she whispered, her voice shaken and full of the same fear that gripped Alaric with unrelenting force.

Around them the world went mad. There were shouts and call to arms. Ewan ushered the king and Mairin to safety. Caelen and Gannon took position in front of Alaric, their swords drawn, ready to strike down any threat.

“Keeley, don’t leave me, my love,” Alaric whispered. “Hold on. I’ll take care of you. Just as you did me.”

She smiled shakily, her face creased with pain. “ ’Twas worth it. You were destined to be great. I could not …” She broke off as another spasm of agony shook her body. “I could not allow you to die this day.”

Alaric smoothed the hair from her cheek and held her gently to him as he rocked back and forth. He stared into her eyes, at the shadows that grew with each stuttered breath.

He cupped her face and forced her to look at him. Then he reached down and twined her fingers with his until their hands were tightly clasped.

“I, Alaric McCabe, wed you, Keeley McDonald McCabe. I take you as my wife until our last breaths are taken, until our souls are reunited in the hereafter.”

Faint shock shone in her eyes and her mouth opened wordlessly.

“Say the words, Keeley. Give back to me what I was unwilling to give you before. Marry me here and now with all to bear witness. I love you.”

A single tear trailed down her cheek. She closed her eyes as if to gather her strength and then she opened them and renewed determination shone in their depths.

“I, Keeley McDonald, now McCabe, wed you, Alaric McCabe. I take you as my husband forever and always until I’ve taken my last breath.”

Her voice grew weaker with each exhale, but the words were spoken. They were handfasted before hundreds of witnesses. She was his wife. She belonged to him for as long as God saw fit to bestow such a precious gift.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead, choking as the cries of anguish threatened to pulse from his throat.

“I love you,” he whispered. “Don’t leave me, Keeley. Not now when I’ve summoned the courage to do what is right.”

“Alaric.”

Rionna’s soft voice intruded on his grief.

He glanced up at the woman he’d nearly wed and saw no shock or horror. No judgment or resentment. He saw answering grief as tears trailed endlessly down her cheeks.

“We must take her inside. We must help her.” Alaric gathered her tighter in his arms and then stood. The arrow protruded from her back, a stark reminder of what she’d sacrificed for him.

“Alaric, this way,” Ewan barked at him. “Take her inside so that I may see to her wound.”