Bruce’s own daughter came next. Cate, the natural daughter he thought he’d lost, but who had been “found” by Gregor “Arrow” MacGregor. MacGregor’s near-perfect aim with a bow had come in handy more than once. Although Bruce couldn’t help teasing him about being back at the scene of his biggest failure: when they’d lost the chance to take Berwick Castle because MacGregor hesitated to shoot a dog.

Bruce’s kinsman Eoin “Striker” MacLean, who had planned most of Bruce’s battles and attacks for over twenty years, approached with his wife, Margaret. The couple had spent most of the early years of the war apart—with Margaret thinking Eoin dead—but had reunited in time to help Bruce take Dumfries Castle and vanquish his longtime enemy, Margaret’s father, Dugald MacDowell.

The newest member of the Guard, Thom “Rock” MacGowan, whose ability to climb anything had helped Bruce take Edinburgh Castle by surprise just before Bannock Burn, came with his wife, Elizabeth, Douglas’s sister.

Finally, the last two Guardsmen approached. He owed both of them so much. Joan “Ghost” Comyn, for all the information she’d passed over the years, and Alex “Dragon” Seton, for his part in Bannock Burn. If Alex hadn’t come back when he did, this day might never have come.

Alex had proved his loyalty many times over the years and had become one of Bruce’s most trusted advisors. He’d been one of the signatories on the important “Declaration of Arbroath,” which had declared Scotland’s freedom in a letter to the pope eight years before, and just last year Bruce had named him governor of one of his most important castles—this castle, as a matter of fact.

He could see the concern in both their faces as they approached. Joan bent down first to kiss his hand, and then when he indicated, to kiss him on the cheek. “Congratulations, sire. This has been a long day in coming.”

He scrutinized her closely. There were remarkably few lines on her face for a woman who was in her mid-thirties. But she looked tired. “You have not been keeping yourself up too late, preparing for all this? I know it was a big undertaking that I asked of you.”

It was not every day a lady was asked to host a royal wedding.