He had only been there once, so it was really no surprise to him that as sunlight slowly dwindled into nothing, and he eventually had to rely on the light of the lamp he had brought along with him, Hammond was finding it more and more difficult to locate the site at which Tamhas and Amhuinn had previously claimed as their own. Tamhas had refused to come along with him, stating that Hammond deserved whatever perilous journey he had to go through in the dark Highland hills.
"If ye love her enough, ye will do it fer her. I willna stand by and see my sister hurt again. If ye dinna... well, then she deserves better then ye." Tamhas had scoffed.
Hammond had growled, almost wanting to pounce on the blond male for even suggesting that Amhuinn would find someone other then he, but Connor's arm on his shoulder held him back. "If ye want ter, I will come with ye, brother."
But like it or not, Hammond recognized the wisdom in Tamhas's words. If he were to find his wife, he needed to find her alone, with no one else by him.
As such, the moon's appearance would find Hammond wandering astride his steed towards the looming forests that served as border for the MacKenzie lands. With only his memory to rely on, Hammond roughly recalled the place they had stumbled across the two siblings had been close to a river, but had it been upstream or downstream? He cursed as a particularly strong gust of wind blew out his light. The Highland winds were unforgiving, and Hammond's plaid was providing little protection as the night got chillier. How long had he been out here already? Two hours? Three? Last he remembered, it took his men, Connor and himself half a day to deliver Evie back to the MacKenzie Keep after they had met Amhuinn and Tamhas. Had he went the wrong way?
His horse shook his head, the black mane shining under the moonlight, as the sound of water reached Hammond's ears. Tis nearby! He thought, hope suffusing him again as he clicked his tongue and shook the reins, spurring his steed into a light canter. Taking a guess, he guided the beast upstream, eyes straining through the moonlit darkness to catch a glimpse of the hut that lingered in his faint memory. A part of him was terrified that his wife would have found herself in trouble, but Hammond liked to believe that Amhuinn was made of tougher stuff that whatever lingered on Highland grounds. As long as she stayed on MacKenzie land, he reasoned to himself to prevent the escalating worry within him, she will be safe.
Plodding along in the darkness, Hammond noticed for the first time, how cold it was when he wasn't behind the walls of the Keep. Mrs. O'Leary and Griselda kept the castle walls well heated. But were his people outside the walls cold? Did they have enough heat? He made a mental note to get Tristan and Connor to check on his people upon his return, just as he followed a bend in the river, and a smile finally broke across his face when he saw a hut, whose single window displayed a flickering candle.
His memory was immediately evoked, of the first day he had saw her there, yet not knowing how important she would be in his future. Despite being dressed in her serviceable garb, bent over a vegetable patch with her platinum blonde hair tied up and dirt across her cheek, Hammond had never seen anyone who looked as gloriously brave as Amhuinn did when she had straightened up and looked at him straight in the eye. Even with her uneven gait, there was never a day when he would doubt he capability.
The fact that he had managed to push enough to push her away from him... well, Gillian did a good job of reminding him what he should appreciate in life, just before he had left the Keep.
"Have a care of yer words when ye find her, big brother." Gillian had murmured as she handed him his winter plaid, to wrap around his shoulders. "Yer a loving man, Hammond. Dinna fear it. Even as kids, I would be the one stuck in my dungeon workshop, while ye are oot there helping whatever poor woodland creature ye find. I... I dinna embrace emotion as ye do. But yer trying ter deny it. Do yerself a favor and stop doing that. I dinna see why ye canna be a good husband, father and a laird all at the same time."
Gillian had swept away before Hammond could say anything. His heart went out to his younger sister, for he knew how difficult it was for Gillian to feel any form of emotion that was attached to her tinkering tools, or to her creations. In many ways, he and Gillian were opposites, yet somehow the young girl he had watched grow up, understood him in ways many did not.
Slowly sliding off the satiny back of his ride, he unhooked the bit and let the loyal horse graze, as he slowly approached the door. For the first time in ages, the confident laird felt uneasy, as he lifted his knuckles, hesitating a little before finally rapping on them smartly.
He didn't realize that he had a lump on his throat until the door opened, and he came face to face with a face so dear to him, the very sight of it made his chest ache. A sudden thought hit him. How could he know so much, yet so little about someone he claimed he loved? He knew every spot that made her whimper and cry, that she loved her son and brother and had a heart larger then the Highland's itself. So how was it he didn't know her favorite color, how she liked her bath, nor what foods she enjoyed?
Amhuinn, to her credit, looked visibly shocked. Hammond's shock mirrored hers when a dagger fell behind her with a clatter. He looked at the fallen weapon, and then at Amhuinn's widened eyes. "Ye... intend ter kill me, wife?" he asked, a little cautiously.
Pulled away from her thoughts by his question, she started, and shook her head vehemently, quickly moving to pick up the simple leather hilted dagger and shoving it out of sight on a sidetable. "No, I dinn- I mean I thought ye were a roaming miscreant. We dinna get many visitors oot here ye see, and I'm here all alone and the hour tis late. I dinna expect ye would-"
"Hush wife, yer rambling. Are ye unhappy ter see me then?" he asked, all but forcing his way in, and closing the door to the cold Highland night behind him.
As the heavy wooden door to the small hut shut with a click, the sudden silence seemed overwhelming to Amhuinn, who suddenly realized her fingers, her toes, everything about her screamed at her to move. But how could she? She had ecaped MacKenzie Keep to get away from the very man who made her unable to think logically. So then, why was he here?
"Tis nae that, Hammond. Just... Why are ye here?" she finally asked, turning large, questioning eyes to his dark green ones.
His brows crinkled. "Do ye really have ter ask?" he raised a brow, feigning nonchalance. Crossing the living room in two strides, he sat down on a bench and started pulling his boots off, giving a sigh of relief as the heavy boots slipped off. Placing them down on the ground, he looked up to see his blonde wife still staring at him with curiosity in her eyes, her hands buried in her dratted ugly brown gown. He made a mental note to arrange a meeting with the nearest tailor, but outwardly chose to pat the seat on his right.
"Are ye scared of me now?" he asked, when Amhuinn did not make a move. She shook her head, but still didn't budge. "Then why do ye stare at me like I have grown a second head, lass?"
"Ye... Yer supposed ter be doing yer nightly rounds on the Keep and the clansmen before ye retire fer bed now." she asked hesitantly again.
"Ah, yes, I am suppose ter, am I not? But I find meself missing the company of my wife, who seemed to have decided that a life of a hermit suits her better." he paused, perching his elbows on his knees whilst keeping his eyes trained on her. "I thought ye liked it with us at the keep, Ammi?"
"I do!"she blurted out, before she could stop herself. "I... couldna stay with ye any longer Hammond." Amhuinn finally admitted in a small voice.
The admittance hurt him, more then he would care to admit. But remembering Gillian's words, and refusing to let his belief that her agreeing to marry him meant more then just protecting her son and brother, Hammond pressed on. "Do I repulse ye then, lass? Do ye regret yer marriage ter me?"
"No!"
Her quick denial soothed the hurt in Hammond's chest.
"But... There is only so long one can live loving someone, withoot getting verra tired of it nae being returned, Laird MacKenzie." Amhuinn's voice was soft, as she finally let the truth tumble out of her. Averting her eyes from Hammond, she concentrated on her toes as she continued. "I love ye, and I am nae ashamed ter say it. But yer fear of that very emotion hurts me. That ye wouldna trust me enough ter protect ye as ye protect yer people. I dinna fear that ye would hurt me, nae. What I do fear is that yer reluctance ter love me in return would make me verra bitter ter ye one day, Laird MacKenzie, and I refuse ter become bitter to the very person whom I love."
By the last few syllables, her voice had started shaking, as the feeling of hopeless, unrequited love sank in to her. Her voice roared in her ears, so much so that Amhuinn didn't even hear him getting up from the bench, padding over to her. Only when he gripped her shoulder with his broad, large palms that Amhuinn had felt everywhere on her before, did she look up with a gasp when she realized belatedly, just how close Hammond now stood.
A combination of the heady sense of having him so near her, the unexpected arrival of him on her doorstep and the mess of confusion in her chest made Amhuinn bite her lip, willing but failing to stop the tear that slipped out of her eye, and made a trail down her cheek.
When she felt Hammond sigh and brush the single drop away with his thumb, the tender way in which he looked at her broke, the lump in her throat, as she took in a shuddering breathe. "I just-"
"Hush, dear one. It's my turn ter speak." He silenced her before she could say a word. Steering her with her shoulders towards the bench, he pressed her to sit. Kneeling before her on one knee, Hammond collected both hands in his, pressing them tenderly towards his lips and making Amhuinn's heart break all over again. How could one so tender, so giving, so loving as one Hammond MacKenzie, refuse to love?
"I admit, I fear it. Love is a preposterous thing ter me, wife. It makes humans do things withoot thought. I was... always scared that my love fer any lass would make me forget all me responsibilities that I had ter Gillian, ter all the people under my care in my Keep." Hearing her choke and swallow a sob, he tightened his grip on her hand, and gazed into her eyes. "But I know, and I promise ye I willna deny it anymore, that I would die for ye more then fer anyone else. Because ye have managed ter worm yer way into my skin, and into my heart, and I'm so, so sorry that I have caused ye so much more hurt by being my stubborn, hardheaded self."
Despite herself, Amhuinn's eyes clouded with even more tears, even as she couldn't stop the ironic chuckle that escaped her. "Are ye saying ye willna be such a wall aroond me anymore, husband?"
He laughed, stroking the hands he held with his thumb, his gaze never leaving hers. "I'm saying that I love ye, lass. I would put my life fer yers, fer I know that ye love my clan as much a I do. I think the two of us have enough love ter go aroond, don't we?"
She laughed, thinking herself ridiculous for sobbing and laughing at the same time. But hey, it wasn't everyday one got a confession of love from the stoic, silly husband she had fallen in love with on one knee, on a darkened midnight, now was it? "And I love ye too, husband, but please dinna go aroond putting yer life on line everywhere. I like ye whole and in one piece."
Hammond laughed, unable to resist pressing another kiss to the hands he held. "I dinna intend ter, wife. But if something does happen ter me," Amhuinn's palms shot up to hold themselves around his lips, shaking her head in denial. But he pulled them down, tightening his grip on her again as he repeated himself. "If anything does unluckily happen ter me, I know that me clan, and ye, will be in good hands. Afterall, ye did give me a verra promising heir."
Amhuinn gasped, her heart swelling at the implication of his words. "Ye... Oh, Hammond." Unable to stop herself, Amhuinn slid down the bench to wrap her arms around his neck, pouring her heart and soul into the kiss she pressed gratefully against her husband's lips. In turn, the redheaded laird groaned as he welcomed the feel of her supple lips against his again, eagerly wrapping his arms around her slender frame. Pulling her flush against him, body pressed against body, he returned kiss for kiss, moulding their flesh and souls together until it was as if two pieces finally fit in one.
When they finally broke apart, their breathes mingled heavily in the minute space between them, and for once, Hammond finally felt himself whole, so long as he held the beautiful blonde he now had in his arms. "I've missed ye, wife. Yer forbidden ter ever leave me again."
"Is that a command, Laird MacKenzie?" Amhuinn replied with a sassy grin. Hammond smirked, and without warning, picked her up, ignoring her squeal as he got up and started his way towards the bedroom. Amhuinn instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, mock protesting.
"Ye barbarian." she squealed, when he finally tossed her on the bed, and stared wolfishly at her. She met his gaze unabashed, golden gaze warring with the emerald ones. He ignored her words, and easily moved to covered his body with hers.
"If that's what it takes ter chain ye ter my side, wife, I will be a barbarian ten times over."
They would eventually return to the Keep the next day, and it would be late afternoon before anyone in MacKenzie Keep saw their return, with their lady nestled half asleep in their Laird's arms, as he led her horse behind his own. He glared at them to be quiet as he brought her to their bedchamber, and since then, it was hard for any MacKenzie to tell when had they ever seen their laird without his wife by his side. The laird's laughter came freely now, and the lady smiled more then they had ever seen her to smile in the few months she had been there.
No one ever found out what exactly had transpired that had made that pivotal change in their relationship, not even their own siblings. But what they could tell was that each year, both laird and lady would steal off for a week on their own. For that week, custody of their son would be given to his Uncle Tamhas, while they brought their victuals and supplies to last them a week. And while no one ever knew where they one, whenever the question was brought up, Tamhas MacKenzie would be sure to just groan and walk away. If one strained just enough, one could hear him mutter.
"And to think I built that place with my bare hands. And now it's their... my own sister... agh."