October 19th, 1614

The snow had begun to fall when news came to Darroch Keep of a large party of men in armor riding toward them from the Frankish side of the border. Runners went out to meet them, returning with the news that the laird was home, bringing with him not only the men who had been taken during the war, but also a large contingent of Frankish soldiers, bearing everything they would need to bed down between Darroch and Dunfayre for a long stay. Juliana roused Joslin from his bed with that news, her excitement too infectious to ignore, and all but rushed him down to the hall as the sound of many hooves against the snow-deadened flagstones outside made themselves known. She fussed over whether or not to go outside herself, only to be forestalled by the arrival of her father, shaking the snow from his boots and cloak as he marched into the hall, swept her off her feet, and spun her about as she giggled at the chilly kiss pressed to her cheek. "Father!"

It had been several weeks since the Coimbrans had visited Darroch Keep and Joslin had killed their Captain. The others were still being held in the stockade, until such time as the laird with a retinue of Frankish soldiers to determine their fate. During that time, Joslin had grown stronger, his wounds well on the way to healing, and as his strength returned, he had started training those who wished to learn how to defend themselves, so that, if the Coimbrans were to attack again, the keep wouldn't be left completely defenseless. He had even taken to sparring a little as he worked his muscles back into shape, careful not to overdue it. He did what he could to help with the chores and nearly everyone at the keep now knew him by name. After all, he was a friendly young man who always had a smile and a good word for everyone he met, so long as they were friendly to him. He and Juliana had been eagerly awaiting her father's arrival, and Joslin hoped the man would find him a suitable husband for his daughter.

He tugged on his boots and cloak and followed Juliana outside to greet her father, chuckling a little at her excitement, glad to see her so happy. He hung back a little, allowing her time to properly greet her father without him interfering.

The greeting was definitely not the formal affair it would have been in Francia. Aidan did not put his daughter down for several long minutes, holding her close as they murmured to one another. Even when he did set her down, it was to hold her under his arm as he turned to speak with his bailiff, McCallum. But Joslin was not left with nothing to do.

The man who dismounted behind Aidan greeted the knight with a wide grin. "Jos! Bonjour, mon cher, I see you have survived the first grip of winter!"

"Phillipe!" Jos called back, a warm smile on his face as he moved to greet the knight. "Bonjour, mon ami!" he returned the greeting, clasping the other knight's arm. "I have, though I fear it will be a long winter," he said, happy and relieved to see a familiar face. "What news do you bring from Francia?"

Phillipe de Montforte clasped Joslin's arm warmly, glad to see the fellow alive and well. "You are in Francia, Jos," he told his friend with a chuckle. "The Duke has chosen to extend his influence to protect Darroch and Dunfayre. We are here to protect the village and the keep, as well as the work crews who will be building a fortified keep here come the spring."

"That is wonderful news, Phillipe!" Jos exclaimed, patting his back fondly, knight to knight and brother to brother. He was both pleased and relieved to learn that His Grace had chosen to protect these lands and these people. "And what of my fair sister" How does she fare?" he asked, further. He had received a letter from Justine a week or so ago, but it had not said much except that she was happy to hear from him, relieved he was well, and anxious to see him again.

Phillipe chuckled at the eager question. "The fair Justine has found a man who does not bleed when she bites," he informed his friend with a merry smile. "Indeed, I have never seen a man or woman more in love than your sister and this lord's son, except, perhaps, our duke and his duchess." He clapped Jos on the arm reassuringly. "Rest well, my friend. She is well and happy, and was full of apologies when we had to take her back to Arindale after catching her trying to pretend she was a page."

Joslin's jaw fell open at the news his sister had fallen in love and not just with anyone, but if he understood what Phillipe was telling him, then she was in love with Juliana's brother. But that couldn't be possible, could it' And where was Juliana's brother" If he was still being held prisoner in Arindale, how did Justine manage to fall in love with him' No, there had to be some mistake. "Phillipe, you are teasing me, oui" She said nothing of this in her letter."

"Ah, oui, one moment." Taking back his hand, Phillipe reached into his jerkin, producing a letter that was only slightly crumpled. "She told me she would personally emasculate me if I did not put this into your hands the moment I saw you. For the sake of my manhood, do not tell her I delayed."

Jos believed the part of the man's story about his sister pretending she was a page so that she could come along, but in love" His Justine" Was it possible" "Merci, mon ami," Jos replied, taking the letter in hand. "How was your journey?" he asked further as he broke the wax seal and opened the letter.

"Once we restarted, it went well enough," Phillipe assured him, glancing curiously toward Lord Aidan and his daughter as the young woman suddenly let rip with a startled squeak, staring at her laughing father in disbelief. Apparently she was getting the same news. "The snow didn't start to trouble us until we entered the hills, but we made good time. We saw a small camp of soldiers about six miles from here, but they packed up in a hurry as we passed by."

Jos frowned at his friend's news, holding off reading his sister's letter to hear how his journey had gone. "There was trouble a few weeks ago. We have not seen any Coimbrans since. Four of them are locked up in the stockade. It has been quiet, Phillipe. Too quiet."

"You need worry no more," his friend assured him confidently. "Fifty Frankish knights and eighty men at arms will be more than enough to hold off any foolish attempts at attack." He jerked his head toward the empty pasture beyond the keep's wall, where those men were already at work, building rough shelters that would be improved upon as the days went by.

"Thank the Goddess," Jos murmured, not merely words, but a solemn prayer of thanks. "What made His Grace change his mind?" he asked, glancing over at Juliana's father, and wondering if it was him who had convinced the Duke to send help, or if his letter had anything to do with it. There had been enough bloodshed on the border. It was time to be done with it.

"As I understand it, the lord's son, Bryce Darroch, simply told him the means by which he and his men were recruited from here," Phillipe said with a shrug. "The decision was made before Lord Aidan arrived; he merely agreed to its essentials. For example ....Lord Bryce will be remaining at Arindale until you have returned there safely, and I believe your sister is hoping you will bring Lady Juliana with you, as yet unmarried." Phillipe certainly had a good ear for gossip.

"We are not yet married, but ..." He glanced again to Juliana's father with a small worried frown. "We were hoping to be married upon her father's return," he said, unsure why his sister would want them to wait, but then he hadn't yet read her letter.

"Read the letter, Jos," his friend told him. "I should present myself to your young lady." Phillipe winked at him, not at all afraid of whether or not Jos would punch him for the not so subtle threat to flirt with his betrothed.

As he explained himself, her expression cleared, the warmth of her smile reappearing as she caressed his cheek. "Och, my bonny, don't worry so about me," she told him with a shake of her head. "I have always known that when I marry I will have to leave, to be the mistress of my husband's house. I will miss Darroch, of course I will, but Darroch is my childhood. You are my future, my choice, and I choose to go with you. No one is forcing me, my bonny lad. I am yours, and where you go, I will follow, no matter how far, with a singing heart."

"Vraiment"" he asked, blinking unexpected tears from his eyes, not only touched by her words, but relieved. This was something he could give her, and Justine and Bryce would simply have to understand. "You will wed me and travel to Arindale as my wife, then?" he asked, as if he needed to hear it again from her to be sure he had heard and understood her right.

"Aye, I will," she promised him, her smile growing as their misunderstanding was put to rest. "On condition that you do not make me wait more than a day. I do not need more than you and I, my father, and Mother Magda. What I want is to be your wife, not to be gawped at for a whole day."

"One day," he echoed, his face brightening as a smile took the place of that worried frown. "One day and we will be wed," he said, as if he needed to say it out loud in order to actually believe it. One day and they'd be husband and wife, lady and lord. "Justine will understand," he said, though he wasn't so sure about her brother.

"And Bryce doesn't have to understand, he just has to accept it," Juliana agreed with a nod. She knew a few weak spots on her brother that Justine would no doubt delight in finding out about when they finally met. "I'll beat him down myself if he causes trouble." She smiled, rising up onto her toes to brush a soft kiss to his lips. "No more frowns, my bonny. I'll tell my father, and Marta, and they'll sort out a celebration for tomorrow."

Now that that was settled, he gave an excited whoop, loud enough to be overheard by anyone within earshot, and circled his arms around her waist, lifting her up off the ground to spin her in around place, laughing happily. "Je t'aime, ma petite," he told her softly before laughing again as he set her on her feet. "I love Juliana Darroch!" he shouted, not caring who heard him.

She squealed as he lifted her up, her laughter mingling with his, her arms wrapped about his neck as he shouted his love for her to all and sundry. "Och, you big ninny," she laughed affectionately. "Come away inside before we freeze out here. I'll not have my man catch cold the night before his wedding."

He laughed again, amused at her affectionate name-calling. "If I catch cold, will you care for me?" he asked with a smirk, though he didn't really want to spend his wedding day - or especially his wedding night - ill. His arms went around her waist once more to pull her close, touching his nose to hers. "I do love you, Juliana. I will love you always. Toujours."

Tucked close within the wrap of his arms, she sighed happily, nuzzling to him. "I love you, Joslin," she promised him. "You should never doubt that, for it will never change. I love you, and and I always will." She bounced on her toes, a gentle shiver finally making itself known as she realized how cold she was becoming out here in the falling snow. "And tomorrow night, t'will be you keeping me warm."

"T'will be me doing more than that," he teased, touching a kiss to her nose before sweeping her up into his arms to carry her back to the warm confines of the keep. Now that they had decided, they needed to tell her father and make arrangements for a wedding. There would be no need for her father to force him to marry her when he was more than willing.

"Och, you're not supposed to carry me over this threshold," she teased him in return, hugging her arms about his shoulders as he bore her back into the warmth of the hall, where Aidan and Phillipe were thawing out in front of the fire with steaming cups of wine. Juliana's father raised a brow as he looked over at them, stifling his snicker into his cup.

"What does it matter" By tomorrow night, you'll be my ..." He bit off his words as he spied Aidan and Phillipe near the fire. She would want a word with her father, no doubt, and he needed to have a word with Phillipe. Well, why not kill two birds with one stone then" He started that way, with her still in his arms. "My lords, a word if we may." Now that he was mostly healed, she seemed as light as a feather - or perhaps it was only his heart that was light.

Schooling his expression into something better suited to a father, Aidan looked up at the young knight currently holding his daughter in his arms. "I'll gi'e ye all the words ye like when her feet touch the ground, laddie," he told Joslin, one brow raised over his stern expression.

Across from him, Phillipe swallowed a laugh, and toasted the young couple with his cup. "I am all ears, Jos."

Aidan's warning, stern or otherwise, didn't seem to deter Jos or deflate his good spirits, though he did do as the man asked and set his daughter on her feet, his arm going around her waist. "My lord, we have decided ....We would like to be wed on the morrow. With your permission, of course," he added, almost as an afterthought.

"On the morrow?" Aidan turned his eyes onto Juliana. "Any reason fer the rush?"

Juliana glared at her father. "No, father, I am not pregnant," she informed him quite bluntly, sending Phillipe into a spluttering coughing fit as he inhaled half his cup in one attempt not to laugh.

Aidan rose to his feet, looking Jos over once again before he cracked a smile. "Well, at least yer givin' us a chance tae send ye both off wi' a fine shindig," he said approvingly. "Tomorrow afternoon suit ye?"

Jos opened his mouth to blurt a reply, looking almost insulted at her father's insinuation, but Juliana beat him to it. Before he was able to say anything else, the man's demeanor seemed to change, and he wondered if he'd been anticipating this turn of events all along. "Tomorrow afternoon suits us fine," he replied for them both, smiling warmly at his soon-to-be-wife. "Does it not, my lady?"

Juliana's smile was like the sunrise, warm and filled with hope. "Aye, it suits us very well, my lord," she agreed with him affectionately.

Aidan rolled his eyes at the love so evident in both of them, glad in his heart that both his remaining children had found something beyond duty in marriage. "Then get on wi' ye, lass," he told his daughter. "Fetch yerself tae Marta and warn the poor woman we'll be needin' somethin' a wee bit fancier fer the main meal t'morrow."

Giggling, Juliana curtsied to all of them and hurried off to do as she was told, leaving Jos with her father and his friend. Phillipe considered Joslin thoughtfully. "Love suits you, Jos," he said quietly. "I envy you your happiness."

Jos' smile mirrored Juliana's, now that they'd decided and received her father's blessing. He was confident that Justine would understand, though Bryce was another matter. If Bryce loved his sister as much as Jos loved Justine, Jos doubted it would be a problem. "I did not come to Dunfayre to fall in love, but it seems love has found me," he admitted with a good-natured grin.

"It's good to see," his friend smiled for him, offering his hand in a clasp of friendship. "I'll send a few of the lads with you when you travel back to Arindale - safety escort, of course. Can't have the new Lady of La Roche attacked on the road before she's even seen her new home, can we?"

Jos clasped his friend's hand, a grateful smile on his face. "Merci, mon ami. The Coimbrans cannot be trusted." And that said nothing for bandits and other dangers on the road.

Aidan watched the two friends for a long moment, feeling the wrench of giving his only daughter away tempered by the knowledge that just a few weeks would see a new daughter arriving from Arindale to take her place. This Joslin seemed to be a good man, and Juliana's heart was obviously his, just as Bryce had lost his heart to Justine. He had to admit, they both made handsome couples. "Sae tell me, Sir Joslin," he said warmly, gesturing for Jos to take a seat with them by the fire. "Tell me all aboot yerself. I dinnae think there'll be sae much time tae talk after the wedding t'morrow."

Jos loosened the cloak at his neck, took a seat near the fire, and stretched his long legs out to warm them, ready to tell his soon-to-be father-in-law anything he wanted to know. It would be some time before they were done talking, and Joslin shared his life story, along with how he'd come to be in Darroch and how Juliana had cared for him while he was there.

As he told his tale to the accompaniment of Aidan's curious interjections and the occasional assistance from Phillipe, Juliana returned to them, choosing to seat herself on a cushion beside her father's chair, her head resting comfortably on Aidan's knee, her hand in Joslin's grasp. And for that long evening, it seemed a perfect example of how their family ties would run deep for the years to come, Darroch and Arindale tied together with the affection not only of blood kin, but of tender love as well. They were better reasons than most for marriage, much less two marriages between two sets of siblings. No wonder love was called the Goddess' gift.