Epilogue
Wallace could see the castle from where he stood. It was a beacon of freedom in tense times. The news of the MacCallister and MacGregor alliance had spread rapidly.
For some clans it was good news, a sign that the violence that had plagued them was over. For others, the news brought consternation. What if the alliance meant a stronger joint army? What if that army decided it wanted to invade their territory?
Up and down the highlands the sound of the forges rang out during all the hours of daylight. Dark times were returning and they didn’t need the barefoot man to bring them. Clans could create darkness just as easily among themselves.
Wallace was nervous. Not because of the potential for war that might spread like wildfire across the hills and glens of his lands. He could handle war. As his father had told him during the last conference, the MacGregor Clan had survived many wars in its time. They would survive one more.
The risk of chaos didn’t scare him. What scared him was that Natalie hadn’t shown up yet.
“Relax,” the captain said, slapping him on the back. “She’ll be here.”
“What if she changes her mind?”
The captain laughed. “She’s spent six months preparing for this moment with my wife’s help and you think she might change her mind? Have you seen the way she looks at you? She loves you, Wallace, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
He nodded. He was a tough highlander. He didn’t get nervous. Still, he might have breathed a sigh of relief when her horse finally appeared over the horizon. It slowly made its way down the hillside, followed by her helpers, Scarlett at the front of them all.
“Told you she’d be here,” the captain said, punching his shoulder. “Now I better go get ready. Where’s Tanya?”
“Here,” a voice called out behind them.
Wallace turned and looked up in time to see Tanya swinging from the weathervane. “Get down from there,” he called out. “This is a sacred building.”
“Only inside is consecrated,” she replied, sticking her tongue out. “Besides, I wanted to see Mom first. Doesn’t she look beautiful?”
“She’ll look furious if she sees you up there in your new dress.”
Tanya swung out into the open air, catching onto the scaffolding and then lowering herself rung to rung until she was on the grass.
By the time Natalie reached the church, her fiancé and her daughter were standing formally together as if nothing had happened.
“Look at my family,” Natalie said. “Who would have guessed one of you was on the roof a few moments ago?”
“You saw?” Tanya at least had the good grace to sound guilty.
“I saw. I had no idea you were so good at climbing. Though if you could avoid breaking your neck during the ceremony, that would be great.”
“Yes, Mom.”
Natalie turned to face Wallace. “Don’t you look smart. New baldric?”
“Aye. You look beautiful.”
“This old thing?” She swept the dress from side to side. “Looks all right, doesn’t it?”
The other horses gathered behind them, their riders climbing down and milling around the entrance of the church, talking quietly to each other, waiting for the captain to call them over.
“I wanted to thank you,” Natalie said, squeezing Wallace’s hand in her own. “For building it here.”
“I promised you I would.”
“I know but thank you. When we left that dead body here and you said you’d come back and give him proper burial, I…well I never thought you’d build an abbey on the spot.”
“What better way to honor those who died for the highlands? He may have been in league with our enemies but it is a foolish endeavor to take grudges beyond the grave.”
“If you hadn’t, we’d never have met.”
Before Wallace could reply the captain appeared in full regalia, looking every inch the sailor. He nodded toward the couple. “Shall we begin?”
The crowd gathered around the four of them. Wallace stood beside Natalie, the two of them facing the captain. Behind them Tanya clung to her mother, suddenly shyer than her years. Jock and Daisy stood off to one side, both of them beaming.
Wallace looked around him. MacCallisters, MacGregors, even Frazers were here. Not so long ago these people would have rather been dead than breathe the same air as their rival clans. Natalie had done a lot more than she realized, bringing peace with her on her journey to him.
The storm clouds on the horizon were there. War was just around the corner but then wasn’t it always? Had there ever been a long term peace in the highlands? Better to deal with that if it happened and until then, focus on living, and on loving.
“On the seas we have a saying,” the captain began.
The crowd fell silent, all turning to face him.
“It is not the destination that matters but the journey. Together these two in front of us set out on their own journeys to two very different destinations. Fate brought them together for a journey that they shared. Their journey was like the sea. It had ups and downs, rough patches and smooth sailing. Now they come into shore bonded like barnacles to a hull.”
“Enough with the nautical references,” Scarlett called out from somewhere in the crowd. “Get on with it, Colin before I sink your marriage.”
The captain lost his thread for a moment, coughing before continuing. “Wallace, you have the chance today to bond for life with the woman beside you. Will you give her a ring that represents God’s eternal love beside your own?”
“I will,” Wallace said, turning to face Natalie. “Since we met, there has not been a single moment I have regretted. You have shown me many things I never would have seen without you by my side, not least how to be happy.”
As he finished speaking, he slid the silver ring onto her finger. It had been made from melting down the shard of the silver key they had kept.
The captain turned to Natalie. “With your acceptance of this ring, you bind together the two clans, MacCallister and MacGregor. Will you keep the ring on your finger and accept the love of both clans and the Lord above us all?”
“I will,” she said, looking at Wallace and smiling. “Forever.”
“Then I proclaim to all here present that you are man and wife until heaven calls you up many years from now. I ask you two to join me inside and there we will say the marriage mass together.”
Wallace noticed someone waving from the back of the crowd. As the captain walked toward the church Wallace paused. “What is it?” he asked the figure. “This better be important.”
It was one of the scouts whispering in his ear. He nodded and the scout moved away, vanishing into the crowd.
“What was that about?” Natalie asked.
“He says a silver key has been found.”
The captain shook his head. “We’ve heard of so many silver keys in the last year that I’m surprised the highlands don’t sink under the weight of them all.”
“He seemed serious about this one.”
“Today is not the day for you to worry about such things. Tomorrow I will go and look into it while you two get on with your honeymoon.”
“You will tell me at once if one is found.”
“Of course. Now come on, let’s get you two blessed.”
“I already am,” Wallace replied, his hand slipping into Natalie’s.
The rest of the guests retired to the great hall to wait. When the couple entered an hour later a cheer went up.
The feast went on into the early hours.
Wallace and Natalie slipped away somewhere between the minstrels dancing on the tabletops and the captain serenading the entire room with songs so bawdy Scarlett blushed as red as her name.
In the laird’s bedchamber, Wallace and Natalie sat together. “How does it feel to be laird of two clans?” she asked, warming her hands by the fire.
“A big responsibility,” he replied. “But what about you? Are you glad?”
“That I married you?” She shrugged. “I could have done better, I guess, but I’m a glutton for punishment.”
“You’d have to be to want to live here.”
“I like it here. I’ve always liked this castle. Never thought I’d be lady to the laird though.”
“How’s things with Tanya?”
“Good. She’s telling me new stories every day.”
“How did she take it when you told her you couldn’t remember her childhood?”
“Better than I expected. Sure, it was a shock at first but once you’ve traveled back in time, you can get used to anything. She told me she didn’t mind. Gives her a chance to regale me with a life I’ve never known.”
“What about you?”
“It takes some getting your head around. She has a whole history with me that I have no clue about.”
“And a lifetime ahead.” He stood up, untying the baldric and letting it fall to the floor.
“A lifetime with you sounds good.” She stood too, loosening her dress. “Though I’d settle for one good night.”
“Then I better make sure you get one.”
They kissed, their clothes melting away along with their inhibitions. Downstairs the party continued, the sound of the captain’s singing drifting softly up the stairwell.
The next morning they gathered at the dock to bid farewell to the captain. He stood on deck with Scarlett by his side.
“I wish I was going with them,” Tanya said, waving wildly.
“When you’re older,” Natalie said. “Sure you’ll be all right with Jock and Daisy?”
“They let me climb more than you. Stay away as long as you like.”
“We’ll be back within a week.”
“And then what?”
“Then we see what the future has in store for all of us.”
Wallace climbed onto his horse, pulling Natalie up to sit in front of him, putting an arm around her waist. “Be good for your grandparents,” he said, pointing down at Tanya. “No climbing anywhere too dangerous.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” she replied. “I’ll see you soon.”
The captain waved as the patched up Merry Jane moved slowly out onto the water. He watched Wallace and Natalie riding one way, the rest of the gathered crowd moving the other. Tanya was between Jock and Daisy. “I’ve a strange feeling about that one,” he said to Scarlett.
“What kind of feeling?” Scarlett replied, looking back at the shore and giving them all a final wave.
“I don’t know. I just hope she’ll be safe. I couldn’t bear to see anything happen to her.”
“Wallace will keep her safe. What about me? Who will keep me safe while we go hunting for this key?”
“Do you want to be safe?”
“Not really. I want an adventure.”
“That I can do.”
The wind caught the sails, the ship cutting swiftly through the water until, in no time at all, it vanished over the horizon.