Epilogue #3
Brody hugged the lad before gently setting him to his feet. Brody looked him over, seeing that he’d grown taller and fatter since he’d last seen him. But the straw-like hair was still the same; that just made him laugh.
“My, my, lad,” he said, putting his hand on the boy’s head. “Ye’ve grown up behind my back. Look how big ye are.”
Tynan smiled hugely, displaying two front missing teeth. “I serve Laird Currie now,” he said. “Me and my mam. And I play chess!”
“Is that so?” Brody said, stroking his chin as if impressed. “Then ye can teach me.”
“I will if ye teach me tae fight!”
Everything about Tynan was enthusiastic and happy. Brody couldn’t get over how happy and healthy the boy appeared. He looked at Laird Currie.
“And his mother approves?” he asked. “The lad would have tae remain here with me, ye know. He couldna go home frequently tae see her.”
Laird Currie nodded. “But I can bring her here when I come,” he said. “She can visit him then. I have a confession, Brody… Amy and I… well, she’s the woman I should have married. I dunna know why I never considered her, but I should have. She’s meant the world tae me.”
Brody smiled at Laird Currie, admitting his affections for a servant. “I hope she’s a good companion tae ye, m’laird,” he said, returning his focus to Tynan. “As for the lad… if it’s agreeable tae my wife, I’m happy tae keep him here and train him.”
Lilia opened her arms to Tynan, who immediately hugged her tightly. “Of course I’m agreeable,” she said. “Tynan and I are old friends. He’s most welcome.”
Brody put his arm around her shoulders as she held Tynan. “Even with our own bairn on the way?”
“Think of what a wonderful older brother Tynan will be tae Mattox.”
“Or Henry.”
“Another change?”
Brody simply laughed, but the situation with Tynan was settled. Laird Currie watched the exchange, knowing he’d made the right decision. As Lilia bent over and picked up the boy that was very nearly as tall as she was, Laird Currie reached out to Brody.
“I will admit something to ye,” he said.
“I’ve been coming tae The Cal since ye left Hawkhill, hoping ye’d return someday.
When ye did, I wanted tae make sure ye were happy and settled before I brought up the subject of Tynan.
I know he’s too young tae train now, but a place like this will give him a better life than I can give him.
He’ll learn tae fight and he’ll learn the ways of men.
And he’ll learn it all from ye. I canna imagine a better teacher. ”
“Nor I,” Lilia said, squeezing Tynan tightly. “Brody has found a new life here, as have I. I thank ye for that, Laird Currie. Without ye… we wouldna know such happiness. We owe ye everything.”
Laird Currie waved them off. “And ye’ve both changed my life, as well, so the feeling is mutual,” he said.
For a moment, he faced Tynan, smiling at the boy in a way that suggested he was going to miss him very much.
“Well, lad, ye finally have Brody and Lilia. I know yer mother will miss ye, but she’s happy for ye tae find something better.
Dunna disappoint her. Be the very best ye can be at whatever Brody chooses tae teach ye. ”
Tynan nodded firmly. Then, he ran at Laird Currie, hugging the man tightly. “Thank ye, m’laird.”
Laird Currie was growing emotional. He hugged the boy before pushing him away, sniffling as he returned to his carriage. Hand on the door, he turned to the three of them, standing there.
“Be happy, all of ye,” he said tightly. “I know I will be.”
With that, he climbed into his carriage and the driver snapped the reins, moving the horses forward. Brody and Lilia and Tynan stood there, waving at him, as the carriage made a big circle and headed out the way it had come.
“He’s a good man,” Lilia said. “My da always thought so.”
“So do I,” Brody said. Putting his arm around Lilia’s shoulders, he kissed her on the temple. “It seems as if we’re well on our way tae those ten bairns ye wanted.”
Lilia laughed softly, reaching out to take Tynan by the hand. “I think we’re going tae need a bigger cottage.”
It turned out to be a prophetic statement.
In early October, after two days of labor and two of the longest days of Brody’s life, Lilia delivered twin boys, healthy and screaming. Greer Colm McKay and his brother Archer Clegg McKay would grow up to be great and powerful warriors, just like their father.
As Brody looked into the faces of his newborns on the night they were born, he realized that the infants represented what he’d been searching for all along.
Glory didn’t lie in victory or power or even money; it lay in the heart.
It lay in the two sleeping infants in his arms and in his willingness to understand what was important in life.
Who was important in life.
Home, for Brody, wasn’t in the tiny Highland village of Ledmore. He’d left that long ago. It was in a big, dusty fight guild where he and Lilia were loved and accepted for who they were. It was the home, and family, they had always dreamed of.
Arch McKay would have, indeed, been proud.
* THE END *