Highlander’s Broken Love by Fiona Faris

Epilogue

“Are ye ready, me Lady?” Seona asked, just as Elisabeth stepped out from behind the screen.

“I think so, what do you think?” Elisabeth asked, gesturing to her dress. In response, Seona covered her mouth with her hands, unshed tears in her eyes.

“I think ye look beautiful, me Lady,” she said, lowering her hands again.

“Oh, Seona, you are so kind to me,” Elisabeth said, taking her new friend’s hand before she turned to look in the mirror that had been propped up in the tent for her to use. Since Elisabeth had moved into the camp permanently, Seona had been offered a position as her lady’s maid, and she had jumped at the offer, though Elisabeth liked to think they were more friends than lady and maid anyway.

In the mirror, Elisabeth caught her first glimpse of herself in her wedding dress. She was dressed in a fine pastel pink gown, gathered at the waist and then sprawling to the floor with folds of silk and a delicate hem. The neckline was trimmed with white lace, as were the elbow length sleeves.

“Ye should see the way people are gatherin’ outside,” Seona giggled, coming up to fuss with Elisabeth’s hair a little more.

“They are?” Elisabeth asked, excited.

“Oh, aye, the cèilidh has already begun. Dancers are linin’ the street and the pathway all the way up to the old chapel. The celebrations tonight should be loud!” Seona said with laughter just as Elisabeth turned to take her arm. “Are ye all set?”

“I am,” she nodded with a smile. As they stepped out of the tent, she was startled to find Alex waiting for her. “Laird Alex, shouldn’t you be in the church?”

“I will be soon,” he said and offered to take her arm from Seona. “As yer faither has refused to give ye away, I wondered if ye would allow me to do ye the honor of escortin’ ye to yer new husband’s side?”

“My Laird, I would be touched if you would,” Elisabeth said, watching as her new friend smiled and began to steer her through the camp in the direction of the ruined castle. Her eyes darted around the camp, amazed at the fuss people were making, just as Seona had described.

On either side of the street, the town was mostly completed now. Buildings were coming together, and the streets were lined with cobblestones again. Every day that week, there had been a farmer’s market with the new harvests that had been brought in. It may have been just a few months since Ian had taken over as Laird, but already the town extended beyond its foundations, and the people were well fed and seemed happy. It wouldn’t be long before Ian allowed work to begin on the castle, too; then he and Elisabeth could finally move out of the tent they had been living in.

Alex escorted Elisabeth through the street and toward the ruins. As they went, Seona wasn’t the only one to follow close behind. Other people from the town gathered too, dancing and singing that their Laird was to take a new bride. As they stepped through the ruins, Alex led Elisabeth toward a small chapel on the far side.

The door stood ajar, for the holes her father’s canons had left in it meant that it couldn’t be closed completely. Alex pushed the door farther open, revealing that the rubble had been removed, and that people had worked hard to decorate the chapel for the event. The altar was lined with Spring flowers, white primulas and blue irises. These same flowers were strewn across the pews where their guests sat. At the front, there was Kenny, Bhaltair, and Gilroy. On the other side of the aisle was a beautiful young woman, with a little boy in her arms. This was Delilah, Alex’s wife.

As Alex led Elisabeth down the aisle, bagpipe music struck up, and the tall figure at the front of the chapel turned around.

The moment Elisabeth’s eyes found Ian’s, she felt she would never stop smiling again, and her cheeks ached from it. He was staring at her, his eyes wandering up and down her body quickly before settling on her face.

As she reached the altar, Alex passed her hand into Ian’s before returning to his own wife’s side. It gave Elisabeth and Ian a small minute of privacy as they turned toward the vicar while the bagpipe music continued.

“I love ye,” Ian whispered in her ear as he drew her arm through his.

“I love you, too,” she whispered back. He’d first told her he loved her the night after her father left and a peace treaty had been drawn up. She knew her father would forever have problems with the decision she had made, but he would never attack her or this clan now that she was a part of it. She didn’t regret her decision in the slightest.

As Ian and Elisabeth turned to the vicar, the bagpipe music halted, and the elderly Scottish man bestowed a pleasant smile on them.

“Well, they say love can start in the most unusual places,” the vicar said, looking out to their guests. “I think a cage certainly counts as unusual.”

At the laughter that greeted his jest, Elisabeth turned her eyes to Ian who was shaking his head slightly. So what if it was unusual. She wouldn’t take back the past, for by going through it, she had fallen in love with a man who was willing to go through anything, to be flogged, to be hunted, to go into battle, too—all to see her safe.

“Sithiche,” he whispered to her as the laughter continued. “I am sorry ye were ever put in a cage.”

“What does it mean?” she asked. “You still haven’t told me.”

“Sithiche?” he said, smiling. “It means a fairy, love. That’s what ye were from the moment I met ye. A fairy trapped in a cage in our woods. A fairy I would have done anythin’ to see set free.”