by Barbara Bard
“She grows bigger,” Gavina said, her hair in a braid and pulled back tight like a warrior woman would.
“Says the lass who became a lady overnight,” Isla said. “How was yer ride?”
“Exhausting. Finlay brings news from Lord Torstein.”
“Good news, I pray.”
Gavina shrugged. “I leave it tae ye tae decide. Gae. I will stay with Delilah.”
Isla kissed Gavina on the cheek before she retreated with Delilah to the cottage, nestling and whispering sweet nonsense to the infant as she headed inside.
Finlay, his wife a sight to behold, outstretched his arms and embraced his love before holding on tight. “I missed ye,” he said.
Isla nodded. “And I missed ye. It hae felt like a year.”
“How is our daughter?”
“She is well. She fusses quite a bit. I suspect that she will posses quite a fiercely independent spirit.”
“Aye, agreed. She gets that from her mother.”
The two parted and began walking. “What news dae ye bring from Lord Torstein?” Isla inquired.
“He struggles tae keep the secret of our alliance, but he is well, considering. He will send word again through his falcon in a week’s time tae update us on what is transpiring.”
They stopped, Isla taking a moment to breathe in the air. “What dae ye think, me love? Are we nae long for war?”
Finlay breathed as well. “I dinnae believe that this village is in jeopardy, me lady. But I dae believe a struggle is imminent. But Lord Torstein and I will work with ye tae make sure we dae all to prevent that from happening. He has some plans in place. It will just be a matter of time.”
Finlay hooked his arm around his wife and watched as the sun rose ahead of them. There was much left to do, so many things left to be resolved. But in that moment they felt nothing but the love shared between them as the sun rose in the east and began taking on a rose-colored hue that washed across both Finlay and Isla.
“Ye ken what’s funny?” Isla said.
Finlay looked her in the eye. “What might that be, me love?”
“That I love ye mair and mair as the day’s progress. I would hae never imagined such a thing tae be possible.”
Finlay coiled his arms around Isla’s waist, Isla doing the same as they embraced like they did the moment they had been married. “It is quite splendid, aye. But a woman like ye brings out that best in me.”
They kissed, long and slow, as the sun made its final ascent and cast a heavenly glow across both Isla and Finlay. They became lost in their embrace, their kiss, like is usually did, feeling as if it was the first one they ever shared.
The passion between them had not dwindled since the day they met, and the love that they possessed between one another inspired them to take on the world and everyone who might have challenged them.
From inside their cottage behind them, the soft and gentle cries of Delilah became slightly audible—and they smiled.
“Come now,” Isla said, taking Finlay by the hand. “Our daughter requires our care.”
Smiling with a proud nature that only a happy father and husband could posses, Finlay followed his wife inside, held his daughter, and sat with his family as their Highlander brothers and sisters in the village proceeded to set about another rewarding—and peaceful—day’s work.
The Extended Epilogue
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Chapter 1
Gavina felt as if her chest was on fire. Every sinew in her body was pumping with adrenaline as she sat perched on top of her horse, the beast’s hooves tearing up the sprawling greenery of the Highlands as sweat poured in thick beads down Gavina’s brow.
She was riding fast, faster than she had ever ridden before in her life. But though Gavina was pushing herself to her physical limits she was smiling and casting playful looks over her shoulder at the woman riding behind her before saying: “C’mon, Tessa! Ye can ride faster than that!”
Tessa, the rider behind her, gritted her teeth with an amused squint in her eyes and kicked at her horse to pick up the pace. She was right on Gavina’s rear, Gavina’s red hair tied in a thick knot flowing behind her and just within a finger’s reach.
“Ye best look out, Gavina!” Tessa taunted back, the bow on her back bouncing as she rode—the premier archer in all of the land.
Gavina laughed and slapped at the reigns, her horse huffing and puffing and chewing up the grass and dirt beneath.
Gavina approached the edge of a cliff that slanted down sharply into the crisp blue waters of the ocean beyond. The saltwater-laced air whipped at her nostrils, the pleasant aroma of the sea air making her feel alive and rejuvenated as she pulled her horse to a sharp stop just before the edge of the cliff dropped off.
Smiling at her victory, Gavina turned around and faced Tessa, arriving just a second after Gavina had stopped, and held out her hands in a messianic fashion.
“I told ye,” Gavina said. “Ye cannae outrun a member of the Baird clan. We are tae fast by nature.”
Tessa sighed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, ye bairn. It disnae hae tae dae with yer descendants.” She gestured to Isla’s mount. “It be yer horse. He is tae fast tae outrun.”
Gavina stroked at her animal’s mane. “A fast horse he is, aye,” she said as a playfully lecherous. “Again—he is Baird bred. Naw other animal can best him.”
Tessa laughed. “Ye ken what they say aboot arrogance, aye?”
Gavina nodded. “I hae heard one or two comments on the subject, aye.”
“Then curb it before it gets the better of ye.”
“Ye sound like a sore loser, Tessa.”
“That I am nae.”
“Lies.”
The two of them then shared a laugh as they turned their horses and faced towards the water. Silence held sway for a long while as the two of them enjoyed the vastness of the blue waters and the pleasant chill that goosed their skin as they looked longingly off into the distance.
Tessa inhaled deeply. “Naw matter how often I look out upon those waters,” she said, “it still feels like the first time.”
“The first time?”
A nod from Tessa. “The first time I arrived in the village. The first time I arrived in the place I now call home.”
“How long ago has that been?”
Tessa tilted her head toward the sky, scouring through the memories and deducing exactly how long it had been.
“Four years,” she said, shaking her head, amazed at how quickly the passing of time had felt. “I didnae think that I would live tae tell the tale.”
“But live ye did,” Gavina said.
“Thanks tae Finlay.”
Gavina smiled. She couldn’t count how many fond memories she had of the man that had rescued her and her sister. The father to her nieces and nephews. The second-in-command of their clan. The man who taught her everything she knew about fighting and being a warrior.
“Many thanks are owed tae that man,” she said. “I dinnae think I shall ever be able to dae him justice.”
“Agreed,” Tessa said. “He taught me so much of what I ken.”
“Indeed,” Gavina said. “And now,” she smiled, “now ye be one of the fiercest warriors tae ever grace these lands. How many men have been slain by yer sword?”
“Oh, come now. Ye ken I dinnae keep track of such things.”
“Lies.”
“Not everything is a competition, Gavina,” Tessa
said, always feeling as if Gavina had something to prove.
Gavina huffed. She felt the need to be competitive. In her mind—it kept her alive. She had spent so much of her young life running and hiding and surviving the wrath of the Sassenach. She had lost friends, family, and many others who had managed to take a piece of her heart, so there was no room for recklessness, no praise for being in second place.
She recalled well when she had been kidnapped by the infamous Lord Henry Enticknap. For days she had thought she would perish, but only at the last moments was she rescued by her sister Isla and her new brother Finlay.
Gavina had been precarious back in those days, but now she was a toughened spirit with no room for new love or new friends. She was a warrior, and women like Tessa, one of the members of the Bairdsman, the elite warriors of the Baird clan, were the only people that could have her time or attention. Love was not an option. There was only survival.
“Come,” Gavina said to Tessa, bucking her horse and turning him around. “Let us gae back. We hae much tae dae.”
Tessa nodded, said “aye,” and followed alongside Gavina. She couldn’t help but note that Gavina was sporting that look in her eye when she was reminiscing on the past.
Finlay Baird felt his knees ache as he pushed off the ground, grunting with the kind of gusto that only an older man could sport. He was a great and revered warrior—but the years of combat had surely caught up to him.
Kelly, the rider whose horse Finlay was helping saddle, squinted as Finlay stood up with a grunt and said: “Are ye well, Finlay?”
Finlay nodded, waving off the younger man before telling him: “Just cold bones. That and hoisting up children fer several years hae finally taken a toll on me knees.”
Finlay ran his hand across the horse’s mane, doublechecking the straps before patting him on the back.
“There. He should be fine now when ye ride. The straps should nae longer come loose.”
Kelly nodded. “Many thanks, Finlay. Are ye sure ye dinnae want tae ride with me tae fetch supplies? Ye hae been cooped up in this village fer quite a time noo.”
“Gae,” Finlay said. “I hae much tae dae. Gavina will be returning soon and I must speak with her and the rest of the Bairdsmen.”
“Aye,” Kelly said, mounting his horse and turning it around. “I will return shortly.”
“Be well,” Finlay said as he waved goodbye and moved back toward his cottage.
Moments later, as Finlay was trekking back to his cottage, he made out the hoof beats of what he knew to be Gavina’s and Tessa’s steeds. Showcasing the subtlest of smiles, he turned with his hands on his hips and saw the faint outline of two women on horseback approaching him. Once Gavina and Tessa’s faces came into full view, he waved and called out: “Who won the race?”
Tessa shook her head as they dismounted their horses. “Well, Gavina, quite naturally.”
Gavina, smiling cockily, puffed her chest proudly. “I told Tessa nae other rider can out best a Baird.”
Finlay laughed. “I am nae sure about that, me dear Gavina. Plenty of Bairds hae lost before.”
“Nae ye!” Gavina said. “I ken the stories well.”
“Then yer memory must be tainted. Ye give me tae much credit. Stow yer horses. Then meet me at the archery range. Gather the other Bairsdmen as well.”
“Aye, me lord,” Tessa said.
“Aye, me lord,” Gavina said.
After saddling their horses, Gavina and Tessa met in the center of the village.
The village itself was a sprawling yet quaint establishment nestled in a small remote area of the Highlands surrounding by mountains on all sides. With several dozen buildings, cottages, and taverns of crème-colored hues, the village faced the sea and offered perpetual, saltwater-laced air that had the residents of the village smiling every morning when they awoke.
Finlay, looking around fondly at what he and his wife Isla had built, was just as grateful for his home now as he was the day they settled there over eight years prior.
In the center of the village, wedged in between an armory and the stables, was an archery range that also served as a training ground for the swordsmen.
Though peace was the definition of the town, Finlay and Isla, based on the years of struggle, always made it a point to keep their people prepared for the worse, and they designated one group of warriors to be their first line of defense should the people of their clan ever became threatened.
Those warriors were known as the Bairdsmen, and they were all gathered in a huddle near an archery target as two of them debated the finer points of using a bow.
“Naw!” James said to Tessa, his barrel chest puffing out and long red beard flowing in the breeze. “Ye cannae hold the bow like that! Ye will nae hit yer target!”
“Oh, ye cuddie,” Tessa spat back. “It is a good thing ye are a swordsman and not an archer.”
Ava and Lachlan, two more members of the Bairdsmen, laughed as Tessa and James went back and forth, each one of them trying to best the other with their knowledge and stepping closer to one another with fists clenched and teeth gritting.
“Ye are a fool if ye think that is the way tae hold a bow,” Ava said, Gavina smiling wryly as she sat on a wooden log and polished the curved dagger her sister Isla had gifted her.
“Call me a fool one mair time,” James said, “and I swear I will—”
“Will what?”
James huffed. “I hae never hit a woman before, but ye—”
“What is this?” Finlay called out, approaching the group as they all stood at attention. “What is this commotion about?”
Ava, her raven-colored hair flowing behind her, replied: “James and I were discussing the proper way tae hold a bow. It was just a disagreement.”
“Aye,” James said, nodding dutifully at his lord. “That was all.”
Finlay shook his head. “And ye think this justifies the two of ye going toe-to-toe in such a way? Ye think that I condone my warriors, the people I trust with the well-being and protection of this clan tae argue like this?”
No one said a word as several heads were hung in shame.
Finlay huffed. “Dae ye ken how long it took tae find this place? Tae find peace?” He shook his head, pacing. “Ye are all tae young tae ken what that struggle was like.”
He nodded to Gavina. “Only she has that firsthand knowledge. And each and every one of ye should ken that the last thing ye should ever dae is tae be spiteful to one of yer own people. The fight is nae here,” he gestured to the mountains and the lands ripe with the Sassenach on the other side. “It is out there. I dinnae want tae see ye arguing in such a way again. Is that understood?”
“Aye, me lord,” was said by all in rapid succession.
“Good,” Finlay said. “Because I want ye all tae learn the art of the bow and arrow. If we are in battle, if we find ourselves in a situation where our primary archer Tessa falls—who will take up her position? As of noo, it is none of ye.”
Gavina, sighing, raised her hand. “Ye ken I can do it, Finlay. I shall take the lead if Tessa falls.” She then looked down at her dagger, shaking her head and feeling like the training and bickering was a waste of her time.
Finlay, knowing Gavina well—and knowing more than well when she was exercising arrogance—told the members of the Bairdsmen to engage in practice swordplay while he requested Gavina to join him off to the side.
“Gavina,” he said in a hushed town as the Bairdsmen spared not far from them. “I must speak with ye.”
“What aboot?”
He sighed. “Your arrogance...”
Gavina squinted, offended. “I dinnae understand.”
“I am sure ye dae nae. That is the problem.”
“What dae ye mean by arrogance?”
He stepped in closer. “Ye are the most skillful warrior in this clan. But it worries me so when I hear such words of over confidence come out of yer mouth. Yer people are bickering needlessly, and ye, their leader, did not
step in and stop them.”
“I was speaking tae me skills as an archer. Ye ken I am capable.”
“There is nae question of that. But what troubles me is that your mindset might get the better of ye should a real battle ever befall us. Arrogance has nae room on the field of battle. It will only lead to dire consequences.” He gestured to the Bairdsmen. “Ye are their leader. But I cannae fathom ye being in charge if ye are as cavalier as ye hae been demonstrating yerself tae be.”
