“Nothing?” Cam said. “Och, I observed you up night after night. You have done much for both of us, more than you realize. You will be handsomely rewarded.”
Thomas excused himself, leaving her alone with Cam. “I miss her,” she managed to say between her tears.
“You will see her again,” he replied, holding her tight to his chest.
“Will I?”
“She said so herself.”
Rachel wanted to believe it but it was hard. For so many years she had wondered who her mother was and now she knew. It seemed too cruel for her to find her only to have her snatched away in the same instant.
She put her hand on her belly, drawing comfort from the thought of the new life growing in there. Cam’s hand slid over her own. “Our wee bairn,” he said quietly.
“What should we call him?”
“It’s a he, is it?” Cam replied. “You’re sure of that?”
“I just know it’s a he and he needs a name. How about Philip?”
“I like that.”
She slid the cellphone into her pocket despite somehow knowing it would never work again. It was her last connection to her own time and she felt that call had been not just saying goodbye to her mother but saying goodbye to the twenty-first century.
From now on she was a medieval Highland lass, and that meant enjoying the celebrations with the rest of them. She would hold onto the slip of paper with the word ‘love’ written on it. That would be enough.
It was the anniversary of Cam’s marriage to Rachel and almost the entire clan was freed from work for the day. Only the guards remained at their post, the rest indulging in a great feast taking place in the courtyard. Tables had been moved outside for the occasion. People were sitting, drinking ale, laughing, talking loudly.
Later, there would be dancing. First, there was much eating to be done. Rachel wiped away her tears as she joined her husband at the top table. Philip stood beside them, pounding the butt of his knife on the tabletop. “Quiet,” he shouted. “I have something to say.”
“Make it quick,” someone shouted back. “It’ll be winter soon.”
“My speeches aren’t usually that long, are they?”
A groan in response.
“Right, well I’ll keep this one as short as I can. There is peace in the Highlands like none we have ever known.” He paused, looking out at the crowd. “This peace has come at a high price. Castles lay empty. Villages are no more than waste. Food is scarce in many places still.
“But there is hope. Crops grow once more. The land is freed from darkness and there is one reason for that above all others. These two people here saved us all. To them, raise your drinks high. Cam and Rachel.” He held up his goblet as the tribute echoed around the courtyard.
“Cam and Rachel.”
“Speech!” someone called out, waving at Cam.
He stood up, waiting for silence. “I thank you all for your kindness. This clan only exists because of the people in it, people who are capable of great good and great evil.
“The choices we make have ripples that pass down through the ages. I have chosen a bride and together we shall have a child. Who knows where that child will go in life. Or their children. All I know is that I am glad they will have better chances because the evil that threatened to consume us is gone from our land.”
He paused for a moment, waiting for the cheering to die down. “We must continue to be vigilant,” he said when he could make himself heard once more.
“Darkness waits always at the edge of our vision. We must watch for it. We must be the light. We must be the beacon the Highlands can see at every hour of night and day. All our children need us to watch out for them until we are old and broken and then they will, in turn, watch out for us. I raise my cup not to me and my wife but to all of you. To the MacGregors. May God watch over us all.”
“The MacGregors!” The noise was so loud that the crows on the towers took off in alarm.
Cam sat back down as the conversation resumed around the courtyard. Rachel looked at him, seeing in his eyes a joy that was tempered with concern for his clan. “To think they almost burned us alive,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “It’s strange to think how easily they were swayed.”
“It wasn’t easy to turn this lot,” Cam replied. “Tor had his work cut out dripping his poison, telling them lies. Even with the barefoot man’s help, he didn’t succeed.”
“Came close though.”
