The cairn at Culloden Moor. The cairn at Culloden Moor!
And beneath the fierce clarity of that intent, another truth pulsed, just as strong, just as certain.
His love for the woman in his arms.
She’d sacrificed everything she knew and loved to help his family, placed her trust in him when it didn’t make sense to do so, defied everything she believed in to walk into darkness and choose love, choose him, when everything else she could possibly desire lay open to her.
He pressed his lips to her hair. “I love you.”
Take us to Culloden Moor. Take us home, to our family.
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
The breeze off Culloden Moor carried the scent of heather and grasslands, and Noah happily filled his lungs with it. This was a day of celebration marking the anniversary of his family’s arrival in this world.
One year ago, he and Skye had stumbled onto this ground clutching each other, gasping, half-blind with terror, into a world neither of them understood. The grey emptiness of the portal had spat them out onto cold, wet grass beneath a sky so vast and open it had buckled his knees.
Today that same sky stretched above them, pale blue and streaked with wisps of clouds over the moor that rolled away in every direction.
A perfect day.
Emily sat cross-legged on a blanket near the memorial cairn, a book open on her lap and a green knitted cap pulled low over her ears. The cap was new, one of several Skye had found in an Inverness shop. Emily had opinions about every one of them, which Noah considered a wonderful sign. His sister was returning to them, stronger and more herself every day. Her cheeks held color again. Actual pink, warm and alive, replacing the terrifying grey pallor that had haunted his nightmares formonths. Her blue eyes, enormous as ever, followed the words on the page with the fierce concentration of a girl determined to devour every story and bit of knowledge this world had to offer.
A.L.L. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The doctors at Raigmore Hospital had given it a name within days of their arrival. Had begun treatment immediately. Months of protocols, extended hospital stays, and medications Noah still could not properly pronounce. But Emily had fought with a ferocity that surprised no one who knew her, and now, thankfully, she was in outpatient care with oral medication and monthly visits. They measured her future now in optimism and possibilities instead of hours.
Noah watched Skye lower herself onto the blanket beside Emily and point to something on the page. Their heads bent together, dark hair against a green cap, and Emily laughed. The sound carried like birdsong and lodged in Noah’s chest so fiercely he found it hard to breathe.
Brody raced between the clan markers, his energy boundless as usual, shouting questions at Taran about the battle and the Highlanders. Taran followed, answering each one with the patience of a father and the knowledge of a man who’d lived through the battle, knew every spot and its significance, and had paid the ultimate price for his country.
He looked younger, Noah realized. A year in the modern world, free of the dangers and limitations of the last one, had eased the deep lines of worry that had seemed permanently carved into his father’s face.
Paige strolled a few steps behind her husband and son, her eyes soft as she watched them. She caught Noah looking and smiled that wonderful smile she reserved for moments when the family was whole and accounted for, and no one was in immediate danger of anything worse than a scraped knee. It used to be rare but now he saw it often, especially with Emily’sexcellent progress. It was a gift, that smile, and he treasured it every time he saw it.
This first year hadn’t been easy for any of them. Emily hanging on by a thread. Paige unwilling to leave her. No one daring to look too far ahead.
And in the beginning, for both him and Skye, the city of Inverness had overwhelmed them in ways the old world and the Citadel never had. Noise, cars, phones, electricity, crowds of strangers moving at a pace that felt reckless and bewildering, were too much.
Taran and Paige had rented a flat near the hospital to be close to Emily, and Noah and Skye had gratefully accepted an invitation from Reginald and Lauren McColl to stay with them at the glen, where the quiet of the land and the rhythm of physical work gave them room to breathe and learn about their new world, at their own pace.
And the time to spend together, to get to know everything about each other. To fall even deeper in love.
Lauren had even graciously driven them to Inverness for regular visits with Emily at the hospital and so Skye could give Paige a rest and a chance to spend some time with Brody. Over time, the noise and the crowds of the city had become less overwhelming and easier to integrate into their new lives.
Noah glanced again at Skye and Emily, giggling over some shared secret, and gave thanks for whatever fate, magic, or set of miracles brought his family to this day. The woman he loved and the sister he adored had developed a unique bond during Emily’s hospital stay as Skye read to her, talked to her, played with her. The two of them spent long days lost in marvelous stories while machines hummed and nurses came and went around them.
When Paige could not leave Emily’s side, Skye had simply stepped into the gap, caring for Brody with a natural warmth that still startled Noah when he caught glimpses of it. She tookpart in all his interests and nurtured his curiosity, read to him at bedtime, and answered his relentless questions about life at the Citadel with clarity and a tenderness that never wavered.
Skye herself read everything she could find. History, science, novels, newspapers. She approached the modern world the way she had approached the Citadel’s library, with a hunger that bordered on ferocious. Noah loved watching her discover things. Loved the way her gorgeous green eyes widened at some new wonder, then narrowed with the focused intensity of a woman cataloguing the information for future use.
“Grand day for it,” Finn stated, appearing at Noah’s shoulder. His Irish lilt had softened over the year but never disappeared. Noah knew the gash on his shoulder from the tunnel had healed into a thick scar he wore without complaint. Just as he wore all the other scars he carried inside him. Noah was grateful every day for this steadfast man who’d helped save his family and become part of it in the bargain.
“It is,” Noah agreed.
“The farm’s coming along. Reginald says he’ll have the new forge delivered by month’s end.” Finn beamed with pride over the farm the McColls were helping him purchase. “Plenty of room for all of us, once you and Skye are ready to make the move.”
Noah nodded. Finn’s new farm was not far outside the glen, and he was working hard, crafting one-of-a-kind artisan ironworks to sell in Reginald’s popular custom furniture business. With some samples and advertising from Reggie, the orders were coming in faster than Finn could fill them.
