Epilogue

The Tavishes' and MacMillans' eldest sons moved into MacKenzie Castle to oversee the leadership transition. While all kindness was shown to Laird Torquil's daughters, none of them were in a position to stand in their father's place.

Unlike their dead laird, the Kennet village council of elders had no desire to rule over the surrounding lands and village. Everyone wanted peace now that the harvest was over. Messengers were sent out to widowed lairds and chieftains, offering them a MacKenzie daughter as a bride if they would consider governing the castle too.

David came to visit the Cunningham girls at the farm cottage. "The council received word from the King. He is sending a regent to collect taxes from the region. As for armies and crop-sharing—he leaves that up to us to decide. I never kent acting as a laird was so boring. It's all balancing the accounts, judging complaints brought in front of the magistrate, and double checking no one is stealing from the spice cupboard."

"What happened to that mean auld witch who tried to kill Arran? Dam Bel Cowrie? " Isla wanted to know. The young girl was sitting in the front room with her sister, shelling peas from their bountiful crop."She made things interesting around here for a while. She is not at all like our own dear Agnes who would never harm a fly."

"The crone?" David shrugged. "She's half-mad. Ranting on and on about a curse and how the spell has been broken and what-not. We let her return to her cottage. One of her granddaughters has promised to take care of her. Loneliness is not good for the elderly."

Colleen gave a sad smile. "And what of ye, David? What of yer own solitary state? I hear ye have met a bonny lass over in Kennet."

David shuffled his feet, staring at the floor. "Our horizons have widened since the fall of MacKenzie Castle. I am only trying to heal the rift Torquil created between the clans."

The sisters burst out into peals of laughter. "Is that what we are calling it nowadays? Healing a rift?" Colleen dabbed the corner of her eyes with her apron. "Oh, well, I'm glad it's over. I always used to dream aboot being courted by a laird when I was a girl, but the reality is always so far from the ideal."

No one bothered telling the Cunningham girls that they were sorry for their loss. Ewan had betrayed his family in every way he could, but he had kept his promise to Colleen. The wandering mercenary the eldest Tavish son had hired in Inverness for six shillings was still alive.

Picking up his hat, David prepared to leave. He stopped at the door and turned around. "The auld crone was wittering on aboot some talisman, Colleen. Ye dinnae happen to ken what she is talking aboot, do ye?"

The healer rolled her eyes to the rafter beams. "Aye, Agnes and I were chatting the other day. She said ye cannae throw a stick in the Highlands withoot it hitting some warrior claiming to own a magic sword or a laird's son telling a fabulous tale about his torc or clan crest. Leave it be, David. As it turned oot, we didnae need sorcery to beat Torquil MacKenzie."

After David rode out the gate, Isla commented, "That's not what Agnes said, Colleen. The wise woman said ye must choose between following Arran on his cursed, rootless existence or settle down in the village and forget aboot him. Can ye do that?"

Her sister did not answer right away. The healer was staring at the gate and watching David's horse ride away. She regretted nothing. "Agnes warned me that the Immortal Warrior was bad news and had the power to break me heart, but she was wrong, Isla." Touching the cord around her neck, Colleen gave a wistful smile. "When I told Arran our wise woman wanted him gone from Aberkin, the revelation broke his heart, not mine."

Moving to the table and helping her sister shell peas, Colleen tried to get Isla to see more clearly. "Imagine year after year of loneliness, bound over to serve others, with no peace, no rest, and no home of yer own. That has been Arran's life, Isla."

The young girl's eyes filled with tears. "I thought it would be amazing for me body to heal if I hurt meself, but now I realize all that would do is curse me to move from village to village so that no one finds out the secret. Poor Arran." She looked closely at Colleen. "Why are ye smiling? How can ye be so cold-hearted?"

"Me heart is nae broken, Sister, because I am going to ask Arran to move in here with us! We need a strong man to build an extra room onto the cottage. I cannae have ye sleeping in the same bedchamber with me anymore, ye ken!" Colleen blushed.

Getting very excited, Isla jumped up and down. "Ye mean to say that when Arran comes to bid ye farewell, Colleen, ye will hang onto his arm and not let go?"

Laughing and throwing a pea shell at her sister, the healer replied, "I'll try not to be so dramatic aboot it, Sis, but in a nutshell, aye!"

It was Isla's job to scour the countryside looking for the farm's missing stray animals or going to fetch them from the fields and pastures where they had wandered off to. Waving to Colleen as she left, she shouted out, "I'm glad Arran is staying because now he can help us feed and milk the animals twice a day!"

Arran had been given a large chestnut stallion from the Aberkin council as thanks for his help. He was trotting it up the road to the cottage when Isla came tramping down the lane toward him. She gave him a cheery wave and a wink.

"I ken something ye dinnae ken," she told Arran. Reining in his horse, the mercenary smiled down at her. "I am sure there are any number of things ye ken that I don't, Isla."

Isla frowned. "Are ye nae going to guess?" He shook his head. "Nay, Maid Cunningham. I will not. Why ruin the surprise?"

Spurring his horse, Arran cantered through the gate. His heart beat faster when he heard Colleen singing in the kitchen. He knew she had spent a lot of time talking to Agnes. For some reason, the wise woman of Aberkin seemed to have taken a huge dislike to him. And how could he blame her? Since the two girls lost their parents, Agnes had been like a mother to them.

After squaring his shoulders and running one hand through his wild black hair, Arran ducked under the door and went inside. Colleen looked as pretty as a picture as she stood at the table measuring out dried and pounded herbs into a small pouch. Leaning against the frame for a while, he enjoyed watching her.

She was dressed in a simple tunic with a white smock underdress. It fitted her curves very nicely and for one moment, Arran was transported back to that day by the burn when those rounded hips and plump behind had rocked underneath him. "As lovely as it is to see ye from this angle, sweetheart, I adore yer smile just as much."

Colleen gasped, spinning around and running to him. "Arran, Arran, ye came! I thought those doomful predictions that Agnes made aboot us had scared ye off!" Throwing her arms around him, she tilted her face up for a kiss. He was happy to oblige her, but like every other time he had touched this woman, she had the power to arouse him like no other.

Grabbing her wrists and pulling her to the table, Arran pushed the bowls of herbs aside. "Agnes has left Aberkin, Colleen. Margaret just told me when I went to the tavern to settle the bill."

Colleen froze, too shocked to say anything. "Agnes? B-but she has been here for so long. She loved her wee house and garden. Does anyone ken where she went?"

He shook his head. "Nay. But I dinnae come here to talk aboot Agnes, dearheart…"

Propping his elbows on the table, he stared at her. "D'ye ken anything different aboot me?"

She noticed it immediately. "Yer wolf scar. It has healed." Colleen saw the scar on his brow was red and raised, but the bone was no longer visible underneath it. "Does this mean yer healing powers are stronger?" she asked.

"Nay. It is the opposite. Ewan knew the curse was breaking when he sacrificed himself for me. He was the only one to notice that the cut on me forehead did not stop bleeding. If the talisman had still been working, any cut would heal immediately. That was why he threw himself in front of the sword— because if Torquil's blow had landed, I would have died. Ewan smiled and accepted his decision to save me…at the hall doors he said, ‘time to die'. I thought he was talking about me, but he sacrificed himself instead."

Her voice became unsteady as she remembered Ewan's bravery. "The kirk has said many prayers for me brither, Arran. They have placed a plaque on the monument with his name etched on it. I am so proud of how Ewan saw the light at the end."

"The man is a hero. He always had it in him. It was Laird Torquil's evil influence that warped Ewan's ambitions. But now that my curse is lifted, I can understand the torment others must feel when they lose a loved one."

"D'ye think the witch's spell fixed ye?" Colleen was so happy. Her brother had died a hero.

Arran shook his head. "Dam Bel Cowrie knows more aboot magic than anyone I have ever met, Colleen. When Torquil was trying to drink my blood in the hall, the witch told him to hurry because the spell would no longer work once the bells rang at midnight."

"W-why?" Colleen was confused. Shifting closer to her, Arran took hold of her hand. "Because midnight would signal the end of the first day of me life that I was in love. When I was born, it was foretold by a wise woman: ‘Time will lose its power when love joins you to another.'" Taking her hands in his own, he kissed her fingers. "Colleen, once I was a lone wolf, prowling the Highlands with nowhere to rest me weary head, incapable of feeling anything other than boredom and anger. But ye healed me with love, darling lass. Natural, beautiful love and healing, the kind o' stuff that does nae need magic or talismans to exist. Look."

Running her hand over his cheek, Colleen felt the rough bristles of his beard. "Wait…" she whispered. Amidst the hard black scruff, she could see a light sprinkling of gray bristles growing along his strong jawline. "Arran!" Colleen was overjoyed, "Does this mean that ye can stay here with me and love me and grow auld with me—forever together?"

There was no need for an answer. The truth was plain to see. The healer lass from Aberkin had tamed the wolf and broken the curse of the talisman. "I love ye, Colleen," sweeping her into his arms, Arran placed warm, passionate kisses all over her face and neck. "Marry me, Maid Cunningham," he growled, "for ye are the first and only woman I have ever loved."

The little bedchamber where he had first been brought all those weeks ago after the skirmish was now a haven of love. Soon, all Colleen had on was the old cord and talisman around her neck. "It will be our family heirloom," she whispered, touching the strange fragment of stone, "because it is no longer a curse, but a blessing…because it brought us together."

There would be time for long, leisurely lovemaking in the future, but now their need was too sharp and too real to hold back. Spreading her legs to show him how willing and eager she was, Colleen felt utterly complete when he joined his body to hers. His deep kisses and grinding rhythm made her almost weep with happiness as the pleasure mounted inside her. It was over all too soon, but this time there would be no fond farewells or waves goodbye.

This time, their love would live on forever.

Thank you so much for reading my book!