"I wouldna have offered my daugher's hand tae him in marriage had I no thought that he was honorable," Berkshire continued. "I have nae choice but tae hope that his honor has pa.s.sed into ye his son and that ye are being truthful in this matter."

"I a.s.sure ye that I do have my father's honor, and that I am indeed being truthful with ye," Devon said, holding eye contact with Berkshire. "I'm sorry for yer loss, Berkshire, but my wife had nothing tae do with it," he a.s.sured calmly.

Berkshire nodded coolly at Devon, cleared his throat and said quietly, "Douglas will see ye out," before he strode quickly from the room, leaving the door open.

We were ushered quietly to our horse, and bid farewell from Castle Berkshire unceremoniously, but with a small parcel of food to tide us over for our journey. Berkshire's dismissal of us led me to believe that he got some peace from knowing what had happened to his daughter, but I could tell that he was not fully satisfied with my story. Having no choice but to believe me or to insight a feud with the McClains, he chose to take the high road and accept my story, even if he did not totally buy it.

"Where will we go now?" I asked relieved that our duty to the Berkshire family had been fulfilled, but unsure of what the future held for us. I had killed the Laird of Clan McClain, a crime that could not be taken lightly by the people of the clan.

"We go home," Devon said confidently, as he spurred Stanley into motion and held me to his chest a little tighter. Clearly he was still unsure of my abilities regarding staying astride a moving horse.

"What?" I asked, taken aback by his intentions to return to his clan after I had murdered their leader. We would be killed for sure.

"I'm now the Laird of the clan. Someone will have found Collin by now, and they will be expecting me tae return. They'll be expecting me tae take my role as leader of the clan. I'm sure that my men will ken that I was the one responsible for his death, having found out that he took ye. They will be expecting us tae return shortly and I canna let my people down."

"They won't kill us?" I asked, shocked by his matter-of-fact intentions.

It had not occurred to me that Devon was now Laird of Clan McClain. I knew that my mouth was hanging open in surprise and I made the effort to close it.

"Nae, they won't kill us. People have wondered why I hadna killed him already. In fact, there were many in the clan who encouraged me tae do sae over the years. It was my love for Da that kept me from taking Collin out sooner."

I was speechless. Highland customs were something that I was afraid that I would never get used to.

"Actually, I should thank ye for killing him for me. Ye saved me from a lifetime of guilt and Hail Mary's," Devon chuckled. "He deserved it anyhow."

"I can't believe you, thanking me for killing your brother!"

"Someone needed tae do the deed, and yer soul is free and clear. It was in self defense after all. Had I killed him out of spite or hatred, my soul would have been in question. Worked out better than I could ever have planned, la.s.s."

"I hadn't thought of it that way, I guess."

"And since I'm Laird, that makes ye the Mistress of the clan. I plan to have ye beside me in all decisions regarding our people, and the running of the keep."

"Of course I'll be beside you. You'll never get rid of me now! As far as running the keep and taking care of your people, I'm not sure how much help I will be there. I'm still trying to figure this strange world out."

"OUR people," Devon corrected me. "Ye will be perfect, just as ye always are. There are insights and knowledge that ye bring from yer past that will be invaluable to us. I want ye involved in everything. I need ye beside me tae help me be the Laird that my father had envisioned that I would someday become."

I smiled softly, enjoying the feeling of belonging that Devon had so sternly insisted that I have. Our clan. We would lead the clan together, helping each other to be the best that we could possibly be.

"I love you, Laird McClain," I whispered, turning around and kissing him soundly.

Devon reined Stanley to a halt, and tied the reins around the pommel of the saddle so that he could have both hands free for the business at hand. "I love ye too, Mistress McClain. I'll live each day thankful that ye were sent tae me," he vowed as he wrapped his arms around me and captured my lips in a pa.s.sionate kiss.

I too was thankful. Thankful that I had jumped into the ocean and found safety in this rugged place. All that I had loved and lost from my life before seemed trivial when compared with all that I had gained in my new life. I had found a love most unexpected in Devon, but it was a love truer and deeper than I had ever known was possible. I had found my home.

end.