Page 309

“Greetings to ye, Jordan,” he said softly, shamefully.

Jordan nodded faintly, staring back at him. “Are ye truly sorry for what ye have done, Laird Barr?”

Oliver looked miserable. “Aye, lassie, we are or we wouldna have come. ’Tis a humbling thing to admit yer own mistakes, but we are just the same. We realize how wrong we were to listen to Dunbar’s plans of gold and glory.” He looked her over. “And he told us ye were the biggest traitor of all because ye married an English earl. We knew ye that ye weren’t, but we believed him anyway. We’re sorry to ye, too, lass.”

Jordan was taken aback by the confession and the apology. She knew the human character and she could see from Oliver’s open stance that he was sincere. She glanced over her shoulder at her father, her husband.

“Give my da time. ’Twill take a great deal of time to heal him,” she said softly. “As for marrying the earl, I dinna do it.” She pointed up to proud, strong William. “I married The Wolf.”

Oliver’s eyes widened as he looked up at the earl. “Ye married The Wolf? The border Wolf?” he repeated. “Is that who he is?”

“Dinna they tell ye that at Northwood?” Jordan asked.

Oliver shook his head. “Nay, lass, they dinna,” he said, quite awed. “They simply told us they knew where Thomas had gone and nothing more. Lord, lassie, ye married The Wolf?”

Suddenly, Jemma was beside Jordan, glaring up at Oliver. “And I married his captain,” she said menacingly. “I ought to kill ye right here and now for what ye did to my mother, but in the name of peace I wunna. What in the world makes ye think an apology will help us now? Why dinna ye come months ago?”

“Because…because there was not one man among us who wanted to admit his mistake,” Oliver said. “Dunna vex me now, lass. ’Twas hard enough to get the courage to come here. But know how sorry I am about yer mother, Lilith. Truly, lass.”

Jemma was breathing hard, gearing up for another nasty retort when tears suddenly spilled down her cheeks and she turned away from him, sobbing. Kieran bailed from his destrier and went to his wife, enveloping her in his huge form. Oliver’s eyes widened at the sight of the truly massive man.

Jordan watched her cousin sympathetically a moment before turning back to Oliver. “And Caladora married Northwood’s captain, in case ye dinna know that,” she said softly. “Ye see, Oliver, we’re all married to English. And our children are of a new generation that ties our countries together, linking them. I pray my sons grow up to love Scots as well as English and that they never know what it is to hate another man simply because he is different. Yer hatred and yer greed blinded ye, and ye destroyed my father’s fortress because he formed an alliance with the enemy. Ye realized too late that the real enemy was from within.”

Oliver listened to her, agreeing with every word. The others heard her, English and Scot, and William had never been more proud of his wife.

“I love the English I live with and the English we are allied with, Laird Barr,” Jordan said after a moment. “I used to love the Scott allies, too, but ye have all but destroyed that tie. ’Twill take a long time to regain it.”

“I hope someday ye can find it in yer heart to forgive us,” Oliver said huskily. “We did so wrong ye.”

She lifted her eyebrows and nodded faintly in agreement. “Aye, ye did.” She glanced behind him. “I notice ye carry some of my father’s men.”

He nodded. “A little over one hundred.”

She gazed at her father again. “Ye will send the men back to Langton to begin rebuilding,” she told him. “My da will join them later.”

Oliver cleared his throat again, looking once more to Thomas’ turned back and over to Jemma where she stood clutching her husband. His damn stupidity had done this.

“Aye, lassie, I shall return them,” he said. “And I shall build up the first stone myself. Mayhap…mayhap actions will speak louder than words.”

Jordan watched him go, followed by the other chiefs. They mounted their horses and began shouting orders to the multitude of tartan-clad men as the Scots began to split from the English troops. They all watched in silence, emotions swirling between them like devil winds, touching all. It was difficult to know how to react.

Jordan was suddenly aware of William beside her, watching the army march away in complete silence. Above them the sky was bright summer blue, and the field grass licked at her bare legs. Birds chirped around them and Jordan was suddenly filled with a sense of hope. Hope for the future, her children’s future.

“That was quite a speech,” William said after a moment.

She shrugged, turning to look at her father. “ ’Twas no speech, but the truth,” she said. “English, I think I shall walk back to Questing with my da if that is all right.”

He nodded, removing his helmet and kissing her forehead. “Quite all right, love. I shall meet you back there.”

He moved away from her and she turned to watch him, so regal and strong. Her Wolf. Her life that had come full circle.

Everything they had dreamed of and hoped for had come to pass and she loved him more than life itself.

“English,” she called out softly.

He turned to look at her, grasping his destrier’s reins.

“What is it, love?”