Page 103 of Defy the Highlander

With three men down, Brody was the winner. He threw up his arms as he approached the lists, encouraging everyone there to cheer for their champion. He was laughing as he did it, arrogantly soaking up the adoration as his wife screamed and whistled wildly for him. He pointed to her, acknowledging her cheers, as both Lilia and Isadora laughed uproariously about it.

They laughed even harder when Cam and Titus came up behind him, lifting him into the air and tossing him onto the dirt. By then, it became a dog pile as Clegg and Axel stepped in to stop it before someone was unintentionally injured.

The great fight between the doctores and Titus had come to a satisfying conclusion.

Galan was helped out of the arena by Luther and Milo while the novicius came down out of the lists and gathered in a big group. Axel discussed the bout they’d just witnessed and asked the men what they had learned from it.

Lilia and Isadora had come down to the edge of the arena, watching and listening. Lilia couldn’t help but reflect on the times she had sat at the edges of the arena, watching the bouts between half-naked men as Lady Currie drooled. It was something she had hated, and a place she had hated, but now…

Now, she loved everything about it.

The Ludus Caledonia had become her home.

But the afternoon was beginning to wan and, soon, the arena would need to be prepared for the coming fights that evening. When Axel was finished with his teaching moment, Brody and Cam broke up the group of novicius and sent them back to their cottages. When the men disbursed, Brody and Cam headed for their wives.

Niko screamed when he saw his father, running to Cam, who picked him up and tossed him in the air, listening to him shriek in delight. As Cam and Isadora headed off, Brody went to Lilia, hugging her gently and putting his hand on her rounded belly.

“How is Mattox?” he asked.

She laughed softly. “So today it is Mattox?” she said. “Yesterday, it was Alex.”

“I’ve changed my mind.”

“Ye’ve changed yer mind a hundred times.”

Brody turned her for the arena exit. “Naming my son is very important,” he insisted. “It must be the right name.”

“Alex was a nice name.”

He shook his head. “Too common,” he said. “I must have something unique and unusual, like my name.”

“Where did ye get yer name, anyway?”

“It was my mother’s family name. In my family, the men are usually named after the mother’s family. My father was named for his mother’s family.”

They began to mount the steps that would take them out of the arena. “My mother’s family name was Hayes,” Lilia said. “I like the name Hayes McKay.”

Brody cocked his head. “Nice enough,” he said. “I shall consider it.”

“Do I not get a say in this?”

“Ye can name the lasses. I’ll name the lads.”

She twisted her lips unhappily. “Is that so?”

“’Tis.”

She broke into a grin, shaking her head at her stubborn husband as they came to the top of the arena and began heading for their small cottage that was located near Caelian Hill. It was a bigger cottage, with three rooms, and it stood alongside Cam and Isadora’s larger cottage.

With their family growing, Clegg had moved them away from the rank and file of the warrior’s village, which Brody appreciated. It was one kind gesture in a long line of kind gestures that Clegg had made for them since they had discovered Lilia’s pregnancy. The only caveat was that Clegg demanded he be named the child’s godfather, to which they had readily agreed.

The sun was sinking low in the sky as they neared Caelian Hill, but as they did so, Lilia suddenly came to a halt. When Brody looked at her curiously, she pointed towards Caelian Hill.

Laird Currie’s carriage was parked alongside the curtain wall.

Interested at the appearance of the old lord, they shifted course and headed towards the carriage. The door to the cab suddenly popped open and Laird Currie emerged, moving slowly and being helped by his driver. When Laird Currie saw Brody, he waved a hand at him.

“Brody!”