A/N: Greetings and salutations, readers! :)

I just want to say thanks to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed this story! You guys have been awesome :D Also! Thanks to those of you who simply read and enjoyed this story. I'm glad you stuck around to see it through :)

Anonymous reviewers!

SecretB - Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you like my stories! :D I do not plan on writing an epilogue for this story, but I do plan on it for A Dangerous Masquerade. I have a bit of that one written, but it's been put on the back burner for a while due to an insane work/school/etc schedule I have. But, I do plan on it. May not be for a few months, but I do plan on posting one, and I hope everyone likes it :) Thanks again, and I hope you like this chapter! :D

Guest- Thank you for the review! Hahaha, I'm sorry...You're just going to have to imagine those "more than romantic" moments ;) I think you can do it hehe! Yes, definitely more Brittana to come your way in the future, so don't worry :) I have heard of Battlesong, but I haven't had time to really sit down and read it yet. It looks really good, so thanks for the suggestion! :) I hope you like this last chapter! :D

Rioux -Thanks for the review, as always :D Hahaha, Lady Clara is definitely coo-coo crazy! I'm sorry for adding undue stress to your poor heart! I hope this chapter helps to sooth your anxiety and puts you at ease. :)

That is all I have to say for now. :) Happy reading, everyone! :D

"Nothing can happen to her while she is under my protection," William repeated, his tone conveying the danger of his position. "The Pierces would bring the very legions of hell to my gate. They would accuse me of murder and succeed in holding me responsible. We will not take that chance."

"This is the fault of that foul Highlander. We could have claimed that she had never arrived here, if it weren't for her." Clara glared accusingly at him. "Your men should have done away with Santana when they were on the road."

William started pacing, his tone exasperated. "They tried, but the accursed lass escaped the burning cottage."

They stopped speaking at the sound of a knock.

"Yer supper, Sir William," one of the servants called, pushing the door open.

Clara glided across the room to the window. It was already dark outside. She shivered as a cool breeze wafted in and chilled her. They had to get rid of Santana. They had to find a way and do it soon.

It was bad enough receiving the letter that Santana was alive. Coming face-to-face with her daughter last night, though, had completely unnerved her. She felt her world crumbling around her once more. Aye, it was all happening again. Eighteen years ago she had loved William Schuester, but no one had listened to her begging and crying that he was the only man that she could love. That he was the only man that she could spend the rest of her life with. It didn't matter to her that he had no wealth. He was a warrior and would earn his place in the world. Even her own sisters had sided with their father and betrayed her.

So Clara had gone to the Highlands bitter and resolute on the course her life would take. If she had been forced to live a life of misery, then by God there would be no peace around her. She would never be happy, and she would make certain that no one around her would be happy, either.

But the misery she inflicted had not been enough. As Stephen spent more and more time in the service of his king, she started meeting secretly again with William. He still loved her. He hadn't forgotten her. He hadn't taken a wife. It was then that they had planned their scheme.

Eleven years ago, she had considered Santana her child. The six-year-old was impressionable enough, and Clara knew she could mold the girl into anything she wished. If all had gone as they had planned, she would have taken the child back with her to the Borders. But that had been the only portion of their scheme that had failed.

And William was certain that the child had seen his face.

Assuming that the girl was dead for all these years had been a great relief. But last night, Clara's world had fallen to pieces around her as she stared into the accusing eyes of her husband.

Santana Catherine was his daughter. In looks, she was similar to Clara. But in spirit, the dead had been raised.

A tray hit the floor with a loud clatter, and Clara turned sharply to see the spilled food a step away from the table where William had seated himself for his supper. The clumsy servant, her head bowed over her task was hurriedly cleaning up the mess. Another servant cursed quietly and continually at the woman and ordered the other two maids to run to the kitchens for more food.

Clara's gaze fixed on the servant. A lock of dark hair had escaped the kerchief. She glimpsed the olive-skinned face, the full lips, the flitting glance at William's missing fingers as he rested his hand on the edge of the table. Clara took a step toward the girl, but she paused as William slowly rose from his chair. His look told her that he had guessed her identity as well.

"I told the cook to send Millie," the other servant continued to complain under her breath as she crouched by the girl, helping with the tray. "Don't know what he's thinking, sending new help with the master's meal. Hurry, ye fumbling puss! Out quick…and take this mess with ye."

Clara frowned at the two women, scrambling on their knees by the table. Santana was wearing Millie. The old fool had taken her up to her bedchamber. She had taken her meals in to her. And now she had helped the girl escape in her clothes. So even her own servants were betraying her. Clara felt her temper rise, and she took another step toward them. Well, it would take only a moment to put a quick end to this treachery. As she opened her mouth to speak, William raised his hand and Clara's gaze shifted to his face. With the slightest shake of his head, he signaled for her to wait.

Santana lifted the tray unsteadily and scurried toward the door.

"Let her go," William said quietly. "That is exactly where I want her, running after her Highlander with witnesses who will swear she stole away of her own accord. Outside of this castle, she is no longer under my protection. And then our problems are solved."

With her heart drumming in her ears, Santana raced down the steps.

He was coming after her. Him. Her father's killer. Her mother's protector. Now everything made sense. They would kill her for sure now, for she had seen it all.

But had they recognized her?

At the bottom of the stairs, she looked in confusion at the tray in her hands. She couldn't run through the yard with this. But she couldn't risk going to the kitchens, either.

"I'll take that from ye, mistress." The woman's hushed voice behind her made Santana jump. She hadn't even realized that the other servant had followed her down the steps. "Ye run for the gate now, before they figure something's amiss."

Santana gaped at her for a moment, stunned by the servant's words. They were all against Clara. They all knew her for what she was. She let go of the tray when the other woman took it.

"Pull the kerchief down over yer eyes. Walk quick, and don't answer any of them curs at the gate. When ye get clear of the drawbridge, follow the road to the village, but turn right at the split in the road. From there, ye can cut over to the woods before you reach the first cottage. That will take ye to the riverbank." The woman darted a look up the stairwell. "Run, now. I hear someone coming."

"Thank you," Santana whispered raggedly, and pushed through the door the woman pointed to.

The sky was dark and heavy, but there was no rain. Santana's feet sank into the mud outside the door, but she didn't care. Only a handful of men were visible in the courtyard, and Santana was relieved to see a small group of workers crossing the yard toward the gate. She hurried to them and fell in a couple of steps behind the men. She had to stifle the urge to run. She kept her head down, but felt as if everyone in the world knew who she was.

The past twenty-four hours had given Santana a chance to come to terms with her mother's hatred. She had not caused Lady Clara's feelings toward her, but she was not willing to live with them, either. The last few moments, though, had revealed the horrible truth, and another powerful need had surfaced within her: revenge. Santana would avenge her father's murder. But to do that, Santana first had to get away.

There were lewd calls from some of the soldiers keeping watch as Santana pass through the gate. She did as the servant told her, though, and followed the rest of the people out. Once outside the castle's curtain wall, Santana slowed down a little, giving the others an opportunity to move ahead of her.

She found the split in the road and a few moments later was moving silently across the fields toward the woods beyond. Once she had stepped into the trees, however, the darkness became an ominous presence. Every tree and shrub threatened her. The sounds of night intimidated her.

But nothing of what lay ahead compared with the murderous monster behind her.

As she followed a path through the woods, Santana tried to gauge the direction of the river. Once she found that, she would simply follow it to the point where she was to meet Brittany at dawn.

A twig cracked behind her. She turned around, but there was no one. Santana stepped out of the path and waited a moment. Nothing happened, but prickles of vulnerability raced up and down her back. She was completely unfamiliar with her surroundings. Santana had no defense against anything—or anyone—that might be lying in wait in the darkness ahead.

Feeling around at her feet, Santana found a stick, straightened up, and started along the path again. It was all she could do to fight down her panic.

A few moments later, the sound of the river reached her ears. She stopped. Looking around her, though, she could not decide where the sound was coming from. But Santana knew that no matter how bad her confusion was, she still had to choose. It would not be long before Sir William and her mother sent for her. They quite possibly had done so already and found Millie in her place.

The sound of heady footfalls came from behind her on the path. Someone was in the woods. Santana listened, unable to move from the spot. There were more footsteps. The sound of men whispering quietly. They were so near. The Schuesters were after her.

Before she could move, however, a thought pushed forward in her brain: why would Sir William's men need to be quiet? Why not light torches? Send armies of people in search of her?

It could be Brittany and her men. They could be hiding in these same woods. With a sense of relief that almost took her breath away, Santana opened her mouth to call to them…and then stopped.

Whoever it was, they were getting closer, and Santana felt the hairs on her neck stand up. Acting on instinct, she took off again through the woods, away from the sounds. Bramble bushes caught at her clothes and young saplings slapped at her face, but she didn't look back. Frantic, Santana charged on through the dark glade

Santana no longer had any idea where she was or what direction she was going. Confusion surrounded her as she tore through the forest. The pulsing of her heart in her ears blocked out all noised it was not long before her energy started slipping away. Sobs of desperation rose into her throat, choking her. And yet on she ran.

She didn't even see the man who stepped out from behind the tree until she ran into him. His bruising fingers clamped on her arm, and Santana could feel the missing fingers on his right hand. She tried to scream, but fear and shock clawed at her throat.

"And finally we meet." He spoke quietly, without feeling. "And I am very grateful to you for making our little business so simple for me to finish this time."

Santana stared up into his dark eyes and realized that she was no longer thinking of her own end. Her fear dissipated into the darkness like a puff of smoke. Instead, she found that she was filled with rage at the injustice that would never be righted.

"Why?" she said coolly. "Why did you have to kill my father? She could have walked away from the marriage. Why such cold-blooded murder?"

"He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword," Schuester answered bluntly. "The sword was Stephen's way. He was brave enough, and he was too proud to accept his wife leaving him. It would have been a blemish on his name."

"So you took his life."

"He took Clara against her wishes. And I took her back. It was the way he lived. It was what he knew," Schuester explained again, his voice still devoid of all emotion.

"You stabbed him in the back," Santana retorted furiously.

Schuester looked away into the darkness. "Think me evil if you will, but there was no difference between Stephen and me. We lived our lives by the sword."

"That's a lie," Santana hissed between clenched teeth.

Schuester merely shrugged indifferently. "He killed in the name of the king. I killed in the name of justice."

"And you call this justice?" Santana tried to shrug off his touch, but his fingers only tightened more painfully on her arms. "Chasing me through the woods. Will you stab me in the back, too, and call it justice?"

A hard smile broke over his face. "Others will see it that way after they hear that I have hanged the outlaws who I will say attacked and killed young Pierce and her men…and Clara's only child. There are many in Ninestane Castle who will honestly swear that a foolish lass ran off to meet with her Highland lover."

"Brittany." She gasped. The taste of bile rose into her mouth.

"As we speak, my men are putting your dear Highlanders to the sword. You will be relieved to know, though, that they will die peacefully while they sleep," Schuester said, his voice sickeningly sweet while his eyes shone with a sinister gleam, taking delight in his successful plan.

Santana went wild in his arms, kicking and punching with the fury of a tiger. "I'll kill you with my bare hands if you go close to her. By Saint Adrian's blood, I'll you into pieces and use you for fish bait if you so much as touch her!"

He tried to hold her with his mutilated hand while reaching for his dagger with the other. Santana bit hard on his thumb, and he roared in pain. Angry, he slapped her hard across the face, knocking her backward. Stunned by the force of the blow, Santana fell against a tree, striking her head hard on the knobby trunk.

A million lights exploded in her head, nearly blinding her momentarily, and she felt herself sinking to the ground. The woods whirled crazily. Santana watched helplessly through the haze as the murderer pulled the dagger out of its sheath and took a step toward her.

And suddenly there were torches coming through the trees.

"They were not there, m'lord!"

"Empty rolls of straw and blankets!"

"Not one filthy Highlander anywhere."

The urgent shouts of his men running into sight pulled Schuester's attention away.

"What do you mean, no one there?" he demanded, obviously fighting to keep his voice calm.

"Their horses were still tethered to the trees," the first one answered.

"Don't make a sound." The whisper was so low that Santana thought she had imagined it. As Schuester started shouting orders to his men, she felt strong arms wrap around her waist and drag her slowly backward. She looked over her shoulder and felt her heart soar when she realized it was Brittany.

Schuester turned at that instant, and his angry growl echoed through the woods. "Stop her! Kill her!"

The Lowlanders raced toward them with their swords raised.

Santana watched in amazement as Brittany's men came out of the shadows of the trees like men possessed. The first volley of arrows cut down the first line of Lowlanders, and the rest soon felt the cutting edge of Pierce steel.

Brittany, with a quick glance at Santana, turned murderous eyes on the man who was moving toward them.

"He is the one," Santana managed to whisper, pushing herself upright. "He killed my father." She fought the fog blurring her vision and tried to focus on Brittany as her sword clashed with the murderer's. Sparks flew into the night as the two figures fought blade to blade.

Leaning her weight on the tree, Santana forced herself to her feet. Don't let her get hurt. Please, God. Don't let any harm come to her.

Blow after blow, the ringing sound of steel filled the glade, but then in horror she saw Brittany trip. With his sword flashing upward in the torchlight, the Lowlander stepped forward to deliver the final blow. With all her strength, Santana pushed away from the tree and threw her weight against Schuester's side. He stumbled forward and fell across Brittany.

Santana watched the Lowlander's body twist sharply when he hit the ground, and then he lay still.

She blinked and looked over at Brittany, who was on one knee, covered with blood.

And then the world went blank.

From the magnificent view out of the high window, Santana admired the lush and fertile farmlands, the broad expanses of forest, the rocky upland moors surrounding the Border stronghold. She was in Roxburgh Castle, scarcely a two-hour ride from Ninestane and a place where Brittany knew Santana would be safe. Roxburgh belonged to Ambrose Pierce, her uncle, Brittany told her. Santana looked up at the clear blue sky and breathed in the fresh spring air.

"Are ye ready to take yer meal now?"

Santana turned and smiled at the housekeeper, who was ushering a servant with a tray of food into the room

"Ina, you don't need to be serving me like this. I am well enough to come and take my meals with everyone else in the great hall," Santana assured the other woman.

"Well, Mistress Brittany's orders were for ye to follow the abbot's advice and stay in bed this week." The housekeeper started arranging the food on a table near the window. "I let ye out of bed, but ye are weak and need to get yer strength back before she returns."

Before she returns.

Santana loved the sound of those words. In her mind she saw Brittany, returning from Stichel, where she had taken Lady Clara.

Santana stared at the distant hill. William Schuester was dead. He had died when he had fallen on Brittany's dagger. The same night, Ninestane Castle had come under siege by Brittany and the company of Pierces that she had gathered from Roxburgh Castle. With their leader dead, there had been little resistance. But dealing with Clara had been more difficult. Santana's mother had become wild upon hearing the news. Crazed with grief, she would have jumped from the tower to her death if Brittany had not physically restrained her.

Scotland's Council of Regents, in Berwick for a meeting with English officials, had decided Clara's fate that same week. She was to be sent away where she could bring no harm to anyone and live out the rest of her life in solitude. Clara herself had chosen the convent at Stichel.

Santana had been recovering at Roxburgh through all of this, and her mother refused to see her or talk to her. A stranger seemed to have inhabited Clara's body since Schuester's death. She was a madwoman who claimed that she had never had either a husband or a daughter. But she was at peace with the sentence she had been given. She planned to grieve her dead lover for the rest of her life.

"Now, ye don't want to get me in trouble with that bonny lass by falling ill again, do ye?" Ina asked playfully with a wink.

Santana turned away from the window and smiled at the housekeeper. "She is coming back today, isn't she?"

"That is what I hear." Ina started serving the food.

"She is not giving you any trouble, is she?"

Brittany's voice made Santana cry out in joy. "You are back!"

Brittany opened her arms, and they met in the middle of the room. She whirled Santana about and kissed her before the brunette had a chance to say another word. They had seen each other only in fleeting moments this past week. And Santana could not believe how much she had missed the blonde.

It was a long time before Santana pulled out of Brittany's embrace. She looked around the room and found that Ina had already slipped out.

"Thank you…for everything." Santana hugged her again fiercely.

"Your mother seems comfortably settled in the convent," Brittany replied softly.

"Thank you," Santana whispered sadly. "This is one part of my life that I would like to forget. I don't want to think about my mother's deceit, about her hatefulness. I don't think I ever want to come back to the Borders again."

"I know this might surprise you, considering I am a Highlander, but there is nothing wrong with the Borders." Brittany's hand caressed the brunette's face, and her blue eyes sparkled with that roguish glint that made Santana's heart sing. "What you need is to replace the bad memories with good ones while you are still here."

Santana smiled, remembering their visit to Ravenie Castle and how Brittany had enticed her through it. "Well, I already know you are an expert at that. I don't think I shall ever walk through the gates at Ravenie and not think of you." Santana blushed at the thought of the way Brittany had kissed her there. The blonde had been so patient and supportive throughout that day.

"Perhaps we need to make a pact about this. Whenever one of us is troubled, it shall be the other's duty to bring a smile back. Whenever one is ailing, it shall be the other's responsibility to nurture them back to health. We will make it our calling in life to create those good memories and keep them alive for each other."

Santana's heart began to beat so hard that she thought her chest would burst. "I would like that."

Brittany's face lit up in a brilliant smile. "Perhaps this pact should continue…indefinitely?"

Santana nodded once, twice, and then smiled up at her. A tear escaped, and then another. Suddenly Santana was overwhelmed by the emotions surging within her. She quickly dashed away the tears on her face. "I love you, Brittany. There is nothing that would make me happier than making this pact with you."

The Highlander lifted Santana in her arms and spun her around. "And I love you, my own. Say that you will marry me."

"Aye, Brittany. I will marry you," Santana whispered as Brittany finally came to a stop. The laughter in her dark eyes, however, was replaced with sharp awareness as their gazes locked. "But tell me that I am not dreaming this."

Brittany smiled warmly. "You are not dreaming." She brushed her soft lips against Santana's. "You and I. Together for life. Forever and a day."

Santana wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck and returned her kisses. The happiness coursing through her was beyond anything Santana could have imagined. Then a thought struck her and she drew back a little.

"But what about your parents? Would they mind having their youngest child—"

"They already know. I was ready to pour my heart into your hands before we ever left the Highlands. But quite wisely, they suggested I should wait until your mind was settled about your mother."

Santana couldn't hold back her laugh. "So does this mean that I get to meet the rest of the clan Pierce? I have been hearing from Ina all about your aunts and uncles and cousins—"

Brittany's arms remained wrapped around her as she cut in. "And friends and cousins of friends. And before our wedding, you shall certainly be obliged to meet our neighbors and the neighbors' cousins and friends of the neighbors' cousins."

"'Tis wonderful to have so many people who love and care for you so much that they actually want to meet me," Santana said quietly, still smiling lovingly at the taller girl.

"To be honest, they will all be coming to warn you about the scoundrel that you are marrying," Brittany replied, a teasing glint in her crystal blue eyes.

Santana placed a gentle kiss on her chin. "I'm sure Quinn and Samuel will have more to say on that topic."

"I have an idea," Brittany said suddenly, smiling mischievously.

"What is it," Santana asked, curious to know what was brewing in that beautiful blonde head of hers.

"Before any of them arrive," Brittany began, scooping Santana off the floor with a devilish smile." "Let's elope."

A/N: And they lived happily ever after. :) I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the story!

And to those of you who also like Faberry and would like to check out my new story All That's Best, I hope you enjoy that one too! :D

I will "see" you all around, then! Bye! :)