Page 91 of Lion Heart

She was about to reply when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eyes coming up the stairs.

Lily didn’t move at the sight of Bertram standing at the doorway. Charlie was just as still, his back to the man who had taken her childhood from her.

He would take no more.

She sat up and shielded her babe from him, then reached under the blanket for her knife. She knew he’d come back one day. She’d been prepared.

Bertram tried to speak but was unable and growled at her instead.

Lily pulled the knife free at the same time Charlie turned his body and flung a knife of his own at him. The two blades hit their mark in Bertram’s throat.

They watched him fall to the floor.

Lily was quite stunned. She’d known Elias wanted to teach Charlie to throw, but goodness, he was good at it.

“Charlie—”

He turned and smiled at her over his shoulder. “I have been practicing, Mother.”

“You saved us,” she said tenderly.

“We both saved us,” he replied smiling. He threw his arms around her and told her he loved her and Elias, Eddie, Annabelle, and now Cecily.

They both scowled at Elias when he shouted from the doorway with Bertram at his feet, “What the hell is this?” loud enough to shake the walls and wake the babe.

“’Tis Bertram!” Lily told him happily then watched him hand over the tray of food he had for her to her father and then drag the body away.

Elias was still shaken though they were unharmed and came into the room. “Charlie, is that yer knife in his throat with yer mother’s?”

When the boy nodded, Elias’ glittering gaze met his son’s. “Come here to me.”

When Charlie went, Elias cupped the boy’s face in his hands. “‘Tis a serious thing to take a life. We will speak of this later.”

“This is another thing I’m thankful to be here to see,” Lily’s father said, looking down at Bertram. “The death of the man who took my child from me.”

Elias, still pale, went to his wife and took her in his arms.

“Do not be hard on Charlie, my love,” she whispered into his dark, glossy locks. “He is growing up.”

He nodded then kissed her head. “He will be a good man.”

She heard the sound of her soon-to-be three year old running down the hall to her room. He squealed with laughter at Annabelle chasing him.

“May I hold my new granddaughter?” Lily’s father asked. “And perhaps later you will tell me of your life.”

“The past no longer matters, Papa,” she said, handing the babe to him. “This, right here, is what matters.” She wiped her eyes but the tears did not stop.

She didn’t mind them anymore. They were there to water her roots and make her stronger.

She had everything she had ever wanted, and she had Elias MacPherson to thank.

The End