“Well, then. I’m glad for it, too.”
They both laughed. Oddly, talking about that day eased something within her. Some misgiving that had stirred inside her. She realized that it was because of her father’s attitude. How had he flatly rejected Everett, so instantly? She couldn’t understand it.
I suppose I’ve been trying to find out why he’s so unsuitable, ever since.
She felt a little guilty. She loved Everett! What her father thought shouldn’t matter. However, it had affected her, and she knew that it would continue to do so, until they talked about it.
“My father’s reaction…”
“Was saddening, I know.” Everett finished. “But, lass. Ye didn’t tell him to say that.”
Seonaid smiled. “I know. I just…don’t understand him sometimes.” She finished sadly. “He is so good, so kind. And yet, this decision of his, this insistence on Alec…it seems odd.”
“It is odd,” Everett agreed. “And I reckon we will be able to solve it. But we can’t really do it alone. Your friend in Edinburgh can help.”
“Murray? Yes, he can.”
She finished her slice of bread, hoping that her confidence in Murray was as well-placed as she thought it was. She couldn’t let herself doubt him, too. Yet what was she supposed to think? If her own father could be so irrational, what might she expect, from anyone else?
“Should we go?” he murmured as they finished the loaf. “If we sneak out now, we can make it onto the first barges.”
She nodded, listless. “I suppose.”
He frowned. “What is it, lass?”
“I just…” she pushed in her chair and stood, glad that she had at least stopped swaying. Her hands shook lightly and she realized that her body was only just now noticing how hungry it was. “I just don’t know who to trust – not anymore.”
“I understand,” he agreed. “Your father was…unkind.”
She laughed without feeling amused. “I suppose so.”
“I think he’ll come around,” Everett said hopefully. “I reckon there isn’t a father alive who’d abandon their lass at a time like this, and…”
Seonaid shook her head. “I used to think that,” she murmured. “Now, with so much uncertainty in my world, I’ve no idea anymore.”
“I understand,” he said again.
They stood and went together out of the door through the mist. Seonaid pulled her cloak about her, glad that she had it with her. It was still icy out, and the mist clung close like tendrils of smoke. She could feel it, like damp breath on her cheeks.
The river was pale gray, lit with white where the bright morning touched it. She reckoned it would be sunny this morning, and wished that she would be here to see it. However, by the time the mist parted for the morning, they would be on the river, headed down to Edinburgh.
She felt her heart ache. She wished that she could say goodbye to her father, that she could explain to him how she felt, what happened. However, he had given her no option to explain. It seemed as if he didn’t want anything from her.
“I can see something,” Everett said. She saw him peering at the water.
“Is that a mast?” she inquired. She, too, could see something appearing tentatively through the mist. She squinted at it, then stood back as it got closer. “It is. We should hurry down.”
“Yes.” They were already walking together. They walked with their hands held, something they had always done and that she had slipped into as a habit from the first. She felt the grip reassuring her now. She smiled up at Everett. “I am so lucky to have you here with me.”
“And I am luckier still,” he said lightly. His eyes sparkled, though, and she knew he meant it. “I will not leave you. Not unless you wish it.”
“I never would,” she whispered. “I’d never wish that.”
They headed to the dockside together. As they stood there, huddled together, the boat approached. They waited, watching as the captain steered it up the river and then in slightly, towards the quay. Seonaid held her breath, waiting for the sound of wood, bumping on stone. She heard it and saw the gangway being lowered. She waited as a figure walked down, clad in dark clothes, obscured by mist.
She froze.
“Everett.” She couldn’t get any other words out. She had gone numb. She watched, transfixed, as the stranger approached. Except it wasn’t a stranger.
“Since you are here,” Alec Westford said with an icy tone. “You might as well apologize to me.”
“For what?” Everett demanded.
“No! Everett, don’t,” Seonaid said, gripping his hand firmly. “Let’s just go.”
They could hide somewhere in the town. They could escape him easily – he was alone, and seemingly unarmed! They could wait at the warehouse, and maybe Logan could help her to organize passage on a barge…they had to go!
Alec snorted. Neither of them had moved, yet. “You know,” he said.
“You owe Miss McCarrick one. Me, too,” Everett added.
Seonaid stared at Alec, as he turned those dark, cold eyes on her. He shrugged. “I owe you nothing,” he said. “But you owe me a fight.”
“Everett, no,” Seonaid hissed urgently, feeling his wrist tense as he balled his fingers into a tight fist. “Don’t! The man’s a master swords…”
Her voice trailed off, as Everett nodded. “Agreed.”
Seonaid bit her lip to stop herself from crying.
Later, as they walked away across the docks, she could no longer hold in her tears. “You said you’d stay with me,” Seonaid said, turning to face him as they stopped in the shadow of a wall. “You said you’d never leave.”
“I did,” he murmured. “But, Seonaid…I have my honor. He insulted me.”
“Oh! Your poor pride!” she snapped. “He insulted you! And for that, you agree to throw your life away? When you will be leaving me all alone? Without you?” She felt desperate. Her whole world had just been ripped asunder.
“Seonaid,” Everett protested. “No. Listen…”
“No!” she said angrily. She whirled back up the street, heading to the merchant’s house. She didn’t want to talk to Everett, didn’t even wish to see him, or hear about him! If he could walk away, for the sake of his pride…!
What was I thinking?
She felt her breath catch in her throat. She had believed Everett. She had trusted him. Maybe her father knew better all along. Maybe he was not to be trusted. Maybe she had been completely wrong.
“I am a fool.”
She sensed that Everett was just behind her, but she didn’t want to turn around. She didn’t want to see him! She was so angry. Underneath the anger, though, was hurt.
I thought I could trust him.
She heard him catch up with her and turned around to face him.
“You have decided to leave me, so why don’t you?” she challenged. “If you’re going to fight Alec in two days, you might as well spend the time preparing. Why care about me? Clearly it’s more important to support your pride! So, go on! Abandon me now.”
She knew she was being ridiculous, but she was hurt by the choice he had made, deeply hurt. Why was he willing to throw his life away, now that they had found each other, and truly found love? Was that worth so little to him?
“Seonaid…” Everett sounded desperate. She felt the tone touch her soul, and wished in that moment that this fury would leave her. However, she felt betrayed. Everybody in her life was taking sides, and none of them were standing with her.
“Everett, please…just leave me alone?” She looked up into his eyes, willing him to go. “If you go to the warehouse, Logan will shelter you. Tell him you came with me. He will help us.”
“If you wish me to go,” Everett said tightly. “I will go.” His eyes were wells of sadness. Seonaid wished she could simply disappear. She nodded.
“That is what I want.”
“Fine,” he said. “As you wish.”
When he had gone, Seonaid sat down on the doorstep and
covered her face with her hands. She sobbed. She had lost all sense of her own life – from the moment her father had brought Alec to their cottage, her world had changed, knocking her from the center of it into a spectator’s seat.
“I need to make my own decisions.”
She stood and drew a deep breath. Then she walked down the street towards the McNeil cottage. Maybe they could give her shelter?
“I don’t know who to trust. Not anymore.”
All she knew was that, in two days’ time, she would be in the woods on the town’s edge, where Everett would face Alec in a fight. She couldn’t let him face that alone.
PREPARATIONS FOR A FIGHT
Everett leaned on the wall by the warehouse, feeling an utter fool. He closed his eyes and wished, more than once, that he could undo what he’d done.
“Why did I agree to it?”
He was being stupid. Seonaid was right. What if he was killed? What then? Would her family force her to marry Alec Westford? What choice would she have, but to comply? He had abandoned her to a horrible fate.
“I was her safety, and I betrayed her.”
He covered his face with his hand, wearily. Curse his arrogance! Why had he been raised to value his reputation above all things?
“What use is fighting, if you’re not protecting something you love?”
In this case, he was harming somebody he loved. He knew full well the odds were very heavily against him coming out alive or victorious. He was wounded already – more than once – and he had comparatively little skill. He had learned to fight with a dagger and shield as a young lad, but the broadsword was something he had not used – not regularly, at any rate.
“I’m a fool.”
He might as well have walked up to Alec and asked him to kill him.
“Whist! You’re daft.”
A thought occurred to him. He was not alone in this. Or, rather, he didn’t have to be. He recalled Camden, and wondered if he was still in the region of woods around the town.
He balked at the idea of asking Camden for help, but then he frowned. Why should he not? Pride?
“I need to find him.”
He headed out into the street, keeping an eye out for any of Alec Westford’s men.
He reached the town’s gate and noticed the guard there – he had seen him before. He wondered idly if the fellow remembered him, for he recognized the gate guard straight away.
“Hey! Odd jobber!” the guard said disparagingly. “What’re you doing about at this time?”
Everett glared. “I didn’t get any odd jobs, did I?”
The guard laughed, but shrugged dismissively, and let Everett pass through the gate. Once outside, he headed swiftly in the direction of the woodlands.
“Camden?” he yelled, as he climbed up to the summit of the hills where they had camped, breathing heavily. Why did the camp have to be so far away? He stopped to take a breath, then clambered on.
At the top, his heart sank into his boots. He had found a campsite, but it was abandoned. The remnants of where the fire had been lit were cold and it seemed nothing had been lit there for several days. He sat down heavily on the hill top, feeling desolate.
He sobbed. He was a fool. He smelled ash on his fingers as he rested his face in his hands. It was a bitter smell, the scent of hope dashed.
He sat there for a longer time than he would have intended, because when he next realized where he was, the mist was starting to come down the hill and it was getting dark. He stood and looked around, confused by the mist as it swallowed all landmarks.
All I need, he thought angrily, is to get lost up here. Then I’ll be dead anyway, and I’ll not even have tried to give Westford a run for his money.
He set off down the hill, looking around wide-eyed for landmarks that he recognized.
It was very dark in the tree line, and he blundered about, trying his best to stick to the path. He followed it downhill and, as the daylight started to fade, he started to run. He couldn’t afford to get trapped here when night fell! If he lost his way in the forest, he’d never get out again. He was also ill-equipped to spend a night out in the freezing cold.
He ran and, suddenly, swearing, he hit something. The obstacle snorted in surprise, and then a man’s voice yelled “Where are you trying to go, you numbskull?”
Everett fell backwards, and managed to pull himself up, groaning. His wounds hurt a lot!
“What are you doing up there?” the voice demanded again. Everett frowned. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be…
“Camden?”
The man who he’d inadvertently discovered stopped dead. His horse – his reins trailing loosely from Camden’s hand – snorted as he put his head over Camden’s shoulder, to get a better look. The two of them stared down at Everett.
“Everett?”
“Aye! It’s me!” Everett shouted happily. “Blast me, Camden! I wasn’t expecting you tae be here!”
“I thought ye were dead,” Camden said.
“Dead?” Everett was quite shocked. “Why should I be?”
“Well, when ye disappeared like that, what else were we tae think?” he demanded. “Ye were gone so long, and I recalled ye’d had a run-in with some bad sorts, and so I reckoned that you…” he trailed off. “But I never thought you really were. I never lost hope.”
“And so ye stayed,” Everett finished. He felt a lump in his throat. He was surprisingly touched.
“Aye,” his friend nodded.
“Lewes..?”
“Off,” Camden shrugged. He looked angry, but he was holding it in. “That feller…he’s not the sort we want.”
“Aye,” Everett nodded. He’d personally always thought that, but he was glad that, finally, someone else noticed.
“Where were you?” Camden asked. “How did you get here? What were you up to..?”
“I cannot think of answers tae all yer questions!” Everett chuckled, feeling weak and wearied after his run. “But I can tell ye that I came tae seek yer help.”
“My help?” Camden frowned. “In what?”
Everett tensed. “I’m challenged tae fight a feller tae death.”
“What?” Camden almost laughed, so disbelieving was he. Then, seeing Everett was obviously serious, he shook his head slowly. “Friend? What happened?”
Everett closed his eyes a moment. “It’s difficult to explain,” he said. “But it’s about a lass. She was promised tae this feller, and then I wed her. And…it’s just too difficult tae explain it all, right now.”
Camden nodded. “Sounds pretty straightforward.” He was already walking down the hill, his horse seeming quite assured of where the path was, despite the darkness and mists. Everett, feeling confident again, followed them downhill.
“Well, it is, in a way,” Everett said. “Except that I’m not going to succeed, of course, and…well…I want someone tae be there tae take over for me. And somebody who can make sure this feller doesn’t get anywhere near Seonaid.”
“You won’t die,” Camden said. He sounded horrified.
Everett just shrugged. “Who can know?”
“You won’t die,” Camden said, “because, if ye do, I’ll make sure this blackguard goes right back tae the hell he came out of.”
Everett chuckled. “Thanks, Camden. I knew you’d help.”
Camden smiled wanly. “Well, if that’s helping, then yes. I’ll help. But this is a remarkable story. How did it happen?”
Everett told him. They walked down the hill, relying on the horse’s sense of direction to get them through the woodlands and down to the road again. When they came out onto the road, Everett spotted a wagon with a lamp, casting a merry light as he rolled away west.
“Almost to the town,” he commented.
“Aye,” Camden said. “You have tae fight there?”
“Aye,” Everett nodded. “The day after tomorrow.”
Camden whistled. “Well, then,” he said. “We have two days.”
Everett nodded, frownin
g. “I suppose,” he said. “Camden…what are ye planning tae do?”
Camden grinned. “Teach ye how tae fight? Or at least, how to wield a broadsword without stabbing yourself through the foot.”
Everett chuckled and pushed him backwards, and Camden, laughing, pushed him back. They were still laughing as they neared the gate. Everett tensed, wondering if the guard was still on duty. He wasn’t, and they walked into the town unchallenged.
“So,” Camden said, as he sat down opposite Everett at the inn by the town square. “Where are ye staying in town?”
Everett shrugged. “Here’s as good as anywhere, if they have room in the stables.”
“Everett! No!” Camden said firmly. “You are going to share the attic room with me, and I won’t argue with ye.”
Everett felt relieved. “Thanks,” he said.
“So?” Camden frowned, looking up from his plate of stew, a spoon poised at his lips.
“So? What?” Everett asked.
Camden grinned. “How’s the lass?”
Everett felt his heart sink. “I don’t want tae talk about her,” he said roughly. “I reckon she never wants tae talk about me again.”
Camden whistled. “Lad! What did ye do?”
“I got myself into this stupid fight,” Everett said.
“That’s not your fault!” Camden allowed. “Why would she be angry with ye about it?”
“If I fight, I’ll die. She’s right,” Everett breathed out resignedly. “And if I die, then she’s left all alone.”
“You won’t die,” Camden said firmly.
“I might.”
They looked at each other. Camden shook his head, looking pityingly at Everett. “I’m getting another drink.”
Everett felt quite offended. He leaned back in his chair, wondering if, just perhaps, he should not have come to find Camden after all. He stood, deciding to walk away. He could find somewhere in the stables to sleep! He could work for his supper. He frowned, staring at the person who had just come in through the doorway.
“No…” He blinked, unable to believe what he had just seen.
The Highlander’s Passion (Iron 0f The Highlands Series Book 3) Page 17