Highland Blessings (10 page)

“The Coun-cil … w-will … vote for ye. Do … right … by the … lass.” He paused for a long time, and it was as if she and Bryce were both holding their breaths. “I … want … to pray.”

Akira had whispered several prayers for God to have mercy and save Evan’s life. Now she was eager to say those prayers more boldly. She took his cold hand in hers and tried not to think about how stiff it felt.

“God, please … forgive me,” Evan’s raspy voice muttered between breaths. His tense body shook as his lips parted, and he released his last breath. Evan’s body lay still.

Akira’s heart squeezed in anguish as comprehension dawned. She covered her mouth and closed her eyes. It didn’t matter that he was the enemy and that she would have been forced to wed him. Compassion touched her soul, and for a moment, fear of her situation faded into a reverent grief. Tears threatened to slip from beneath her tired lids.

A disheartened silence filled the chamber. With no warning Bryce raised his fists and faced the stone ceiling above. “Naaaaay!”

The agonizing cry took her breath away. Tears stung her eyes. The cry came again. She looked down, her eyes too blurry to see. Akira barely knew Bryce, and yet she could feel his pain. She refused to fight the feelings now. What harm could it do to comfort him? He had no one except for Sim, who could offer no words of comfort and who would need the same solace as Bryce. She took a step toward him, but he swerved away and stormed from the chamber.

Finella had been standing quietly in a corner. Unable to control her emotions any longer, the old nurse burst into sobs and fled as well. Sim had been waiting patiently outside the chamber so as not to get in the way, but when he saw Bryce and Finella, he rushed in. He came to a halt a few feet away from the bed. Akira watched as the lad began to shake and would step no closer. Tears slowly crawled down his face, and she wondered what he would say if he could speak. Talking things out would never be an option for him.

Akira felt pity and walked around the bed toward him and opened her arms. Unlike his elder brother, Sim willingly went to her. She would stand there and comfort Sim for as long as he needed her.

Her mind wandered to Bryce, who now carried so much responsibility. Soon he would no doubt be elected as the new chieftain of the MacPhearson clan. How would this change of events affect her future? No wedding with Evan would take place. Akira should have felt relieved, but no joy would come while the child in her arms trembled and suffered with such grief.

She turned and led Sim from the chamber. So much would have to be tended to, and for the first time, Akira wondered how it had all come about. Who had wounded Evan and why?

She would not ask Bryce and could not ask Sim. Perhaps Finella or Angus would know.

A
kira left Sim asleep in his chamber and went in search of Bryce. It occurred to her that now would be the perfect opportunity to make her escape, but in the midst of so much grief she couldn’t attempt it. Perhaps she would later regret being such a sensitive fool, but for now she’d stay and hope and pray that God would later make a way for her release.

As she neared the library, Bryce’s voice echoed into the hallway. “Let me understand this correctly. Ye didn’t attack my brothers? Ye merely wanted to ask them questions about Akira?” Acute disbelief laced his tone. Akira paused and listened. “Ye expect me to believe that under the circumstances?”

“We rode out of the brush, and they thought we were attacking them. We had no choice but to defend ourselves. I didn’t have to bring him here. I could have left him to die.” Alarm sliced through Akira as she recognized Elliot’s voice. What did Elliot have to do with Evan’s death? Akira backed against the wall, seeking support for her weakening knees.
Oh Lord, give me strength,
she silently prayed. How could her brother be linked to the death of the MacPhearson chieftain? It was enough that Evan had been laird over his own lands, but as the clan chief, he resided over all the other MacPhearson lairds. If Elliot was indeed involved in Evan’s death, his involvement could cause the MacPhearsons to rally against her father in an all-out war.

“He died anyway.” Bryce’s voice hardened with pain.

An awkward silence ensued. “I’m truly sorry. I didn’t mean for him to die or for any of this to happen. As I told ye before, I was tending to Sim when the other two pulled out their swords.”

Bryce scoffed. “Ye mean ye were binding my brother while yer friend was slaying my other brother.” Bryce laughed sarcastically. “When a man draws his sword, his intentions are quite clear.”

“Yer brother slew Gregor Matheson first. His corpse still lies in the woods.”

Akira gasped, tears stinging her eyes. She rushed into the library to make her presence known. “Gregor is dead?” Her voice sounded hollow in the cold room filled with tension.

Elliot turned, and Akira hardly noticed the surprised relief cross his face. She stopped a few feet away, wringing her hands in distress. “Gregor is dead?” She repeated the question, searching her brother’s expression for a truthful answer.

Elliot reluctantly nodded. “Aye, lass, he is dead.” He bent his head to avoid her eyes.

She grabbed her stomach with one hand and leaned over a nearby chair with the other. “Oh.” She could feel the blood drain from her head as dizziness claimed her senses.

“Akira?” Elliot seemed concerned for her.

A few moments ago, she would have run into her brother’s arms, thankful that he’d come for her, but now two men, one from each clan, lay dead. Reality settled in her mind like thick mud. Elliot took a step toward her and she lifted a hand, giving him and Bryce a meaningful glare.

“I grow weary of death, and now I fear that more lives will be lost. Neither of ye can prove the deaths of these two men were accidents. People will be hurt and angry and they will seek revenge.”

Her mind paced in time with her feet. Tears welled in her weary eyes, and she rapidly blinked them back.

“Bryce, what were ye thinking when ye took me? True, I didn’t want to wed yer brother, but neither did I wish his death. Where is the good from what ye’ve both done? And where can we go from here without ending more lives?” She looked from one to the other, hoping for an excuse to calm the panic gripping her insides.

“Men.” She clenched her fists at her side and ground her teeth. “I pity yer love for war and death, but most of all, I pity the women who must be used in yer evil deeds and suffer from yer actions. For that is my role in all of this. Without me ye would not have been so successful in creating such a mess.”

She turned and ran from the library, hoping to gain some privacy with the Lord. She needed strength and comfort. People often failed her, but the Lord, He always gave her exactly what she needed.

Both men looked down at their feet in an awkward silence as if accepting her parting words as proper chastisement for whatever role they had played in the chaos.

Bryce cleared his throat, swallowing his own remorse. “Akira has a way of expressing her mind, I’ve noticed.”

Elliot nodded, still looking down as if deep in thought. “Aye, she always has.” Sadness lingered in his voice.

Bryce turned to Elliot. “I’ll provide ye safe passage home. In the meantime, I’ll have Finella prepare a chamber for ye. For now, I must tend to my brother’s burial. And our Council will meet to elect the new chieftain. Until then, ye and Akira will be watched closely. I don’t care to have the two of ye plotting my death nor anyone else around here plotting yers.”

Elliot smiled as if in a melancholy mood. “At the moment, I’m not sure she wishes to return home with me.”

Bryce looked up and gave Elliot a level stare, returning the same smile of sadness. “Nor, I fear, does she wish to remain here, but she must come to terms with it. For I will not let her go.” His determined voice issued a clear warning of his intentions.

Elliot rose defensively, taking his words as a direct challenge. “She was betrothed to Evan and he’s no longer here.”

Bryce exercised great self-control. “Thank ye for bluntly reminding me of my brother’s death. As it is, I am now the MacPhearson laird, and while it remains to be seen if I will be elected as clan chief, as laird I will wed Akira. ’Twas the last request Evan made of me, and seeing as how I failed to protect his life and carry out my father’s dying wish, I’ll not fail now. I want to unite the two clans, and if possible, prevent war. Tensions were strained before, but now that all this has happened, something must be done and quickly. Birk MacKenzie is less likely to wage war against his only daughter.”

“Yer a fool.” Elliot’s brown eyes burned like coals, and his face was so intense he looked as if the veins in his head would soon burst.

“Then so be it.” Bryce thought back to the arguments he and Evan had had over Akira. Bryce had called Evan a fool for not wanting to wed her. How ironic to have the same words thrown back at him for wanting to wed her. Akira was right. If he had not taken her, then Elliot and Gregor would not have attacked Evan and Sim, and of course, Evan would still be alive. Guilt consumed his tortured soul.

The truth of the matter was that he had wanted Akira while he sought her for Evan. For the first time in his life, he had actually envied his brother’s birthright. The realization gripped him in its iron clutches. How could he look upon Akira without feeling the pain of his brother’s death?

“Akira doesn’t deserve the strife she would have to face here as yer wife.”

As if knowing the path of his thoughts, Elliot’s words hit him with a reckoning force. Bryce shook his head to clear his mind. An image of Akira’s pain-filled eyes haunted him. He turned from Elliot, pretending to look out the library window. He needed a moment to regain his composure. As he grew up without a mother most of his life, his father had been hard on them as lads. Emotion was a sign of weakness, and he had learned not to show weakness in front of his father. Bryce cleared his throat.

“’Twill grow easier with time. I know how to deal with my people.”

“Ye’re not convincing yerself. And ye’re definitely not convincing me,” Elliot said through clenched teeth, pointing a finger in Bryce’s direction.

An aching emptiness rose in Bryce. He longed to find relief and fill the void with something that would make him happy and complete. The thought of letting Akira go only made him feel worse. He turned to face Elliot, determined to defend his position on the matter.

“I need not convince ye. ’Twill be as I said.” Bryce kept his voice low as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“’Tis naught to do with yer sense of honor for yer brother and father. I think ye want her and will stop at naught to have her. Leave my sister be.” Elliot challenged his motives.

Bryce’s jaw tightened, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. “If ye were not her brother and soon to be mine also, I would make ye sorry for those words.” He spoke every syllable slow and clear.

“Bryce!” Finella called in distress.

Sighing, Bryce pointed a finger at Elliot. “We’ll finish this later.”

“The lady is gone from her chamber. I know not how long. I checked on her earlier, and she was comforting Sim.” Finella rushed in looking near to hysterics, wringing her hands.

“Finella, she was just in here with us. She couldn’t have gone far.” Bryce laid a hand on Finella’s shoulder to reassure her.

Elliot tilted his head. “Well, that depends. Akira ran out of here upset, and ever since she was a wee lass, she’s had the habit of disappearing when she’s upset.”

Bryce felt the first stirrings of concern. He patted Finella’s back to let her know he didn’t hold her responsible. “Finella, we’ll find her. Don’t worry.” He strode to the door shouting for Balloch. Boots echoed down the hall as Balloch answered the summons. “Watch Elliot MacKenzie until I return. Feed him if he wishes, but do not let him out of yer sight.”

He turned to Finella and overlooked the nervous twitch she had of biting her lower lip when distressed. “Prepare a guest chamber for Elliot MacKenzie and show him to it when it’s ready. I’ll search for Akira myself.”

In the courtyard Bryce stopped to reflect. Akira had been upset when she fled the library; most likely she wanted time alone. He placed his hands on his hips and looked around. The tall steeple looming over the stone wall of the courtyard looked inviting. In the short time he’d known her, the lass seemed to pray often. Perhaps she sought refuge in the small village chapel.

Thoughts of Evan’s death, the burial preparation, the upcoming Council election for the new clan chief, and the dilemma of Elliot MacKenzie alternated in his mind.

“I do not have time for this,” he muttered angrily as he strode to the village chapel. The heavy burden he now carried, coupled with the raging grief inside him, moved him into a brooding mood. The last thing he needed was for Akira to cause trouble.

He stepped over the threshold of the chapel door and all the pent-up anger he had felt evaporated into unwanted compassion. The heavy door groaned to a close behind him, and he heard her weeping. She was bent over the altar on her knees, rocking back and forth in her grief. Her long, golden-red hair spilled across her back like silky waves.

Vicar Forbes stood and turned to Bryce, motioning him forward. Awkwardly, Bryce moved down the aisle between the rows of wooden pews as if he was a lad about to be reprimanded. Forbes met him in the middle and whispered, “Ye need to go to the lass. Ye’ve entered into the house of the Lord, and ye must do what is right.”