Highlander’s Evil Side by Shona Thompson

Chapter Two

William left the meeting room feeling drained, but at least with his successful aversion of the topic to other matters, his headache has reduced to a manageable level. He reminded himself to see the castle healer for some soothing medicine later, he had indeed been working quite hard recently especially since Alastair who was like his right hand had taken some time off. He had a lot more to do by himself for the time being and he was not one to wait ‘til Alastair returned to get work done. The elders’ new fixation with his marriage however was the true reason for his stress.

Just when he thought that he had fully escaped, he saw his uncle waiting for him in the hallway to his study. He held back a groan and forced himself to continue walking towards him.

“Uncle,” he said in both acknowledgment and greeting. The older man pushed himself off the wall and joined him in walking.

“Ye dae nae look well… it seems ye have nae been sleepin’ properly. Dae ye nae think ye are headed in the wrong direction? I think ye should be headin’ to yer bedroom to get rid of those dark circles around yer eyes,” Robert Mackenzie said.

William scoffed lightly. “I believe ye should ken quite well the source of me stress uncle, perhaps I would nae look so tired if certain troublesome topics were avoided,” he quipped, trying to spare the old man the bite in his voice but failing rather miserably. His uncle only laughed regardless.

“Ye ken that I only dae everythin’ for yer good dear nephew, scoff as ye may, ye can nae deny that I and the elders are right,” he said. William let out an intelligible grumble but could not disagree. His uncle smiled, then as though remembering something important, snapped his fingers.

“Ah, and that nonsense ye did earlier… makin’ careless statements about the passin’ of the Lairdship. Dae nae dae that again. We are still undergoin’ the aftermath of a war with a usurper, dae ye nae care that yer careless words could light another flame?” Robert added, sounding truly upset with him this time.

William could not disagree and so he stayed quiet. Although he could bet on his life that Alastair would never try to betray him, he could not say the same about everyone on the council as one of them could get nasty ideas such as if Alastair could become Laird, they would rather do it themselves. Even when he said it, he knew that it was not the best idea, but in his frustration he had wanted to rattle them somewhat.

“Aye… I willnae speak carelessly again, although I did mean it,” he said, causing his uncle to glare at him. He avoided the old man’s gaze, causing him to sigh as though he gave up. He put a hand on William’s shoulder in a fatherly manner.

“Ye need to man up and dae what is necessary for the clan me nephew. I dae nae want to challenge yer authority but ye ken me duty is to dae what is best for the clan. It should be the same for ye as well. I ken ye can dae it,” his uncle said encouragingly then added as he walked away, “I truly think ye should take a break by the way. Get some rest, ye won’t be findin’ a bride lookin’ like ye carry the weight of the world on yer shoulders.”

William stopped in the middle of the hallway with his face raised to the ceiling. With the conversation, his previously waning headache was returning with a vengeance. His uncle was right about one thing, he needed a break. Changing his mind, he decided not to return to his study after all, instead heading down to the stables to find his horse and take some time off hunting to clear his head.

As he prepared his bow and arrow, he could not help but feel the phantom ache in his knee where he had been shot with an arrow during the previous war. He was fine, but there were days when he still felt the pain such as rainy days or during winter, and whenever he picked up his bow it came back to him as though the memory was what sparked the pain. He sighed, putting the bow in its place along with his arrows. If Alastair were around, he would have followed him simply because he did not think he should make a habit of going long distances and on potentially dangerous expeditions alone. Regardless of Alastair’s warning ringing in his head, there was no one else he trusted as much as Alastair who he would want to accompany him while he was looking for reprise.

The guards bowed as he passed by them at the gate, and he nodded at them in acknowledgment before riding off. The act of riding alone, with the wind in his hair as he pushed his trusty horse Noir to faster speeds, was already calming him down. His blond locks fluttered in and out of his vision and he made a mental note to trim it as it was beginning to get too long. He also had not shaved his face so he had a somewhat scruffy shadow of a beard. It made him look older somewhat. He had not been paying attention to his appearance recently, so his uncle was most likely right, with how stressed he was looking and the beard that accentuated his age, the young ladies would be hesitant to entertain any advances he might try to offer.

He had unconsciously given up after his failed engagement, so it was not as though he cared, but it seemed he should have put a bit more thought into it. From the meeting, it was clear that the Elders were ready to replace him without much ado. He wondered if he should begin preparing for the eventuality that he would no longer be the Laird. If his uncle and the other Elders chose to fulfill their ultimatum, would he fight?

Lachlan… How would he do as a Laird?

There was no real way for William to judge since he did not know his cousin, so he decided that he would try to make time and get to know him again since it had been so long. Since he returned, they had not spoken once save for the formal greeting Lachlan gave him when he came back. Although he would want Alastair to take over from him if it came to it, he had to be realistic. Although his uncle was not against him, if he brought Alastair as his replacement carelessly, his uncle would fight him. He would do it if only just to unify the elders against a common goal and prevent the council from breaking up into factions and an internal struggle for power.

In truth, with the way things were, he was more likely to cave and do as they wished, finding a woman who could give him an heir even if he divorced her afterwards. He would make a contract marriage if it came down to it. Since he could not do that to a young woman, he would probably need to ask his uncle to limit the bride search to widows instead. All she needed was to be able to bear his child. They could go their separate ways after that, and she would be properly compensated. He did not find the idea appealing in any way whatsoever since he was of the opinion that marriage was sacred and should be bound by love. However, since he was pushed to the wall, it did not seem like he had much of a choice.

He sighed as he entered the forest. The breeze was gentler as it swayed the branches of the trees high above his head. He tied Noir to a tree and continued on foot, nimbly picking through the forest in search of prey. He found one pretty quickly in a buck, which spotted him the exact same time as he spotted him. It reacted instantly, bouncing off and escaping him. William took off after it with his heart pounding in excitement.

Despite how popular hunting was as a sport, it was not always William's favorite past time, there was a time when he had preferred to study, finding books and knowledge fascinating. As he chased down the deer with his arrow nocked, he could not stop his heart from pounding with the thrill of the chase. He had taken to hunting because of how it revolved around capturing his target. More than the popular reason of the kill or the pride from taking down a difficult animal, for him it was the small gratification that came from catching what was running from him.

He had already lost what he truly wanted to keep however, so it was fleeting gratification. The deer was fast, not to mention smart. Somehow, it had managed to escape him. A breaking twig from the bushes up ahead caught his attention.

Heh, perhaps the deer is not so smart after all.

He shot his arrow with lightning fast, although with the intention to startle. However instead of a spritely deer What came from the bushes was a woman's terrified scream.

Completely thrown off, William froze for a second before jumping into action, separating the bush as he lurched forwards. He found his arrow thankfully stuck in the ground and not in the body of the woman who seemed to have fallen over from shock and was now sitting with her arms over her head. The arrow was dangerously close to her however, having pierced through the hem of her dress and burying into the ground. William felt guilt bubble up in his chest. He pulled the arrow out and put it back in his quiver.

“I am so sorry, are ye alright?” he asked, noting from her basket that she was picking berries and mushrooms. He cocked his head to the side, wondering if there were any women from the nearby villages and castle town who would come so deep into the forest to gather. He was still thinking this when she lifted her face to look at him, her expression full of shock. In a matter of seconds, William was mirroring her expression. He took a hesitant step forward, wondering if he was seeing an apparition because there was no way his first and only love who had vanished all those years ago was sitting on the ground in front of him.

“Devona… Devona, is that ye?” he asked, his voice shaky with disbelief followed by a horde of other emotions. She flinched in response, looking just as choked up with emotions as he was, except shame was riding her own horde.

“William…” she croaked quietly as she found her way to her feet on shaky knees. William’s vision blurred for a moment with tears, but he blinked them away quickly because he was scared that if he lost sight of her, she would disappear with the wind. Was she real? He needed to find out. He reached out and his fingers did not grasp air. Her arm was firm in his touch, proof that she was there... still this was not enough.

Spurred on by his emotions, he jerked her forwards into an embrace and covered her lips with his, kissing her like his life depended on it, to prove that he was not dreaming. She responded to his kiss, the years melting between them as he entwined his fingers with hers and buried his other hand in her hair. The pain, loneliness, anger, and love that refused to die poured out from them into their kiss, making it desperate, bittersweet. Tears streamed down both their faces as their tongues continued to search each other’s mouths, as though trying to remember all they had forgotten.

Finally, they broke their kiss, breathing heavily with tears marking their faces as they stood, foreheads pressed together. William did not know if he was happy or angry… a plethora of questions were fighting to come out of his mouth, but they were too many for him to choose from. Instead, the one question that encompassed everything came out first.

“Why…?” he asked. It meant a lot of things… Why did you leave me? Why for so long? Why did you break my heart? Why have you just returned? Even though he had only said one word it felt as though she understood all that he meant to ask as he stared into her sad brown eyes with his blue ones. He brought both hands to caress her face, kissing her once again, harder this time, his anger and frustration pouring through as he bit her lip before breaking their kiss again. She did not resist or complain at all, only staring at him with a depth of regret in her gaze that only roused his frustration the more.

Since she seemed unable to bring herself to answer his question, he asked one that would be simpler.

“Where did ye go?” he asked, his voice a low growl despite himself. She looked away, once again seeming ashamed, but he did not let her off that easily, pulling her gaze back to his again. God, were her lips always so plump or was it because he had bit her? With her face angled upwards with his finger, he could look at her properly. Her brown eyes that always lit a fire inside of him was still the same although they were sadder now. She had aged, but only enough for her girly features to melt into the sharp femininity of a mature woman. Her slender neck was pale, so pale and smooth, he wanted to plant his lips there and mark her.

Once again, she was not resisting, only looking at him exactly the way he was looking at her, accessing, burning into each other’s minds the changes as well as the similarities that remained over the years. His other hand slid up her side and he noted that she was slimmer than she had been the last time he saw her, looking more like an English woman than a Highlander. Was that normal? She did not look unhealthy, but he could tell that she had missed quite a few meals recently unless for some reason she had purposely lost weight. Her dress was well made, but seemed old, older than acceptable as the colors had faded. What had she been doing all this while? Was she alright?

She had still not responded so he tried again. “Well?” he asked.

“I was in France…” she said in a subdued voice. “I have lived there all this time.”

“When did ye return?” he asked next. If she had been on a ship to return, it made sense that she seemed so lean, perhaps she did not have enough to eat on the ship. Voyages were difficult, after all.

“I returned a few days ago,” she confessed and tried to look away again. Of course, he was not having that in the slightest, keeping his hand on her jaw so she was forced to look at him.

“And ye did nae think to find me first?” he asked. This seemed to be her breaking point as she finally resisted him, breaking away from his grasp and lowering her head.

“I am nae the same as back then William… We are nae the same. I couldnae… there was nay way I could just come to ye like that,” she said.

William frowned, what kind of excuse was that? Or was he just seeing it as an excuse because he had been pining for her all those years? She picked up her basket, and he realized with a jolt that she was going to leave again.

“I have to go… it has gotten to late… I have… I have someone to take care of,” she said, turning to leave. William stood there, staring at her back in shock when she turned back to glance at him again.

“I am glad to see that ye have been alright,” she said, and then took off running. William felt his jaw drop in both disbelief and annoyance. Alright, she said? Alright?!

“Bullshit!” he spat, swearing for the first time in a while. What did she think? That he would stand there and watch her leave him again? Well, she certainly had another thing coming!