Page 20 of Highlander’s False Identity

In her guilty heart, she had supposed the laird had discovered her theft and was now making a spectacle of her. But when she looked down again, she saw that the weapon was none other than her black sgian-dubh.

Taking it in surprise, Edme felt her chest relax a little, although she still felt the heaviness of her guilt. All she had wanted was to give the Craig dagger back, but now, it was difficult to know how to.

Placing her knife back into its sheath, she smiled at the laird.

“My thanks, my lord, I do not know where ye found it, I am sure,” she murmured.

“It was just by the door. Ye must have left it,” Wallace said, genially. “I dinnae think yer father would have wanted ye to be without it!”

The laird’s kindness made her blush. “Nae, he wouldn’t, my laird,” she agreed.

The laird turned to her. “I ken, lassie, he said as much at Glen Shiel when we fought, arm in arm against the English. An’ God willing, we will fight them again, together!” he said, before finally bidding them a farewell and disappearing into the castle for good.

And so Edme and Beathan were left, face to face, alone under the crisp morning skies.

“We fought together at Glen Shiel,” Beathan continued, as the pair trotted on in darkness. They had reached the perimeters of the keep, away from the barracks. With only Beathan’s tiny lamp to light the way, it was hard to see properly.

“Yer father was very brave,” Beathan told her. A huge surge of emotion leaped up inside of the girl. Edme gulped back the tears.

“Aye he was,” she muttered. “He wouldnae let anyone get the better of him, which is why…,” she stopped abruptly, trying desperately to conceal the tears forming in her eyes.

Beathan watched her, hesitantly. “I didnae mean to upset ye!” he said.

“Nae,” she smiled, wiping her face clean. Deep inside, Edme’s heart was still pounding.

“Ye ken, if it pleases ye, we can talk of something else, but I couldnae help thinking of yer brother,” said Beathan, falling into step beside Edme on his horse.

“Aye,” said Edme, guardedly.

“As I seem to recall, he was very protective of ye, an’ yet now…?” He let his voice trail off, his question hanging in the air around them. The change in Edme’s face was immense. “Tell me to mind my own business if ye like…”

“Nae, nae,” said Edme, her head reeling. It was only natural he should want to know about Dughall. “The fact is, when we were children, we were very close, always together, even though we’re only half-brother and sister…Ye dae ken my mother is not the same as his, dinnae ye?” she said with a nod to Beathan.

Her eyes misted over. “He was such a good brother, always looking out for me, but then, when his own mother died – the lady – he changed. Became dark somehow, spent a lot of time on his own…”

“I see,” said Beathan, his green eyes opening wider. “An’ so ye saw proof of a plot wi’ the English?” he asked her.

“Saw it wi’ my own eyes,” asserted Edme strongly.

“What form did it take, this writing?” Beathan asked hesitantly.

“It was a sort of map of the clans in the region, and the layout of the McKinley keep an’… an’…” Edme’s mind was racing as she recalled the discovery of her brother’s betrayal. It hurt even now to have been proved right over such a terrible thing.

“An’?” Beathan asked gently. He looked at her with such understanding in his eyes that Edme almost blushed.

“An’ nothin’,” she shut up abruptly, then gave him a little smile. “It doesnae matter,” she added.

Edme hadn’t wanted to say it, but there had been more than just a map that she had found in Dughall’s possession. There was something else, a sketch, one that he had done years ago of her. That was also next to the map on his bed in the room. Finding this had given her much disquiet, being unsure of his intention.

“An’ after that?” Beathan continued gently. “Ye were saying about yer brother changing after his mother’s death,” he prompted.

“Aye,” said Edme. “An’ after that, things were never the same; I dinnae ken why. Maybe he is still in mourning for his mother, but the way he was wi’ me just changed,” she announced, but she spoke the words hurriedly as if she had no desire to linger over the details.

“Changed how?” asked Beathan innocently.

“Och, I dinnae ken. He just changed. People do, dinnae they?” said Edme in a tone that signaled the end of the subject. “Anyway, what about ye?” she said, in a different voice. This time she was looking up into Beathan’s sparkly green eyes.

“What about me?” said Beathan, looking from side to side. He grinned.