Page 2 of Confessions of a Highland Assassin

Ava tossed her long black hair over her shoulder and straightened the dark traveling cloak she always wore on her missions. It was yet another dreary moor afternoon in the Scottish Highlands, and the wind rustled through the trees and underbrush.

“That one was rather quick. Ye was in and out in the shake o’ a lamb’s tail,” Skye said, her hazel eyes scanning the bushes of heather in case they were being followed.

“Aye. He thought luck was on his side when a young lass wondered so readily intae his house. I didnnae even have tae convince him tae let me in. He even readily accepted the tea mixture.” Ava’s stomach clenched with disgust at the way the man had licked his lips and scanned her from head to toe when he opened the door.

“The bastard had it coming. He was a bad man,” Skye added and balled her delicate fists at her sides as they walked. Her already pale skin whitened at the knuckles.

Ava clenched her jaw at the thought of what she’d just done. Skye was right about one thing: the man she had just poisoned was indeed a bad man. There was no denying that he shouldn’t be left in the world to ruin people’s lives.

Yet, she felt terrible. But she needed the money to help pay off the debts left behind after her parents' deaths, as well as the care her brother required. When no other option presented itself, Ava had taken to hiring herself out as a paid assassin. Poison was her weapon of choice. Years of experience had taught her well.

Just by glancing at a pinch of powdered nightshade, she could determine whether it’d induce sleep or death. The purple plant that grew only in the dampest and darkest sections of Scotland’s moors was always present in her arsenal of potions, whether to kill or knock somebody out. She couldn’t afford even the slightest miscalculation.

She was as good as any healer in the village, even better, some would say. There was one thing that bothered her, however. Ava always struggled to come to terms with her own conscience after she’d successfully executed a mission.

“I ken what yer thinking Ava, I’ve known ye long enough. What ye did was right; he ruined that young lass’ life. Naething ye did can be worse than what he did tae her. Remember that,” her friend said.

Walking on without saying another word, Ava listened to her best friend prattle on about how bad the man was and how the world was better off without him in it. Years spent helping the village healer who looked after her brother once their parents had died, had equipped Ava Rose with a helpful, and sometimes deadly, knowledge of herbs and plants that she used to her advantage whenever the occasion arose. She wasn’t proud of the fact that she killed men for a living. But these men had brought nothing but misery and sorrow into the world, they deserved it.

“If ye hadn’t poisoned him, he would be free tae hurt another wee lass. Ye did the world a favor, Ava. Yer a hero in my eyes,” she smiled reassuringly at her friend with her thin lips. Everything about Skye was fine and delicate, from her height, slender body, and fairy-like features to her voice and the pretty floral dresses she wore. Ava was often worried that the tiniest gust of wind would blow her away. But her friend possessed a heart that was fiercer than any man she had ever met.

“I ken it might have been the right thing tae do in the eyes of the world at large,” Ava sighed heavily. “But was it right for me tae make that decision…” her words were less of a question and more of a statement.

Ava had been hired to carry out revenge on a man that had taken advantage of a young girl in the woods while she was out picking flowers. She was only fifteen. The girl’s father had wanted revenge and sought out Ava’s services in one of the taverns that she frequented for work. She only took on missions where she was absolutely certain that the target in question deserved what she was asked to do.

It was the only way she could earn enough money to support herself and her brother Neil. He suffered from a bad chest, and a myriad of other ailments, that required around-the-clock care from healers as well as herself. All of which didn’t come cheap. They barely kept their heads above water with the money she earned.

“I ken that the people I poison are bad people; it’s just that the question plagues me mind night after night…” she paused for a second, struggling to put her thoughts into words. “Is it really me decision, or yers, or anyone else’s for that matter? Tae decide when a life should end based on what they dae or did tae others? Should he nae have just gone tae jail or some other form of punishment?”

“Dinnae go down that path again,” Skye attempted to soothe her best friend’s conscience. “Ye dae what ye have tae, tae survive. And by doing so, ye rid the world of people that shouldnae be in it in the first place. Monsters like that should nae be allowed tae carry on living.”

Smiling half-heartedly, Ava looked at her friend as they walked. Skye was a blessing, she didn’t know what she would do without her. The young blond girl did everything in her power to help her and Neil whenever she could. She tagged along on Ava’s missions and acted as a distraction whenever was needed to complete the task at hand. A notorious flirt in the village, Skye could always be counted on to distract any potential disruptions.

“Cheer up lass, ye’re almost home,” Sky slipped her arm into the crook of her friend’s. “I’ll brew ye a nice cup o’ tea. Nice clean tea ye can trust,” she added with a teasing wink.

Ava was slightly taller than her friend with a more rounded figure and aristocratic features with a skin as pale and smooth as porcelain that oft had people mistaking her for nobility. Not wanting the attention that her beauty often drew from passers-by, Ava often wore dark dresses and cloaks with hoods that would conceal her identity.

She always pulled her hair up into a tight bun at the back of her head when she was on a mission, loosening it the second she was sure that the target was dead and nobody was following her.

Skye would always tell her that she looked like a young school marm with her hair tied back, and a proper lady with it hanging loose. That suited Ava just fine as she relied on her different appearances for the sake of anonymity.

The cluster of silver birch trees that grew so readily in the forest gave way to an opening that revealed a tiny wooden cabin. Ava’s great-grandfather had built the cabin with his own two hands, and their family had lived in it for generations thereafter. The structure made from oak wood stood in a clearing surrounded by hazel bushes that nestled the humble lodgings in a homely cocoon.

It consisted of a kitchen, two small bedrooms, four small windows peering out the front and sides and a sitting area that Ava had converted into her brother’s room with a wooden-frame bed. It was just easier to have Neil closer to the medication when he had one of his many coughing fits.

Ava felt a small amount of relief at the sight of her home. The only peace she had in the world was knowing that she had a safe haven to return to, where her brother was waiting. A tiny patch of peat surrounded the cabin, fed by the babbling stream that ran through the forest. She stopped for a second, pulling her friend back with her.

“What’s the matter?” Skye suddenly asked when she caught a glimpse of Ava’s face.

“Something isnae right,” she nodded toward the cabin. “The door is slightly open. Sophie was supposed tae be with Neil, she would never leave the door open in weather like this. She’s his healer. She kens what it would dae tae his chest.”

Skye frowned and followed her friend when Ava suddenly broke into a run.

She burst through the partially open door, her breath catching in her throat when her eyes fell on the scene before her. “Oh my Lord!” she exclaimed before rushing forward.

The young healer was bound by her hands and feet with a dirty rag shoved into her mouth. She was laying on her side on the bed that Neil usually occupied. The furniture in the cottage was strewn about the floor.

“Where is he?” Ava asked frantically as she hurried to undo the healer’s hands and remove the rag from her mouth. The rope had already cut welts into the girl’s pale skin. “Where is he?!” she asked a little more frantically when Sophie struggled to catch her breath, gagging and gasping for air once her mouth was free again.