Page 78 of Highlander’s Forbidden Fruit

Laird Julius MacLeod was a God-fearing man. He had complete faith in His Wisdom. But at that moment, for a small while, he saw nothing but bleak misery for his daughter.

“Help her, God!” he prayed, raising his hands in prayer, the watch still in his palm, tears running down his swarthy cheeks.

* * *

Evanna couldn’t move. It wasn’t that she would not move, or that she chose not to; she physically could not move. Grief and sorrow weighed her down. Her limbs were fluid and felt detached from her torso. Her head was floating above the pillows, her eyes staring but looking at nothing.

In her dreams, she was back in the maze, but this time John chased her, calling for her, his deathly pale hands streaked with blood reaching for her. Panting, legs aching, she would turn back often to catch glimpses of John’s terrible face with the staring eyes coming around a corner. She ran to find Aleck, to find a way out of the twisting and winding paths which became narrower and darker as she went deeper inside the labyrinth.

When she had woken from her fevered dreams, she was told she had been lost to the world for three days. Christmas morning, which was supposed to have been a celebration, had instead seen the entire castle in the church praying for her and Aleck’s quick recovery. The feast had been solemn, the baskets and cloth received with many tears and wishes for her long life and health.

“Aleck’s much better now. He had an audience with the Laird this morning,” Sarah told her. Her lower lip trembled. “It was Vano who attacked them.” She began to cry.

Evanna blinked. Sarah’s sobs broke through her melancholia, and she was forced to focus her gaze. Sarah was as pale as a ghost, her hands shook, and she looked thinner.

“What’s wrong?” Evanna asked, her voice barely a whisper. “Why are ye crying?”

“It’s all my fault,” Sarah wailed. “Ye must hate me so. If it were nae for me, ye’d have no quarrel with Vano, and he’d nae go after yer John.”

Evanna didn’t think it was possible for her heart to break further but looking at the wretched little girl, it broke anew. The guilt that wracked her was not hers alone to bear, it had tainted everyone she loved. What happened to John was no one’s fault but Evanna’s. Sarah must not take it upon herself.

“Yer nae to blame for Vano’s actions. That man was despicable. Yer just a child Sarah, and I will nae regret saving ye from the clutches of that man. Please dinnae cry.” She took one of Sarah’s hands and kissed the palm.

Sarah stopped sobbing. She began to brush Evanna’s hair. Evanna’s own guilt plagued her. How could she still bear to be in Evanna’s presence? Why wasn’t she repulsed by her? Everyone had seen Evanna rush to Aleck while her fiancé lay dead. They all had seen her and her treachery. How could anyone love her still?

The mention of Vano brought forth a memory.

Are you telling me you have not encouraged more than one suitor on your travels? You must be an angel dropped from heaven to be so sinless.

Shame gripped her in its clawed grasp. All the while she had been courting John her heart had belonged to Aleck. She hadn’t let go of either man; even as she had encouraged a proposal from John, she had given herself to Aleck. She was the worst kind of woman.

Aleck.

She burned to see him, to tend to him, but she was afraid. Would he ever forgive her for accepting another man’s proposal? Would he ever forgive her for chasing him away and into the dangers of the road?

As if her thoughts had summoned him, someone knocked on the door, and Aleck walked inside. Sarah stood up and bowed her head. “My Lady is still unwell,” she said.

“I only need a moment, but I must speak with her.”

Sarah looked at Evanna for direction. Evanna licked her lips. She wanted him gone, but at the same time, she wanted to hold him to make sure he was real and alive. The need to feel the pulse under his warm flesh was desperate. She was surprised he had sought her out. Didn’t he hate her? He must. She had treated him badly, made promises of eternity yet taken them away within hours. He must have come to tell her how much he hated her, and she couldn’t say she didn’t deserve it. If this was her punishment it was much less than she deserved.

So she nodded. “Ye may wait outside, Sarah,” she said.

Sarah nodded and took her leave.

Aleck came closer to the bed. His face was still gaunt, but it was no longer pale as death. He looked much older than he had when he left the castle for England. The incident had aged him. Evanna spotted a few gray hairs in his youthful mane of hair.

She had done this to him. She had aged him in the first bloom of his youth.

Evanna tried to sit up. She would not take her punishment laying down. She had that much pride. Her arm slipped on the sheets, and she fell back on her pillows. Within seconds, Aleck’s arms were around her, lifting her up and sitting her up straight. Evanna stiffened at his touch. He looked stricken as if she had slapped him.

Instead of moving away from her, he sat beside her on the bed. Evanna’s heart pounded in her chest. What if someone were to walk in and see them together? Aleck must know they were courting scandal, but he seemed to care less for that and more for her well-being.

“Are ye well?” he asked, his hand cupping her cheek.

Evanna turned her face away from him. Why was he being kind to her?

“Are ye very disappointed?” he asked, his voice small.