Page 16 of Highlander’s Evil Side

“I truly apologize for what happened, my lady,” came Fraser’s calming voice. “If ye wish, I can station soldiers around yer chamber. Perhaps ye will feel a wee safer?”

Beitris felt numb as she nodded. “Aye,” she murmured.

She wanted to feel angry. She wanted to insist on asking more servants, demanding they tell her the truth of their laird’s whereabouts during the Dunbar’s celebration, but she was so exhausted. The entire day had been filled with too many changes, too many questions, and had left her feeling like a raggedy old shawl.

Beitris flinched as Fraser took a step towards her, making him stop instantly. “I need some time," she said, her voice stronger this time. “I still need to make sense of the thoughts in my head. I hope ye understand.”

She watched Fraser's slow nod. “Of course, my lady. I hope we may be able to start over?”

Beitris did not know. She forced herself to nod, needing peace for the moment. However, she couldn’t get the man in the garden out of her head. She felt pulled from one direction to the other, feeling as if she could no longer trust herself and those around her. Had she made a mistake? Had she been too inebriated to recall the man?

Or were Fraser’s servants instructed to lie to her?

"Would ye like me to escort ye back to the feast?" Fraser asked with an awkward smile. “I promise to keep my distance, of course.”

Fraser took a step back and raised his hands, making Beitris’s lips twitch upwards in response. His chivalrous manner, while awkward at times, was quite charming, and the dimples in his cheeks disarmed her walls ever so slightly.

She shook her head. "Nae, I can do it myself.” She strode towards the great hall until a thought came to her mind, making her turn around. Forcing a smile, she looked Fraser straight in the eye while saying, "I hope ye know I will not make it easy for ye to win my favor. I never wanted an arranged marriage. My feelings have not changed.”

She watched the tilt of Fraser's head, the mischievous smile taking hold of his lips and the kind glint in his gaze. “I suspected as much, Beitris.”

Beitris turned on her heel and strode through the doors, ignoring the flush in her cheeks and the warmth pooling within her at the way Fraser said her name, as if somehow in the brief moments they had spent with each other, he had come to adore her.

But that couldn’t be, she told herself. He hardly knew her.