Page 71 of Highlander’s Evil Side

Chapter Thirty

Beitris

Beitris reread the letter in her grasp. Hendry’s name stared back at her. He was coming. He would aid them. She sighed in relief. The thundering of hooves called her attention away from the letter, and she looked out the window, a smile taking hold of her as she saw Fraser’s men in the distance. He was safe. He had returned to her.

She ran out of her room, shoving the letter into her pocket while nearly skipping down the steps towards the courtyard. Beitris couldn’t hide the joy blooming within her as she passed the servants. Rain drizzled down onto her as she entered the courtyard, but she did not care. Fraser had returned, and she would welcome him home with open arms.

As the horses filed inside, her smile slipped when she noticed Gavin and Kenneth were nowhere to be found. She searched the crowd of guards, finding Fraser riding next to her father. Her hand flew to her throat, and a sob surfaced, taking hold of her as tears sprung to her eyes.

“Father!” she called while picking up her skirts and running towards him. “Father!”

“Beitris!” Laird Gordon shouted while dismounting, smiling widely.

Beitris lunged for her father, throwing her arms tightly around his waist while burying her face into his chest. “I’m so happy yer alive,” she whispered. “I was so scared.”

“I’m fine, my dear lass,” said Laird Gordon while stroking the top of her head. “Naething more than a wee scratch.”

Beitris lifted her gaze, frowning up at the small cut on his cheek and the dark bruise surrounding his eye. His leine was stained with dirt, and his boots were soaked and covered with mud, but other than the little scrape, nothing appeared out of sorts.

“If it weren’t for yer husband to be, I don’t know if I’d have ever escaped.” Her father nodded behind him, and Beitris followed his gaze, finding Fraser standing a foot away. He smiled at her, his blue gaze filled with something she couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t the love and adoration she was often used to. His hair was dirtier than before, his face pallid, but she pushed those thoughts away. He was home.

“We were attacked,” said Fraser, his voice gruffer. “There were many. Unfortunately, we lost a few men.”

Beitris’s breath hitched, and she looked around once more for Gavin and Kenneth. They couldn’t be gone, she thought. They were strong, valiant, and skilled swordsmen, often found sparring with Fraser. She closed her eyes, willing away the sorrow tempting to take hold of her. There were no bodies, she realized when she opened her eyes. None they could bury. The thought made her frown. Fraser would never leave a fallen soldier behind.

However, Fraser needed to do whatever it took to get her father, which probably involved going to dirty places and fighting brigands. Maybe they were forced to leave the fallen comrades due to nearly being killed themselves. Beitris did not know. The only time she had fought brigands was her time at the falls.

She watched Fraser hand his horse to the stable master. He didn't seem like a man grieving over fallen friends. Perhaps, Gavin and Kenneth were merely scouting the wood in search of more brigands, or they were aiding the encampment of villagers. She noted the difference in gait as Fraser strode towards her and the way his clothes seemed to slightly hang off his form. He was alive, Beitris told herself. He had returned to her.

“Fraser,” she breathed while running towards him and throwing her arms around him. “I’m so glad yer back. I was so worried.”

Fraser’s hands wrapped around her, pulling her towards him. His embrace was unusually tight, like a starved man being given a loaf of bread. “Ye had nae need to worry,” he said haughtily. “Of course, I’d return to ye." Her eyes widened as his hands slipped below her waist, grazing her bottom. He chuckled as she wiggled in his grasp, trying to push him away given they were in public. “Ye should have more faith in me, Beitris.”

Beitris quickly pushed him away at the feel of his palm on her bottom. She stared up at him, wide-eyed and horrified Fraser would act this way in front of her father. Glancing over her shoulder, she found Laird Gordon, thankfully looking away, his gaze on the keep and Helga standing outside of it. Her gaze fixated on Helga, with her mouth slightly ajar and her eyes glimmering in the dim sunlight.

“Are ye alright, lass?” she heard Fraser, his voice slightly gruffer than she was used to.

“A-aye,” Beitris said, quickly shaking her head, ridding herself of the ache pulling at her. “I’m fine.” She turned to him and patted his shoulder. “I’m so happy yer home.”

“My laird,” came Scott’s voice. He stalked through the courtyard, dodging guards moving towards the barracks. “Where are Kenneth and Gavin?” His gaze searched the courtyard frantically.

Fraser bristled, his gaze looking worried and shocked for a moment before shaking his head. “They gave their lives saving Laird Gordon.”

Beitris gasped, covering her mouth with a hand as she imagined Gavin and Kenneth’s bodies lying on the dirt path. She had hardly known them, but she knew they had been close to Fraser. They had also been very kind to her. She clutched Fraser’s arm, yet he remained still, as if in shock, as if their deaths hadn’t yet reached him.

Scott blinked, his shoulders slumping. His bottom lip quivered, and he clenched his jaw, breathing deeply before asking in a strangled voice, “They’re…they’re gone?” He looked around. “And their bodies?”

Fraser winced. “We did not have time to retrieve them.”

Scott stepped back, looking as if Fraser’s words had stabbed through him. “And so ye left them?” Scott shouted, his tone angry and his gaze filled with alarm and grief. “To have their bodies picked at by the crows?”

Fraser sighed. “We needed to get Laird Gordon home before we were attacked again.”

Scott opened his mouth, but Helga stepped between them before he could say anything. She pressed a hand against Fraser’s cheeks, tears dripping from her eyes as she smiled up at her son. “Yer-yer here.” She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a fierce hug. “At long last, yer here.”

Beitris glanced at Scott, who shared her worried look. She knew there was a chance Fraser would return. She knew this journey was deadly, and she could have lost both her father and intended. However, he had not been gone all that long—nearly two days. Helga acted as if Fraser had been gone years.

“Ye should have a bath and a healer look at ye,” Helga said while pulling away from Fraser. Beitris’s frown deepened as she watched the elder woman wipe her eyes with a shaking hand. She wobbled as she turned towards the keep, nearly falling to her knees in the courtyard. Laird Gordon quickly grasped her hand, his gaze filled with worry as he helped Helga become stable.