Page 60 of Highlander’s Quest of Desire

Chapter Twenty-Three

They had been riding for three days, but for Elspeth it felt like an eternity. A great force pulled her down until she felt heavy and encumbered and didn’t feel like getting up off the ground. Part of her fervently wished for the earth to split open and take her in its embrace.

What was there to live for? The Honors were in the hands of their enemies, Willow had been murdered, and Bruce was lost to her. Her adventurous spirit was broken. Every day they would stop, and every night Leo would try to persuade her to eat. She hated the sight of him, and the smell of food made her stomach turn. It reminded her too much of the scent of Willow’s blood.

She sat with her back to the tree, far from the campfire, her hair disheveled, clothes torn and dirty. Simon Drake threw her dirty looks, and the other man, whom Simon had called Jacks, was admiring the sword of the Scottish regalia in the twilight. Only a few days ago, Bruce had done the same.

“This can’t go on,” Leo said, cutting up a peach and presenting it to her. “Ye have to eat.”

“Ye’ve changed yer accent as well,” Elspeth noted. “Quite the chameleon ye are, Leo Sinclair.”

“Adapting to circumstances is not a bad thing, Elspeth,” he said smiling. “But ye’ll learn that soon. Eat.”

She took the piece of peach from him and observed it. The flowery smell of it made her mouth water, and she took a bite. Tears came forth in her eyes. She wanted to die, but her body was unwilling.

“Why did ye do it?” she asked suddenly. Sniffing, she brushed the tears off her face. “Why did ye go to such lengths to bring Bruce and I together if ye were going to take him away from me in the end?”

“I never counted on that,” Leo said, handing her another piece of peach. “Ye were never part of my plans, Elspeth, though I must say I’m glad God put ye in my path.”

“Then why did ye come to Blair Atholl? Why rescue Bruce once ye had control of Dunnottar?”

“Dunnottar wasn’t enough,” Leo said, an edge to his voice. He was eyeing Jacks with a glint of malice in his eyes. “I came to Blair Atholl to coax Domnhall in a treasonous rescue and gain his lands within my power. But Domnhall is a coward, and that was his saving grace. I was very disappointed when he refused. My plans to take over the lands one by one was failing when ye popped out of the tapestry and presented yerself as a tool to be used.”

Elspeth ate in silence. More than the food, his words were fueling something inside her, and she found that she needed this. The melancholia that had veiled her senses for the past two days was dissipating a little as his vile words sank into her consciousness.

“At first I thought I could use ye to malign Blair Atholl and let the English oust the Buchans. But Bruce’s refusal to go straight to France changed my plans. I suspected he was after the Honors. What else could the fool Bishop have talked about? He was obsessed, and if Bruce was now determined to risk his life in the condition he was in it must be the Honors he was after. So, my sights shifted from Blair Atholl to all of Scotland.”

Leo chuckled. “If they were happy to give me Dunnottar, and Blair Atholl as gifts for turning in Bruce and Domnhall, imagine what they would give me if I handed them the Scottish regalia.”

“So, ye'd sell off yer honor for a puppet’s crown.”

“Puppet’s crown.” Leo laughed, a high crazed sound. Elspeth was forced to look at him. Whatever handsome quality he had once contained had turned ugly. He resembled more a wolf salivating at the sight of sheep than a man at all. How had he kept this true self hidden for so long that no one suspected him? “Scotland does not merit its own royal line. We aren’t a separate sovereignty; we aren’t even a separate nation as we are located on an English island. The English are the rightful rulers, they have the divine right. If they are willing to set me up as their vassal, why would I kick that offer in the teeth?”

His words sounded scripted, like a child that has been taught the Lord’s prayer in Latin and repeats it rote, without understanding the meaning. But the words ignited a blaze in Elspeth. To see the day that Bruce would be betrayed by a man who abjectly rejected the very existence of his motherland.

“Have ye completely lost yer mind?” she asked, wiping the peach juice from her lips. It tasted rotten in her mouth. “Scotland does nae need England to accept its sovereignty. Scots have existed in these hills for millennia. What does it matter to us what England thinks? The audacity of the English to claim lands and cultures that donae belong to them will be their downfall.”

Rather than get offended, he tilted his head back and laughed even louder. “History does nae remember the defeated. The coming generations will only know of England. There will be no Scotland. And they will remember me as a benevolent king. Bruce and the Grants will be lost with no one to remember them. That is their fate.”

The temerity and certainty with which he said it took her aback for a minute, but it strengthened her resolve to fight him and his evil plans. “God will nae allow it, Leo. Scotland was granted His Honors for a reason. Mark my words, God will strike ye down and wipe yer name off the face of His green earth.”

Elspeth yelped with pain as Leo suddenly grabbed her by the chin, squeezing her mouth until her lips protruded and neck was yanked back, hitting the trunk of the tree. Stars shone in front of her eyes.

“Ye’ll see me wiped off the face of the earth, eh?” he sneered, his face so close to hers she could see each individual hair on his chin. “I’ll enjoy storming Blair Atholl and dragging yer entire clan in front of ye and putting them to the sword. I’ll start with Domnhall’s children. Then we’ll see who is forgotten.”

He pushed her back, and she fell to the ground, her palms scraping on the grass until her hands were streaked with green. Fury like never before took hold of her, scorching her grief to ash. With a wild roar, she got up and pushed at Leo.

He must not have expected such a reaction because he was caught off guard and fell on his back. Elspeth didn’t miss her chance. She climbed on top of him and slapped his face and scratched at his eyes.

“Then why have ye kept me alive?” she screamed. “Ye should have killed me before ye threatened my family. Nae forget that I’m a Scot, and our women have more gumption than a hundred English put together.”

Simon and Jacks pulled her off, their fingers digging into her arms and her hair. But Elspeth was too blinded by rage to feel anything but her burning fury. She kicked at Leo as she was being dragged away.

“Stop it, ye wench!” Jacks slapped her across the face, the ring on his little finger

knocked into her mouth, cutting her lip and jarring her teeth. “Or I’ll cut your throat from ear to ear.”

“No!” Leo seethed, stumbling to his feet. “I want her alive. She is still useful to me.”