Page 67 of Highlander’s Quest of Desire

Chapter Twenty-Six

The bathwater was wonderful. Bruce had been against such ridiculous nonsense, his urgency making him obnoxious and dismissive toward Master Faraday’s suggestions. But they had forced him down, Laird Labert insisting he would only talk to Bruce and not some vagrant who looked a little bit like him.

They were in Master Faraday’s study. The tub had been placed out in his walled garden where most of his herbs grew. Laird Labert sat in a chair, his face a little haggard, and he finally looked his age. When Bruce had walked into his study half an hour ago it had been the shock of his life. While Charles and Edwards stood either side of their father’s chair, Daniel was plying Bruce with drinks and food, while Master Faraday inspected his shoulder.

“I must say, Laird Grant,” Master Faraday said, tweaking the bruise on his chest. “Ye have a guardian angel looking out for ye. Every time ye injure yerself, God sends ye a healer within time to fix ye up proper. I can find nae fault in whoever set yer shoulder. It will be painful for a few weeks, and I’d advise against using it, but ye shall be fine.”

“It was a cart driver by the name of Morris.” Bruce waved away the plate of cold meats Daniel was waving in front of his nose. “But that does nae matter. We must plan an attack on Dunnottar.”

“All in good time,” Laird Labert said. “There are a few questions I have for ye that I need ye to answer honestly.”

Bruce considered Laird Labert for a moment then nodded. He was grateful to the Laird not only for providing him a way back, but for not rubbing in the fact that his suspicion of Leo had proven to be true. It was an emotional bruise that still smarted, and he was not ready to have that conversation.

“My spies lost ye by the River Carron,” Laird Labert said. There was no hint of shame or remorse that he had set spies after them. This annoyed Bruce a little, but he let it slide. “After that it was only happenstance that he saw Elspeth in the custody of Leo and his men. What happened?”

Bruce sighed and accepted the glass of aged scotch from Daniel. He took a sip to fortify himself, and the heat from the scotch and the bath did a lot to restore his bruised spirit.

“We were camped on top of a cliff,” Bruce said. There was absolute silence. Every eye in the room was on him. “It was night, and we were tired. I was… I was tired so my guard was down, and I didnae notice Leo and his men until they were upon us. Leo revealed his duplicitous nature. We fought, and I lost.” He stopped speaking; his body was shaking too badly for him to continue. “They kicked me off the cliff, and I was discovered by Morris.”

Another moment of silence followed once he had stopped talking. Bruce finished his drink. He scooped water up and washed his face, running his wet fingers through his hair. When he finally looked up to meet Laird Labert’s eyes he saw disappointment in them. Bruce found that he could not hold his gaze and that the look of disappointment cut at him and made him feel like a small boy who had been caught out in some lie by his father.

“I asked for the truth, son. I’m nae fool to believe Leo just happened to reveal himself for nae reason. He wanted Dunnottar, and he got it. All he needed to do was inform the English of yer whereabouts and they would have hanged ye for his convenience without ye knowing the truth. What prompted Leo Sinclair to reveal himself like that? Why did he nae send an assassin to do his dirty work? Yer holding back, and I will nae have it.”

Bruce was a child again, getting an earful from his father on a mistake that would have been fine for any other boy to make but not the son of a Laird. Even after his realization that Elspeth mattered more to him than anything, he was still reluctant to share the Honors with anyone. It was a remnant of the Bishop’s teachings, keeping his cards very close to his chest.

But what did it matter now? The Honors were lost, and knowing Leo’s intentions, they would be common knowledge soon.

Bruce stood up and stepped out of the bath. If they were going to have this conversation it wasn’t going to be with him naked in a bath. It would be on equal terms. He retrieved the fresh clothes that had been laid out for him on Master Faraday’s table and dressed in silence. He could feel Laird Labert’s eyes trained on his back. Thankfully his sons were quiet. Bruce didn’t think he could handle their constant bickering at that moment.

Once dressed, he felt like a Laird again, not some little child. He turned to face Laird Labert. “I’d like a word in private.”

Laird Labert stood up. “Follow me.”

They walked down the hall and took a turn. At the end of the hall was a plain unadorned door. It led to Laird Labert’s personal room. A large table dominated the room, and a large map of his lands looked down on them. It was a subtle way to impress upon a guest just how powerful Laird Labert was.

“Take a seat,” Laird Labert invited him to sit down.

Bruce did.

“Continue.” It wasn’t a request.

“Leo came out of safety of Dunnottar and revealed himself because Elspeth and I found the Honors of Scotland.”

The look on Laird Labert’s face forced him to stop. He was dumbfounded, and his eyes held an unexplainable terror. “Ye found the Honors?”

“Aye,” Bruce said. “The Bishop has schooled me in Honors lore since I was a child. When I visited him before he passed away he told me that he had found the Honors and set me the task of unearthing them and claiming Scotland’s independence.”

“Under which king?” Laird Labert asked, his tone incredulous.

Bruce didn’t want to answer because the Bishop’s wish to see him crowned was not only unrealistic, coming from Bruce it sounded egoistic and power hungry.

“Let me take a wager,” Laird Labert said, a sardonic smile on his face. “The Bishop wanted ye to wear the crown?”

He had hit the nail on the head, and Bruce hated that he flushed. “Aye,” he said, a little defensively. “But that does nae mean that I intended to honor his wish.”

“Ye went looking for the Honors at his behest. What was to stop from fulfilling the latter?” Laird Labert scoffed. He stood up, agitated, and went to look outside the window. “Fools.”

“I do nae see what is so foolish about wanting an independent Scotland.” Bruce had had quite enough of Laird Labert’s reactions. “Is that nae what ye want as well?”