Page 78 of Highlander’s Quest of Desire

Chapter Thirty

There was a fire in his men. Bruce had seen it in their eyes when they had fought the English soldiers outside the kirk. The full force of Leo’s betrayal and the insidious capture of their castle had hit them like a rock and galvanized their sprit for revenge. In this moment, they were the most dangerous men in Scotland, and any English soldier coming up against them beware.

Leo must have seen it too because he paled considerably and stopped trying to snatch Elspeth back to his side. All the lairds and ladies gasped and stared daggers at him. Bruce did not want to be in Leo’s shoes.

Striding forward with purpose, Bruce smiled. “Priest! Have ye asked if anyone objects to the marriage yet?”

“No,” the priest stammered, looking completely out of his depth as he held the stone lectern for support. His eyes darted between Leo and Bruce’s sword. “It was requested that that portion be omitted from the ceremony.”

“But I have an objection.” Bruce stopped a few paces from the altar. “So many objections.”

“Ye should have stayed dead,” Leo spat.

“Ye should have made sure ye killed me,” Bruce shot back.

“Men! To me!” Leo bellowed, and a host of English soldiers that had been scattered around the kirk rushed to the altar to defend him. Bruce saw Domnhall pull Elspeth off the altar to veritable safety. “I’ll cut ye to pieces and scatter yer remains across Scotland. Is that dead enough for ye?”

“Nae.” Bruce stopped smiling. The humor left him as suddenly as it had arrived. “I want worse for ye.”

Bruce’s men roared. The English soldiers drew their swords. The guests panicked, especially the women, and tried to look for a means to escape.

“Enough!” General Forester stood up. “Men, back away. This is not our fight.”

Leo was flabbergasted. He stared at General Forester, but the General only had eyes for Laird Labert, and even there he could not keep a steady gaze. The General kept looking away, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

“Attention!” he ordered his troops. “Forward march.”

The English soldiers fell in line, and Bruce and his men stepped aside to let them pass. Big Nate growled at a few of them, and Beau got the satisfaction of seeing some of the soldiers flinch before they marched out on the double.

“What is the meaning of this?” Leo stepped off the dais and grabbed General Forester by the collar. “How dare you betray me? After all that I have done for you?”

“Done for me?” General Forester was so angry his bushy mustache bristled over his lips. “Preposterous!” He pushed Leo so that his hands were forced to let his collar go. “You fed me lies about Dunnottar and the noble Laird Grant and had him imprisoned under false criminal charges. I only did what I saw as the best way to stabilize the region. You have willfully misled me, and I shall ensure that everyone in London society knows of your deception.”

Smoothing his collar, he walked over to Bruce. “I apologize for any inconvenience caused. England wants to work with the lairds to ensure smooth function and rule.” With one last withering look at Laird Labert, he pushed past Bruce and left the kirk.

“Looks like yer all alone, Leo. Is this what ye had wanted when ye set out to betray me?”

“I was always alone!”

“Liar! Ye were my brother,” Bruce thundered. “My father never treated us as different. Ye ate from the same table; he made sure every item of clothing was made in pairs so ye and I could have the same of everything. If ye had asked me for my castle and my throne I would have gladly handed it to ye. But ye stabbed me in the back, used every conniving trick in the book to do me harm, and then ye stole the woman I love and tried to marry her by force. Ye were never alone, Leo, but ye were blind that ye could nae see who yer real family was. Because they have left, and we’re still here.”

Leo looked at their faces – Emory, Sean, Big Nate, and Jeremy. Bruce saw the hint of tears in his eyes, but they were soon replaced by hatred.

“Ye are nae my family. Ye never accepted me, or my mother.”

This was his best friend, the man he had grown up with, the man he had shared his life with, and yet, he had not recognized the seeds of bitter jealousy that had eroded his heart. What kind of man did that make Bruce?

“I do nae wish to desecrate the kirk with yer Judas blood,” Bruce said silently. “Ye might nae think of us as family, but ye must believe in the same God. Step outside, and ye will be given a sword to defend yer suit. We are nae heathens.”

Bruce walked out of the kirk and toward the clearing before it. He stood in the center, rolling his shoulders. His bruised shoulder still stung. He knew it would get worse because the shield would jar the bone, but this was the fight for his honor, and his life. If he lost today, he would lose everything, and he wouldn’t allow Leo to take from him again.

Lairds and ladies streamed out of the kirk, and Bruce saw Elspeth come out into the sun on Domnhall’s arm. She looked a vision in pale green and a flower crown. Their eyes met across the clearing, and she beamed at him. In her smile were his hopes for their future, and it was a bright one. She was his shining symbol of hope, his totem of good fortune. She had never steered him wrong. As long as he carried Elspeth in his heart no harm could come to him.

Once all of them were in the clearing, Leo Sinclair walked out of the kirk. Emory supplied him with a shield and a sword. Leo made a great show of testing the shield and sword for flaws, insulting Emory this way by suggesting he would cheat and give Leo inferior weapons.

The temerity of him was infuriating.

“Enough dillydallying,” Bruce roared. “Pick up yer sword, don yer shield, and defend yer honor!”