Page 15

Oh yes, it almost seemed to write itself, really. All she needed to do now was die.

Harrison had walked away from the castle. His hands were folded in his cloak, which kept him warm. The stars glittered above, and the moon hung up high like a silver coin in the sky, watching down on all of them. It was going to be the only witness to the other dark deed that needed to be performed this night. He waited patiently by the cliff edge. The sea roared below, churning and frothing against jagged rocks. Without the faint light of the moon, it would have been impossible to tell that anything lurked below. As he looked over, it was akin to gazing into an abyss.

“Y-Ye wanted tae see me?” a trembling voice whispered. It carried on the wind and danced around him. He tore his gaze from the abyss and looked to the servant that was standing before him. She was a small slip of a woman, and her face was ashen. Her eyes were filled with fear, as well they should have been.

“Indeed I did,” he said, and let her suffer in silence for a few moments more.

“I did as ye asked. I slipped that potion intae her drink,” she said.

Harrison walked toward her. She was terrified, but she dared not move. “Ye did, aye, but ye mixed it wrong, woman,” he said, and slapped her around the head. She cowered and lifted her hands in an effort to protect herself.

“I did as ye asked!”

“Ye failed!” he spat. “She was supposed tae be dead already. I paid ye enough coin that should hae covered for any mistakes. I dinnae take failure lightly.”

“I’m sorry!” the woman pleaded, clasping her hands together. “But maybe this is the best way. At least she doesnae hae tae die.”

“Her dying is the only way this clan is going tae be strong. I explained it tae ye already. Are ye truly gaeing tae pretend that ye dinnae understand?” Harrison asked through gritted teeth. The simple minds of people were such an annoyance. He had explained it plainly to her, yet she still did not understand everything that was required here.

“I’m sorry! I know, sir, I know. She is just a girl—”

“And he is just a fool. I am the only one who can lead this clan tae its rightful place in the annals of history. We should hae nae trusted it tae a lass like her. She will dae more for this clan in death than she ever did in life.”

“I understand, sir, I know. I will dae as ye ask. I will mix another dose and deliver it tae her. I will make sure that yer will is done,” the woman said, the words being lost in a torrent of emotion as she was close to tears. It was a pitiful sight to see this weak waste of life cower before him. There was too much weakness in the clan, he decided, and he thought he should go on a cull of life to prevent this weakness from spreading.

“Ye know,” he said, “if ye haed more presence about ye, then ye could hae leveraged yer position against me. Ye could hae threatened tae expose me and forced me tae pay ye more gold, or ye could hae taken what ye hae already earned and disappeared intae the night tae make a better life for yerself. But I suppose that thought never occurred tae ye, did it?”

“I…I would never betray ye, sir,” she said, glancing at him warily, still crouching with her hands raised in case he struck her again. She looked like a wounded puppy, one that needed to be put out of its misery. “I value my life tae much for that.”

“Mm, and I think ye are the only one who does value yer life,” Harrison said. “Unfortunately, I cannae trust ye again now that ye hae failed me. Ye hae outlived yer usefulness, and I will just hae tae hope that Maeve is weak enough tae die from the poison that is already in her vein. As for ye, well, I dinnae think the world is gaeing tae miss ye,” he said, and promptly grabbed the woman by her hair. She shrieked, but he quickly clamped a hand around her mouth to silence her, although he was certain that he was far enough from the castle that nobody would have heard her. He gagged her mouth with the sleeve of his cloak, which was thick enough to prevent himself from getting hurt as she tried to gnaw on his flesh and break free. Her legs writhed and kicked out, but despite not being a man of physical strength, he was still stronger than this scullery maid. Anger burned inside him as he forced her to the cliff edge. If she had done her job properly, then Maeve would already be dead, and he wouldn’t have to think of some other scheme to deliver her into the afterlife.

This woman’s life was a small price to pay. She was an insignificant woman who nobody would mourn. Her death was practically as worthless as her life, and Harrison couldn’t bring himself to feel any kind of remorse as he pushed her away from him and watched her arms flail out, trying hopelessly to grasp on to anything aside from empty air. She seemed to hang in midair for a moment before she plunged into the abyss, the echo of her scream the only thing remaining. Harrison peered over the edge and watched her descend into the darkness, eventually disappearing into nothingness, engulfed by the black.

He stayed there, staring into the darkness for a while, wishing that his niece’s death could be so swift and easy.

Unfortunately, he could not rely on the poison doing its job. Everyone would be trying whatever they could to revive Maeve, and she was a spirited girl. It wouldn’t surprise him if she did indeed make a full recovery. What a miracle it would be, he could imagine them all saying, and he scowled as he imagined their rejoicing tones. At least nobody would be able to link the poison back to him, but the next attack had to be something Mauve would not be able to escape from, something decisive.

He turned from the cliff edge and returned to the castle, thinking about all kinds of plans as he did so. He needed something that would solve all his problems in one fell swoop and see him take the throne as soon as possible. It was far beyond time for him to take his rightful place as the Laird of the Wallace clan, and he was not about to fail when he had already come so close.

11

Everything was cloudy in Maeve’s mind. There were voices in the distance, vague whisperings. At one moment she thought she heard her father and mother, but when she turned to face them, they were not there. There was a warm presence as well, a comforting presence, although she couldn’t quite define it. It was as though she was caught in a place that was in between a dream and the waking world. She remembered her wedding and the things that she and Gowan had been planning to do, but then everything went dark, and she was filled with a sense of fear.

Something was wrong with her body, and maybe something was wrong with her mind too. She had been so close to something wonderful, and then it had all been taken away. How was she supposed to feel? What was she supposed to do?

The answers were unclear to her. She tried to focus on the mysterious voices in the hope that they would shed some light, but she could not understand them.

Then, as though she was being born again, everything began to come into focus. The lights were brighter, and she could open her eyes. Her throat was dry, and there was still a pounding sensation in her head, but she had returned to the world. She gasped as though she had not taken a breath in days, and there was a commotion around her as people celebrated. There were many questions about what had happened, although she could not offer any clarity to what they already knew. She drank water and nibbled on some food, but whatever had afflicted her seemed to have left her body. She felt nauseous no longer, nor was the taste of bile the only thing lingering on her tongue.

Gowan was beside her and expressed relief that she had returned to him, and Callum was weeping with joy. For her, this was surprising as it seemed as though no time had passed at all. There had been an overwhelming sense of pain, of course, but then it felt as though she had been gone from the world. She was surprised when Gowan told her that almost a week had passed since her near death, and it was a miracle that she had recovered. Although they couldn’t say for certain what had happened to her, Callum said that it was an illness. She had no idea where she might have gotten this illness from, but she supposed it did not matter now; the only thing that mattered was that she had returned to consciousness and could resume her life.

“Callum, will ye gae and arrange a meeting sae that I can catch up on everything I hae missed?” she asked, and he dutifully left the room. Gowan remained. She smiled at him weakly.

“Are ye sure ye want tae put yerself through a meeting? Ye hae an excuse tae miss one,” he said.

“I enjoy them. I like tae know what is happening,” she said, and breathed slowly, regaining her strength. She realized that she was weaker than she thought. “I am sorry for collapsing on ye like that. It was…unfortunate timing.” She punctuated her words with a weak smile.

“Ye just focus on getting yer strength back. There is something I must talk tae ye about when ye hae recovered,” he said, and came up to her, kissing her lightly on the forehead. “For now, I will leave ye tae rest.”