Highland Blessings (11 page)

Evan’s last words,
do right by the lass,
rang in his ears. He swallowed with difficulty and looked at Vicar Forbes.

“Me?” Bryce shrugged his large frame and raised an eyebrow. “What can I do? I know naught of weeping women.”

Father Forbes stepped back and swept a hand toward Akira. “Ask the lass what ails her.”

Bryce stifled a sigh and rubbed his weary eyes. “I have a burial to prepare for and a war to prevent. Comforting a weeping woman isn’t a priority right now.”

Vicar Forbes gave him a rebuking glare. “Well, it had better be.” He pointed in Akira’s direction. “That innocent, weeping woman could be the key to preventing a war.”

Bryce started to argue, but then thought better of it. What exactly was the vicar referring to? His father had often sought the vicar’s council, but lately, he and Evan had avoided him. Cedric MacPhearson had been a man of respect, someone to revere, and known to be wise. Perhaps it was time for Bryce to follow his father’s example. He crossed his arms and planted his feet.

“I’m listening.”

“Lad, I realize ye have a lot on yer shoulders and ye’re grieving over Evan, but ye can only solve one problem at a time.” He nodded toward Akira. “Ye created this problem with the lass, and yer the one to fix it.”

“How do ye figure that?” Bryce held on to his patience.

“’Twas ye who took her from her family and brought her here, were ye not?” Without waiting for an answer, the vicar continued, “The lass has been torn from her home and all she’s ever known. While ye grieve for Evan, she grieves for a whole family.” Vicar Forbes paused, letting his words sink in. “If ye intend to keep her here, ’twould be wise to make her a friend ye can trust and not a bitter enemy under yer roof.”

Father Forbes had a way of speaking that made a man want to atone for all his misdeeds.

Bryce let out a slow breath. “Aye, I am guilty of what ye claim, but there’s no undoing it. What do ye suggest I do now?”

The priest laid a gentle hand upon Bryce’s shoulder. “Make yer penance to the Lord and do the right thing by Akira.”

“I will not let her go. I have made a promise, and I intend to keep it.” Bryce’s whispered tone grew sharp with determination.

“Look into yer heart and ask yerself what God would have ye do.” The small priest patted his shoulder one more time in a fatherly gesture and walked away, giving Bryce privacy with Akira.

Bryce scoffed at the priest’s suggestion. Look into his heart, indeed. His so-called heart was what had gotten him into this mess. Bryce’s heart had broken at the thought of not keeping a promise he should have never made in the first place. He had only been a lad, but even then he knew the stubborn streak his elder brother possessed and the difficult road that lay ahead if he intended to keep his word. Bryce was a man who honored his word. He despised a double-minded man and had no intention of being one.

Akira sniffed, looked up at the wooden cross hanging against the stone wall behind the altar. She made the sign of the cross from her forehead and over her chest and turned.

Their gazes locked. The puffy red skin around her swollen eyes made them look like glistening orbs. His breath caught in his throat, and a nervous ripple fluttered through his stomach. No woman had ever taken his breath away. He regretted the deep sadness in her soul and longed to help her overcome her grief, but he didn’t know how.

Akira clasped her hands together in front of her, waiting.

“I forgive ye … again,” Akira said with as reasonable a voice as she could manage, unsure of what to expect now that Bryce had tracked her down in the chapel. Was she to have no place of privacy where she could be alone? She had thought the sanctuary of the chapel would be safe from someone like Bryce, who seemed determined to cause war and mayhem with every decision he made. He didn’t strike her as the type of man who frequented the chapel, seeking the Lord with prayers and petitions.

His expression changed from sympathy to utter amazement. “Pray tell, lass, what new sin have I committed against ye this day?”

Akira searched his face. An unfamiliar shadow of a beard etched his jaw. Beneath his intense gaze lay a grief too strong and fierce to hide. Weary pain showed in his dark eyes as he looked at her with a mixture of distrust and concern. Something in the core of her heart stirred as she realized how difficult the day’s events had been for him. After all, he had lost a brother, while she had only lost a dear friend in Gregor.

“I came here to ask God’s help to forgive ye of what ye’ve already done. I’m not aware of any new sins.”

At first Bryce blinked and continued to stare at her as if he couldn’t believe his ears. Then he chuckled, shaking his head as if to clear his mind. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a level stare. “Lass, ye continue to amaze me. I never know what to expect ye to say.”

“Expect the truth. I have naught to gain in lying to ye. It isn’t in my nature.”

“Aye, but truth be told, I expected ye to wail at me for some new wrong I’ve done,” he confessed. “Ye did say ye forgive me
again
.”

She tilted her head in concession. “Aye, I did. I’ve tried to forgive ye before. I have to keep asking the Lord for His help. When next ye wrong me, I canna deny that I won’t express my feelings on the matter. I’ve always struggled to hide what I feel.”

Akira looked up at him, hoping he would deny any new wrong against her, but no such promise came forth. Instead, Bryce lowered his gaze and turned from her. He paced with his arms folded across his chest and one hand cupped under his chin in thoughtful concentration.

“If I’ve committed no new sin against ye, then why were ye weeping as if yer world is falling apart?” He asked the question without looking at her. “Did ye love the man Gregor that much?”

Akira shook her head, wondering how he could be so blind. Her world
was
falling apart, and Gregor’s death only contributed to a portion of it. So much had happened in the last couple of weeks, and she feared what would happen next.

“Nay, Gregor was a dear friend of mine, and I cared deeply for him, but I am grieved by how he and Evan died. ’Twill cause more pain and anger between our clans. I fear more people will demand revenge and retribution.” Akira paused, searching for the right words to make him understand. “I fear more bloodshed. This time ’twas yer brother. Next time it could be mine.” She walked toward him and laid a hand upon his right arm. His strong muscle tensed beneath her touch and then relaxed. “M’lord, when will this feuding ever stop?” Her voice broke into a whisper.

Bryce laid a comforting hand upon hers and looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t know, lass, but I do have a plan that I hope will be the beginning of reconciliation.” His voice softened.

“What is it?”

He shook his head and looked down at her. “Now is not the time to speak of it. I prefer to wait until after Evan’s burial and then I will explain it to ye.” Gently he moved her hand from his arm and held it between his. He lightly caressed her fingers with his thumb. Her sensitive skin tingled. Akira marveled that this MacPhearson warrior could exhibit such tenderness.

“Ye didn’t love this Gregor then?” Bryce asked as if he needed to be reassured, his eyebrow arching.

Akira bit her bottom lip and shook her head. “Nay, not in the way a woman should love her husband, but I had hoped that perhaps in time I would.”

“Why were ye about to wed him then?”

Akira didn’t know him well enough to lay open her heart, yet neither would she lie to hide her inner feelings. Her being here at MacPhearson Castle and the feud between their clans was not of her doing. She had no more power over her circumstances than she had over what Bryce would choose to do with the knowledge of her true feelings. The only thing she could do was tell the truth as God’s Word commanded and trust in the Lord to protect her. With a confidence she didn’t feel, Akira looked up and boldly gazed into his eyes.

“I had known I was betrothed to yer brother since I was a wee lass, but over the years the stories I had heard of the MacPhearsons were horrible. While I knew that many of them were greatly exaggerated, I still feared wedding into a clan that bore so much hatred for my people.”

Akira searched his face for some sign that he understood, but Bryce’s expression remained unreadable—full of scrutiny. She took a deep breath and continued.

“I am but a woman. A man has the right to do as he wishes with his wife. I imagined all sorts of possibilities. What if my new husband beat me? Starved me? Rejected me? Hated me just because I was born a MacKenzie?” She paused, giving him time to digest her words. “Can ye see where my imagination might have run away with me?”

At first he didn’t respond and then his expression changed to a semblance of regret. “Aye. They shouldn’t have filled yer head with so many lies. They should have given more caution to yer sensitive feelings.”

Akira jerked her hand from his hold and stepped back. “I didn’t tell ye this so ye’d have more of a reason to rant and rave against my clan.” She felt raw disappointment that he would use her words in such a way. “I’m well aware of the tales I shouldn’t have heard, but I am also thankful that they didn’t try to protect me from the truth.”

Bryce folded his arms across his chest. “And what is that truth, lass?”

“That our clans have fought for two lifetimes, and there is so much bitterness and hatred between them that one union isn’t likely to dissolve it. There’s too much betrayal, distrust, superstition, and lies for me to have a joyful marriage to a MacPhearson.”

“So ye decided to wed Gregor.”

Akira momentarily closed her eyes, trying to regain her composure before she answered. “I had prepared myself to accept Evan MacPhearson as my husband if that was to be God’s will, but I saw no harm in praying for God to intervene on my behalf.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “When we received Evan’s letter saying he had no intention of honoring the betrothal, I believed God had answered my prayer.”

Bryce ran a hand down his face and stroked his chin in thoughtful silence. “Aye, I can see where ye would feel that way,” he finally admitted. “For all his wit and bravery, my brother wasn’t always a level-headed one. He had his reservations over wedding a MacKenzie lass as much as ye did a MacPhearson. And rightly so.”

Akira cleared her throat. “My father was angry over the letter. He saw it as a final insult to our clan. Although the raids continued after yer father passed away, he continued to hope for a peaceful truce between our clans. He thought that perhaps with a little more age, Evan would come to see the wisdom in yer father’s betrothal agreement. But each year as my birthday rolled around, my father became more anxious that I not grow beyond a suitable age for marriage. So he sent Evan a letter inquiring after his intentions.”

Bryce gazed into her eyes as if he could determine her unspoken thoughts. “What happened next?” he urged in a lower, huskier tone.

Deeply affected by his presence, Akira suddenly felt very aware of his nearness. With the exception of Sim, Bryce was the only one in his clan who truly made her feel safe, in spite of the fact that his presence distracted her and sent her mind spinning. What was it about him that made her heart beat faster and her pulse quicken?

“So, lass, how did ye become betrothed to Gregor?”

Bryce bent his head toward her as if inclining his ear to better hear her response. A faint scent of lye soap drifted to her nose. She stared at his bent head, wondering why her relationship with Gregor seemed to be of so much importance.

“My father came to me and told me I was free to choose a husband from our clan. Gregor and I were close friends growing up. I knew him well, and I trusted him to take care of me. There was never a soul more loyal to my father. I confided in him of my concerns, and he suggested that we wed. We decided it would be a marriage of convenience and naught more, although we both hoped that in time we would come to love and desire one another.”

“Then why would he desert ye?”

Bryce moved fisted hands to his sides and looked back at her with a clouded expression she couldn’t fathom. Why would he care that she had been deserted upon her wedding day?

The reminder brought a sad countenance upon her, and she turned from him to hide her discomfort. Even though they were never in love, Gregor’s rejection in front of the whole clan had brought shame upon her and their family. She had always valued his friendship, and she felt like she had lost a close friend. Deep down she had known things would never be the same between them again, but she had not anticipated his death.