Highland Blessings (8 page)

Evan continued to stare at her sleeping form.

“And for goodness sake, stop gawking over her. She isn’t yer wife yet.” Bryce stormed from the chamber, unhappy with how well his plans were succeeding.

T
he following day Bryce plunged himself into his work to keep his mind off Akira. He felt responsible for her near-death experience, as well as for her illness. Frustrated that he couldn’t concentrate, Bryce dismissed his men early that afternoon and decided to see how Akira was faring.

As he strolled down the hall, he tried to relax and slow his pace. Her melodious voice echoed in laughter down the hall leading to her bedchamber. Bryce paused outside the open doorway. Her laughter was like a flood of relief and eased the tension in his shoulders.

“A horse? Nay?” She was asking someone in her room.

The lack of verbal response made Bryce suspect that his younger brother Sim entertained her. Deaf and mute, Sim used exaggerated gestures and imitations as his only means of communicating. He liked making people guess at what he tried to say. He enjoyed it as a game.

“Hmm. A mule?” Akira clapped with delight. “I knew it!” She laughed again.

Bryce had meant to leave them undisturbed, but the sound of her laughter tugged at his curiosity even more. It wasn’t enough just to hear her. He wanted to see laughter in her eyes and watch how a simple smile could light up her face. His feet seemed to float into the large chamber where he had ordered Finella to move Akira.

Sim stood at the foot of her bed, making funny faces and moving his hands about. Akira hugged her knees in the center of the bed, surrounded by a frame of four intricately carved oak posts. The lad must have noticed Bryce’s entrance, for he turned and waved. Akira’s gaze followed his attention toward Bryce. Her eyes flickered from joy to disdain, and her beautiful smile melted.

Bryce tried to ignore his mounting disappointment and stepped closer. “I wanted to see if ye were better.”

“I roll in happiness away from yer gracious presence. So, ye may take yer leave.” Her expression harbored distrust as the corners of her lips curled upward in a sardonic smile.

He chose to ignore her angry words. “I see ye’re in good company.” He kept his voice light and casual and nodded toward Sim. “The lad is full of wit and good humor, even if he is my brother.”

“Yer brother?” Her eyes grew wide in surprise.

“Aye, he’s the wee one.” Bryce folded his hands behind his back. Her innocence intrigued him. He fought the urge to stare at her as he tried to interpret her stunned reaction.

“Are there more of ye?” Her voice held a hint of contempt, as if the idea of more MacPhearson brothers gave her anxiety.

“Only the three of us.” Bryce shook his head.

The tension in her expression eased into relief. She glanced at Sim, and her lips puckered into another frown. “The poor lad. He’s so young to be all alone.”

Her reflective tone echoed with a trace of pity that Bryce didn’t like. He shrugged, slightly offended. “He isn’t alone. Evan and I take care of him—sometimes too much.”

“Why do ye say that?”

Without answering, Bryce turned to Sim and touched his shoulder to gain his attention. “Evan is going out for a ride if ye’d like to join him.”

Reading his lips, the lad eagerly nodded and hastily disappeared from the chamber. Sim popped back in with a good-bye wave to Akira. She waved back, and he disappeared again.

Bryce shook his head, sporting a fatherly expression of pride. “He loves to ride.”

Akira cleared her throat. “Did ye forget my question?”

Bryce sighed as he dropped in a chair and scooted closer to her bedside. “Nay, I didn’t forget yer question, Akira. ’Tis quite simple. He’s at the age when he must begin his training.”

“Training for what?”

Bryce paused, wondering if she was as innocent as she obviously wanted him to believe. “To be a warrior. Sim must learn to defend himself. Evan and I have worked with him some, but not to the degree that is necessary. I’ll not have him fail in a battle because of my negligence.”

She leaned back and gazed into his eyes. “Then train him, but do not send him into battle.”

“Soon he will be a man, and I canna deny him the right to do as he wishes.”

“He’s only a lad. What does he know of the world? Can he even read or write?”

“Ye ask a wee bit much of a lad who canna hear nor speak.” Bryce closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Reading and writing will not help him keep his home and his land. This world ye speak of, Akira, is built upon survival. The strong conquer and live, while the weak crumble and die.”

Abruptly, Bryce scooted his chair back and rose to pace around her chamber. He and Evan had borne the weight of Sim’s disabilities for so long that it now seemed of little or no consequence, until he thought of Sim being a man of his own. And Bryce knew that to deny him those basic rights would be like denying him his manhood—his birthright.

He whirled around and bent toward Akira. The smell of lilacs drifted to his senses, calming the frustrated passion coursing through his veins. He took a deep breath as he searched her lovely face for understanding. “Do ye not realize, lass, that there’s no limit to what I’d give to hear Sim speak?” Bryce lifted a finger so close to her face that her eyes blinked and her long, dark lashes fluttered. “Even if only one word?” The sincere conviction of his voice portrayed the emotion he fought to hide. He could tell she listened as mixed emotions filled her expression and a new compassion entered her eyes.

“Then let him live and don’t even consider the possibility of sending him into battle. Educate him instead. Men like ye will always need someone to keep yer records. And ye need someone ye can trust, someone who won’t talk about yer finances or the state of things. Give him a life worth living instead of empty days full of naught save bloodshed.”

Bryce stepped back, folding his arms across his chest and shaking his head. “I wouldn’t expect a woman to understand the responsibilities of a man.”

Her lips tightened into a thin line, and she glared at him with burning, reproachful eyes. “I understand a man’s responsibilities well, but I also understand the lad’s limitations.” She shifted and again hugged her knees to her chest. “I simply believe he deserves a chance at life, which has absolutely naught to do with me being a woman.” Her expression glowed with a savage inner fire as she met his gaze with a boldness that many of his men had yet to master. “Bryce MacPhearson, sometimes ye’re everything to be despised.”

“That’s unjust. Ye twist my words into things I don’t mean.”

“It isn’t unjust! Ye claimed a woman couldn’t understand the responsibilities of a man, and I simply challenged ye on the matter.”

He stepped closer, and recognizing the guarded look in her eyes, dropped his hands to his sides. She feared him and that bothered him. “How long will it take ye to forgive me, lass?”

Something about Akira made his pulse quicken, and he needed to keep his distance to maintain a clear head. He stepped back. Other than Evan, Akira was the only one who had the nerve to challenge his decisions and way of thinking. She made him see different perspectives. Bryce couldn’t decide if it was a blessing or a curse. As much as he hated to admit it, her thoughts mattered, and he had no idea why.

Akira visibly stiffened and straightened as if drawing on all her inner strength to maintain his gaze. A flicker of apprehension momentarily crossed her features and then it was gone.

“I am commanded by my Lord to forgive my fellow man.” She spoke with quiet, but decisive firmness. “Bryce MacPhearson, ye shall have my forgiveness, but never my trust.”

He exhaled a long sigh of relief. Her forgiveness was a step in the right direction, but he wanted more. He also wanted her trust. As a warrior he had been trained to do what was necessary for the good of the clan and to protect his people. A guilty conscience was not an option. It could be the very thing that got a man killed on the battlefield. Yet with Akira, he seemed to be going against the very principal that he had been trained to avoid.

He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “There’s softness in ye, Akira, that ye’d prefer to hide. But I remember the way ye cleaned my leg after ye retched all over me.”

Her face clouded with uneasiness at the reminder. “I was insane with fright,” she said. Akira pulled at a loose string on her blanket, careful to avoid his gaze.

“Ye were as calm as ye are now,” he countered. “Ye’ve changed since yer experience at the loch.”

“I’ve not changed. If ye recall, ye nearly killed me.”

“That isn’t true and ye know it. If I wanted ye dead, ye would be.”

The truth in his words seemed to reverberate against the awkward silence that filled the chamber. Her steady gaze hid her thoughts. An unexpected smile curved her round lips.

“I never did believe half the rumors my clansmen spread about the MacPhearsons, but let no one ever say ye’re not a forthright man.”

“What rumors?” Bryce raised a dark eyebrow, not bothering to hide the glimmer of interest in his expression.

“That ye are all evil,” Akira replied without hesitation.

Bryce crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled, amused by the exaggerated imagination of her clansmen.

“Ye may fence words with me all ye wish,” Akira informed him, “but regardless of anything ye say, I am naught more than a simple tool to gain what ye want.”

“True.” He did not deny it. “But, ye’ll become one of us and will be treated and protected as such.” The quiet emphasis in his tone left no room for further argument.

“And who’ll protect me from ye?” Akira regarded him with a thoughtful gaze.

Bryce grew silent as he considered her question. For a brief moment, he couldn’t help wondering if she referred to her experience at the loch or something deeper. Could she sense the growing attraction he felt for her? If so, he would simply have to do a better job of rejecting it. She would be his brother’s wife. He would do naught to interfere with their union, especially after he had risked so much to see them wed.

“Ye need no protection from me. Ye’ve my word on it,” he assured her. “I’ll take my leave now. Finella will soon bring up yer meal.” He turned and strode from her chamber.

“Sim, what do ye think about this scheme of our brother’s?” Evan rode his mount hard, giving his destrier the exercise he needed. Sim followed close behind on his own mount. Evan knew Sim couldn’t hear him, and it was just as well. Talking aloud helped him sort through his scattered thoughts.

It wasn’t that Evan disliked the lass. He didn’t know her. She carried MacKenzie blood and bore the name. As far as he was concerned, that alone justified not wedding her. What kind of suffering had his father endured to ask Bryce to do such a foolish thing? Evan snapped his fingers. Aye, that had to be it. The loss of blood and the severity of his father’s wounds must have been too much. He couldn’t have been thinking clearly. His father hadn’t really intended for him to wed the MacKenzie lass.

Evan slowed his mount as he brooded over his troubles. He leaned forward and patted the animal on the neck. The sound of neighing horses pulled Evan from his thoughts. Two men rode out from a wide hedge and charged toward them. Sim’s horse reared on its hind legs in fear. Evan couldn’t help Sim as his own mount pawed the air. Both brothers struggled to maintain control as their chargers shot forward and raced through the woods. Their pursuers surged after them.

Evan stole a glance behind and recognized their MacKenzie plaids. Anger flared through him. There could only be one reason MacKenzie warriors were on MacPhearson land—retaliation for Bryce’s abduction of Akira. When he got out of this mess, he would strangle Bryce for causing such a tangled web. Right now he needed to protect Sim. Evan dodged lowlying tree limbs, shifting his weight to the right and then to the left.

Sim turned and missed seeing a sturdy tree limb in his path. Hard pine slammed against his chest, nearly knocking the breath from him. His horse flew out from beneath him as he tumbled to the ground. Evan glanced back. His brother lay on the ground in a dazed stupor as one of the attackers slowed, dismounted, and headed toward him.

Evan’s pursuer gained speed. He had two choices. He could keep going and hope to rescue Sim with help later, or face his challengers now. Taking a deep breath, Evan slowed and unsheathed his sword. He couldn’t risk what might happen to Sim if left at the mercy of MacKenzie warriors.