Page 39 of Highlander's Escaped Prisoner
“Nessa, are you harmed, my dear?” Roy asked, looking fearfully into his daughter’s eyes.
“Nessa is fine,” Bryce said, putting a possessive arm around her. “Are you not, my love?”
As Nessa looked up at him, Roy Guthrie saw that whatever happened, Nessa and Roy would never be parted again.
“I am now,” she murmured.
When Bryce and Nessa went into the great hall, everyone else had taken their seats, and there was a murmur of amazement.
Bryce did not allow anyone to address the company before him, not even Laird Guthrie. He strode to the top of the long table hand in hand with Nessa and began to speak.
“I am Bryce Blair, son of Laird Gregor Blair,” he began. “I have just spent seven years in prison for a crime I did not commit, as you all know. I am here to tell you today that the real murderers have been found, and one of them, Logan Crosbie, has confessed. Now Nessa will tell you the rest.”
Nessa stepped forward, squared her shoulders, and tilted her chin up. “Logan Crosbie tried to hurt me,” she began. A gaspwent around the table. Nessa went on. “He kidnapped me on the way into the castle earlier today and took me to a room in an isolated part of the castle. I told him I wanted to end our betrothal, but he would not allow it and said that he would ruin me for any other man.
“He tied me up, and if Bryce had not stopped him in time, I would not be here to tell you my story now. Bryce saved me by making it impossible for Logan to touch me again because he is lying unconscious in a room downstairs. Logan revealed to Bryce that he is the one who killed my uncle, Gerald Guthrie.
Logan Crosbie, will go to the dungeons and then to trial for murder, and we will testify against him.”
She was about to go on, but at that moment, Andrew Henderson, who had accepted Roy’s invitation and had come to Drumblane Castle, stood up. “May I interrupt, mistress?” he asked.
“Please do, Master Henderson,” she replied.
Andrew took a deep breath. “I told you when I met you last time that my sources told me that your father was involved in the murder of his brother, and you asked me who my sources were. I told you that I could not tell you because I was afraid for my life. However, now that I am here in your castle, I can tell you as long as you give me your protection.”
“Of course,” Roy agreed. “Tell us, Andrew.”
“There he is -” Andrew said grimly, pointing at Gregor. “Jamie too. I heard them talking about it just after the murder happened, and Jamie was terrified that Logan would get caught. Laird Gregor had to help, because he owed a debt to Jamie Crosbie.” He paused. “When I heard them, I dropped the glass I was holding in shock, and then they threatened to kill me if Irevealed the truth. They told me that if anyone asked I should tell them Roy Guthrie was involved.” He hesitated to go on.
“Go on, ” Bryce asked.
“Laird Gregor and Jamie Crosbie are part of the murder.” Andrew went on as Jamie came into the hall, looking terrified. “But in the concealment of it.”
Bryce speared Jamie with a glance. “Is this true?” he asked.
Jamie hesitated for a moment and then nodded, his face terrified. “After the killin’ Logan’s cloak was spattered wi’ blood, so I burned it, an’ that was a’ I did. Logan is my only child. He killed Gerald because for him, he was a weak Laird. He believed that the Guthrie Clan would be destroyed by other clans and this is why he acted this way. He is a mindless man, I’m sorry - I had tae protect him!” He looked at Bryce with desperation in his eyes.
“Take him to the dungeons,” Roy Guthrie said dismissively.
“And you...” Bryce turned to the chair where his father had been sitting, only to find it empty and the fleeing figure of his father disappearing through the main entrance to the great hall. “Get him!” he cried to the guards as he ran after Gregor Blair.
It only took a moment for two hefty guards to catch and subdue Gregor. When he was caught, he sagged in the arms of the men who were holding him and hung his head in shame so that he did not have to look at his son.
“How could you?” Bryce asked, his voice a mixture of anger and deep hurt. “I spent seven years of my life in jail for a crime you committed, and if it were not for the grace of God, I might have been hanged. My own father!” He shook his head in disgust, andNessa, seeing the pain in his eyes, moved to stand by his side and put her arm around his waist.
“I tried to have you released!” Gregor flung back. “They were going to hang you, but I begged for your life, again and again.”
“Why did you not tell them who did the murder?” Bryce demanded. “You allowed me to be thrown into jail foryourcrime!”
“I—could not.” Once again, Gregor’s gaze dropped to the floor. “I was too much of a coward. I-I am sorry, Son.”
“‘Sorry’ hardly makes up for seven years of my life!” Bryce snapped.
For a moment, he contemplated knocking his father to the floor and beating him senseless as he had done to Logan. However, as he gazed at the pathetic figure in front of him, he realized that to do so would make him look less of a man in front of the council. Besides, the guards would very likely pull him away before he could do as thorough a job as he would have liked.
As he felt Nessa’s hand on his arm, he looked down at her, and she gave him the same message.
“Have mercy, Bryce,” she whispered. “Look at him. You are a bigger man than that—in every way.”
