Page 87 of The Highlander's Virgin Widow
“Aye.” The maid nodded and then scurried away.
Evander brushed the specks of dust off his clothes and headed out of the castle toward the courtyard. He pushed the door open, and the cool evening air immediately hit his face. It was not fullydark, but the stars were beginning to illuminate the sky, and the moon was slowly rising to its peak.
He found Arthur almost immediately.
His friend was still standing where he and Keira had been just a few minutes ago. At least before he came out of nowhere to make the dastardly announcement.
Arthur turned around and saw him. His eyes widened. “It seems I have forgotten just how much of a problem solver ye are. The way ye immediately took control of the situation was quite admirable, I must say.”
Evander clenched his jaw and moved closer to him. The grass crunched beneath his boots as he approached his friend, his hands balled into fists.
“Why did ye do that?” he asked, anger now evident in his voice as he stopped right in front of Arthur.
“Look, Evander, before ye?—”
Evander swung. His right fist connected hard with Arthur’s jaw.
Arthur’s head swiveled to the side, and a grunt escaped his lips as he staggered backward. Evander shook his hand, feeling the impact reverberate through his fingers.
Arthur coughed and steadied himself. “I agree. I deserved that.”
Evander swung again, this time with the other hand. Arthur stumbled onto the grass, and Evander shook his hand again, wincing at how hard his friend’s jaw was. It was like punching a stone.
“The Lord kens ye deserve more than that,” he spat, the words escaping his mouth like venom.
Arthur wiped the blood off his lips and rose to his feet again. He was clearly not fighting back, not even trying to avoid the punches, which somehow angered Evander more.
“I had to do it, Evander. Or else ye were never going to do it.”
“Never going to do what?” Evander fumed. “And I would greatly advise that ye be careful what ye say next.”
“Ye care for this woman. Ye dinnae want to admit it, but ye do. And I dinnae ken why ye keep punishing yerself with yer braither’s death, but ye?—”
“Did I nae just say to be careful what ye say next?”
Arthur raised his hands in surrender. “All I’m saying is that ye deserve happiness, too. After all these years, if ye still believe ye dinnae deserve love, ye are wrong.”
Evander swiped a hand across his brow. “Ye still dinnae get it, do ye?”
Arthur cocked his head.
“It doesnae matter whether I love her or nae. I cannae be the kind of man she wants. Do ye nae see? Shona thought me braither was the kind of man she wanted until he died and she had to raise Tommy on her own. The same fate awaits me.”
“Whether or nae the same fate awaits ye is irrelevant. Ye still deserve happiness after everything ye have been through in the past few years. Ach, in the past fewweeks. If that happiness is Keira’s love, and if that is as much as ye can get, then so be it.”
Evander swallowed, and a tense silence ensued. The sound of music and chatter drifted out of the castle, adding more eeriness to the somber night.
“She is quite distraught, do ye ken that? This was her last straw.”
“I apologize. That was never me intention.”
“Ye forced me to announce a wedding that now has to take place tomorrow in front of everybody. A wedding I didnae even ken whether she wanted or nae. What the devil did ye think would have happened?”
Arthur sighed but said nothing.
Evander ground his teeth in despair and looked past his friend, across the courtyard and toward the horizon, where the night sky touched the mountains.
This was never how it was supposed to go. Tonight, he was supposed to find her a husband among the eligible bachelors who were dancing in the Great Hall. Now, he couldn’t. Now, he had managed to cause her even more pain than he had intended.
