Page 30 of Highlander’s Lesser Evil

“He was his father’s executioner,” Elizabeth offered.

“What?” Gemma frowned, horrified at the thought. “No, that cannot be right. Theo cares about the people.”

“I can only tell ye what I heard. There was a time when Fletcher thought Theo would be crueler than his father.”

Gemma was sick to her stomach. Is this what Theo had tried to tell her? Was he trying to warn her that his father had already done his damage?

Would he be a completely different man when they left Loch Moran?

“Gemma, are ye all right?”

“Yes,” she said as she managed a smile. “Come, we need to finish this so the sun can dry the clothes.”

There was no reason to dwell on the worry that she’d married a stranger. What was done was done, and all she could do now was hope that she could change the path Theo seemed to be going down.

The mercenaries hit as soon as darkness covered the skies. In the outside bonfires’ dying light, as the last of the neighbors started to their homes, the patrols sounded an alarm.

Followed by Theo’s furious bellow for everyone to get inside.

Still gathering the last of the clothes, Gemma froze and listened. Shouts carried over from the other side of the loch, followed by the oil-dipped arrows carrying fire through the sky.

Alone, her stomach twisted. They were being invaded.

Again.

David and Cameron.

Panicked, Gemma dropped the clothes, picked up her skirts, and hurried over the fields to the boy’s home. When she’d last seen them, David had declared that he and Cameron would sleep in their own home that night. It hadn’t bothered her. They often liked to sleep in their parents’ bed, and someone would bring them breakfast in the morning, but she knew exactly what David would be thinking.

He’d be thinking about revenge, and poor Cameron would be terrified. There were nights where he still woke up crying for his parents.

David would try to join the men who were no doubt gathering arms. The poor boy would get himself killed thinking that he needed to avenge his parents.

Heart pounding, she raced as fast as she could through the village. Thankfully, the fighting still sounded as though it was being contained at the border. The women were racing with buckets to the loch to gather water for fires and injuries while the men hurried to the border to help.

They’d been through this so many times. There was no longer any panic; just a quiet determination to survive and do what was needed to defend the loch.

Gemma had desperately hoped that they would have more time before the next attack with Theo in charge. A chance to relax and enjoy life again.

Her gaze scanned those hurrying by, searching for the children before she came to their small house and opened the door. “David?”

“Lady Gemma!” Cameron sprang from his hiding spot in the corner and raced toward her. Tears streaked down his face, and he clung to her. “‘Tis happening again.”

“Oh, you sweet thing.” She hugged him tightly and saw with a sinking heart that he was alone. “Where is your brother?”

Cameron sobbed. “David said he was a soldier now, and he needed to fight. He told me to hide. I wanted to follow, but I was too scared.”

“You were doing what you were told, Cameron, and that is good. Right now, I want you to stay with Miss Elizabeth.” Agnes and Harris would be out helping where they could, but Elizabeth and some of the other younger women always took in the children.

Cameron continued to cry. “What about David?”

“I am going to find him, honey.” Trying not to show her panic, she picked him up. Usually, she would stagger under his weight, but right now, she was fueled by the need to get him to safety. “Hold on to me.”

Praying the battle was still at the border, Gemma hurried across the fields to Harris’s house. There were already five children inside, huddled around Elizabeth while she told them a story to distract them. She didn’t even stop when Gemma sat Cameron down and kissed him on the head.

“Mind Miss Elizabeth, and I will be back as soon as possible,” she whispered.

“With my brother?”