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Her eyes landed on the man before his, his sword raised as he entered the room. He looked just as handsome as he always did, only if angrier and tired. She knew her disappearance must have taken a toll on him, but they were together once again at last.
“Christian,” she whispered his name, no longer controlling the barricade of tears that overtook her entire being. She quickly ran towards him as he opened his arms for her, dropping his sword to the ground.
“My fox, my pretty, stop cryin’,” he whispered sweetly, but Keira had no control over what she felt. She could not believe he had found her alive.
“I am so glad ye are here,” she whispered, her words muffled against his chest.
“Ye ken I will always come for ye,” he whispered back, placing kisses on the top of her head. “Let me look at ye.”
He separated her from him, his gaze falling on her face, and his expression continually darkened as he looked at the other bruises on her body. Keira knew Christian was already angry, and the sight of her wounds would only make him angrier. When he had found her the first time and had saved her from Eric, he hardly knew her. And even then, he had offered her to kill Eric simply due to the bruises on her body. Now she was his betrothed. He would kill Eric for those. Undoubtedly.
“Did he try to touch ye, Keira?” Christian asked, his voice dangerously low. She knew he was trying to conceal the anger he felt.
“Nay,” she shook her head, “he only wanted to kill me.”
“What?”
“Aye, and I told him that he can kill me or nae kill me. Ye were going to kill him anyway,” she replied, and Christian chucked softly before bringing her into his arms again.
“That is my fierce fox,” he said softly.
“Christian,” Keira began to sob again, “Eric… he… he… faither was there, and he saw us… he saw Eric with me, and he tried to… fight him off to protect me but Eric… he killed Faither.”
“I ken,” Christian said, stroking her hair as he allowed her to cry. “When I found Josh, I found yer faither as well, and I immediately knew he had been murdered. When Josh regained consciousness, he told us how he had seen Eric right before fainting, and I knew only a bastard like him could kill Laird O’Donnely.”
“Ye found papa?” Keira asked, wiping the tears from her face.
“I did,” he nodded, “I wish I could have waited for ye before burying him, but I did nae want to disrespect his body and soul much longer, so I did it anyway. I wrote to yer brother and sister as well.”
“Oh, Christian,” she sobbed, “thank ye.”
“There is nothing to thank me for, princess,” Christian replied, “I still need to kill Eric.”
He took her hand in his as they marched out of the bedchamber, Christian beginning to get angrier with every step. The last time they had dueled, she had asked Christian to spare Eric’s life because she had believed that might help him grow into a better person, but he had instead gotten even worse. This time Keira would not ask him to spare Eric’s life. The man had destroyed her life and killed her father. He had tried to deprive her of happiness, and Keira could no longer forgive him. Her heart was big, but it was not big enough to forgive the person who was her father’s murderer.
“Bring Eric to me!” Christian shouted loud enough to be heard in the entirety of the castle. The castle seemed to grow silent after the shout, and they made their way toward the main hall.
Keira turned to look and saw Josh dragging Eric behind him, followed by several other lairds of the neighboring clans. Most of these men had been present there at her and Christian’s betrothal feast. Keira looked at Eric, who would not meet her gaze, and she could sense the helplessness in his demeanor. He knew his end had arrived.
“We found him just now, trying to run away,” Josh said, throwing Eric forward as he fell to the ground.
“What about Elena?” Christian asked, “Has she escaped?”
“She was dragged by the servants as they wanted to kill her themselves,” Josh replied, and Keira scoffed at the statement. Elena had never harmed Keira personally, but she knew she was a major reason why Eric was the way he was. She had also been horrible to the servants around her and had never treated a single person with respect.
“I do nae care about her much either,” Christian replied, “I was only waiting for Gilmor.”
“Christian, I ken I have made a mistake,” Eric said, looking up, “I ken I have wronged ye in many ways, but I am honestly asking for forgiveness. Please do nae kill me.”
Keira could have never expected Eric to beg. She had imagined him fighting back, but it was apparent how he had given up already. He was tired. She knew she did not really wish to see him in such a state, but she no longer cared. To her, he was dead already.
* * *
Christian continued to stare at Eric while he begged for forgiveness from him. Christian did not have the time for that. He had no desire to forgive the man.
“Forget it,” he shouted, making Eric flinch as he stood up from the ground. “Stand up or fight me like a man or die at my hands without a fight. The choice is yers.”
“Ye forced me to take this step, Christian,” Eric suddenly shouted, his face turning crimson with anger, “ye took Keira away from me first when she was my betrothed, and now ye are angry when I did the same!”
