Read Betrayal in the Highlands for Free Online

about her. She doesn’t love you, not the … not the way you deserve … not the way you love her. Forget about her. You deserve better.”
    “But I love her.” Edmund turned the ring every which way, examining the flawless white diamond in the firelight.
    Pond made a scoffing chortle.
    “You, you were married,” Edmund said. “Didn’t you like it? Being married, I mean.”
    “Oh, I loved being married. Especially … especially at first. There’s nothing like being in love,” Pond said. “To woo a woman is one of the greatest feats a man can accomplish. That, and to raise children who aren’t brats.”
    “So what about your, your wife?” Edmund asked. “Your kids? You … you love them. You must understand what I feel.”
    Pond scoffed again. He leaned closer.
    “I’ll … I’ll tell you something.” The tiara slipped from his teetering head and bounced across the floor. It came to a ringing clatter against Becky as she slept underneath the table. “I love my kids, love them! But I hate my wife.”
    Red wine dribbled down Edmund’s unshaven chin.
    “Why?” He handed the bottle to Pond. “Wh-wh-why do, do you hate your wife?”
    Pond took a drink, and then another.
    “Because.” He put his finger to his lips, urging Edmund to secrecy. “She … she cheated on me. Found her with another man. The witch. Do you know how embarrassing that is? Do you know what it feels like to be … to be treated that way? Ripped the heart right out of me. After all that I did for her … Witch.”
    He took a third drink and handed the bottle back to Edmund, its remains sloshing around inside.
    “You’re kidding.” But even inebriated, Edmund could see that Pond wasn’t; the pain on his face was too real. “What, what did you do?”
    Pond’s head wavered for a moment.
    “I killed him.”
    The bottle stopped halfway to Edmund’s open mouth. Again he could see that Pond wasn’t joking. He blinked.
    “Killed … killed him? How?”
    Tears welling, Pond took the bottle from Edmund.
    “Where I’m from, dueling is legal. In … in some cases, it’s expected. We have to act manly and all that crap.”
    “Like infidelity? You have to duel when somebody is unfaithful?”
    Pond stared at the candle on the table in front of them. The sweet smell of beeswax mingled with the black smoke swirling up from its bobbing flame. He nodded.
    “That’s why I left. I just had to leave, you know? I was miserable. Absolutely miserable. I didn’t want to live anymore. Not like that, at any rate.”
    Beneath the table, Becky snored lightly.
    “I, I don’t understand,” Edmund said. “Back, back in the … in the pits … back in the pits, you said … I mean … you’re always so happy!”
    Pond snorted, and then a genuine smile spread over his dirty face.
    “That’s the funny thing.” He wiped the snot from his nose and the tears from his eyes. “It took the Hiisi … it, it took the goblins to teach me what’s important in life.” He peered at the mostly empty bottle in his hand and then set it on the table amid the pile of priceless gems and jewelry.
    “I’d love to get married again,” he said. “To have somebody to hold and to love and to take care of, even in old age … that’s what I think magic really is.”
    For a moment they both sat staring at the wine bottle. Then Pond patted Edmund’s knee.
    “Don’t spend too much of your life pining for something you can’t have. Or something that never existed. Life is too short, Ed. You have to look for happiness inside yourself ’cause you aren’t going to find it in somebody else.”
    He yawned, loud and long.
    “It’s time for bed.” Pond pushed himself to his unsteady feet. “I’ve been dreaming about sleeping in a real bed, with real sheets and an actual pillow, for ages. And tonight I’m sleeping the sleep of the dead.”
    He wobbled to a door that, except for its gold knob, blended perfectly into the wood-paneled walls.
    “Goodnight, Ed. Think