Forty
“Cease!” Brodie bellowed, uncertain how he summoned the strength to speak, let alone yell. He looked at Laurel, who stood wide-eyed as she watched the scene below. Brodie gritted his teeth as he took Laurel’s hand. He muttered, “We have to go down.”
“I ken.” Laurel sounded as eager as Brodie felt. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Brodie moving slower than usual, he approached the trio. Colina remained in Graham’s embrace while Dominic held them at sword point. Graham appeared unrepentant, and Colina’s expression was pure arrogance.
“Shite,” Laurel hissed. “They’re having an affair.”
Brodie gawked at Laurel, disbelieving what he heard. His second barely tolerated Colina and was more open about his disdain than Brodie ever had been. And he was certain that despite Colina’s standoffishness, she loved Dominic. Though he’d begun to doubt that of late. What he overhead on the landing and then deducing what Colina likely did to his mother, made Brodie second guess his sister’s-by-marriage intentions.
Laurel stepped beside Dominic and pressed down on his blade. She looked at the devastated man and knew her suspicions were correct. Graham wasn’t protecting Colina merely because she was a woman. “Dom, not until we know everything,” Laurel whispered.
“I already ken all I need to know,” Dominic snapped. “They’re lovers and tried to kill my brother.”
“But why? What motivated them? It’s not love. Not really,” Laurel countered. She pressed harder on Dominic’s sword, and he relented. She stared at Graham, thinking about how loyal he’d always seemed to Brodie, how he’d protected her. She struggled to reason why he would betray Brodie in such a hideous way. She couldn’t fathom why he’d tried to kill Brodie.
“Laurie, he’s our brother,” Brodie rasped as he watched Laurel. He guessed her mind was alive with various explanations, but he already knew. “He’s our aulder brother.”
Laurel looked at Brodie and understood what he meant. She closed her eyes before turning back to Graham and Colina. “You were talking aboot Graham that day.”
“Finally figured it out,” Colina sneered.
“Why poison, Graham? That’s a woman’s weapon?” Laurel asked, but her mouth fell open as she looked back at Colina. “You found out I discovered the wine. You assumed I would be the one who needed a drink. You meant the water for me. Did you know, Graham? Did you know the water was poisoned, and you let your brother drink it, anyway?”
“Nay, I didn’t ken.”
“So, despite protecting me while we traveled, you want me dead.” Laurel’s mind jumped from idea to idea as she tried to piece together what was said and left unsaid.
“Is that true?” Brodie demanded. Graham looked at Brodie, anger simmering beneath the surface.
“I didn’t ken the water was poisoned, but I wasn’t sorry you drank it. He loved my mother. I should have been the one to inherit. Not the son of a woman he despised. A son he thought was weak.”
Brodie inhaled, his chest expanding to its full breadth as his hands fisted beside him. It was only the restraining hand Laurel placed on his arm that kept him from launching himself at his former best friend and older—albeit illegitimate—brother. Laurel stepped in front of him, shaking her head.
“You both assumed the love Brodie and Dominic feel toward Graham, and Dominic’s love for Colina would keep them blind. You didn’t anticipate me. You must have been terribly upset, Colina, when Brodie rode into the bailey with a wife, when you worked so hard to ensure his bride died,” Laurel gloated. “Does no one recall Colina’s clan? She was a MacLean. Brodie told me how Dominic and Colina fell in love at a gathering, and their marriage brokered a truce. But do you ken who else is a MacLean?”
Laurel turned to look at Brodie, hoping that he followed her train of thought. He closed his eyes for a moment as he fought to control his temper. “David Lamont’s wife.” Brodie wracked his memory as he thought about the marriage contract he’d signed allowing Dominic to marry Colina. “Bluidy hell. The woman is Colina’s aunt.”
“Aye. It wasn’t Michael, Brodie. At least it wasn’t Michael acting alone. He fed information to the MacDougalls, but Graham gave it to the Lamonts.”
“It was your idea to take the horses to the farrier, claiming your mount needed his shoes checked. You took me there to distract me while Michael and Wallace took Laurel to the docks.”
“Aye,” Graham admitted. “I thought she’d be as easy to kill as the MacMillan chit. I respect her tenacity.”
“But you don’t respect my life,” Laurel cut in. “You were in on the wager, weren’t you?”
“Lost a bluidy fortune when Brodie married you. I hoped to get it back by ending your marriage.”
“Did you tell the MacDougall brothers and their partners which route we were travelling?” Brodie demanded.
“They asked, I answered.”
Laurel rubbed her forehead, growing confused as she tried to sort through everything she heard. She tried to line up all the events and people in her mind before she moved them into their places.
“You and Colina have been lovers since she arrived, haven’t you?” Neither person denied it, so Laurel assumed she was right. “Colina believed you would become laird one day. She counted on it. She killed Brodie and Dominic’s mother because she was the first woman in her way to being Lady Campbell. She convinced Graham that he should be laird.” Laurel’s brow furrowed as she continued to think out loud. “Colina used Graham to get information to her aunt, who gave it to David. That’s how the Lamonts knew to attack your party and to target Eliza. But no one expected you to find a new bride at court. Graham, you entered the wagers to encourage the others to keep Brodie and me apart. It wasn’t aboot the money, was it?”
“Nay. Though I’m still angry that I lost it all,” Graham muttered.
Brodie followed Laurel’s line of thinking and realized just how nefarious Graham’s perfidy had been. It shocked him to the core. “Once Laurel and I married, you knew our clan gained a powerful ally. One that would guarantee the Lamonts and MacDougalls didn’t win. You made certain the Lamonts knew where to attack us. But how?”
