As she turned and began to walk away, Romilly’s baneful shrieks followed her. “Ye may save yerself the bother and never come back down here again if ye intend tae join the chorus of Oliphant voices that insist I must relent! For I never will, do ye hear me? In the name of our father, in the name of the McGregors, I will remain defiant even if it means I am to be confined here for a hundred years! My very bones will defy the Oliphants as the rats gnaw the last of the flesh from them! And with my final breath, Katherine McGregor, I shall call ye a vile betrayer!”
Katherine walked back up the stone steps with Bryan at her side, but she felt as though the pit of her stomach remained behind in the dungeons, cold and clenched.
Wasshe a traitor?
9
There was a part of Katherine that understood Romilly’s disappointment in her, at least partially. She had just arrived at Castle Oliphant this very day, and already she found herself believing the assurances of her captors? Perhaps even seriously considering joining them in their efforts to prevent a war?
How could she have abandoned the ideals of her father so readily?
Perhaps because I always knew, on some level, that they were baseless, she told herself.
That might have been confirmed by the things she had seen since she came here, but it already lurked beneath the surface of her consciousness. She loathed to accept it, though, for fear of displeasing her family and finding herself more isolated from them than ever before.
“Just a few more steps.” The sound of Bryan’s voice startled her, for she was so ensnared in her own bleak thoughts that she had briefly forgotten he was with her. “We’ll be out of this grim place in a matter of moments.”
“Thank ye.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, and she realized that her words had been swallowed by the rantings of the other prisoners. Her sister’s voice had now joined their chorus of hateful babble, much to Katherine’s dismay. She repeated herself again, a bit more loudly, not wanting him to think her impolite.
When they reached the main floor of Castle Oliphant, Katherine was grateful for the sunlight streaming in through the windows, and the presence of the servants and nobles who populated the rest of the place.
Those people did tend to stare at her a bit, given her origins and her reason for being there.
Perhaps they are wondering what I have done to buy my freedom, rather than allow myself to be thrown in the dungeon with Romilly, she thought bitterly.And whatamI willing to do to spare myself such a miserable fate?
This last thought came as a surprise to her, for until that moment, she had seen her cooperative nature in her dealing with these Oliphants as entirely voluntary on her part. She was inspired by what she had seen of this castle and its people, and the rational pleas of her captors that she aid them however she could in stopping an open conflict between the clans.
Now that she had seen the alternative, though, in the form of the dungeons…
Could her sister have been right? Could Bryan’s true motivation for letting her see Romilly have been to use the dungeons as an implicit threat so that she would relent and tell them everything she knew about her father’s schemes?
Not that she had much information to share with them in that regard.
“No doubt her words weigh heavy upon yer heart,” Bryan said. His tone was full of concern. “But ye are no traitor, Lady Katherine, ye must know that. Ye have done nothing tae betraythe McGregors. Ye would not be doing so even if ye do decide tae assist us, for it would spare the lives of a great many of yer countrymen from being needlessly wasted on the field of battle.”
“Perhaps ye speak the truth,” she answered slowly. “Even so, it’s hard on my heart, hearing such things from the mouth of my own sister. After this, she will forever see me as her enemy. I see that now.”
“Did she not see ye as an enemy before, when ye refused tae help her inflict grievous wounds upon our clan?” he inquired.
Katherine gave him a shrewd look. “I did not say that shehadoffered tae let me help her. And somehow, I doubt she would have told ye that either. Still plying me for information, are ye?”
He chuckled. “Aye, and being artless as ever in the attempt. I do apologize. Ye must understand my intentions.”
“Ye must be loyal tae yer laird, and that means informing him of my loyalties and intentions as accurately as possible. I understand that, Captain, and I dinnae blame ye for it.”
“Even so,” he said, “no doubt ye already feel put upon from all sides. I should be helping tae relieve that burden, not adding tae it. If ye would not object tae my company, perhaps we might take a walk around the outer walls of the castle? Observe the final rays of daylight before the sun disappears behind the hills?”
Katherine’s initial impulse was to reject his offer and return to her chamber so that she might go over the events of the day in her mind and attempt to make sense of her feelings about them. It felt as though she was being tugged in many different directions at once, and she feared the pressure of it all might drive her to the same madness which now seemed to consume Romilly.
But then she thought about all the time she had spent as a prisoner in herownbedchamber back home. Had such isolation ever improved her mental state before?
Or had it only made things seem all the more hopeless and unsolvable?
This way, at least, she would have more of a chance to learn about this captain of the guard, who had managed to intrigue her so thoroughly since their first, rather bizarre, encounter. He could attempt to discover the secrets of her mind and heart, but could she not make the same attempt regarding his? In passing more time with him, might she gain a better understanding of the nature of her abductors, and, in doing so, make a more informed decision about whether to aid them in their endeavors?
“That sounds delightful, thank ye,” she acquiesced. “By all means, lead the way.”
Bryan brought her out to the courtyard and through the front gates. Sure enough, the sun had set almost entirely. There was but a brief burnished sliver of it visible, staining the grass of the valleys a breathtaking shade of scarlet.
