“And when my father dies, yer ‘steward’ shall rule over us, I expect,” she fumed. “An Oliphant, giving orders tae McGregors, leading them into battle for causes not their own. Such a thing would mean the utter ruin of my clan! Ye must be mad if ye think my father would ever allow it.”
“Perhaps ye are correct,” he said. “But all we ask is that ye propose it tae him, and assure him that it is the only wise choice for him tae make.”
“Would ye like me tae write tae him as pitifully as I can? Pleading with him, telling him that if he doesn’t acquiesce, then my sister’s life is forfeit and so is mine? Perhaps I ought tae have a cup of water next tae me as I compose it so that I might dip a finger into it here and there and drop fake tears upon the paper!”
“I would like ye tae write from yer heart,” Bryan answered, growing frustrated. “And assure him that it is the only way tae avoid all-out war; one which he would surely lose, and which would cost the lives of far too many of yer countrymen, to say nothing of mine. Ye are clever, Lady Katherine. Ye know that this is the only way we can have a real peace between Oliphants andMcGregors. One in which we need not fear plots being dreamed up and put into motion by a vengeful laird.”
“Ye do not believe he would abide by peace, then, having given his word?” she pressed hotly.
Bryan raised an eyebrow. “Ye now know the scheme he set into motion against Lady Isla. Do ye claim that Laird Angus is a man whose word ought to be trusted?”
Again, she hated knowing he was right, and having no rebuttal. Instead, she said, “I dinnae know whether I can write such a letter tae him in good conscience. I must consider it carefully.”
He nodded. “I understand.”
They rode the rest of the way to Castle Oliphant in silence. When they arrived, she dismounted and went to her room without another word. He did not follow, for he sensed that speaking to her further might hinder his case rather than help it.
Katherine closed the door to her chamber behind her, and when a servant girl knocked to ask if she wanted supper, she declined. The room had not stopped spinning since her return from the ride, and her stomach churned too anxiously for her to have any appetite.
She sat on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands, asking herself over and over,What am I to do? Oh, what am I to do?
12
Some distance away from the Oliphant lands, McGregor Keep towered somberly above the evening mist.
Any travelers who might have happened by just after dark and peered up to the highest window of the structure would have been met by a strange and terrible sight: A face so pale and drawn, and with a gaze so dark and wretched, that most would swear it was the visage of some grim and suffering phantom.
Which, in a way, it was.
Laird Angus McGregor had been sitting at the window for an interminable span of time, for in his state of perpetual confusion and horror, the hours and days blurred together.
His spies and soldiers periodically entered the bedchamber to offer updated reports regarding Katherine’s fate. There was not much news. And what little there was did nothing to lift Angus’s spirits.
“They say she has been taken.”
The woman’s voice in the doorway behind Angus startled him badly, particularly since it was not a voice he had heard in over a week; a voice he rarely heard at all, really, except whenit echoed mournfully through the upper corridors of the keep, moaning for servants to bring food or medicine for headaches.
When he turned, he saw his wife Annabel standing at the door. In her white nightclothes, and with her gaunt and pallid face, and angry countenance, she too resembled nothing so much as a spiteful ghost seeking to avenge itself upon the living.
“Aye.” The word from him was little more than a hoarse grunt. He scrubbed his face with his palm, exhausted and dazed, and realized that he had not shaved in days.
“They say she has nae been placed in the Oliphant dungeons with Romilly,” Annabel went on. Her eyes were red, though whether it was from weeping or one of her blasted headaches, Angus could not guess. “Rather, she has been seen riding openly across their lands and villages with the captain of their guard. Wearing new clothes, no less.”
These were the same reports that Angus had already received, and so he grunted again.
“That is a small mercy, then, do ye think?” she asked. “That although yer scheming has led to the capture of both of our children, at least one of them is not chained in a dank chamber ‘neath the ground, surrounded by rats?”
“I did what I felt needed tae be done in order tae protect our clan and its future,” Angus retorted through clenched teeth. “And nay, ‘tis not necessarily good news at all that Katherine is being allowed tae roam freely. For it means she may have betrayed us.”
“Thatis still yer concern?” Annabel scoffed. “Yer petty little war against the Oliphants? Ancient grudges, still kept aflame by their laird jilting our firstborn? How can ye care about such nonsense, when we might never see our girls again?”
“I have always had duties greater and heavier than just my own bloody family!” Angus snapped. “My first duty is to this clan! And though I love my daughters, I must now worry thatone of them might be a traitor,” he growled in frustration. “If only I could learn more of the details of Katherine’s captivity, but my damned spies cannae get close enough! After what happened with Romilly, the Oliphants are too suspicious of faces they dinnae recognize, and even cautious around those they do.”
“Oh, what difference does any of it make anymore, ye silly old fool?” Annabel demanded. “Ye cannae triumph over the Oliphants in open war, and yer idiotic machinations have only succeeded in getting our daughters captured and weakening our position all the more. I dinnae care whether every McGregor banner in the land is torn down and replaced with that of the Oliphants, we must put an end to this! We must do whatever it takes, agree to whatever is asked of us, if it will only bring our children home safely! Damn it, Angus, how can ye not see that?”
Angus hung his head. “Ye have never understood. Ye have never even tried, come tae that. Ye decided tae be miserable from the moment we were wed, and tae sequester yerself day and night whilst blaming yer ‘headaches.’ So do a favor tae us both, hen. Go back tae yer chamber, take yer powders and concoctions for yer blasted head, and leave the affairs of our clan tae me.”
“Will ye petition for their return, Angus?” she challenged. “Will ye make concessions tae them if it comes tae that? Will ye, for God’s sake, put yer pride aside and do what’s right for yer daughters for once, instead of treating them like agents in yer fight with the Oliphants?”
