“I told ye, I shall do whatever is required of me tae protect and defend this clan,” Angus answered. “Beyond that, I owe ye no insight into my plans. Ye are nae my advisor, nae even a friend tae me. Merely a baneful presence which forlornly haunts this keep.”
Annabel stood there a moment longer, as though she might try to speak again. Then, seeing it would do no good, she shook her head slightly and returned to her chamber.
Angus hung his head, wondering what on earth he was meant to do next.
Any capitulation would be weakness. And any weakness would surely be exploited by the Oliphants. Perhaps his blasted wife did not care about Oliphant banners hanging from McGregor ramparts, but Angus did.
He saw no alternative but war, then.
If Annabel was right and their chances against the Oliphant horde were hopeless, then at least Angus would know that those McGregors who fell in battle would do so with honor defending their homeland, rather than cowering before Laird Alex.
He only wished there were some other way.
While Angus McGregoragonized over his situation, his younger daughter did likewise, all through the night and into the next morning. When the first light of dawn peeked through the windows of her chamber, she knew what she had to do, though she loathed and dreaded the prospect of it.
She dressed in one of the outfits that Isla had allowed her to borrow, and as she did, she wondered what would become of her after she spoke to Bryan about her decision. Would the dress be torn off her and returned to Isla? Would Katherine be forced back into the clothes she’d worn during her early days there so that she could wear them down in the dungeons in a cell next to her sister?
Katherine thought about when she had visited Romilly down there; her sister’s matted hair and dirty face, and the soundsof screams punctuated by the squealing of rats. She desperately wished she could liberate Romilly from such a grotesque place, rather than joining her in it.
Unfortunately, there was nothing else to be done, and she knew it. So whatever happened as a result of her choice, she knew she would have to bear it with as much grace and dignity as she could muster.
She brushed her hair, then went in search of the captain of the guard. The servants she asked were able to direct her to him. He was strolling the walls of the castle, checking with his guardsmen to ensure that their night had passed without incident. She understood his reasons for doing so; surely her father would have heard of her abduction days ago, and that would make his scheming all the more dangerous for the Oliphants.
“Good morning, Captain,” she called out.
Bryan smiled when he saw her, then waved and approached. With the wind in his long dark hair and the sun creating a halo behind him, he looked especially dashing that morning, and thus the sight of him made her heart hurt, as she considered what she had to tell him.
“I hope ye passed a restful night, Lady Katherine?” he greeted her.
Katherine shook her head with a sad smile. “I have not had a moment’s rest since my arrival here, but my accommodations are not tae be blamed for it. They have been lovely and generous indeed.”
Bryan nodded sympathetically. “Aye. Somehow, I doubt ye had much rest before ye came here either, worrying about yer sister and the future of yer clan.”
“That’s true enough,” she admitted.
“Because of those concerns,” he pressed on, “I hope ye have given careful thought tae the choice put before ye? And have made the right decision?”
Katherine sighed. “I have made a decision I believe tae be the right one. I can only pray that I am correct in that. I cannae give ye what ye ask for, Captain. I cannae propose such a surrender tae my father. Not in good conscience, not when he would surely see me as a betrayer and disown me for doing so. Not when I know that it would mean the end of my clan’s entire way of life.”
“But it needn’t—” he began.
She held up a hand to silence him, shaking her head mournfully. “It would. Ye may not know that for a certainty, but I do. Even if none of that were true; even if my father did agree tae such a thing, it wouldnae lead tae any lasting peace. Merely an Oliphant victory, and one that would remain fleeting so long as my father is alive to plot its reversal. The only way to keep him from turning against ye and starting another war eventually would be tae end his life, and that I cannae help ye do. So we are at an impasse.”
“I see,” he replied, looking disappointed. “I had hoped that during our time together, I had been able tae reach ye.”
“Ye did,” she assured him. “Ye made my choice more difficult than ye can imagine. But it is my choice nonetheless. Even if it means that I must join my sister in yer dungeons while ye make war upon our clan.”
“We may not be able tae avoid war without yer help,” Bryan told her firmly, “but the fact remains that ye are innocent, and so, unlike yer sister, ye have no place in our dungeons. ‘Twould be wrong tae keep ye here any longer if no good can come of it.”
A ray of hope gleamed in her eyes. “Then, surely ye dinnae mean that ye will release me?”
“The decision is ultimately Laird Alex’s,” Bryan said, “but as I’ve told ye, he is a good man, and I am sure he will see things thesame way I do. I see no reason why ye should remain here if ye dinnae wish tae.”
Katherine opened her mouth to tell him shedidwish to remain at Castle Oliphant with him; as a guest rather than a prisoner, and perhaps as a woman he might woo. It was funny to consider that all other things being equal, a lady of her station would not be courted by a guardsman, not even a captain.
However, she was hardly a “noblewoman” here, was she? She belonged to a clan that was an enemy of the Oliphants. As such, her position was far more ambiguous, and so why shouldn’t she have Bryan Black as a suitor?
What good would it do to return to the McGregor Keep, knowing war was coming to them?
