“There is honor in power, and there is honor in victory,” her father told her. “Ye are of an age where ye ought tae understand that by now.”
“I understand is that all of yer plotting and scheming will likely end with my sister’s imprisonment or death one day.”
“I am prepared tae take any risk, make any sacrifice, for our people,” Romilly said coldly. “Can ye say the same?”
Katherine did not know how to reply to such madness.
As it turned out, however, she did not need to. Angus gestured to one of the servants at the door. “Escort my youngest daughter tae her room, and be sure that she stays there. Nay more venturing out among the peasants for her, and no more back-talk either.”
Katherine did not need to be led. She went to her chamber and slammed the door behind her, wondering if she would forever feel like a prisoner in her own home.
2
Katherine stood in the courtyard of Castle Oliphant, surrounded by hundreds of members of that clan; all of them roaring loudly and shaking their fists in the air.
How had she gotten here? She did not know.
However, when she peered over the heads of the spectators in front of her, she was horrified to see a hooded executioner standing next to a stone. There was dried gore on his clothes, and in his meaty hands, he gripped the handle of a huge double-bladed axe.
The main doors to the castle swung open, and Laird Alex emerged, his yellow hair gleaming in the afternoon sunlight. His hand was clamped around Romilly’s upper arm.
Katherine’s sister looked as though she had been dragged through the brambles and briars of hell itself. Her hands were bound in front of her. Her hair was tangled, her dress was in tatters, her pallor was ghostly, and her eyes were wild and full of fright. Her fingertips were bloody, with many of the nails broken off.
“Let this be the fate of all traitors,” Alex bellowed to the crowd. “All McGregors!”
Katherine opened her mouth to scream, but no sound would come out. She tried to run toward her sister, but no matter how many people she pushed past, Romilly seemed no closer.
Romilly was forcibly shoved down, her head pressed against the flat stone.
The hooded man raised his axe; brought it down hard; Katherine could hear its swish as it cut through the air.
And before the blow landed, she sat up in bed, wide-eyed, gasping for breath.
A nightmare. That was all it had been, despite how real it felt.
For the rest of the night, Katherine found herself unable to sleep. She tossed and turned, still burning with the injustice of her family’s words and actions, and the hideous imagery her mind had just conjured.
When the sun rose and she, at last, conceded that slumber would not visit her, Katherine rose and dressed. As she prepared for the day, she wondered why she bothered to make herself presentable in any way, or even leave her chamber at all, knowing that her presence was unwanted.
She opened the door, and found Romilly waiting for her in the hall. The flinty look was gone from her older sister’s eyes, and her face reflected a ghost of the tenderness she had once shown for Katherine.
“I am dreadfully sorry we quarreled at supper last night,” Romilly told her earnestly. “I didnae behave myself as I ought tae have.”
Katherine wished she could simply accept the apology—since those were rare indeed coming from her sister—but her anger and hurt were still too near the surface for her to allow herself that.
“Ye didnae stand up for me when our parents heaped their rebuke upon me needlessly, either.”
Ah,thereit was; Romilly’s more familiar expression of pitiless dismissal returned, and she crossed her arms.
“That is because ye dinnae show them the respect they are due. They ask so little of ye, and still, ye fail this family in every way ye can.”
“So little?” Katherine balked. “Tae one day agree tae marry some fellow I’ve never met, only tae plot against him and his clan? Tae dishonor myself so shamefully?”
“Yer honor is nothing compared tae the honor of the McGregor Clan,” Romilly huffed. “They have told ye that many times, and so have I. Ye are simply being selfish.”
“‘Tis nay the life I desire, nor the life I deserve. If my only choices are tae fling away any chance at happiness in this life by obeying father or tae spend it locked away in my room, then I’ll choose the latter! I wish tae spend my days helping people, not bloody ruining them.”
Romilly sighed. “I once felt as ye did, Sister, though it may be difficult for ye tae believe. Then I grew up, and came tae understand that my needs are naught compared tae those of our people. Ye and I were fortunate tae be born into the family that rules over this clan. That has afforded us a great deal of privilege, and with it comes tremendous responsibility.”
