“Yer father willnae be around forever,” Bryan reminded her urgently. “Perhaps, in our lifetime, the enmity between our clans will change.”
She smiled at him sadly. “Ye said it yerself, Bryan. By then, I’ll have been married off tae another. This is for the best. It will save countless lives, and all I have tae do is go home, and do as my father tells me.”
“There must be some other way,” Bryan insisted.
“Ye said that before, remember? And there was another way; the one ye agreed to. Now come, escort me down tae the dungeons so that I may tell Romilly we are tae be released.”
“Ye needn’t venture down there,” he told her. “I can tell her myself, and spare ye the unpleasantness of the place.”
“My sister was not spared from its unpleasantness these many months, and so I can endure a few moments of it. Besides, if I am not with ye, she might believe it is some sort of trick. She seems rather more suspicious than she was before she came tae be in yer custody.”
“Fair enough.”
The dungeon was even darker, danker, and more horrid than Katherine remembered as Bryan led her down there—or perhaps it was simply her mood that made it seem so. There was a partof her that still doubted her sister would agree to leave her cell. In her agitated mental state, Romilly might still believe that she was being freed under false pretenses and led to the chopping block after all.
Indeed, Katherine worried that nothing short of Laird Angus himself would convince her otherwise. And even then, given how deeply Romilly seemed to have plunged into madness and despair, she might believe that “their father” was simply an Oliphant in disguise, engaged in some creative mummery to deceive her.
Will her mind ever heal from all of this?Katherine wondered miserably.I don’t remember her ever being particularly stable, but now she seems tae be a shattered lunatic. Will her return home facilitate any sort of recovery, or is the sister I once knew gone for good?
These concerns continued to plague her as she reached the bottom of the stone steps, and Bryan led her to the cell at the end of the musty and cobwebbed corridor.
When Romilly saw them together, she gnashed her teeth defiantly. “So, yer collaboration with our enemies continues, eh, Sister?”
Katherine let that comment pass. “Our father has arrived tae parley with Laird Alex. An agreement has been reached, and ye are I are tae return tae our homeland this very day.”
Sure enough, Romilly squinted at her doubtfully, just as Katherine had inwardly predicted. “This is some Oliphant deception.”
“Nothing of the kind,” Katherine replied.
“And what concessions were made tae allow such a thing tae come tae pass?” her older sister challenged.
“A promise of peace,” Bryan spoke up. “One of Laird Alex’s advisors will abide in yer stronghold for a period of one year, tae ensure that there will be no more plots against us. In return, yewill go back where ye belong, though such a fate is too good for ye, in my opinion, after what ye tried tae do tae Lady Isla.”
Katherine understood why he said it, but she wished he hadn’t. There was more than enough tension in this exchange already.
Strangely, though, his words seemed to earn a bit of trust from Romilly. “At least ye are honest about yer hatred for me,” she reasoned. “Sugared words would only have shown me otherwise. I will admit, however, I am quite surprised that yer laird would choose tae give up his bargaining pieces so freely.”
“It is because we are not jailers,” he shot back. “We have no genuine interest in keeping young ladies captive indefinitely. All we have ever wanted is tae live in peace alongside ye, without having tae worry that yer people will creep over our ramparts in the night with daggers between their teeth.” He raised an eyebrow. “We’ve received such assurances from yer father. For myself, I wouldnae mind hearing them from ye as well.”
“I do as my father commands,” Romilly retorted sullenly. “I always have, and I always shall. Beyond that, I owe ye no assurances whatsoever.”
“Perhaps ye might direct them tae me, then, Sister,” Katherine suggested. “I would welcome them as well.”
Romilly glared at her. “If our father says there shall be peace, I will follow his lead. Now, ye said something about releasing me?”
Bryan sighed heavily. “That will have tae do, I suppose.” He produced the key to the cell and unlocked it, half expecting the demented woman to lunge at him and claw at his face the moment she was able.
Instead, though, she stepped out into the corridor, almost meekly, to his surprise. She looked around, as though uncertain of whether she might be dreaming. Then she peered at Katherine in disbelief. “That’s it, then? I am free?”
“Ye are free, Sister,” Katherine promised, taking her hand and squeezing it. “Now we are going home tae heal from all of this, and tae scheme against the Oliphants no more. Ye are tae be married tae a worthy lad from another clan.”
Romilly looked down at herself, and oddly, her face filled with mirth. It was a peculiar sight, given how filthy and haggard she looked. “Well, before we make a go of that,” she snickered, “I suppose I ought tae have a bath and do something with my hair, eh?”
The joke caught Katherine off guard, and before she realized it, she was doubled over laughing. So was Romilly, and the pair of them cackled until tears poured down their faces.
Bryan stared at them with a bemused expression.
Eventually, their mirth trailed off, and the three of them ascended the steps again and emerged into the courtyard. There, Laird Angus waited for them, along with the rest of his men. Clearly, he had no desire to remain at Castle Oliphant a moment longer than he needed to.
