‘And enough bloodshed and lost lives to destroy families. It was my father’s and uncle’s dream to bring it to an end.’
‘And mine,’ she added.
‘Unfortunately, not Caelan’s.’
‘But he endorsed the truce. As chief, he accepted the terms already in place.’
‘Aye, he did all those things in front of the clans, Arabella. Yet, all the while, he was negotiating his own arrangements with other clans in the Chattan Confederation and across the Highlands.’
The Mackintosh chief held the high chair of the Chattan Confederation, a group of clans, some bound by blood, others by oath, that extended its claim and control over a good part of the Highlands. The Confederation’s involvement was the only reason, in her estimation, that the Camerons had not triumphed in this feud.
‘How do you know this, Brodie?’ she asked. She wanted to believe his explanation, but he would never succeed on just his word. At least not as an exiled outlaw.
He stared at her for a minute as though considering what and how much to say. So, when he stood and walked to his trunk, it surprised her. She watched as he moved the heavy case and lifted that chained one into view. Placing it before her, he removed the lock and opened it.
A pile of letters and documents, signed and marked with various wax wafers and seals, filled the box. He got the letter he’d been reading when she arrived and placed it on top. He gestured for her to examine them and walked away to stand in the shadows as she did. It took some time, but she read each of them and was disturbed more by the next and the next until she reached the bottom.
These documents outlined a thorough and deadly plot against her clan. This was no plan for a long and abiding peace, this was the complete annihilation of the Camerons. Every Cameron would be wiped out and their claims and titles buried with them. Caelan had even promised gold from her dowry as bribes and rewards for doing his bidding. Some of these plans went back for years and some were more recent, much more recent.
‘But he claimed to want peace.’
‘Caelan was, apparently, made to watch his parents being murdered by your father. It broke him in some way and he’s planned this for years. Step by step, conspiracy by conspiracy.’
‘My father?’
Arabella wanted to deny it, but she’d heard bits of this when the Camerons claimed their glorious victories of the past. She had not known about Caelan, though. She had only a moment’s warning before her stomach convulsed in disgust and at the horror of it all. She made it over to the basin just in time. When it was over, he touched her shoulder and offered her a cup of water and a cloth.
Climbing to her feet, she faced him.
‘How long have you known?’ she asked.
‘Not long. Since meeting you those months ago,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Because of you.’ When her legs trembled, he caught her and eased her to sit on the pallet.
‘Why me?’ He handed her a cushion and she placed it behind her back. ‘What did I do?’ How could she have played a part in this?
‘You made me question my assumptions, lady.’ He sat next to her then and took her hand in his. ‘When I found a completely different person hiding behind that facade you wore, it made me realise that something was not right about Caelan. I began to explore and question. But I did not have enough time...’
‘And that’s what you’ve been doing since? Finding proof?’ She nodded at the box, still sitting on the table.
‘Aye. The last pieces were only in our hands days ago.’
He had saved her. By kidnapping her, he had bought himself time, but he had saved her from Caelan. He stroked the back of her hand then and she met his eyes.
‘And now what? What will you do with that?’
‘I had hoped to meet with Caelan and convince him to do the right thing. To let him walk away. But...’
‘He will never go. He has worked too hard on this. Oh, God in Heaven! Do you think he had anything to do with your uncle’s death?’
A silent nod of his head sent chills down her spine. Caelan had killed his uncle because Lachlan stood for peace. So who then?
‘And...Malcolm?’ she asked, daring not to hope.
‘My dagger, Arabella. His blood on my hands. There were witnesses.’
‘You could take this to my father. He would help. He already contemplates involving the king.’
‘With this evidence, with these statements, your father could simply destroy the Mackintoshes. Wipe them off the earth even as Caelan planned to do with you.’
