“Her killer was to wed her child come the summer,” Leith cried out. “Ye were to hand her over to him like a sacrificial lamb.”
“I didnae ken he had killed Kirstie.” Lachlan finally turned to face his son. “God forgive me my blindness, I didnae ken that it was Rory.”
“But ye were aware of all that has been said about the man.”
“Many a man has a rumor spread about him, an evil word or twa said. I had no proof, son. T’was a marriage contracted at cradleside. My old friend, a man that was as a brother to me, asked for the match. Even as a bairn, Aimil bid fair to look as her mother did. He thought t’would soothe the hurt Rory had felt when Kirstie had chosen me.
“She did look like Kirstie,” he continued softly, his gaze fixing upon Aimil, “even to her nature. When she walked in that night all gowned and budding, looking the woman she was becoming, I couldnae bear to look upon her. She was Kirstie reborn and this time Rory would have her.”
“So ye have ignored her,” Parlan said as he felt Aimil stiffen in his arms.
“Aye. T’was easiest. I kenned she didnae care for Rory even then. She could have turned me against my word so verra easily. I also thought t’would make it easier to give her up. T’would not be like losing Kirstie all over again.” He looked at Parlan, his eyes narrowing as his mind began to take in the fact that his daughter shared the man’s bed and both appeared to be naked. “When this rogue got his hands on her, I found myself hoping that Rory would break the betrothal. Many another man would have. I wouldnae break my word over rumors but they did haunt me.”
“But he wouldnae withdraw,” Parlan said, his voice cold.
“Nay. He said only that someone would pay if she were no longer a maid. I ken now that he meant for Aimil to pay.” He reached out his hand to touch Aimil’s hair lightly, hair exactly like that of the wife he had loved so dearly and had lost. “How much did he make ye pay?”
“He didnae rape me, Papa,” she replied, looking at him with her mother’s eyes. “He wanted me to fear and fash myself over when he would.”
Looking at her delicate features, bruised and swollen by Rory Fergueson, Lachlan saw his wife as he had found her that day. The image still churned his stomach and tore at his soul. He felt like weeping knowing that he had nearly given the man another Kirstie to kill.
“I will clear all trace of the man from the face of this earth.”
“Nae alone, Mengue. I have a debt or twa to extract from the bastard myself,” Parlan growled. “My cousin’s life for one. This,” he nodded at Aimil, “for another.”
“I am to ride against my wife’s murderer with my daughter’s debaucher at my side?”
Aimil stiffened, her swollen eye widening. “He didnae debauch me.”
“Nay? Ye lie naked at his side, lassie.”
She blushed deeply even as she puzzled over her father’s apparent lack of anger. “I came here willingly.”
“T’was him or Rory?”
“Weel, in a way, Papa. Actually, t’was me or Elfking. T’was a bargain.” She prayed her father would not question it.
“That cursed horse,” Lachlan drawled. “I kenned t’was a mistake to give him to ye, but I sought to ease the guilt I felt over the way I treated ye.”
Parlan’s eyes narrowed. He began to grow very suspicious of Lachlan Mengue. The man should be ablaze with righteous anger. Some demand or sword-rattling should occur under the circumstances. Instead, Lachlan looked calm and considering.
“I think I have been playing your game and not my own,” he said quietly.
“Mayhaps our games merely collided.” Lachlan made no attempt to deny Parlan’s suspicions.
“Ye were that confident?”
“I was wed to one like her. Aye, that confident. Was I wrong to be so?”
“Nay. Ye have won the game.” Parlan could not help but return the man’s grin. “Do ye wish to finish playing?”
“Aye. Allow an old man his fun.”
Confusion was a mild word for what she felt, Aimil decided, as she looked from Parlan to her father and back again. Even Leith and Lagan knew what was going on, judging by the grins on their faces. That it was something to do with her that caused their amusement was all Aimil was sure of and it irritated her. They were playing some male game and leaving her out of it. She scowled at them even as she continued to struggle at guessing what was going on.
“So ye gave him your innocence in exchange for your horse?”
“Aye, Papa.” She tried to search his gaze for a clue to what game he was playing, but there was only amusement to be read there which was so unexpected that it left her even more confused.
