“An’ how can ye possibly know that?” Kieran raised his eyebrows, unwilling to concede that this was the truth.
“I had that whore followed. There is no use denying it; my men saw you together with their own eyes.” Reginald’s voice was trembling with suppressed rage. “You are a despicable creature – nothing more than a heathen, groping my wife with your filthy paws. You will pay for your actions.”
With that, Stone turned on his heel and walked out of the barracks, calling his men to walk with him.
Kieran’s devastation at Bailey’s death threatened to overwhelm him – he could not imagine how he would tell Tilly. It was all he could do to remain standing as he tried to calm himself down, knowing it was of no real use. The heartache and grief would never disappear.
A sudden realization hit Kieran – there was a real possibility that Tilly was walking into a trap at Stone Castle.
Kieran walked out of his office, hoping to find a way to either follow Tilly or send men after her, only to find that several of his soldiers were standing outside his door, their jaws open and eyes wide in shock.
They must have heard everything that Lord Stone had said, Kieran thought with a sinking feeling. There was no way this news would not spread throughout the clan. He had truly dishonored his name by taking Vivien to bed, even though he did not regret it.
His clan would pay the price for his own error in judgment, yet again.
Kieran drew in a deep breath, doing his best to look every inch the Laird he was as he met the soldiers’ eyes, one by one. But all he saw there was dismay, shock, and anger. He had let his people down again.
He found himself speechless as he stood there, his own men confronting him with their folded arms and cold expressions. Kieran had no idea how to salvage this situation or how to protect not only himself and Vivien from any fallout with his clan but also how to protect his own clan.
Kieran shook his head, trying to find the words he needed to say, and coming up short, he decided that honesty was the only way forward.
“I ken this isnae the way tae have gone abou’ it, men,” he said, hearing the tremor in his own voice, “I cannae help that I fell in love with a married woman. But know this, I will mak’ right what I have destroyed.
The stoic expression on his men’s faces did not budge one bit.
Eventually, one of them replied, “Ye have dishonored our clan, Laird. Ye caused the deaths o’ our own people, ye almost caused a war with this Lord, and ye want tae say that the only thing ye did wrong was tae sleep with a married woman?” The soldier shook his head, his tone cold and unemotional.
“Yer a damn embarrassment tae us,” another soldier said, his eyes mere slits, “Yer barely fit tae be a laird. An’ now yer actions will cause us all tae suffer. We will be naething more than slaves, an’ that is on ye.”
Kieran’s men nodded as though they were one person. Some of them looked at the ground, refusing to meet his eyes; others stared at him with fury in their eyes.
“I will mak’ this right.” Kieran could think of nothing else to say; there was nothing he could say to put his men’s minds at ease or to make them realize that everything he tried to do was in the clan’s best interests.
“Yer all tae return tae yer work – I am still the Laird around here, an’ you will dae as I say until that changes.” His own grip on his rage had slipped past Kieran’s grasp. “I willnae have insubordination in my own ranks. Ye will watch yer mouths an’ mind yer manners when ye speak tae yer Laird. Is that understood?” Kieran forced as much of his position as the Laird into his voice, refusing to tremble in front of his men. He was still very much in control of his clan, even if they wanted to think otherwise or try to change it.
Even if they had his entire clan turned against him, until that happened, Kieran was still the Laird.
* * *
The sun was setting in the west when Vivien and Tilly finally made it back to Castle Kyle of Lochlass.
Vivien was exhausted, starving and covered in dirt. She looked at Tilly and saw her own state reflected on the woman’s face and body.
They had barely made it out of Stone Castle alive. Vivien had no idea how to thank Tilly for rising her own life to save Vivien’s. There were no words that could convey how grateful she was.
All Vivien wanted to do was fall into Kieran’s arms to know he was safe and unharmed.
They quickly made their way to his chambers, Tilly’s stride determined and filled with her unwavering resolve. Vivien still did not entirely understand how Tilly had made it inside the castle. All that she knew was that there was a tunnel that ran under Stone Castle, leading straight into the dungeons, that Tilly had used to smuggle them both out.
The tunnel was barely big enough for them to walk through; Tilly had had to leave the men she had brought with her behind. They had waited outside the castle walls, hiding in the brush as best they could while they waited for the two women to return.
Vivien had burst out in tears at the sight of Tilly. She had not bothered to ask her questions as Tilly had unlocked her cage and grabbed her by the arm, asking her where Bailey was.
Vivien had had to admit that she had no idea. Bailey had been moved from his cell in the early hours of the morning, and Vivien could only guess at what that had meant.
Vivien had been certain that she would not live to see the next morning, as she had sat in that dungeon, with nothing to do but count the stones in the walls, the drips of the water leaking from the roof.
At first, she had kept her spirits high by talking to Bailey – he was much the worse for wear, beaten, bloody, and bruised, but his laugh was infectious and his positivity something entirely unbeknownst to Vivien.
