CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Breakfast was a quiet affair, since her father was glowering, and her mother was still upstairs recovering. Athol was quiet as well, but she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps to not incur any more of their father’s wrath in his direction. Lorna had dressed with care that morning, hoping to see Bryce over breakfast, her heart and mind still full of him.
She could still feel her lips and her breasts tingling from where he kissed her, and all she could think about when she woke up that morning was when she could have him again in her bed. But they would have to tread carefully. And there was much to think of with Kyla still recovering from her injuries. Thinking of her friend, soon after breakfast, Lorna skipped upstairs to Kyla’s chambers to check on her friend.
Kyla was sleeping, but she was looking far better. The color had come back to her cheeks, and it looked like the healer had just been there, since fresh tea was on the table next to the bed, along with some of her sleeping tonic. Lorna smiled and sat next to Kyla, reaching out to touch her friend’s hand. It was warm, and Lorna breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Thank God, ye are well, Kyla,” she whispered, not wanting to wake her. “I would have been entirely lost without ye. When ye awake, there is much tae speak of,” she said, trying to contain her smile. Kyla was the first one she wanted to tell about what had happened with Bryce.
She wondered how Kyla would react when she told her about him. Would she wish them well? Would she agree with Lorna’s choice to succumb to passion last night? Lorna sat quietly for a few moments, listening to Kyla’s easy breathing; hoping and praying that no other danger would befall her family or her clan’s village.
A soft knock sounded at the door, and she turned to see Tobias and Bryce coming in, looking a little forlorn. “Och,” she said, rising up, “Ye are come tae see Kyla?”
Bryce nodded with a glance at Tobias. “Aye, that is one of the reasons. How is she?” he asked, his eyes turning to Kyla’s bed.
“She is doing well, I think. Better.” Lorna smiled. Just seeing Bryce in the light of day after what happened last night made her skin flush. She prayed that Tobias didn’t notice it. But instead of him smiling back at her with the happy knowledge of what occurred between them, Bryce looked fearful and sad.
Does he regret it?She wondered fearfully.Does he wish tae take back all that he did and said?
“That’s good,” Bryce said, and then he cleared his throat, turning back to face Lorna. “Lorna, there is something I need tae say tae ye. Something ye need tae ken before anything else happens.”
Lorna’s heart sank, and she looked at Tobias. But his grim expression gave nothing away. Bryce reached out to grip her hands, and he squeezed them.
“All right,” she said, nodding.
“Let’s sit,” Bryce said, and Lorna turned back to look at Kyla.
“Did ye want tae talk here?” she asked nervously.
“Aye,” he nodded. “I think it is safer and better tae do it here. Nae one will disturb us, I donnae think.”
She bit her lip and kept his hand in hers as they walked to a set of chairs. Tobias leaned against the mantel.
Bryce appeared pained as he looked down at his hands holding hers. “What is it?” she asked. “Please tell me. Ye are worrying me now with yer forlorn expressions.”
“It is just that there is something ye should ken about yer family. And it may have some bearing on the murders, but we donnae ken yet.” He glanced at Tobias. “However, since we ken about this, we needed ye tae ken it too.”
“What?” she asked, feeling nervous and full of dread and anxious to hear what terrible words Bryce might utter.
“Yer parents are nae who ye think yer parents are.”
Lorna blinked and then frowned. “What on earth are ye talking about? Of course, they are!” She almost laughed at the ridiculousness of his statement.
In response, Bryce shook his head, looking even grimmer than before. “Athol told me himself. Fergus and Arrin are, in truth, yer grandparents. And yer mother was Siusan. She is nae yer sister, and so that would mean that Athol is yer uncle.”
Lorna felt faint. All happiness and thoughts of Bryce and last night fled her mind. Now that this terrible thing was before her. Siusan was her mother? Her mother and father were her grandparents?
“Nae,” she said, trembling a little, feeling sick. “Why do ye tell me this? Why do ye wish tae make me unhappy? This cannae be true.”
She tried to slip her hands out of Bryce’s grasp, but he held tight. “I never want to make ye unhappy. I only want tae tell ye the truth. Please, Lorna, it is true. I thought ye should ken.”
Her face flooded with angry heat. She yanked her hands out of his. “How long did ye ken about this?”
Bryce colored as well, and he looked away. “I kenned for a few days,” he said slowly.
“Why did ye nae tell me right away?” She stood and looked down at him, never feeling so angry or betrayed by anyone. Even Watt’s rejection of her hadn’t felt like this.
“I had tae protect ye. Athol didnae want ye tae ken. He thought that it was all better kept unsaid. Yer life was good, was it nae, without knowledge of this?”
