“That bastard of a son,” Fergus spat. “He was always needing guidance growing up. Always needing tae be taught what was right. I thought he had put all his foolishness behind him. At least of a dangerous sort. I threatened him a long time ago that I would disown him, and that he would lose the Lairdship if he disgraced this family. It seems that he has now taken it too far.”
“So it would seem,” Tobias said, and Bryce walked away toward the steps.
“Come, Tobias. We need tae find her. And now.” Bryce turned away but then paused at the top of the stairs. “Fergus,” he said, looking back at the trembling man. “Do ye ken where Athol might take Lorna? Any place that he considered safe or a haven?”
Fergus frowned. “There is a hunting croft in the woods that Athol likes tae go tae from time tae time. He could be there?” he stated hopefully. “It is only a few miles from the back of the castle. A straight path.”
Bryce nodded to Fergus in gratitude. “Come, Tobias. Tae the hunting croft we go.”
* * *
Lorna woke to the sounds of crunching footsteps. Over and over, they crunched, but they never got closer. Her eyes were still closed, but her head ached painfully. She put a hand there and felt the warm sheen of sweat on her forehead.
Dear God. What happened?
She tried to sit up, but she laid back down again and realized she was on a soft, hay-filled mattress, but it stank of sweat and animals. She took a few deep breaths, and eventually her eyes flickered open. Her eyes moved about the room, and she noticed the dark wood of the walls. The air smelled smoky too, like a fire was burning, but without enough ventilation.
She could still hear the crunching of footsteps, and she tried to sit up again. Everything hurt, but she needed to know where she was. She was also only in her shift with a leather cloak wrapped around her. That was where the stench of animal likely came from. Eventually, she was able to sit up and lean against the headboard.
Dazed, her eyes found an open door to the room she was in, and just outside it was Athol pacing back and forth. “Athol?” she said, but she realized her voice was too hoarse and soft, so she cleared her throat and tried again, a little louder this time.
“Athol?” she asked, and he stopped pacing, turning his eyes toward her in the bedroom. He hurried inside.
“Ye are awake,” he said with a shaky smile. “Good, that’s good.” He brushed a trembling hand through his hair. “I am sorry for this, Lorna. So very sorry, but it couldnae be helped.”
Lorna got a sick feeling in her stomach, but she wasn’t sure yet why. “Where are we, Athol? How did I get here? Am I ill?” She sought the answers in his strong gaze, but her heart tripped into a new speed as she realized that he wasn’t answering right away. What had her uncle done?
He reached out to grasp her hand, and he held it tight. She looked down at it, wondering why the intimacy felt strange and stilted suddenly. Athol had always been kind to her, but now, something was different. Something was terribly wrong. She closed her eyes to keep the room from spinning so much, and she took a stabilizing breath.
“Tell me, Athol,” she tried to say as strongly and confidently as possible. “What happened? What is going on?”
He nodded. “Ye are right tae force the truth out of me now. I have been waiting for ye tae wake up so that I could tell ye.” His voice was different somehow. Higher, nervous. She had never seen Athol like this before. “Ye will have tae forgive me, Lorna, but I had tae do this. I had tae take ye away because ye were getting too close tae the truth.”
“Truth? What truth?” she asked, still recovering from whatever illness was taking over her body.
“The truth of yer parentage. I could nae have ye ken, for it would ruin us all.”
“But there is nae reason for me tae nae ken. It is nae as if I will declare it tae the villagers. Ye…ye brought me here because of that? That ye thought I would tell?” She looked around her at the dirty, dark room.
“Aye,” he said solemnly.
“And why are ye so concerned beyond reputation? When ye helped yer sister? Ye did the right thing tae help her. It was kind of ye. Why should ye think that I would do ye an unkindness by telling all?”
He shook his head. “I love women, ye see, Lorna. I want them always, and I will always have them in me bed.”
Lorna grimaced, fearful of what he was going to say next. He continued. “Sometimes they werenae willing, but most of the time they were. But even though I loved women and craved them, I kenned that I could never have a bastard child. Me father threatened me that he would take the Lairdship from me and give it tae another if he found out that I had fathered a child out of wedlock. So that is why I made sure that nae one kenned of me indiscretion.” His crazed eyes drifted around during his speech, but then they locked with hers, and she felt in her heart what the truth was.
Athol is nae me uncle. He is me father.
“Ye,” she said, her mouth trembling, even though she was filled with a mixture of anger and disappointment. “But what of Siusan? She wasnae me mother?’
Athol swallowed. “Nae,” he said, shaking his head. “She was the one who helped me, though. She helped the woman give birth tae the child along with Mrs. Creech, and then she was there when the girl died from childbirth. Yer real mother,” he added with a knowing look.
He stood up and put his hands behind his back and began to pace again, that sound of crunching over the dirtied floor sounding anew in the room. “Ye were born a little early.” The ghost of a smile was on his lips. “Such a tiny thing.” He stopped his pacing and got a distant look in his eyes.
“I wanted tae keep the secret, tae figure out a way tae hide ye, because Mrs. Creech and Conan had done it many times for many others, but Siusan had taken one look at ye and wanted tae keep ye with us in the castle. For me nae tae hide ye from anyone, and she threatened tae tell.” He mussed his brown curls again and breathed out. “She threatened tae tell, ye see, but she didnae understand that the Lairdship is me birthright. I couldnae lose it. And nae matter if Father was yer grandfather, he would have disowned me as he’d always threatened.
Lorna sucked in her breath, watching her father’s wild brown eyes as he told his story. The fear was growing in her belly. Something bad was going to happen. It was only a matter of time. “So what happened?” she asked.
