“I kenned it! Ye’re an impostor!”
“Silence!” Lady Fiona shouted at Emily. “Speak, child.”
“He was murdered in that battle by someone in this clan. His comrade, Ethan was there to witness it.” Grace raised her head, then looked straight at him. Duncan did not know how to feel. His emotions were ruined by those simple words.
She took a deep breath, “I… I loved my father deeply. His death hit me hard. I was blinded by grief and a thirst for revenge. Ethan said it was Clan Hay. By the hand of the laird’s son. I set out in search of them when I stumbled into your clan. I thought it better to stay with them for a while and find Clan Hay later but when it became apparent this was clan Hay, it was too late for my revenge… I had already fallen in love with Duncan.”
Silence descended in the hall. Then a noise erupted again, curses and commotion all around. Duncan met her eyes. It was the first time she had said she loved him, and everything softened, until that new, hateful accent sunk in and he shriveled up again. Then her words about the commander sank in. He had to tell her.
“I didnae kill that commander.”
“You would lie now? To what end? I am already at your mercy!” her voice broke.
Duncan shoved his hands behind him, resisting every urge to go to her. A dying man in his arms, in a field of battle filled his mind. The wound left by a dagger bleeding without redemption. The name he struggled to speak,Grace.
“Grace,” Duncan tested her name on his lips. “Yer faither died by the hands of his comrade.”
“That is impossible. He was murdered with a Scottish blade. I have it with me, will you still deny?”
“I am a man of me word. I dinnae lie. Yer faither died with yer name on his lips. At the time, I couldnae understand. He thought ye were in danger. An’ he was right. If I had gotten tae him, it would have been a war tragedy an’ naethin’ more. I remember, Grace, because it reminded me of Jaime. I want tae see that blade.”
Duncan saw her flinch when he referred to her father as a war tragedy. He could not help it. From his point of view, the man had killed several of his men, including Caelan. Till now, Duncan had not yet been able to visit the family to console them. It was harsh, but it was the truth.
Stiffly, she bent and reached under her skirt. While the hall emitted sounds of surprise, he wasn’t. He’d always known it was there. He just thought it was for her protection, rather thanrevenge. The woman who’d shared his bed had plotted to kill him.
“Here,” she withdrew a sword. “This is thesgian dubh.Tell me you do not recognize it.”
Duncan strode to her, collected the sword and hefted it in his hands. His expression grew grim. Thesgian dubhwas popular for its exquisite craftmanship. The hilt was etched with the image of a lion. Frown lines darken his face as he walked up to his father.
“Faither, look at this,” he said. Grace’s anxious stare followed him up to the podium. “The hilt. ‘Tis quite light,” his father rasped.
“Dae ye agree?” Duncan probed.
“’Tis nae real.”
“’Tis fake,” Duncan announced with a louder voice.
“It can’t be. Thatwasthe dagger.”
Duncan came to her. He held the blade in her face. He could almost feel her distress through every breath she took. “This is supposed tae be a lion’s head. Yet, the fur around the head is designed tae hide these deer horns. Those strokes are laid to misdirect. This doesnae belong in any Scottish house.”
“No.”
“Me guess is, ye were misdirected with this by the killer.”
“W-who then?” Grace stammered.
Harris twisted around to look Grace. “Ethan,” he bit out. “And he should be close now. Ethan is not who you think he is. He… He killed your father with the intention of taking his position and your inheritance through marriage. When I let you escape, he came after me. I was already suspicious because his obsession was out of place. That’s when he told me that perhaps one day I would understand how yer father died. It all makes sense now. It was him personally who did it! He’d not intended for me to live so he told me. I escaped from the camp and found this place a day ago.”
With every word, Grace’s face lost a little bit of color. She backed away, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. People looked at her with a mix of pity and disgust.
“E-Ethan? But… he… he… Father loved him,” she stuttered in a broken voice. Duncan’s hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. His knuckles whitening with the effort of holding back. “He would have gotten everything eventually. Why… why?”
She held herself, on the brink of falling apart. Duncan’s sister, Sheena broke away from the group and wrapped her arms around Grace. Duncan breathed a little easier through the knot in his throat. His sister must have thought about Jaime, making her more lenient toward Grace.
“Debt, greed…” Harris broke in. His voice was firm but held a certain tenderness when he looked at her. Suddenly, Grace thought of the real reason.
“The will… it says that my husband would only get my inheritance once my father was dead. How did he know that?”
