“That’s what I want tae ken.” Luke’s eyes were full of vindictive glee. “I saw ye with the lass, and ye hit me! And then, I break the door back down, only tae find ye’ve been sneaking about in the tunnel our laird ordered boarded over ages ago…”
“It wasnae what ye’re thinking…”
“Ye dinnae fool me, ye out-clan bastard! Guards! Guards!”
Blake considered running, or fighting, but he could hear the guards approaching, and Luke’s weapon was already drawn. He was also acutely aware of his wounded shoulder, still healing from the stab he’d taken from the bandits.
Besides, if he didn’t resist, there was a chance he might be able to talk their way out of this. He could make up a believable story regarding the attack on Luke. There’d be no coming back from it, however, if he started attacking the other guards, and he was outnumbered too badly to have a hope of winning.
He lowered his hand from his hilt and stood quietly waiting for Luke’s next move.
Reyna watched as Blake gave up without a fight. On one hand, she was angry that he didn’t make more of an effort to escape.On the other hand, she understood the sense. She was no true fighter, and he was both wounded and outnumbered.
Luke directed the guards to surround them and sent one of them to wake up Laird Murray. Blake gave him a look. “Ye’re sure that’s the wisest thing?”
“He deserves tae hear about yer treachery as soon as possible. He needs tae ken how ye’ve been going behind his back.” Luke sneered. “I kent ye were, ever since I saw ye riding up with her all tucked up in yer arm on yer saddle.”
“And where else was she tae ride, when I’d only one horse, and I was riding hard fer home?”
Luke’s eyes had a distinctly unpleasant spark to them, and it made Reyna’s stomach clench. He looked far too assured of his position, and that Laird Oran would believe him.
A flicker of light made Reyna look up as the guards began to guide them inside. Kenzie stood at one of the windows, her expression solemn and worried. Reyna met her eyes, pleading without words for Kenzie to do something. After a moment, the other woman nodded, just slightly, and turned away. Reyna swallowed and looked away.
She hoped Kenzie would be able to help them. But even if there was nothing she could do, hopefully she’d at least be able to warn Preston about what had happened. For all she’d hated Blake’s arguments against going to rescue her brother at once, he was right that she didn’t want his friends to suffer for them.
The guards hauled them into the main hall, where Oran was lounging once more on his throne-like chair, his clothing even more disheveled, as if he’d either slept in it or dressed in a hurry. He also looked furious. “What the devil is the meaning o’ this?” His glare cut across all of them, including Luke. “Ye’d best have good reason fer rousing me from me rest.”
Luke stepped forward before she or Blake could speak. “Pardon, me laird, but I suspected there was someat between yer betrothed and Brutus. They seemed far too friendly, from what I saw o’ them on their approach tae the castle. So I decided tae check on them late at night, when she ought tae have been sleeping. I found the corridor empty with nae sign o’ Brutus, and then I heard noises. I came in tae find the two o’ them huddled taegether, and he hit me. Then, when I came tae, I found the tunnel open. The tunnel ye ordered sealed long ago – one the lass couldnae have kent was there unless she had had help. I entered, saw their footsteps, and I followed them tae find them in the garden, planning their escape.”
“Ye have it wrong.” Blake spoke up. “’Tis true I was in the room, but the lass was distraught over nae seeing her braither, and I thought it better fer her mood and the wedding preparations tae soothe her.” he shrugged. “Mayhap ‘tis a woman’s place tae be comforting, but there wasnae a woman available. As fer hitting ye… well, what the devil did ye expect me tae dae, when ye practically broke the door in? I’m a warrior. Didnae realize it was ye until I’d laid ye out.”
“Ye were still helping her escape!” Luke’s voice went shrill. “Ye opened the tunnel fer her!”
“He didnae. At least, he only finished what I started.” Reyna snapped. She knew she was treading dangerous ground, but it wasn’t in her nature to remain meek and quiet while others came to her defense – or tried to defame her. Besides, Blake shouldn’t be trying to spin the falsehood alone – the words of two were better than one. “I was exploring the rooms, felt a draft, and I happened across the tunnel. I hoped it might give me a way tae see me brother. He caught me opening it and advised me against it.”
“But ye were running!”
“Well, and after thinking I was being attacked in me own rooms, what would I dae? Besides, I wanted tae see me kinfolk, and I hate being cooped up. I was hoping there’d be a way out tae the gardens or someplace o’ the sort, and I made it clear tae Brutus that I’d be going intae those tunnels and seeing where they led, with or without his escort!” Reyna glared at the hateful man. “He wasnae about to let me wander off on me own, blasted brute that he is, so he followed me tae the garden and was telling me tae keep me temper and be patient when ye came out and accused us o’ running off.”
It was all truth of a sort, and she hoped Oran would believe it, and that the sincerity of her words would lend credence to the story she and Blake were telling.
The look Oran gave her made her stomach clench and her heart sink. It was cold, condescending, and the sort of look that she imagined a snake might give a mouse trapped in its coils. “I could believe ye, but I ken a foul-tempered shrew like ye is likelytae be a liar as well. And contrary tae what ye may think, I didnae miss Brutus’s protectiveness o’ ye. Or the fact that, o’ all the rooms he might have given ye in the north tower, ‘twas the one with a concealed passage that he chose fer ye. He kent it was there, and he should have kent me wishes better than tae give ye such an easy route tae freedom, even if ye did find it by accident instead o’ being told. Nae, I’m afraid I dinnae believe ye in the slightest, save mayhap that ye wished tae see yer braither.”
With that, Oran turned his flat, reptilian gaze on Blake. “And ye, Brutus... I’m fair disappointed in ye. I would have thought that a man who owed his very life tae me would show better evidence o’ gratitude than tae go behind me back and try tae steal me wife. Such betrayal, and over a Gregor lass ye scarcely ken…”
He shook his head, but she could see the spark of twisted satisfaction and amusement in his eyes underneath the facade of sorrow and the very real anger. “...I didnae want tae think it, kenning yer former clan as I dae, but ‘tis clear ye’re every bit the snake in the grass they sent warning ye were. I suppose I should be counting meself fortunate it was only me hope o’ heirs ye tried tae rob from me, and nae me life as well. Unless, o’ course, ‘tis only fortune that Luke caught ye afore ye could put yer plans tae harm me in motion.”
Blake flinched, and Reyna saw the satisfaction in Luke and Oran’s eyes. She knew they’d assumed, and would make sure the rest of Murray clan did as well, that he really was a poisoner and a murderer. She also knew the flinch was for old wounds reopened, rather than schemes revealed.
Reyna rounded on Laird Oran with a glare that could have melted steel, had she possessed such powers. “Ye ken well and good he’s nae such thing. And if ye think he’s a monster after all the loyalty he’s given ye, then ye dinnae ken aught o’ him at all, and ye dinnae deserve tae!”
“Lass…” Reyna heard the clear warning in Blake’s voice. “Dinnae make it worse….”
She was too angry to care, or to do anything but stand defiantly as Oran looked at her. “Ye speak as if ye ken more o’ him than I, though he’s been me man fer ten years.”
“And he was me friend fer years afore he ever met ye. I kent him through childhood, and our youth, and I ken him better than a cold monster like ye ever could.”
Too late, she realized she’d said more than she should have – and that her defense of Blake had given Laird Murray a weapon he could use to destroy them both. She saw the cold, cruel smile that curved Laird Murray’s face like a blade slash, but there was no way to undo what had been said and done. Her stomach clenched in fear. “I see. A friendship forged in youth... and perhaps more.”
His eyes glittered with malice, alive with cruelty. “But I wonder, since ye’re so close tae one another... did he tell ye then? Did he ask yer forgiveness fer being the one tae capture yer braither and deliver him tae me dungeons?”
“Ye’re lying.” Reyna felt as if ice had pierced her insides. She turned to look at Blake, who was looking at her with a stoic expression. “He’s lying, is he nae?”
