Killian suppressed a low growl. He had promised not to do anything she did not want, but that did not mean he could not imagine, right?
“Come with me.” He took her arm, feeling his restraint nearly snap when she stiffened and tried to break free of his grip. “Just do as I say for once!”
Lily went with him begrudgingly, and he led her to his study. He closed the door behind her, then moved away from her quickly before he got too used to the warmth seeping out of her body.
“What is it?”
“I told ye we have much to discuss, but ye still didnae show up to supper. How am I to trust that ye’re on my side and ready to fight with me?”
“I am ready to fight with you,” Lily answered. “But only to clear Laird McLennan’s name. That does not make me your ally, and it certainly does not make me jump at your command.”
She had fire! He loved that.
“All right,” Killian shot back in the same snappy tone she used. “What do we do next? Ye ken Laird McLennan. Ye’re so sure of his innocence, so ye must tell me what ye have to prove it or what we need to do to prove it because I am very close to marchin’ over there and endin’ all of this myself.”
“And start a war?”
“Aye. I dinnae care if it leads to war. I will prepare for it, and Iwillwin. If it means protectin’ my clan and meself, then I will go to war for whatever cause.”
Lily scoffed, shook her head, and turned away from him. “That is an obvious lie. A war is a rash decision, and you know it. Otherwise, you would have brought war to McLennan from the start and not bothered with kidnapping me.”
She was right. He did not want to risk more men than he had to for his personal vendetta unless he had no other choice. Killian would prefer to settle this with his enemy on his own.
“I have been thinking,” Lily continued and caught his attention when she stopped pacing and faced him.
He noticed how she put one hand on her hip. Her stance remained poised even as she spoke, as if she was ready for battle at any moment.
A good trait of a strong warrior.
“I need you to tell me exactly what happened the night your brother was murdered.”
Killian shook his head. “I wasnae there, I dinnae ken. All I ken I learned from my man-at-arms, Fletcher.”
Saying the words out loud filled him with the stab of guilt he had carried with him since he had returned to news of his brother’sdeath. The familiar stabbing ache pierced his heart, and he squeezed his eyes shut to get a grip. He drew in slow, deep breaths into his lungs, then closed his eyes for a moment.
“Tell me what he told you. Did your brother have any business with Laird McLennan? What reason would Laird McLennan have to want him dead?”
Killian still struggled with his raging emotions as he walked past her and sat. Lily did not need to know this shameful part of him. She did not need to know he was a man that had abandoned his family in pursuit of his own happiness and let his brother carry all the burdens of their clan.
Helping the villagers with their trade had not been enough. He should have done more.
I could have been there. Perhaps he would still be alive if he had me by his side.
“MacColl trades gold,” Killian began, hoping his words would not fail him as he told Lily all that had happened. “Laird McLennan wanted a part in that trade, and my brother agreed to introduce him to his English associates. After he did, Laird McLennan went ahead to strike a deal with them, cutting my brother out of the profits. He betrayed him, and when my brother confronted him about it, he killed him.”
“And you have proof? Proof that Laird McLennan is behind his death?”
“My brother kept a journal. He wrote about Laird McLennan’s betrayal in there. Also, a dirk was buried in his gut when my men found his body near Ardenway Cliff—the cliff that borders our clans. No one ever journeys through that path because there is nay route, but after the cliff on the opposite side lies another cliff which is on McLennan land.”
“Can I see this dirk?”
Killian did not know if he could trust her with this information. He stared at her for a long time, trying to make up his mind. Something about the solemn look in her eyes helped him know that he could trust her.
I cannae explain it.
Perhaps it was because she had helped fight his enemies twice now? Or it was because she could have hurt Niamh that day but she had not.
Either way, Killian sighed, got up and walked over to his desk to get the dirk from his drawer, then handed it to her. He watched her expression as she stared hard at the inscription on the dirk. It was written in Gaelic, and he suspected she could not understand it.
