Page 3 of Highlander’s Vengeful Seduction

The question was, which one was the one responsible? It was difficult to tell. After all, he had spent a lot of time with the two sisters in the past, and when he had first figured out that one of them had broken his brother’s heart with that cruel letter, he could hardly believe it.

Vika was the younger of the two, and she had always been a sweet, shy girl. Donal had a hard time suspecting her. Vanora had been a sweet girl, too, but now…now she was so different from her former self that Donal didn’t know what to believe. She was a beautiful woman, after all, and she seemed to know it. She must have broken the hearts of many men.

“Father is in his study the noo; ye can go and see him,” Vanora said. “Do ye want me tae take ye there?”

“No, no need,” Donal assured her with a wave of his hand. “I still ken where his study is, unless the old man decided he needed a change. I’ll find my own way; dinnae fash yerself.”

“We’ll see ye at supper, then?” Vika asked. “Mrs. Gallach will want tae prepare a whole feast for yer arrival.”

“Ach, no need for that, either, Vika,” Donal assured her. Mrs. Gallach, the head housekeeper of Castle Sween, had always been a sweet woman who worked too much. Donal didn’t want to put her into the trouble of preparing a feast last minute. “Please tell Mrs. Gallach that I dinnae need a feast. Whatever she had planned for supper is more than fine.”

“Aye, I’ll tell her,” Vika said. “It’s good tae see ye, Donal.”

With that, Vika rushed off to the kitchen to find Mrs. Gallach, but Vanora stayed behind. She leaned against the wall, a hand on her hip as she regarded Donal.

“Ye have grown since the last time I saw ye,” she said.

“So have ye.”

Donal remembered the last time he had spoken to Vanora as though it were yesterday. She had been of five-and-ten years then, while he had already turned twenty, a wee lass against a man. The last thing Vanora had told him was that she loved him, and the last thing Donal had told her was that he was too old to be with a child. Then he had laughed.

He regretted that now. Vanora had done nothing back then to deserve his mockery, and yet he had been so cruel to her. He didn’t know what to say. The woman standing before him was very much grown now, the child she used to be left in the past.

“Aye…I suppose people tend to do that,” Vanora teased, a hint of a smile crossing her lips.

She didn’t seem to be angry with him, Donal thought. He wondered for a moment if she still felt something for him, or if she had moved on to bigger and better things. Surely, a woman who looked like her—pale skin on display on her décolletage and a neckline specifically designed to show off the swell of her breasts—would have many admirers.

Could Ronald have been one of those admirers? That could very well be the case, and Donal wouldn’t be surprised if Vanora was the woman with whom his brother had been infatuated.

Before Donal could say anything, Vanora spoke again.

“I will make sure that Mrs. Gallach kens ye came. I dinnae trust Vika tae carry a glass of water, let alone relay information.”

“Thank ye.” Donal thought that simply saying that would be easier than asking Vanora why she didn’t trust her sister over something so simple. The two of them had always had a strange dynamic, and Donal had seen Vanora eclipse Vika many times, her natural charm and ability to make people instantly love her putting Vanora at the forefront.

Vanora turned around to walk away, but she stopped after taking only a few steps. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, her back turned to Donal before she finally turned around to meet his gaze.

“And Donal…it is verra nice tae see ye again. Truly.”

With that, Vanora made her way to the kitchen, leaving Donal standing there, stunned. She had sounded sincere, Donal thought, as though she had forgotten everything that had happened between them. How could that be, though? Allegedly, Donal had broken her heart, and even though it had been six years since that day, he would have thought that she would still hold a grudge against him.

It was yet another mystery that would have to wait. There was no way for Donal to find out if she had forgiven him; not quite yet, at least. He would ask her eventually, after he’d spent a few days at the castle. It was too early in his stay for him to stir the waters like that.

With a last glance at the place where Vanora had stood only moments earlier, Donal turned around and headed for Cormag’s study, eager to see his old teacher again. He only wished that Ronald could be there with him, that his travels were for recreation instead of sleuthing. As it were, Donal could hardly enjoy any of it.

There was no use to have such wishful thoughts, though. What was done was done, and Donal would never get his brother back.

All he could do was spend his time at Castle Sween figuring out which of the two women had taken his brother’s life—and avenge his premature death.

Chapter Two

Despite Donal’s insistence that there shouldn’t be a feast in his honor, Mrs. Gallach decided to throw one anyway, eager to give their guest a proper welcome.

It didn’t hurt that Vanora practically begged her for a feast.

Vanora hadn’t forgotten the last time that she had spoken to Donal. She didn’t think she could ever forget it—the way that he spoke to her as though he thought that she was nothing but a foolish child, breaking her heart for the first time in her life.

Part of her was still angry. Not because Donal had rejected her, but the way that he had done so. At ten-and-five years, she was indeed a child, and now that she was older, she understood why Donal didn’t see her the same way that she saw him. She only wished that he had been gentler about his rejection, instead of making her feel like a fool for telling him how she felt about him.