Page 69 of Fire in his Highland Heart

Blake exhaled deeply through his nose. “Ye’re right. I dinnae ken how it feels. I can only say I would’ve tried tae do my duty.”

“Oh, that’s bollocks and you know it.”

“Mirellain still asks why she doesnae have a mother like the other bairns,” Blake said quietly.

Cataline froze at this, almost as if she had forgotten she had a child with Blake. “I left quickly so she didn’t have to feel that pain. Besides, I wasn’t going to love her anyway. She was half you, after all. How could I love a child borne out of duty?”

Blake snarled and reached through the bars, grabbing Cataline’s neck and pulling her close. “Mirellain is good an’ kind. She is the only good thing that happened in our marriage. Every day, she asks me when I’ll marry again an’ she’ll have a mother. An’ every day, I have tae lie to her, because I cannae tell this sweet, innocent bairn that her mother was a lying whore who abandoned her!” He let go of her abruptly and shoved her away, still seething as he paced back and forth outside the cell, running a hand through his hair in an effort to calm himself down.

Cataline coughed and gasped in dramatic fashion, but ultimately she was perfectly well. “I lost a child, too, you know,” Cataline said with a raspy voice.

“Aye, I ken. An’ again, I dinnae ken how that feels. But ye blamed others for it. Ye put Arguen’s life in danger instead of admitting that bad things can happen.”

“Is that who this is about?” Cataline asked, cocking her head.

Blake said nothing in response, only fixed her with a stern gaze and a raised eyebrow. She chuckled lowly. “Oh, I see. You care for her, do you not? Well, all of you were stupid to lock me up here.”

“Nay, I think that was the right choice,” Blake said without hesitation, and just a hint of sarcasm.

“No, no, no, no, no, no!” Cataline said, “you must not know their history,” she continued.

“Whose history?” Blake asked. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. And he knew, of course, that Cataline could twist things to make people unhappy, so he was prepared for the worst.

“Why, Malcolm and Arguen’s. He wanted to marry her, but his father said no. Apparently there’s still a great amount of affection between them. With me out of the way, Malcolm is now free to pursue whoever he wants. Why, he might even be making sweet love to her upstairs right now,” she hissed.

Blake knocked the side of his fist against the bar. “Enough! Ye are an unpleasant liar, an’ ye will pay for all yer wrongs.”

She gave a satisfied chuckle, a smirk on her face. “We shall see about that.”

Blake gave her one last dirty look, then ascended the small stone staircase back to light and civility. Perhaps his mind had been playing tricks on him the other day. Perhaps he was being overly jealous. Arguen was beautiful, after all; men would be foolish not to see it. And why shouldn’t Malcolm like her? She was lovely in every way…

He shook his head as if to shake away these bad thoughts. No, Arguen loved him. She’d said so. She’d even said he was the only man for her, and he was determined to marry her once this mess was finished. It seemed he just had to wait a bit.

* * *

“Tell me everythin’ that happened, right from the start,” Mr. Murray said.

Arguen’s stomach was still churning, and she had rather a headache, but she was glad to be heard in a legal capacity. “Well...” she said, and it all came out. Everything from Malcolm’s marriage to that fateful night when Cataline lost the baby. She told the man about meeting Connie in the woods and finally ending up in Ernmore and becoming a healer there. Mr. Murray occasionally stopped to ask questions or clarify parts of her story, but nothing about the situation felt accusatory or suspicious. She was glad to be listened to like this.

At the end of the conversation, she even showed him a stalk of the yarrow she’d picked, and compared it to a drawing of hemlock she found in one of the books in the study.

“I wasnae wrong. This whole time, I thought maybe I accidentally poisoned her. But I went back tae the place I gathered it today, and ‘tis just yarrow. No hemlock anywhere in sight.”

The mousy looking Mr. Murray smiled gently. “Ye dinnae have tae doubt yerself, lass. I’ve heard from Malcolm, Blake, Douglas, an’ other people at the castle. Yer a talented healer wi’ good intentions,” he said.

Arguen could have hugged this strange man, but she restrained herself. He excused himself and left the study after that, leaving her to silently revel in her victory for a few moments. Oh, it felt so good to not be blamed and looked upon with suspicion. She only hoped it would extend to the rest of the village.

A quiet, unobtrusive knock sounded at the door. Arguen bade them enter, and was happy to see Malcolm there, looking much better than he had last night. It was like the life was slowly returning to him as well.

“Everythin’ went well, I reckon?” he asked, shuffling in awkwardly.

“Aye. I think he believed me. That usually doesnae happen, so I’m surprised.”

“Well, ye shouldnae be. Ye’re quite extraordinary,” Malcolm said softly.

“Och, Malcolm. See, ye’re too kind for yer own good. Ye deserve someone just as kind as ye. Cataline only took advantage of yer kindness.”

“But ye wouldnae dream of it,” he said. The way he was looking at her so lovingly made her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach.