Page 47 of The Cursed Highland Bride

“She is nae alone, ye arse. I left three o’ our men with her. Ewan, Bran, and Andrew will keep her safe.”

“Good men,” Dunn remarked, feeling somewhat reassured by the skill of the soldiers guarding her. “However, three is nae enough.”

“Once I kenned that ye would live, I planned tae return for her.”

The brothers sat in silence for a moment, each with their own thoughts about the truth that had been revealed to them. “I need tae speak with Esmerelda,” Dunn stated, noting the immediate look of disapproval in Tor’s eyes. “I dinnae wish tae bed her. I only wish tae speak with her.”

“Why?” Tor started his question, but then understanding dawned in his eyes. “Ye think the curse is responsible for—”

“Aye, I do,” Dunn interrupted him before his brother could finish his thought. “I wish tae be free o’ it.”

“And Katarina? Do ye wish tae be free o’ her? Ye ken that she did nae have a choice. She did nae lie tae harm ye or our people. She lied tae save her family. Any one o’ us would have done the same under the circumstances that she found herself in.”

Dunn refused to answer. He did not know the answer yet himself. How could he be certain that his feelings for Katarina were not a result of Esmerelda’s curse? She had cursed him to love one of her kind and that the woman he loved would bring him desolation. The only cure was for Esmerelda to agree to break the curse in time to stop it from doing any more damage. As he lay wounded after having fought for his life, he needed to know for certain whether his feelings were real or whether they were a fabrication.

Are her feelings real or was it all a lie? He was not even certain that she loved him. She had told him that she never would, just as he had told her the same.

“My wife was forced tae wed me. She was forced at the end o’ a blade tae wed me, and I did nae see it. I did nae see her lies. I did nae see Morgan’s lies. All I saw was her beauty and my own anger at Morgan and the crown. She was able tae deceive us all. She may nae be a Morgan, but she is a daughter o’ the luchd siubhail. She is one o’ Esmerelda’s people. I must speak with her and make her release me from this curse.”

“Yer love for Katarina is nae a curse, brother.”

Dunn gave Tor a warning look. “If ye will nae bring me Esmerelda, then I will go tae her.” He moved to climb out of bed, but Tor stopped him with a hand to the shoulder.

“I will go, but I believe it tae be a mistake. Stay in bed. I will be back.” Shaking his head in disapproval, Tor left the room.

Everything in his body hurt, yet the pain in his heart was far worse than any other wound he could have suffered. What if the curse cannae be lifted? The thought was unbearable. What possible future could we have together? Dunn was deep in thought when he heard quiet footsteps in the corridor outside of his room. “Adamina,” he greeted as she walked softly through the door.

“Tor said that ye were awake,” she greeted in return as she came to sit on the edge of the bed. “We feared that we had lost ye for a time.”

Dun smiled in an effort to reassure her. He hated to see her brow furrowed with such worry. “I am nae so easily killed.”

“Tor says that ye wish tae speak with Esmerelda.” The disapproval in Adamina’s eyes was an exact reflection of the feelings he had seen in Tor’s eyes.

Dunn sighed. He did not have the physical or mental energy to explain everything again. “Aye, I do.” His tone did not leave an opening for further conversation on the matter, but that did not deter his sister.

“I agree with Tor. It is a mistake tae give Esmerelda’s curse such power over ye.” Reaching across the bed, she placed her hand on his forehead. Her hand felt cold against his heated skin. “Dunn, ye are burning with fever.” Taking a rag from the bowl of water in the washstand, Adamina bathed his face. “I will have the cook make ye a tea tae bring the fever down.” Standing, she quickly left the room to go in search of the castle cook.

Dunn lay back against the bed and closed his eyes as a feverish shiver passed over his skin. His thoughts turned back to Katarina and the truth of her identity. How could I have nae seen it? She is nae even Scottish! Her accent had been perfect enough to fool them all. When she had spoken with her own voice, she had spoken English with the accent of someone from lands far from Orkney. I dinnae ken my own wife. I dinnae ken her people. I dinnae ken anything about her life. She is an outlander tae me. The disgust he felt for his own inability to see the truth filled his heart with bitter anger.

“I see that ye have nae left us,” his grandmother’s voice interrupted his mental tirade.

“I have nae,” he sighed, opening his eyes.

She had silently slipped into the room without his noticing and now sat in the chair beside the bed. The look on his grandmother’s face was one of chastisement and disapproval. “I told ye that she was nae good for ye or this clan.”

“Ye did,” he acknowledged with a tired sigh.

Her lips pursed in recrimination at what she perceived to be his disrespectful tone. “Ye did nae listen, and now ye are facing two enemies.”

Dunn shook his head. “I was nae given a choice, as ye well ken.”

His grandmother lifted a brow in judgment. “That may be, but ye allowed her intae yer heart even though I warned ye against it. Dinnae deny it. I saw yer feelings for her with my own eyes.”

Dunn sighed and rubbed his hand over his face in frustration. “What do ye wish for me tae say? She lied, and I did nae ken it ‘till it was nearly tae late.”

She gave a self-satisfied thump of her cane against the floor. “It is as I told ye it would be. She will be the ruin o’ this clan.”

“She warned me about Morgan’s plan tae kill us all in our beds. She saved this clan at the risk o’ her own sisters’ lives.” Dunn did not know why he felt the need to defend his wife, but he found that he could not help himself. Even now, in spite of all the anger and betrayal that had passed between them, his heart still belonged to her.