Page 46 of Kilted Hate

“I’m sorry about earlier. I was out o’ line.”

“Ye still havenae told me yer reasons fer yer doubts, Magnus. If ye ken something I dinnae, please tell me.”

Magnus shook his head and sighed. “I dinnae. And after thinking about it, I’ve come tae realize that I shouldnae have said anything. It’s just the fact that this family has suffered enough. This clan has suffered enough. With the discovery o’ the birlinns, and then the attack o’ those men, I think I jumped tae conclusions I should never have made.”

Domhnall looked at his brother for a long moment. “We both have regrets, Magnus. I ken ye carry the same guilt we all suffer.None o’ us really talk about it, but it’s there, bubbling just beneath the surface.”

Magnus nodded. “I ken. Kai and the twins feel it too. I just wish I could have done more.”

“We all dae. I think about the day Maither and Faither died nearly every day. I’ve replayed it in me mind a hundred times. Perhaps if I didnae have these damned powers, the guilt would be less. But I dae. And what use were they when I really needed them? When me parents really needed them?”

“I ken. I also ken we all feel the same. All o’ us with special gifts, and nay one o’ us could save them.”

Domhnall placed his hand on his younger brother’s shoulder. “It is a cross we must bear. I ken all the regrets in the world willnae bring our parents back, and yet, I still have them.”

—

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The day had started as usual, with Katherine arriving at the dining room and eating her manchet bread and honey with the rest of the MacLeod family. But that day was not the same as all the others. That day, she had to find a way to slip out of the castle without anyone noticing her, and she knew it was not going to be easy.

It was the main reason Reginald had been adamant that she didn’t bring her lady’s maid with her to Scotland. Sitting there at breakfast, pretending to listen to the conversation that bounced back and forth between the siblings, her mind wandered back to a conversation between her and Reginald about that very topic.

“She will be a liability,” he had said, pacing back and forth in his study a week before they had left. “I will need you to be able to move about freely. What you have to do will be dangerous enough, Katherine, for I am determined this man meets the fate he deserves.”

Two days before, he had told her that the man she was being forced to marry was the man who had killed their father. The news had shocked her so much, she had spent those two days locked in her bedchamber, not able to speak a word to anyone.

The following day, however, Reginald had wasted no time in telling her that he had a plan. A plan to destroy the MacLeod family. A plan that would avenge their father’s death.

“What do you mean by that?” Katherine had asked. “What will I have to do?”

“I cannot come to Dunvegan Castle with you, sister. I need to be on the outside, readying my men to attack when the time is right. Your job will be to find out anything that I can use against him. You will need to use your cunning, for the man is not a fool.”

“I do not understand. If you’re going to kill him, why do you need me to garner evidence against him?”

Reginald had turned and pierced her with his cold blue eyes. “Because when the king discovers what I’ve done, I will need to give him some proof that I acted righteously, or I may find myself hanging in the gallows.”

And thus, when they had departed for Scotland, they had left Mary, her lady’s maid, behind. Only now, did Katherine fully understand her brother’s reasoning for it. It was going to be difficult enough for her to sneak out of the castle. If Mary had been with her, it would have been nearly impossible.

The castle was now decorated in ivy and ribbons, giving the cold stone interior a far more festive feel. The Yule log had also been chosen, and in a few days, it would be brought into the great hall. Gazing about her as she walked through the corridors and made her way to her bedchamber in the afternoon, only reminded Katherine that her wedding day was fast approaching, and yet, she had still not found any evidence that might vindicate her brother when the time came.

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