Page 76 of Kilted Hate

Had she, at any time, been able to tell her brother anything? Clearly, the letter stated she had not sent him any information at the time he had written her. But they had met, so it was possible she had relayed news to him then… but it still didn’t evidence her part in the two attacks.

“Fine, she wasnae involved in the attacks, but she was still in collusion with him.”

“Tae what end?” Magnus said. “If she didnae tell him where ye were going tae be, what was the point o’ her being here?”

“I think that’s exactly the reason she was here,” Kai offered. “I just think she didnae go through with it.”

Domhnall looked over at Kai, who gazed at him kindly. “I think something changed, brother,” Kai continued. “I cannae ken it fer sure, but I ken this. That woman is in love with ye.”

“I agree,” Magnus added. “It was written all over her face. Ye can pretend tae be a lot o’ things, but ye cannae make yersel’ physically glow as she did when she was with ye.”

Domhnall looked at his brothers for a long moment. “I want tae believe that. I want tae believe that with every part o’ me soul, but…” he trailed off as the fear of his hopes being dashed pushed against allowing himself to believe it could be true.

“She could well have been forced against her will,” Kai offered.

“Or, like we said earlier, she could have been on board with her braither’s plan only she didnae foresee the fact that she would actually fall in love with ye.”

It was a reasonable explanation. And, it would explain some of the signs he had noticed in her over the last few days. Her expressions of doubt and fear. Had she been on the verge of telling him the truth?

“At the very least, she deserves a chance tae defend hersel’, Domhnall,” Magnus said. “Tae tell ye her side o’ the story.”

She had tried, but he hadn’t listened. She had told him she hadn’t fed her brother information. She had told him she hadn’t wanted to work with her brother. She had told him that she loved him. But he had denied her words, shutting her down without letting her speak. Perhaps the tears that had escaped down her cheeks had been real after all.

“Where did ye say they had stopped fer the night?” Domhnall asked, looking at Kai.

“Drynoch,” Kai said excitedly.

Domhnall nodded. “Then I will journey there and find her.”

“We will come with ye, braither,” Magnus said, his face expressing satisfaction at his decision.

“Nae.” Domhnall shook his head. “I will dae this alone. It is I who jumped tae conclusions and made this mistake. It is I, alone, who needs tae rectify it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Katherine had little to take with her, and thus, under the watchful eye of one of the guards, for Domhnall had stormed out of her bedchamber, Katherine was packed and on her horse within an hour.

Heartbroken, and with the weight of her choices crushing her, her heart was now shattered into a million pieces, for as she and the men who had accompanied her when she had first arrived at Dunvegan were being escorted out of the castle, the dreadful fact that she would never lay her eyes on Domhnall again was tearing her apart.

How had she been so stupid? Why had she not told him the truth from the very beginning? The first attack on Domhnall had been bad enough, but the second ought to have motivated her to spill her heart out. She knew she loved him, even then, and yet, she had selfishly kept what she knew to herself. She had been too afraid of what he would think of her and what she would lose to think of warning him of her brother’s intentions.

You were selfish, and now, you are reaping what you have sown.

She had wept once Domhnall had left her in the bedchamber, and now, her throat painfully tightened again as the distance between herself and the man she loved grew by the minute.

About half an hour had passed, when her eyes widened at the sight up ahead, for there was Reginald with the men he had left, now only three, waiting on her, surrounded by five more of the laird’s men.

Domhnall had evidently sent even more scouts out after discovering her brother’s letter, and, with a greater force searching, and knowing that he could not be far from the castle, Reginald and his men had been discovered.

As they neared them, Reginald glowered at her. He was fuming with rage, no doubt blaming her for being found out, as well as seething with the knowledge that he would no longer be able to implement his cruel plan.

“Are you satisfied now, sister?” he hissed, when she reached him. “Look at what your feelings have caused. I should never have sent a woman to do a man’s work. Because of you, we have failed. You have failed me, and you have failed Father. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

Katherine did not reply. There was nothing she could say that would appease his anger. Even if there had been, she would have remained silent. While she had been on board with his plan atthe beginning, she now realized that her brother’s vendetta had little to do with their father. There was something else that had driven her brother in this task. Something that she would now never likely discover.

Besides, Reginald’s feelings were really the least of her worries. She had her own cross to bear. She was only grateful that, for the hours that followed, he did not speak to her again.

They travelled for a lot longer, stopping only to rest the horses and to eat the food Domhnall had arranged to have prepared for them. Even in his anger, the laird had cared for their needs, when really, he had no obligation to do so. But then, she had come to know that his abrasive nature was part of the wall he had built to protect himself. The wall she had broken down, brick by brick, only to stab him so viciously once she had him at his most vulnerable.

---