Chapter 23

Clouds gathered over Castle MacLaren the morning after Cathleen's arrival. The sky had darkened since early in the morning, a chill permeating every room of the castle that Cathleen visited in her restless search for some distraction.

She could find none. There was nothing in the castle to hold her attention, to pull her thoughts away from Bonnie and Macauley and his plan.

She couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they couldn't avoid this war in the end. What if Macauley and Kian failed? What if they all worked hard to bring Faolan down for no real results in the end? There was always a possibility, no matter how slim, that he would come out of this victorious. For all Cathleen knew, he could have more allies than he had led her to believe.

The day before had been torturous for her, as Faolan had demanded her presence for every meal. Cathleen had touched none of the food, simply pushing it around her plate, and now that they were having breakfast together in the great hall, she was doing the same. Around them, the maids and servants stood near the walls, waiting for Faolan's next orders, not daring to move as he dug into his own plate with a voracious appetite, seemingly forgetting every table manner he had ever been taught.

"Ye seem tae be in a good mood, me laird," Ronald said from across Cathleen. She glanced up at the man and the slimy smile he was sporting, evidently just as happy as Faolan. "Yer appetite is back."

"Well," said Faolan around a mouthful of cured meat, "we have Cathleen tae thank fer that. She has given me everythin' I want."

Cathleen didn't bother responding to this. Faolan and Ronald had a habit of talking about her and Bonnie as though they weren't there ever since Faolan had taken the mantle of the laird. Half of the time, Cathleen didn't even listen to him, tuning out everything the man said. Hardly any of it mattered anyway—he rarely ever said anything important.

"Now that we will wed, ye will also give me some heirs, Cathleen," said Faolan and her stomach churned, her hand loosening around the fork she was holding until it fell onto her plate with a loud clatter. Faolan only grinned at her, evidently enjoying the mental torture greatly.

This is entertainment fer him. If I speak, if I try tae fight him, he will only be more pleased.

Cathleen didn't want to give him the satisfaction. She just gritted her teeth, keeping her mouth firmly shut, afraid any slip in her self-control would result in a torrent of curses towards him.

Faolan would see no heirs from her. In fact, with any luck, he would hardly live to see many more days.

Cathleen wished Bonnie was there with her. The absence of her sister only served to unnerve her even more. There was no one to turn to in the castle now, no one in whom she could confide, no one to tell her everything would be fine in the end.

There was also the doubt around her meeting Kian and Macauley as they had arranged.

Had she followed Cathleen's request? Had she found them?

There was nothing for Cathleen to do other than hope. She hoped her sister was safe. She hoped Macauley and Kian had seen her. She hoped they were all safe.

"Ye have naething tae say tae me?" Faolan asked, raising a curious eyebrow at Cathleen. She didn't even look up from her plate, deciding it was better to ignore him completely—at least until he banged his hand on the table, startling her and the servants around them. He seemed to find that effective, she thought, like a child throwing a tantrum. "Ye willnae even look at me? That's alright. Soon, we'll wed an' ye'll have nae choice but tae dae as I say."

It was only then that Cathleen looked at him, giving him the coldest stare she could muster. "Am I nae doin' as ye say now?"

"Ye still resist me," Faolan pointed out. "Even though it would be much easier fer ye tae simply give in. Accept yer fate. There isnae much else ye can dae now anyway."

How wrong ye are. Ye'll find out soon.

"Even as yer wife, I dinnae have tae dae as ye command o' me," Cathleen said. It seemed impossible to keep holding her tongue when all she wanted to do was prove to him that he had no real power over her. She could already imagine his face, distorted by shock and terror, when he found out that he was defeated. "Ye dinnae want me. Ye want the clan. Well, ye already have that."

For a few long, seemingly endless moments, Faolan stared at her, scrutinizing her from head to toe. In the end, he gave a small shrug and turned to Ronald, who was smiling at the interaction.

"She is pleasin' tae the eye, is she nae?" Faolan asked him, once again talking as though Cathleen wasn't even there. Then, he turned to look at her with a smile of his own, one that brought forth a wave of nausea in her. "I think I will enjoy meself with ye. There is nae need tae pretend otherwise."

Cathleen was stunned into silence, looking at Faolan with her mouth hanging agape. Surely, he couldn't mean that, she thought. Desiring the lairdship was one thing; desiring her was another.

He willnae have me, though. He willnae have the time.

It didn't matter whether he desired her or not. Cathleen had to let his disgusting comments pass over her like running water, paying no mind to any of it. She would be free of him before he could put his hands on her.

"I will dae me duty an' naething more," Cathleen said, cursing herself quietly for being unable to hold back once more. It didn't matter, she reminded herself. She didn't need to take the bait that Faolan was so clearly hanging right in front of her just to anger her. "I agreed tae this fer me sister, nae fer ye."

"Ach, o' course," Faolan said, laughing over the rim of his cup of wine as he brought it to his lips. "Yer dear Bonnie. I wonder what she's doin' now."

"I'm guessin' she is still runnin' from ye," Cathleen quipped.

Faolan laughed again, but then cut his laughter short. "I think she's found the Drummonds already."

Cathleen's heart stopped. There was nothing in Faolan's tone or in his expression that she could decipher, nothing that could give her a clue that would tell her if he was aware of the plan or not. For a long time, the two of them only looked at each other in silence. From the corner of her eye, Cathleen could see Ronald glancing back and forth between them, a delighted smile on his face at the horror that must have been etched in Cathleen's expression.

Around them, the servants had fallen perfectly still, in fear of attracting their wrath. The tension settled heavily over their table. Cathleen tried to regain her voice, her lips parting again and again as she searched for something to say, but there was no sound that crossed her lips.

"Are ye surprised that I ken?" Faolan asked, confirming Cathleen's worst fears and her suspicions. So he did know. Somehow, he had managed to find out about Macauley's plan and Cathleen didn't even want to think about what that would mean for the Drummonds and for Bonnie.

Dread crept into her stomach, its talons tearing into her chest. Suddenly, she felt as though all the air in the room had been drawn out of it and she couldn't breathe, her terror all-encompassing and inescapable. Macauley's plan was the only chance they had to get rid of Faolan once and for all, but now that he had found out the truth, he had the advantage.

What if he had already sent his troops to attack Kian and Macauley? What if they had already attacked the camp? Cathleen had been there just the previous day as they were setting up, showing them the best place where they could stay until their planned attack. She had made sure they were hidden, but perhaps Faolan's men had already found them.

If they hadn't found them, though, could Cathleen even warn them? Could she send someone to them with a message?

"How?" she asked. "How did ye ken?"

"There are people here who are loyal tae me," Faolan said smugly, leaning back in his chair with the air of someone who had finally won for good. Cathleen had doubted his victory before, going as far as to think that Kian's victory was guaranteed, but now she wasn't so certain. If anything, it sounded like Faolan may have been right to celebrate this time. "Did ye truly think ye could meet with me council an' I wouldnae find out the truth from them?"

Who spoke? Those men were loyal tae me faither.

Perhaps the key to understanding this betrayal was precisely that—the council was loyal to her father, but that was true when he was alive. Now that he was gone, there was a possibility they had shifted their allegiances and now supported Faolan instead of Cathleen and Bonnie, despite their reassurances that Faolan was only a temporary measure until one of them found a good husband.

Did he manage tae bribe them? Or did he threaten them?

Or had they simply decided he was the better choice for the clan for a reason she would never understand?

None of it mattered, truly, not when the result was the same. Their plan had been foiled and the people Cathleen loved were in danger—a danger she was powerless to fight.

"What will ye dae?" Cathleen asked, hating how her voice trembled despite the control she tried to keep over it. "What will ye dae tae them?"

"Let us see," Faolan said, humming as if he was only just considering his options. He was toying with Cathleen like a cat toyed with a mouse before the kill, just for the pleasure of it, just to see her humiliated. "I think if ye behave, Bonnie may yet live tae see another day. We'd like her tae be present fer our weddin' after all, dinnae ye think so? She is family. I'm sure ye'd like tae have yer sister here."

Cathleen said nothing even when Faolan paused, surely waiting to see her reaction. She only stared down at her plate once again, her chest heaving with every panicked breath she took.

"But I'm sure ye'll understand that I cannae allow the others tae live," Faolan continued, his tone laved with fake regret. "They are a danger tae me and me clan. Perhaps I could be persuaded tae spare Deirdre Drummond's life if ye act yer part as me wife."

That was what caught Cathleen's attention. She was willing to endure a lot if it meant that she could save one more life, especially if that life was Deirdre's. But even Deirdre had her limits. Surely, she wouldn't be able to find it in her to forgive Cathleen if Faolan managed to kill Kian and Macauley after all.

Cathleen wouldn't be able to forgive herself either. She couldn't live with the knowledge that the people she loved would die and suffer because of her, because she was arrogant enough to think that she could trick Faolan. She had been the one to underestimate him, after all; or perhaps she had simply overestimated the loyalty the council had towards her and her sister.

Either way, she had been foolish. She should have known better.

"What would I have tae dae fer ye tae spare Deirdre?" Cathleen asked. Her voice was so small, so terrified, that she couldn't help but cringe at the sound. It sounded nothing like her. It was defeated, broken; a foreign sound she could hardly recognize as her own.

"I only ask ye tae be a good wife tae me," Faolan said with a small shrug. "That is all ye must dae. Share me bed, bear me heirs, look the other way when I bed other lasses… just like any good wife who loves her husband."

Cathleen's jaw clenched to the point of pain as she listened to him. She couldn't tell if he was being disgusting and cruel on purpose, just to get a reaction out of her, or if that was how he viewed marriages. Could she truly give Faolan what he wanted? Could she bear it for the sake of everyone else?

She would have to. Their lives were more important than their comfort.

"What will it take fer ye tae spare the rest?" Cathleen asked. Even if Faolan claimed that he had to kill Macauley and Kian, she still had to try and save them. "I will dae anythin'. Anythin' ye ask if ye dinnae wage a war. Ye can have me, ye can have the clan. All I am askin' is that ye dinnae kill anyone."

Faolan looked over at Ronald. "What dae ye think?" he asked. "Would it be wise tae spare them?"

Ronald didn't hesitate at all before he spoke. "Nay. If ye allow them tae live, they will surely seek revenge. It would be a different matter if they had truly sent her away after findin' out the truth but now that they are here tae help her, it means they were nae as angry as we had expected they would be. Ye must eliminate the threat."

"Ye heard him," Faolan said, raising his hands as if to say it was out of his control. Once again, it was nothing but a performance, simply a way to toy with her and have his revenge. "I can only give ye Bonnie and Deirdre Drummond. If that isnae enough fer ye, o' course, I could always kill them, too."

"Nay," Cathleen said through gritted teeth. She could hardly speak. She could hardly even see in front of her, her vision blurry and fuzzy at the edges. Panic coiled tightly around her, constricting her chest and pushing all the air out of her lungs while letting none back in. For a few moments, she was certain she was dying but naturally, life wasn't so merciful.

"Nay?" Faolan asked.

"Spare them," Cathleen said. "Spare Bonnie an' Deirdre an' I shall dae as ye command."

The satisfied smile that spread over Faolan's lips was a revolting sight. With the promise that Cathleen would do as he told her, he and Ronald continued their breakfast as though nothing had happened.

All the while, Cathleen's world was collapsing around her, dragging her down into the void with it.