Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

T he following morning, Katherine was enjoying the warm comfort of her bed. Barely awake, her eyes were just opening, when her door flew open and heavy footsteps across the wooden floor of her bedchamber tore her from her sleepiness with great haste.

Springing to a sitting position, her heart thumping in her chest, she glared at Domhnall as he approached the side of her bed.

“What the devil are you doing?” she cried. “You cannot just walk into my room whenever you feel like it. What if I was naked, or in the process of dressing?”

With a lifted eyebrow, Domhnall replied. “Ye’ll be me wife soon enough, Katherine. I’m going tae see yer nakedness at some point.”

Aghast at the thought, while at the same time embarrassed at his directness, Katherine’s mouth fell open in stunned astonishment as heat rushed to her cheeks.

While she was speechless, Domhnall only smirked down at her.

“Get dressed. We’re going riding.”

Half an hour later, Katherine arrived at the stables where Domhnall was standing waiting for her beside two horses. One beast was far larger than the other and Katherine was still relieved when Domhnall handed her the reins of the smaller one.

As she went to place her foot in the stirrup, Domhnall took her hand and stopped her.

“Nae. Today, yer going tae ride astride.”

With her eyes flying wide, Katherine stared up at him. Domhnall held her gaze, and for a second, he frowned.

“It’s what ye wanted, isnae it?”

“Yes,” she breathed, feeling her heart begin to thump in her chest.

“Ye’ll be fine, lass. In fact, riding with yer leg either side is safer than the way ye usually ride. Come on. Let me help ye.”

Lifting her upon the horse, Katherine awkwardly placed a leg either side of her mare, and settling in the saddle, she grabbed the reins.

“Good.” He grinned up at her. “Now for the fun part.”

Over the following hour, and slowly at first, Domhnall took his time teaching Katherine how to ride in her newfound position. It was not overly different than side saddle, though she realized, she had to find more rhythm with her mare than she would have done before.

After some time, however, she seemed to get the hang of it, and only then, did he challenge her to push herself.

“Surely, ye wanted tae learn tae ride this way so ye could move at some speed,” he observed.

Katherine nodded. “Yes, I suppose I did. That, and to feel the wind in my face.”

He lifted the corner of his mouth. “Well, ye’ll nae dae that while ye’re trotting along at this speed. Come on. Let’s see what ye can dae.”

Following Domhnall’s lead, Katherine flicked the reins, and the two galloped across the snowy glen side by side. The wind battered against her face, forcing her hood to fall backwards. Pressing her feet into the stirrups, she moved with the rhythm of her horse, and breathlessly exhilarated by the cold and excitement of the ride, she felt truly free for the first time in her life.

Riding astride was not the only thing causing that feeling. As well as the speed, it was the great open plain of the Highlands that stretched out before her, and the fact that there were no others to judge her actions. While her brother would have snarled at seeing her acting so wildly, the man beside her only encouraged her to shrug off the chains of conformity, allowing her to feel what she had spent years repressing.

In fact, in that moment, it felt like Katherine hardly knew who she was. Like something or someone had taken her over, and yet, at the same time, it felt so good, so natural, so right.

Sometime later, and at a much slower pace, they walked their horses across the glens and through trails surrounded by tall, tightly grouped areas of forest. As Domhnall spoke about his family in his gruff manner, Katherine could not shake the thought that perhaps, she might have made a mistake. Perhaps this man had not been the person who killed her father after all.

It was a strange thought because she knew he had killed men in battle, so it didn’t make much sense. And yet, it was a feeling in her gut that she just could not shift. The man who was soon to become her husband had never denied that he had been the cause of many a man’s demise. He had denied killing her father, though.

Why would he admit one thing, and deny the other if it were not true?

It wasn’t as though he had tried to win her favor. In fact, at the beginning, he had done quite the opposite. The more she listened to him and got to know him, the more Katherine believed that he was a man who spoke the truth, no matter the result. It was for that reason that his denial about being her father’s murderer seemed to growingly resonate with her.

But even as she began feeling it, Katherine was not willing to admit it to him. At least, not yet. She needed to be certain, even though she had no idea how she was supposed to get to that point. Reginald had been adamant that Domhnall had been the culprit, but his word was the only proof he had provided. How had he known? Who had told him?

“Ye seem lost in yer thoughts,” Domhnall said, breaking into the silence.

Katherine hadn’t realized it, but evidently, her face had given her musings away. She had to think quickly, and grabbing an excuse from thin air, she blurted it out.

“I was just wondering how you tell your sisters apart,” she lied.

“Enya and Thora?”

“They’re identical,” Katherine replied, relieved that he had believed her.

Domhnall smiled, “Nae tae us, they’re nae.”

He didn’t embellish his statement, and thus, Katherine said, “Well? Are you going to tell me your secret?”

“Enya is more empathic than Thora. Her heart is softer, as is her approach.”

“That hardly helps me when the two of them are approaching from any distance away,” Katherine countered.

“All right. Well, the other way tae tell them apart is far easier. Thora’s hair is darker.”

“It is not,” Katherine argued.

Domhnall nodded. “Och, but it is. Only a little, but it is. O’ course, ‘tis easier tae see that when they’re standing beside each other, but being their brother, I can sense the difference.” He suddenly grinned. “Which is far more than my father could do when they were younger. The two would have the man’s head turned with the tricks they played on him.”

Katherine couldn’t help but smile when she glanced over and saw Domhnall’s face light up with the memories that were clearly now in his head.

“Ordinarily, they dressed differently because they have their own personalities. But when they had a bout o’ mischievousness, they dressed the same. Thora would meet him in the corridor as he came out o’ his room, and then Enya would meet him at the bottom o’ the stairs wearing exactly the same dress. My father would gawk in astonishment, clearly confused, certain he had seen Enya only seconds ‘afore upstairs.”

Domhnall chuckled, for clearly, that was not the only memory that played in his mind. “They were holy terrors.”

“And now?” Katherine asked, still amused by Domhnall’s recollection.

“Och, now, they’re older. They’ve lost that mischievousness. Besides, me braithers and I saw their tricks too many times tae be caught out by them now.”

“You are all very close,” Katherine observed.

“We are. O’ course, having—” Domhnall stopped suddenly, and turned at her with wide eyes, as though surprised at himself.

“Having what?” Katherine pressed.

Domhnall shook his head. “It daesnae matter,” he said quickly. “But aye. We’re very close. We fought like cats and dogs as bairns, but now we’re older, we’re a formidable force.”

While she was still curious about what he had stopped himself saying, Katherine smiled and felt a warmth at the idea of Domhnall’s family having such a connection. Swiftly after that, however, an emptiness overshadowed her. It was clear he and his siblings had experienced many years of fun and frolicking together. Something she herself had missed out on.

Reginald had been as cold in the past as he was now. Being so many years older than her hadn’t helped. If she were to describe their relationship, close would not be a word she could use. Nor had she had a sister to share anything with. She would have liked that, but unfortunately, it was never meant to be.

The conversation died down between them for a while, and they continued on in silence. The wind was now broken up by the trees, and while she could hardly say she was warm, Katherine was comfortable and in no rush to return to the castle. The smell in the air and the snow filled her with excitement for the Yuletide festivities to come and she lost herself in thought of spiced wine, cozy fires and sweetmeats.

A little while later, Domhnall said, “Ye have told me o’ yer faither, but what o’ yer maither?”

“My mother died giving birth to my sister,” Katherine said sadly.

“I’m sorry tae hear that. Is yer sister still in England?”

Katherine shook her head. “Unfortunately, she died at the same time as my mother.”

Domhnall did not reply to that, and Katherine could only conclude that he simply did not know what to say. Most people who had learned of her mother’s and sister’s demise reacted in the very same way. It was a lot to take in, but Katherine had been only two years old at the time, and hardly remembered her mother at all. Of course, her father had told her stories about his wonderful and beautiful wife, but the only face she could put to the personality was the few portraits he had kept of her.

“What of your parents?” Katherine asked, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence that had shrouded them.

“Both me maither and faither were murdered by the English on the same afternoon,” Domhnall said far too calmly.

“Oh, me word,” Katherine gasped, glancing over at him and noting the tight muscle of his jaw. “I’m so sorry.”

Stoically, Domhnall shook his head. “Ye were nae their murderer, Katherine.”

“That’s beside the point. What happened?”

Domhnall sighed before continuing. “The English raided our castle ‘afore we kent what was happening, and then… and then, they were both gone.”

Again, a silence fell between them, and it was now Katherine’s turn not to know what she ought to say. No one had really told her anything about the MacLeod’s family history, and though she had realized their parents were no longer living, given the fact she had not seen them anywhere in the castle, she certainly hadn’t been prepared for Domhnall’s answer.

So consumed with her own frustrations about the circumstances she found herself in had she been, she hadn’t even considered Domhnall’s situation, and with this newfound information, she could only imagine he likely felt far more resentment about the wedding than she.

Being forced to marry an English woman after his parents had been murdered by the English? How must that make him feel? I suppose I ken, as I felt the same…

In that moment, she then remembered a few days afore, when she had challenged him to spar. Her heart suddenly sank at the horrible things she had said. Ordinarily, she was not a cruel person. But frustrated by what she was being forced to do seemed to have cracked open a part of her never before shown.

Now, however, she felt utterly dreadful at the things she had said. No wonder he had lost his temper.

“I’m truly sorry,” Katherine said sadly. “And I’m even more sorry for those awful things I said to you the other day. Had I known what had happened…”

“I ken, Katherine,” he replied, his tone full of understanding. “Fer all yer damned stubbornness, I dinnae tak’ ye fer a cruel lass.”

“My apology hardly feels enough. I must have hurt you so deeply. I cannot imagine what?—”

Domhnall suddenly raised his hand to silence her. Katherine was about to protest when she noticed his head spinning back behind him, a deep frown lining his brow.

“What is it?” she whispered automatically.

Still turned in the saddle and looking behind them, Domhnall murmured, “I dinnae think we’re alone.”