Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

T he morning after he and his brothers had talked, Domhnall left the castle alone. Neither Kai nor Magnus were happy about that decision, but with the knowledge that the man who had been trying to kill him was now safely on his way to the coast with an armed guard, Domhnall assured his brothers that there was no longer a threat to his life.

“Besides,” he said, once he was mounted upon his horse, “I can handle Reginald de Beaumont and his men. Ye ken that. I need tae speak tae Katherine, and perhaps, if all goes well, I might nae return alone.”

The truth was, he needed time to think. Not that his thoughts had changed since the night before. Kai and Magnus had helped him to see that he had been so focused on the fact that Katherine was a traitor, that he had not fully and clearly examined the facts.

Admittedly, his heart wanted to believe that, while she wasn’t exactly innocent, she had experienced a change of heart since her arrival at the castle. And that change of heart had something to do with the fact that she had fallen in love with him. But the only way he was going to discover the truth was by asking her outright. Now she knew that he was aware of her brother’s plans, she had nothing left to hide. Or rather, no reason to hide.

For the following few hours, he argued, fought, consoled and contradicted himself. Before Katherine had walked into his life, he had been content. Or at least as content as one could be, knowing they were being forced to marry against their will. The only thing he had known about his future involved an English woman whom he would be joined to, whether he wanted that or not.

He never expected to like her, or for her feistiness to actually impress him, and then, to eventually fall in love with her. Once that happened, however, he was fully committed to loving, protecting, caring and providing for her with no hesitation.

Discovering she was a spy and the depths of her betrayal had nearly destroyed him. Had she just been the English woman he had expected, his heart would not have taken such a beating. But Katherine had been far more than that. She had come to mean so much more to him, everything.

As much as he wanted to believe she still loved him, there was still a large part of him that wondered if, whatever he heard from her when they eventually met, would be tainted by his emotions; that he would not be able to hear anything she said from an objective point of view.

O’ course, ye willnae. Ye ken ‘afore ye even see her, that ye want tae believe she wanted nay part in this.

And that’s what worried him. How could he possibly be detached where she was concerned?

Ye cannae. Ye’re just going tae have tae trust yer gut.

It was hardly the answer he was looking for, but knowing himself as well as he did, he also knew it to be the truth.

Eventually, Drynoch came into view, and Domhnall tried as best as possible to settle his nerves. He had made a decision based on the information he had at the time. At the same time, he had acted impulsively, angrily, and sent her away without truly thinking through all the facts. He needed to take some responsibility for the situation.

But the closer he came to Drynoch, the more he realized that something was terribly wrong, and upon finally arriving in the village, he was swiftly approached by many distraught people.

“Me laird. Me laird,” one man cried. “It is devastating.”

“Thank the god’s ye are here,” a woman cried.

“They were slaughtered.”

“It’s so terrible.”

As more people approached, he heard lament after lament, and a fear washed through him, for immediately his thoughts went to Katherine. Swiftly jumping from his horse, he raised his hands to quieten them.

Looking directly at the first man who had spoken, he said, “Tell me what happened?”

“Yer men, me laird. They’re all dead. Well, all but one. They killed them.”

“Who killed them?” he pressed, but he already knew the answer to his question.

“The Englishmen yer men were guarding, me laird. They killed yer guards in the middle o’ the night and then escaped.”

It took all his strength to control both his expression and the emotions that threatened to bubble up.

“Show me,” he demanded.

The villagers led him to the area they had laid the bodies. Bound fully in cloth strips, his men lay in a row on the ground, while sobs and moans came from the crowd that surrounded him.

“What about the one who survived?” Domhnall murmured.

“He’s in the healer’s cottage, me laird. Come. I will tak’ ye.”

Again, the crowd of villagers followed him down the cobbled street until they reached the cottage. While everyone remained outside, the healer led him into a dark room, where the guard lay, his breathing short and his eyes barely open.

“I’m sorry, me laird,” he croaked, when Domhnall approached the bed. “They attacked us in the middle o’ the night. The rest o’ the men are dead. I tried tae stop them…”

“Hush now,” Domhnall said quietly. “Ye need tae save yer strength. Dinnae worry. I will find them and they will pay fer what they’ve done.”

Once outside again, Domhnall looked at the heavily saddened faces of the villagers who were looking at him with despair in their eyes.

“Dinnae fear. I will find these men. Look after this guard until I can send someone tae come and fetch him.”

“What will ye dae, me laird?” someone cried out from the crowd.

“I will return tae the castle fer more guards, and then, we will find these Englishmen and kill them,” he growled.

Soon afterwards, Domhnall was back on his horse and riding at great speed back to the castle. On his way to Drynoch, he had been concerned with the conversation between himself and Katherine. Now, he was concerned not only with Katherine’s safety, but also what her brother planned to do. The castle was already on high alert, but the man was clearly clever, and thus, Domhnall needed to return and warn them, as well as garner help.

Anger raced through him at the thought of his murdered guards. He should have sent more. In fact, he should have escorted the damn devil himself. But Reginald de Beaumont would pay for their deaths. In fact, he would pay with his own life.

He had been travelling for about an hour when Domhnall came upon what appeared to be a man on the ground. He looked injured, while his horse was standing nearby nibbling at the grass. Had the horse been spooked by something and thrown him?

“Hey,” Domhnall called out as he neared.

The man was lying face down and did not move. Fearing that he might be dead, Domhnall jumped from his horse. He did not really have time for this, but nor could he pass by without trying to help.

“Hey,” he said again, bending and rolling the man over.

Suddenly, there was a knife at his chest, and as the man glared up at him, he snarled, “Move and Katherine dies.”

Damn it!

Hearing movement behind him, Domhnall turned his head and saw three other men surrounding him.

“At last, we meet, Laird MacLeod,” one of them said as he stood forward, his sword drawn and pointing at Domhnall’s throat.

He was taller than the others, with a commanding presence. His face thin and angular, reminding Domhnall of a rat. But there was an evilness in this man’s eyes.

“I am Reginald de Beaumont,” he declared. “You are now my prisoner. Stand.”

But Domhnall hesitated, working out in his head how quickly he could take these men, for there were only four of them.

“I know what you are thinking,” Reginald continued. “You’re imagining, with your rather unnatural skills, that we are only four, and that you can overpower us with ease. And you would be right. But as my friend there just stated, we have something you want.”

“Katherine,” Domhnall breathed, the realization of the situation becoming perfectly clear. “But she’s yer sister. Ye wouldnae harm her.”

Reginald shrugged, his facial expression declaring that those words meant little to him. “She has failed me enough. Besides, it’s clear whose side she’s now on. She has betrayed me, she has betrayed our family, and she has betrayed her country.”

“How?” Domhnall said, now slowly standing at Reginald’s beckoning.

“It doesn’t matter. Besides, it’s not your concern. If we do not return by the end of this day, the men guarding Katherine will slit her throat, and you will never see her again. That will be your doing, my laird ,” he said, his last words full of condescension.

Glancing to one of the others, he flicked his head toward the laird. “Bind him.”

The man approached with trepidation, but Domhnall could not fight back. Not knowing that Katherine’s life was on the line. He didn’t even know where she was being kept to be able to run and save her, and thus, what choice did he have? He had to be smart about this. He would let them lead him to where they were keeping Katherine, and then, he would destroy them.

Letting himself be bound, the group then travelled for quite some time until eventually, an abandoned house came into view. Domhnall couldn’t remember the family that once lived there, and he couldn’t help but wonder if his scouts had managed to get this far out when they had been searching originally.

Clearly not.

Or perhaps, this was a new house Reginald and his men had discovered since their escape from the guards they had killed in Drynoch.

Helping Domhnall off the horse, Reginald came up close and snarled in his ear.

“The same rules apply. Try anything, and your beloved Katherine will be your beloved dead Katherine.”

Domhnall did not doubt the man’s word. Clearly, he was deranged, but then, evil did that to a person. His anger at his sister’s betrayal of king, country and family emanated from him and was almost palpable.

Shoving him through the house, one of the soldiers opened a door and led the way down a set of stairs to the cellar below. The place looked like any old cellar would, with wooden crates, cobwebs, old sacks, and broken bottles.

At least now, he knew where Katherine was, though he had not yet laid eyes upon her. But there was no other place she could be. She hadn’t been left in the village, and besides, Reginald clearly needed her to blackmail him to do as he was told. Reginald was aware of his mighty speed and strength. He had probably witnessed it that day when his men had attacked him in the village. The man wasn’t going to risk unleashing such a display on this occasion, and he knew Katherine was his weakness.

The men untied the rope that bound his wrists, and, pressing him against the wall, used more rope to bind him again, this time, attaching the ropes to rings imbedded into the stone wall behind him. He pulled at them tentatively. If need be, he could likely pull those rings right out of their mounting point.

“Don’t even think about it, “Reginald growled. “I will have no reservations in carrying out my threat. In fact, my sister is already dead to me.”

Domhnall’s eyes widened at that remark.

“Oh, yes. It is true,” Reginald replied upon seeing Domhnall’s reaction. “She is a turncoat and a traitor. She now serves only one purpose.”

The man didn’t need to explain what he meant. Domhnall knew he would not be bound to a wall if Reginald did not have Katherine as a weapon. In fact, without her, all of them would be dead already.

Reginald slowly removed his jacket, folding it precisely and hanging it over a chair, before turning his attention back to Domhnall.

“And now,” he said, rolling up his sleeves and picking up a thick piece of wood, “you will suffer as I have suffered.”