Chapter Forty-One

Thane

Thane stepped inside the door as the woman called Dagga spun around, yelling, "She's gone, Raghnall." The surprise on her face when she saw him did not go unnoticed.

"Greetings, Mama."

"Thane! My dearest boy. Where have you been? You got lost in the forest, and I've been searching for you ever since. Where is Brian? Mora. Are they hale? My, but didn't you grow into a large man. You're taller than my Raghnall."

He leaned against the door to prevent her exit, crossing his arms as he took in the old cottage, not much different from how it'd been eight years ago. This was where they'd lived. Or rather been imprisoned. They'd never gone into the main house, only allowed out in the back to work. This had been his hell—The Isle of Ulva. She'd taken a boat over to the Isle of Mull and dropped them in the middle of the beach, probably hoping they would die from exposure.

"And why would you care if Mora and Brian were well? What if they were both dead? Would you care?"

"Of course I would. It wasn't my fault."

"The hell it wasn't. I remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday. I recall every word that came out of your lying mouth, Mother Dearest." He glanced over at the wall where the pegs for outerwear hung in the same place, a whip hanging from the middle peg.

He sidled over to the pegs, removed the whip, and his mother ran for the door. He reached out with one arm, and she tried to punch him, but he chuckled. "Not so fast. I'm not finished with you yet."

She cursed at him and punched him, but he lifted her easily and did the same thing to her that she used to do to Mora.

He hung her up on the peg by the back of her clothing. How he wished they were both here to watch their mother hanging in the air, all four extremities swinging with anger.

"Let me down. I'm an old woman. You can't treat me like this."

"I can and I will." He picked up the whip and snapped it against the floor.

"You wouldn't. Thane, I always loved you best."

"Who is my father?"

She snickered, so he cracked the whip again.

"I will use it if you don't give me the answers I am seeking. All I want from you is information." He thought for a moment. "Then I wish to never see you again. Gaol would be a fitting new home for you. But we're not ready for that yet. My father. Who is he?"

"You ignorant fool. Your parents are dead." She spit off to the side, far away from him. "Now let me down."

Oddly, this surprised him. He'd never considered the possibility that she wasn't his true mother. Why the hell had they been living with her all those years? And was Mora his true sister? Brian his brother? This brought up more questions than ever. "My parents? You're not my mother? Tell me more." Shocked by this possibility, he had to pursue the truth.

"Nay. I'm not your mother. You were all stolen away to sell to a man in Europe, but he changed his mind. So, I put you to work to make my hard life easier, but I tired of all three of you, especially that whiny sister of yours. No one else would buy the three of you because you were all so miserable, so I got rid of you."

"Did you consider the possibility that we were miserable because of the way you treated us?"

"I treated you fine. I fed you, didn't I?"

"Aye. Barely. Moldy bread and… Never mind. Where did you find us?"

"I don't know," she grumbled.

He cracked the whip. "Where?"

"Raghnall!" she called out. "Come save your mother!"

Eli entered and took the spot next to Thane. "Please. Allow me to stay," she whispered to him. "It would please me so much to assist you."

He gave Eli a slight nod before he repeated himself. "Where?"

"Raghnall?"

Eli smiled and stepped in front of her. "Your son is dead. Tamsin put an arrow in his bollocks, then kicked him there to uncover Alana's location. He removed the arrow and bled out within minutes, killing himself. He can't save you."

"Why, that little whore killed my son?"

Eli reacted so quickly that she startled Thane, slapping the woman hard across the face. "She is not a whore. Close your mouth or I will sew your lips shut with a needle and thread, you witchin' bitch."

Dagga's eyes widened, then she mumbled, "Coll. We stole you from Coll. All three of you. Raghnall killed your parents. It was a small village of five cottages."

Thane dropped the whip on the floor and said, "You can leave her there if you wish."

Alaric came in behind him and said, "I'll tie her up and take her to the sheriff on Mull."

Thane nodded, walking outside and straight into Tamsin's arms. He didn't know what to do, what to say. He just needed her. Alana slept on Tamsin's shoulder, and he leaned in, clutching the woman as if she were all he had. And he let out what had been building up inside him for years. The tears erupted and flowed so easily but he didn't care.

Tamsin did the one thing no one had ever done for him—she held him close.

And he cried. All the tears he'd kept inside for so many years. He cried the tears for everything they'd endured. For wee Mora, for Brian, and for a little boy named Thane who'd been forced to grow up too quickly.

Tamsin whispered, "It's behind us now. All of it, Thane."