Caelen’s neck snapped back and he barely managed to stay on his knees. He whipped his head back around to stare at his wife. His wife. She stood before him, her eyes spitting fury, while Cameron and Gregor stood behind her looking faintly amused.
“Are you mad?” he demanded. “What are you doing?”
“I’m here to see you die,” she hissed. “If God is willing and with Laird Cameron’s permission, I aim to do the killing myself. ’Twould give me great pleasure to rid myself of you, Caelen McCabe.”
He heard her words. He saw the very real anger in her eyes. But he couldn’t make sense of any of it. Dread crept into his chest until it pained him more than the arrow wound in his back.
It couldn’t be happening again. He couldn’t countenance history repeating itself in such a bizarre manner.
Duncan Cameron came up behind Rionna and slid a hand over her shoulder. “Your wife is here to see you, Caelen. Isn’t that thoughtful of her? She says she wants to be your executioner. What think you of that?”
Before Caelen could muster a response—what could he possibly say to that?—Cameron turned Rionna, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her savagely.
Cold rage seared over Caelen’s body. He could no longer feel the pain of his wound. All he felt was overwhelming fury. His mind was muddled enough that he still couldn’t comprehend the whole of it, but what stared him in the face was betrayal.
Again.
Rionna yanked away from Cameron, slapped him soundly across the face as she’d done to Caelen, and then went for her sword. Cameron grabbed her arm and hauled her up close.
“I’ve already been abused by one man. I’ll not suffer it at the hands of another,” Rionna spat.
Caelen’s brows went up. “Abuse? Is that what you call it, wife?”
Rionna glanced at Caelen, her beautiful, deceitful eyes flashing scornfully. She looked back to Cameron and pulled at her arm. Then she stilled and stared intently into Cameron’s eyes. “You doubt me. ’Twas a test. You doubt that I’m here because I seek the death of the McCabe warrior.”
She wrested her arms from his grip and reached into the folds of her cloak to draw out a scroll. Even from where he knelt, Caelen could see two seals. One was his brother’s. The other belonged to the king.
“I brought this. Know you what this is, Laird Cameron? ’Tis a call to arms from Ewan McCabe. In it are likely detailed battle plans. All you need to know of the coming war. Would I give this to you if ’twas all a trick?”
“Nay!” Caelen roared.
He lunged forward but was restrained on both sides by two of Cameron’s men. He twisted and fought against their strength, but with his hands bound, he could do nothing.
Cameron took the scroll from her hand and turned it over, examining the seals. Without a word, he broke the wax and unrolled the parchment. It took him several minutes to read the contents and when he was done, he carefully rolled it back and then leveled a stare at Caelen.
“It would seem that your wife and clan no longer want you, McCabe.”
Caelen’s nostrils flared and his lip curled as he stared coldly at the woman standing before him. “I have no wife or clan save the McCabes.”
“I have no desire to look upon him any longer. Return him from whatever hole you dragged him from,” Rionna said in an equally cold voice.
“Well ’tis the matter of his death we need to speak on,” Cameron drawled. “ ’Twould seem war is imminent if this message from Ewan McCabe and the king is to be believed. I did hope they’d be more original in their planning, but ’twould appear they favor the straightforward method. I’ll give you a day, my lady. He dies in the morn, and then I must make my own plans in accordance with Ewan McCabe’s.”
Rionna drew her sword and walked slowly toward Caelen. He refused to meet her gaze, refused to acknowledge her at all. His mind was such a mass of rage and confusion that he couldn’t even process what played out before him.
When she reached him, she pressed the point of her blade to his neck, forcing him to look up or have his neck severed.
“I could kill you now,” she said in a voice devoid of emotion. She wore no expression, no indication of what she was thinking. She could be discussing something as mundane as the weather. Her demeanor chilled him to the bone, for ’twas a side of his wife he’d never seen. “But ’twould be too quick.”
“Why?” he demanded hoarsely. “You betray not only me but also those you called friend. You betray Mairin, who has only been kind to you, and her child, who is innocent. You would send those who have been loyal to you to their deaths, and for what? So a man without honor can reclaim leadership of a clan that was once his?”
She lowered the sword to his groin. “Be silent or I’ll remove your cods and feed them to the hounds.”
She turned then as if she could no longer bear to look upon him. To his everlasting shame, he wanted to call after her. He closed his eyes, for it would seem some lessons were never learned.
“Burn him at the stake at first light,” she said calmly. “ ’Tis a fitting end for one such as he.”
Even Cameron seemed taken aback by her ruthlessness, but there was also a glint of admiration in his eyes. Aye, the man would appreciate the same dishonorable qualities in others he himself possessed.
“Very well, my lady. His sentence will be carried out in the morn.”
He motioned his men to take Caelen away and then he turned back to Rionna. “Would you like refreshment? ’Tis a long way you’ve journeyed and you must be fatigued.”
As Caelen was pulled from the hall, he watched as his wife smiled up at the man he hated most in the world.
Rionna glanced up at the last moment and caught his gaze. A shadow crossed over her eyes and then she looked quickly away.
Rionna stood by the window of her chamber, staring out at the snow-covered landscape. She was exhausted to the bone, but she would not sleep this night. Not when she imagined Caelen below in the dungeon, enduring unspeakable conditions.
She closed her eyes and replayed the look on his face, his angry words, and finally his acceptance that she had betrayed him. More than ever she was determined not to fail in her quest, for she would not have her husband die thinking she’d played him false.
She cupped her hands over her belly and rubbed just as she felt a faint quickening deep in her womb. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized that her babe had chosen this moment to move, as if reaffirming his mother’s vow that his father would be saved at all costs.
“You are my future, Caelen McCabe. The future of my clan. Our son or daughter’s future,” she whispered fiercely. “I’ll not let you die in some dark hole where you’re tethered like an animal.”
She retreated to her bed and sank down onto the edge. Cameron had provided her adequate accommodations. He’d even had one of his men lay a fire in the hearth. As soon as she was alone, though, she closed and barred the door with a heavy chair she dragged from the window.
She would take no chances. Cameron was an arrogant bastard of the first order. He believed that whatever he looked upon was his for the taking. She didn’t imagine for a moment that he was overcome by her beauty. She’d purposely downplayed her features and her body so that she looked like the lad she mimicked, but she’d seen the curiosity and lust in the laird’s eyes.
She lay back on the mattress still fully clothed and closed her eyes for a brief moment of rest. She willed the hours to pass so she could end this once and for all.
Even now, her men would be taking position along the walls. Waiting for her cry to arms.
She alternated pacing and resting on the various pieces of furniture in the chamber until the knock came at her door the next morning. She took her time and even called out that she’d be a moment, wanting to give the appearance that she’d slept and was now dressing.
She pulled back the furs and cast them this way and that and then pulled her hair over her shoulder to plait as she went to the door.
Shoving the chair to the side, she opened it to find her father standing in the hallway. She let her hands drop from the braid and stood there regarding him in silence.
“The laird bade you to come to the courtyard.”
She nodded and waited for him to precede her down the hallway but he hesitated and fixed her with his stare. “What did McCabe really do to gain your ire? You turned from me in favor of him, refusing to back me as laird and now you welcome me back with open arms?”
Knowing he wouldn’t believe a sudden change of heart, she instead spoke the truth.
“I would not have you as laird either. You, Caelen McCabe, ’tis a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils.”
Gregor McDonald’s gaze narrowed and he glared at his daughter. “You still haven’t learned to control your tongue or address your betters with a civil tongue.”
“ ’Tis not my better I address, and if you think to strike me as you did the last time we had this conversation, I’ll make good on my threat and the McDonalds will seek a new laird this day.”
“I’ll deal with you in time,” he warned.
She shrugged as if she didn’t place much importance on his threats.
As they stepped into the courtyard, she pulled her cloak tighter around her to ward off the chill. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw that Caelen was already tied to a stake in the center. Wood was stacked in a circle around him, surrounding him on all sides.
He looked even more battered than he had the night before. New bruising was evident on his face and fresh blood streamed down his side.
Her teeth ached from clenching her jaws and she blinked back tears of rage. Never had she hated someone as much as she hated her father and Duncan Cameron. ’Twould be so simple to draw her sword now and end her father’s miserable life, but she must be patient, for Caelen would be killed before her father fell to the ground.
Cameron stood several paces in front of Caelen, surrounded by his men, all bearing torches. When she neared Cameron, he reached for one of the torches and handed it to her.
“If you’ll do the honors,” he said. “Be quick about it. I find the smell of burning flesh to be distasteful and I’ve other matters to attend to.”
Her hand shook as she took the torch and turned to face her husband. She took a step forward, sucking in deep breaths as she mentally prepared herself for what was to come.
Their gazes met and held. His clear green eyes were pain-filled and dulled. He didn’t seem entirely aware of his surroundings. She silently cursed, for she needed her husband’s might this day.