COLM HELD THE PROOF IN HIS HANDS, AND YET HE STILL couldn’t believe it. Was it possible? Had Gabrielle been at Finney’s Flat, and had she witnessed the atrocity?

His sweet and gentle Gabrielle had taken one of her arrows, notched it to her bow, and shot the bastard in the chest.

No, she couldn’t have done it. She didn’t have the stomach for killing.

Yet the proof was in his hands.

“Colm, what’s the matter with you?” Liam asked. “You’ve been staring at that broken arrow for a good long while.”

His mind racing, he didn’t answer his brother. He remembered how Gabrielle had jumped to her feet to defend the priest when he’d been prodded to tell them how Liam had gotten to the abbey.

She was there…and so were her guards. Had Stephen or one of the others used one of her arrows to make the kill? Aye, that’s what must have happened. Gabrielle didn’t have the mettle to take a life.

Colm called to Maurna, asking her to tell Gabrielle he wanted to speak to her. The housekeeper saw the look in her laird’s eyes and hurried to do his bidding. Something had riled his temper, and she hoped to heaven Lady Gabrielle wasn’t the cause. The genteel lady would be most upset if the laird raised his voice to her.

Maurna tapped on Gabrielle’s door. “The laird’s waiting to talk to you.”

The housekeeper opened the door and peeked in. Gabrielle sat on the bed with her needlework in her lap.

“Milady, I think there’s some trouble brewing. The laird’s unhappy about something. I wouldn’t make him wait on you.”

Maurna continued to whisper advice as she followed her mistress down the stairs. “If he shouts, don’t you pay any mind. He won’t hurt you.”

“Has he ever shouted at you, Maurna?”

“No, he hasn’t, but there’s always the worry that he might. I’d probably faint dead away.”

Gabrielle thought the housekeeper’s concern for her was sweet. “Don’t worry. I won’t faint.”

“Even so, you might want to sit down while he tells you what’s bothering him, just in case you get lightheaded. I don’t want you bumping your head falling down. ’Course our laird is quick. He’ll probably catch you.”

Maurna didn’t follow Gabrielle into the hall. “Maybe it’s not about you, milady. Maybe he’s displeased about something else.”

Colm was talking to his brother when Gabrielle walked in. Liam stood and smiled at her, and she could see how tired he was. Getting back his strength was an arduous task. She then turned her attention to Colm. He wasn’t smiling.

“Did you wish to speak to me?” she asked.

“Come closer. I have something to show you.” He held up the broken arrow. He expected an immediate reaction, but she looked only mildly curious. “Do you recognize this, Gabrielle?”

She moved closer, saw the markings, and said, “It’s one of my arrows.”

“It’s broken.”

“I can see that it is,” she agreed. “Where did you find it? I haven’t hunted with my bow and arrows since I came here.”

“I found it at Finney’s Flat.”

“At Finney’s…” Her eyes widened, and she took a step back. “At Finney’s Flat, you say. How did it get there I wonder.”

“I thought perhaps you could tell me. Would you like to know exactly where and when I found it?”

She already knew. “It’s broken, Colm. You might as well throw it away.”

Liam leaned back against the table, desperately trying to follow the tense conversation.

“Will one of you tell me what’s going on?” he demanded.

“This is the arrow I pulled out of the dead man at Finney’s Flat, Liam. He was on the ground by the hole the bastards had dug for you.”

“Are you saying…”

Gabrielle glanced at Liam and said, “It’s my arrow. That is what Colm is saying.”

“You will now answer my questions without hesitation,” Colm ordered. “Were you at Finney’s Flat?”

“Yes.”

“When I was there?” Liam sounded like he was choking.

Impatience made her voice sharp. “For God’s sake, Liam, try to keep up. Yes, I was there when you were.”

“Which one of your guards killed the bastard with your arrow?”

“None of them did. I killed him.”

Hearing a loud gasp, Gabrielle saw Maurna and Willa peeking out from the buttery.

She leaned around Colm and called out, “The man really did need killing.”

Willa’s head was bobbing up and down, and Maurna’s mouth was gaping open.

Colm threaded his fingers through his hair in agitation. “All this while I’ve been trying to find out…why in God’s name didn’t you tell…” He shook his head in a futile attempt to clear it and said, “Were you ever going to tell me?”

“I have been trying. I’ve asked you over and over again for a moment of your time.”

“There is a difference between sweetly asking me for time and telling me the matter was of the utmost importance.”

She poked him in his chest. “How was I to know which magical words I should use to get your attention?”

She was aware that she sounded like a shrew. Maurna had worried how Gabrielle would react if the laird shouted at her, and now she was raising her voice to him.

Stephen took this most inopportune time to enter the hall. “Princess, is there a problem?”

She didn’t answer. Colm did. “Damn right, there is.”

Gabrielle turned to Stephen. “He knows,” she said on a sigh.

“Ah.” Her guard looked at Colm as he asked her, “Did you tell him?”

“He figured it out. It was my arrow, Stephen. We forgot to remove it.”

“The arrow. Of course. I never thought about the markings. I cannot believe I was so careless.”

“You were busy carrying Liam from the field. Do not fault yourself. Colm was bound to find out eventually, and I had already decided it was time for me to tell him the truth.”

Colm eyed both of them skeptically. “And just why did you keep this a secret?”

Stephen answered. “We didn’t know who the men were or where they came from, and therefore we didn’t know what the repercussions would be once the body was found.”

“You were concerned about the ramifications because you killed the man?” Colm asked Stephen.

“No, because I killed the man,” Gabrielle answered.

“Is this true?” he asked Stephen.

“Yes,” he said. His pride was evident when he added, “Princess Gabrielle is more accurate with her bow than we are. There was no time to waste or consider consequences. The coward had raised his sword and fully intended to cut Liam in half. She stopped him.” Nodding, Stephen said, “It was a clean, quick kill.”

Gabrielle watched Colm’s face intently as he mulled over what they were telling him. What must he be thinking of her now? Since he’d met her, she had gone from a whore to a cold-blooded killer. What lovely words to describe the woman he was to marry. She almost felt sorry for him.

Colm put his hands on Gabrielle’s shoulders and forced her to stand in front of him. “You will explain everything that happened. And when you are finished, Stephen will give me his accounting.”

Gabrielle was relieved to finally get it all out in the open. She quickly recounted what she could remember, beginning with her goal to see Finney’s Flat.

“As we approached the clearing, we heard voices, so we hid and didn’t make ourselves known.”

“Did you see any faces?”

“Not at first. They wore robes with hoods. But a couple of them pulled the hoods back, and we did see them.”

“And what about names?”

“Yes, they were arguing with one another, and they used their given names, but we didn’t hear any names of clans or families. The leader’s name was Gordon. He’s the man I killed.”

“What were they arguing about?”

Gabrielle glanced sympathetically at Colm’s brother before answering. “They wanted Liam to wake up so he would know he was being buried alive, and they argued over how they would put him in the grave.”

“But they weren’t going to bury him until they saw you on the ridge, Laird,” Stephen interjected.

Colm clasped his hands behind his back and paced to the hearth. Deep in thought, he stared at the fire. “Did they say why they needed to see me there?”

“Yes, Laird,” Stephen answered. “Liam was the bait. They were using him to get to you.”