"Does she ken?" Barnaby asked on a snarl, staring at Catriona, his question clearly meant for another. "Does this lass who you claim as family ken what she's done?"
Kenneth stepped forward and placed a warm, reassuring hand on Catriona's shoulder. "She does'na need to ken."
"Ken what?" Catriona asked.
Barnaby's eyes bore into her. "That you killed your own mother. I fail to see what value you ever brought to our king or to Scotland. You've only brought trouble! Those lands were mine by birthright! No meant for a simpering child. You're nothing but the thoughtless brat you've been since birth. My daughters deserved the favor of the king, no you!"
"My mother?" Catriona repeated, the rest of his words falling away. She clasped a hand to her breast. She was so taken aback that she stumbled backward into Hugh's arms. A moment passed before her brow pinched angrily. "You lie!"
Barnaby spat towards her, earning a fist to the ribs from the guard on his left.
"Enough," MacAlpin warned him. "Your quarrel has always been with our brother, no the lass's mother or even the lass. I do'na ken why you seek to harm her when these were all my choices you speak of."
Barnaby's head snapped up at that. "I only want what is mine and what is best for Scotland!"
Catriona glanced to the king. "Tell me what he claims is'na true. I'll admit, I've been selfish at times—" She glanced to Hugh. "But tell me I did no kill my own mother. What do'na I ken? What started that fire?"
Kenneth shook his head. "I'm sorry, lass. All your father ever learned was that the fire was due to candles left burning in the cottage. ‘Twas no more than an accident."
Catriona's fingers had clamped onto her wrist, covering the scar of her selfishness.
Barnaby laughed. "Och, the lass sees the truth. How can you no see it, brother? You've made the wrong choice."
"Enough," Kenneth said through clenched teeth, his eyes bright. "Do'na you see what you do to her? She was but a child."
"Oh, God. What did I do?" she asked absently. Her mind swam, searching, remembering the night her mother died with more stark clarity than ever before.
She was afraid of the dark. Her mother had lit candles to soothe her fears. The wind knocked open the shutters, and with the gust spilled over a candle and the flames spread so quickly…
Barnaby scoffed. "You were born, that's what you did. Took her life, my lands, my children's place in the king's heart." He grunted. "I suppose if she were alive I could commiserate with the woman."
Catriona sucked in a gasp and crossed herself. "You are a heartless mon, and you deserve just what the king has given you. Had you been a loving brother then perhaps your circumstances might have been better.”
Barnaby shook his head, struggled forward with a sound of rage, but the guards tightened their hold on him and lifted him to his feet.
The king again took hold of Catriona's shoulder, but she hardly felt the comfort he offered. She was coming apart inside, tears leaking down her face, and her limbs quaked with her sadness. Only Hugh at her back, his solid warmth holding her steady, kept her from falling apart completely.
"I kenned your mother weel, lass. She would no wish you to feel any responsibility. She loved you more than life. What happened 'twas a terrible accident you're no to blame for, but can'na be undone." He turned to Barnaby. "Look at him now as he is. As a mon, as a usurper who would have had you and me killed to serve his own political gain, no as kin. Those power-hungry fools who feed on riches and no the succulent fruits of life gain nothing but a cold, early grave. Rest easily kenning Barnaby shall be served the same fate for his attempts on the crown and upon yourself."
Catriona watched as the guards lifted Barnaby and began to remove him. "Wait." She paused as Barnaby looked over his shoulder at her. "How did you manage your attempts to frighten and harm me? Who works for you?"
He smirked. "That I'll no tell you, lass. Mayhap he shall succeed yet."
"To what purpose?"
"Land. True family. And for the principle of what is right."
"The land? The lands promised to Hugh as my dowry. I do'na want them, nor do I need them. If they were assumed to go to Gillie…" Her eyes widened, and she sucked in a low breath. "Nay. Tell me you did no succeed in turning Gillie against me for that land?"
"Lands stripped of me were handed to the bastard daughter of my bastard brother." Much red-hot hatred entered Barnaby's eyes then. "My most prized and bountiful lands. If they were to go to anyone else it should have been Gilbert. Jamie has had charge of those lands for these last few years, and he is no more legitimate than you or your father. The lot of you bastards can rot in hell." He spat at her, and Catriona flinched back into Hugh.
Hugh growled low at the man.
"I simply do'na believe Gillie would ally himself with you. Why? What did you tell him to sway his loyalty?"
"You'll never ken, I suppose. They'll have my head in the matter of an hour, lass."
"Take him away now," the king commanded. "I've much to discuss with the McCross."
Chapter Thirty-Six
Catriona and Hugh both came to a halt, side by side, as they entered the hall a se’nnight later after meeting with the king in Scone.
After Barnaby was taken away the king had offered Hugh a position of honor in his court, which Hugh had turned down with grace. Despite his gratitude, he told the king of his original purpose when he had mistakenly taken Catriona from the abbey all that time ago. Hugh told him of his desire to stay at his own keep and to tend to his own people.
They received the king's blessing and stayed with him a day more before beginning their journey back.
The ruckus before them now clearly announced that the others knew what they had learned from Barnaby. How they had learned, was the question.
"Gillie!" Catriona exclaimed, stepping forward from her husband's side. She stared at her cousin. Long gone was the boy she once played with as a child and trusted for all her life. "How could you do this?" she demanded.
Alaric and Malcolm had the younger man by the arms, pinned to the floor. The contents of a knapsack spilled on the rushes at her feet. A loaf of bread, two apples, a book, and a brooch.
Catriona straightened upon noticing the brooch, and her cheeks heated a degree. "That is mine. Jamie gave it to me!"
"He was caught meeting with one of Barnaby's men, milady," Malcolm offered.
"Trying to escape," Alaric added.
Catriona's stare flicked to Malcolm, then Alaric, and quickly back to Gilbert. Slowly, in painful disbelief, she shook her head. "Why?" she asked.
Gillie flushed. "'Tis clear enough I should think. The lands. Power. I had nothing before Barnaby, but he promised me a position of power once he became king. He placed his faith in me whereas Jamie only ever scolded and sought to make me feel useless."
Catriona motioned for the men holding him to lift him so she might look in his eyes. When he was picked up and stood before her, Gillie blew a stray lock of hair from his face and gave her a lopsided smile that actually looked painful.
"You could have had the lands for all I cared. I told our uncle I did no want them, but those lands were stripped from a traitor and never meant for you."
Gillie, though still held by each arm, shuffled. "I kenned that."
"What Barnaby did was use you. You are no even trusted to run your own holdings!" Catriona cried. "How did you expect to be trusted with this position of power Barnaby promised?"
"And there it is!" he shouted back. "Just the same as your brother ever treated me. No trust, no respect."
"You had much to learn yet." The heat in Catriona's cheeks grew hotter, and she shook her head at her foolish cousin, then glanced between him and Alaric, then behind to Hugh. "You ken what they will do to you for this? You tried to take my life, more than once. Nay, tell me it wasn’t you, Gillie. I thought us friends."
Gillie fumed, casting his stare away from Catriona. "'Twas me. All of it," he said bravely. "You had everything I ever desired lai
d at your feet. The arrow was an obvious failure, as was the push I gave you down that hill toward the loch. Your pet—" He scoffed scathingly. "The gander only served to frighten you. The night I doused the torches, that was to be my night, but you came upon me too quickly and I lost my resolve." He swallowed, his throat moving against a lump. "The cut beam." He scoffed again and shook his head with a roll of teary eyes. "I thought for sure, but thanks to Rowena … weel obviously that was another failed attempt, too."
Catriona gasped. "And the garden?" she managed to ask.
Gillie shook his head. "Nay, must have been McAlison's mon attempting to lure you oot."
He offered another lopsided grin that had Catriona taking a step back in utter disbelief. She simply couldn’t believe this, though she had had days to mull it over after seeing Barnaby dragged away.
"Weel, what is to be done with me?" Gillie asked.
Hugh stepped around Catriona. "The king has requested you be taken to court for punishment," he said to Gilbert. "'Tis he who shall issue a decision, no I." Hugh gave Alaric a nod. "See the lad to Scone."
"Aye," Alaric said, hefting Gilbert forward with Malcolm's help.
Catriona watched her cousin while he was dragged from the hall as Tamsin glided to her side. "I am much relieved the threat on your life has been erased. Yet, 'tis a tragic end, is it no?"
Catriona managed only a nod. She turned to her friend with tears in her eyes. "Now on to set things right for you. What a fine mess we have made, aye?"
Tearful now also, Tamsin nodded. "Aye."
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Hugh lifted a stalk of heather and ran the newly blossomed petals over the tip of Catriona's breast, smiling at her reaction to the caress of the tiny petals. The sensation caused her insides to quiver and her belly to draw toward her spine with a shaky intake of breath.
"Hugh," she demanded, reaching, pulling on his shoulders, though he did not budge.
"Nay, lass. No yet."
They had spent the early spring morning spread on a plaid at the edge of the peaceful loch in a beautiful spot that dipped down below a grassy knoll, hiding them from sight. The sun shone brightly on that spot, warming the couple's naked bodies after they had loved all morning long.
Catriona had once doubted there was a spot such as this to be had at this loch, and Hugh delighted in proving her wrong.
After all trouble had passed them, they had run off like a pair of errant adolescents just to be together. Alone.
Catriona breathed deeply of the fresh spring air. Weeks had turned into a month, but at last the day had arrived.
Hugh bent his head to her breast and reverently ran a palm over the tiny swell of her belly harboring his child. He smiled with the delight only an expecting father could and smoothed his thumb back and forth over her skin.
"Do you think too much loving could harm the babe?" Catriona asked quietly, turning her head against his chest.
Hugh propped up on one arm at her side, staring down on her in wonder. "I surely hope no, for that is all we have been doing of late." His laugh spilled out with a smile, and he bent to kiss her.
He was truly a different man now, a wonderful man. He had always been a hardened warrior, but now, with her, he could be free of his past. He could be the man he was meant to be.
Just as their lips touched a trembling in the earth startled them both apart, and Hugh jerked his stare up, over the crest of the knoll rising high above them. He had only enough time to toss the corner of his plaid over Catriona's bare body before Alaric appeared at the top, on his horse, and without looking down on them, he cleared his throat in a knowing way.
He stared out over the loch purposefully. "The guests are arriving," he called down. "Thought you might want to make yourselves decent, as Catriona's brother is riding hell-bent toward the keep as we speak."
Hugh laughed and pulled Catriona into his chest. "We shall be there shortly," he called up.
As soon as Alaric disappeared, they jumped to gather their clothing.
"You did'na tell me Jamie was coming, too," Catriona said giddily, lifting her gown over her head and slipping in as Hugh laced the front of his trews.
"I thought to surprise you." He came to her, bare-chested, and pulled her into his arms for a kiss to sear her soul forever. When he was finished, he brushed her wild, golden hair back from her face and offered a crooked smile. "You might as weel give up any pretense of what we've been aboot, lass. You look thoroughly loved, you do. And I love it, the wild spill of your hair brushing your hips." He reached down to claim a lock of her hair in his fingertips. "The full swell of your lips." Hugh stepped closer and brushed her lips with his as he spoke against her mouth. "The flushed color of your skin." He chuckled deeply. "Jamie will no like it, married to me or no."
Catriona laughed and slapped at his chest playfully. "Stop that now."
"'Tis true." He grabbed her to him when she started to pull away, one arm about her still small waist, the other dipping down to squeeze her backside. "I love you, Catriona McCross. I love you more than life itself. I love you more than any other ever has."
"Or ever will." She threw her arms around his neck. "I love you the same, my warrior."
Hugh kissed his wife until neither had an ounce of breath left between them.
"You make it mighty hard for a mon to greet guests at his keep." He reached between them to adjust his trews, and they both laughed.
"I'll see to that later," she said.
Within moments, they were on his horse galloping toward the keep where two of their guests had already arrived on horseback. It looked as though they had brought but a few trunks each with them, those trunks arriving behind with only a couple servants traveling separately by cart.
Catriona left Hugh, and he went to greet the men she did not know. She found Tamsin. The poor thing was trembling atop the steps of the keep, nervously awaiting an introduction to her possible suitors.
She cast Catriona a frightened look, though the regal cloak about her shoulders gave her the air of a queen. The heavy jewels set in a gold necklace about her throat covered the flushed skin of her neck from view.
Catriona chuckled and took her friend's hand in hers. Together they waited. Hugh and Alaric turned toward the road leading to the keep as the last approaching riders came into view.
Catriona leaned into Tamsin, speaking quietly. "That is Caelen McCross, Hugh's older brother. He's only slightly older, by a year, Hugh told me," Catriona explained. "I've no yet met him, and the other mon I do'na ken at all."
Within a quarter hour, the courtyard filled with men, horses, and carts carrying a handful of servants each. Such a fuss was not normally made, but considering the affair, each man would need a small entourage.
Catriona smiled in contentment and gave her friend a look of confidence as she turned back to her with wide eyes.
Hugh was momentarily gone from her sight in the swarm of highlanders as he went to greet the men he had sent for. Each man was there to win the hand and heart of Tamsin.
A burst of giggles erupted from Catriona when Jamie rode up last. He dismounted just in time to catch Catriona as she flung herself into his outstretched arms.
"You are here for a bride, too?" she asked, dropping from Jamie's embrace to give Red a peck on the cheek also before her brother's advisor led their horses away.
Jamie shrugged, but gave her an embarrassed smile. "Your husband insisted I come. He said it was high time I collect my men." He frowned at her then. "You’ve no caused much mischief, have you?" At her grin, he shook his head. "Och, I should have kenned you would."
"So?" she pressed.
"Aye, he said I might as weel meet the lass while I'm—" Jamie choked on his words, his stare sticking over Catriona's shoulder. He blew out a hard breath. "Dia, is that her?" He didn’t wait for Catriona's reply, but pushed past her to meet the woman left on the stoop of the keep.
Catriona turned to watch her brother glide away, gravitating toward the woman
he had been brought there to meet. Of course, she would put in a good word for Jamie. However, she looked at her friend, and an unknown man already had her hand in his own and had snared her interest, for the moment anyway. A furious looking Tobin stared at the pair, propped against the large double doors to the keep where he had feigned disinterest until this point.
Catriona rather imagined Tobin would stalk forward at any moment to lay his claim.
She rather hoped he would.
Another strong, male hand closed on her shoulder causing Catriona a start. She forgot about Tobin completely, about Tamsin, or Jamie, or any of the others. She glanced up to meet her husband's stare over her shoulder and reached to place her fingers over his.
"Did you have to bring them all here at once?" she asked lightly. "All this brawn might be overwhelming for a poor lass."
Hugh snorted as one of the four handsome suitors shouldered through the other two already introducing themselves.
"I think they'll sort things oot the Highland way soon enough."
"She is beautiful, is she no? I think they shall have a brawl started before the evening meal is served."
Hugh snorted at that. "Let them. We'll busy ourselves elsewhere, wife."
She glanced back at him with a smile. "You do'na look at her that way when my back is turned, do you?"
A smile lit in his eyes. "What way would that be?"
She gave him an elbow to the ribs and got the desired grunt of pain. "That hungry way," she clarified, then turned fully in her husband's arms, ticking her head toward the top of the steps. "The way all those men are looking at her now, like they might yet gobble her up there on the stoop. 'Tis true, since I have come to realize my condition, I do'na feel as small, though I ken I shall become much bigger yet. 'Tis my worry that when I am as big as this keep you may no find me as attractive as you once did."
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