“And I suppose you had a reason for that?”
“The best reason in the world. Why should I bother with Craighdhu if I can have a throne?”
“I’m not … I will have no throne,” Kate said.
“Ah, but you will. It needs only the right man to pave the way to it.” He turned and walked toward the door. “I’ll return to Kilgranne and leave you to think about the matter, Robert. But don’t ponder too long. I’m very angry with your kinsman, and I believe you’ll be able to guess what task will be occupying me while I wait for your answer.”
“I don’t trade in human beings,” Robert said.
“Let me clarify my position. If you don’t give me the woman, Gavin will die, I’ll return to Edinburgh and tell James the truth, and the woman will also die. It would not be my choice, but it would serve to increase my influence with him.” He turned to Kate and said coaxingly, “Tell him to release you. Don’t be frightened. Let me guide you, care for you. You’re young and comely, and those are the only qualities I’ll demand of you. I’ll do the rest. You don’t know what power awaits you. I’ll make you ruler of both England and Scotland. You could be the most powerful queen the world has ever known. Why would you want to stay here with such a future on the horizon?”
Kate stared at the door as it closed behind him, too stunned to move.
Robert whirled on Jock. “Dammit, I told you to keep Gavin safe.”
“I did what I could,” Jock said. “We both knew there was a chance it wouldn’t be enough. It’s hard to hide a man like Gavin. He’s rarely discreet.”
No, discreet was not a word to describe Gavin, Kate thought dimly. Others suited him far better: rueful, funny, gentle, and loveable.…
“Alec will teach him discretion,” Robert said. “You heard him, the bastard will be—” He broke off and drew a long breath. “Talk will do no good. We have to get Gavin away from Kilgranne.”
“Alec will be expecting a move. He’ll have a full complement of men at the castle.”
“Then we’ll have to send a large enough force to overcome them. Send out a call to every man on the island. I’ll go to the mainland and see Robbie MacBrennon and Jamie Grant and try to persuade them to call their clans to ride with us. Meet me at sundown at Kilfirth Glen tomorrow with our own people, and we’ll lay plans.”
Plans for war, Kate thought, battle and blood and death. Her fault. All her fault.
Jock nodded and strode out of the room.
Robert turned back to Kate. “I’ll leave a guard on the island in case this is one of Malcolm’s tricks. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe here.”
Safe. She would be safe, but Gavin and Robert and how many others might die? “No!” She jumped to her feet. “It will be too late. He’ll kill Gavin. Let me go along. Maybe I can—”
“God’s blood!” He whirled on her savagely. “Can’t you see that’s what he wants? He’d like nothing better than to lure you away from Craighdhu so that he can pluck you like a ripe plum.”
“Then let him do it,” she answered just as fiercely. “Gavin wouldn’t be a prisoner except for me.”
“No, he’d be dead. Alec would have no reason not to make Jean a widow unless he wanted something.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that Malcolm will—”
“Shut up!” His eyes were blazing down at her. “Didn’t you hear what I told that bastard? I won’t trade you for Gavin or anyone else.”
He strode out of the room, and she followed him. “Listen to me, I couldn’t bear to—”
The front door slammed behind him.
Fear and sickness made her dizzy, and she reached out a hand to steady herself against the wall. Robert had told her this might happen. Why had she not believed him when he told her she could destroy Craighdhu? She knew the answer. She had not wanted to believe it because it would rob her of both Robert and Craighdhu.
Her fault. All of it her fault. Perhaps Robert was right that Gavin’s actions had been partially to blame this time, but what of next time? Even if they laid siege to Kilgranne and rescued Gavin, Malcolm would still crave the power she represented. It would go on forever. Craighdhu could be taken, men would die.
Robert might die.
Panic soared through her at the thought. Just like her mother. Everything Sebastian had called her had come true. She was a destroyer, just like her mother.
No! She would not be a destroyer. She would not be made into a mirror of her mother.
She would fight.
• • •
When Jock Candaron opened the door to his lodgings, he could not hide the flicker of surprise that crossed his usually impassive face. “You have need of me, my lady? I fear I have little time at the moment.” He gestured to the two men standing behind him at the table on which a map was spread. “As you can see, I’m making—”
“I, too, have little time.” She stepped around him into the room and pushed back the hood of her cloak. She nodded politely at the two men. The younger clansman she recognized as Jock’s lieutenant, Ian Mactavish, but the other was unknown to her. “Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse us?”
Jock’s lips tightened with annoyance as he turned to his men. “Wait for me in the other room. I’m sure my lady will only be a moment.”
A far from gentle hint that he would like to be rid of her as quickly as possible. She crossed to the window and looked down at the street below as Jock conversed with the men in a low voice. Then she heard the door close.
“You should not be here, you know,” Jock said. “It’s hardly proper for the laird’s lady to—”
“Do you think I care!” She whirled to face him. “I wish you to take me to Kilgranne and trade me for Gavin.”
He went still. “Indeed? I don’t believe Robert will approve of such action.”
“But you would,” she said bitterly. “It would please you, wouldn’t it? You and Craighdhu would be done with me.”
“Not if Robert decided to ride after you.” His eyes were glacier cool as he added, “We both know he’s quite mad about you.”
“Yes,” she whispered. Mad enough to take the chance of losing Craighdhu. She had fostered and reinforced that sensual madness with every wile at her command. Of late, she had begun to think his hunger for her was not only of the flesh, that he was beginning to love her as she did him. Well, that was all gone. She would never know now. “We’ll face that problem when we get Gavin safely away from Kilgranne. If Robert does decide to lay siege to Kilgranne to free me, at least Malcolm won’t be holding a hostage he’d be willing to kill. How long will it take us to get there?”
“After we reach the mainland, it’s a half day’s ride to Kilgranne.”
“That means, if we leave at once, we could be there by dawn?”
“Aye, but I’ll not be the one to take you. Like Robert, I don’t trade in human beings.”
“Would you rather see Gavin tortured to death? Malcolm will not harm me—he wants only to use me. If you exchange me for Gavin, he will live, and so will I.”
“As long as Alec deems you have value to him,” he conceded. “But if he decides otherwise, he’ll derive great pleasure in depriving Robert of you in the most painful way possible.”
She motioned impatiently. “We’re wasting time. If you don’t take me, I’ll go by myself. You’re so fond of performing your precious duty. Do it now. In one stroke you can save Gavin and buy time for an attack on Kilgranne that will be of your choice, not Malcolm’s. You know my plan is sound.”
He studied her. “Aye, the plan has merit.”
She whirled and strode toward the door. “Then let’s go. Rachel is tied outside, and I’ve packed my satchel in readiness.”
“You were so sure I’d take you?”
“I knew you’d welcome any chance to rid Craighdhu of my presence.” She opened the door. “I’m aware you’ve always disliked me.”
“I’ve never disliked you,” he said quietly.
She looked at him in surprise.
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“In truth, you have a boldness and honesty that I find pleasing. It’s the threat you present I dislike.” He turned and picked up his cloak. “Give me a moment to give instructions to Ian, and I’ll join you downstairs.”
Kate breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Jock ride out of the gates of Kilgranne and gallop up the hill where she waited.
“Gavin?”
“Malcolm assures me he’s still alive, but the bastard won’t let me see him.”
“He agreed to the exchange?”
He nodded. “He wants you to come for Gavin yourself.”
“Is that wise? If he’s as treacherous as you say—”
“It isn’t and he is.”
“Then what other course is left open to us?”
“We could make a stand and wait and see if he’s bluffing.”
“No.” She nibbled on her lower lip. Jock was supposed to meet Robert at sundown, and she did not want Robert here at Kilgranne. “I’ll go.” She nudged Rachel into a trot. “There’s no use for you to go back. Stay here and wait for word.”
Jock was immediately beside her, his horse’s pace matching her own.
“I told you to stay here.”
He didn’t answer.
“Your duty is to Robert, not to me.”
“True,” he said calmly. “But Gavin is one of ours; therefore, if you commit this folly for his sake, it’s my duty to support you in it.”
“You define your duty on a very broad scale.”
“It’s only right to let a man interpret the light that guides his life as he sees fit.” He did not look at her. “Alec is a clever man. I’ve seen him twist men’s minds as well as their bodies. It’s possible he wants to test your mettle for weaknesses.”
“To see how easily the pawn can be fashioned for his purpose?”
“Perhaps.” He smiled faintly. “He has seen little of you. He may think you’re only what you seem.”
Through the open gates she could see Alec Malcolm waiting in the courtyard and involuntarily tensed. “And what is that?” she asked.
“Robert’s lady, good only for bed and childbearing.”
A little of her tension ebbed as a smile tugged at her lips. “I hope Robert would vouch for the first, and I’ve been valiantly striving for the second.” But that was over, she realized bleakly, even the brief amusement fading. No babe, no Robert, no Craighdhu lay in her future, only this task that must be performed to right the wrong she had done. “I won’t let Malcolm twist my mind. The question is, how can I twist his?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “A man who cares only for his own well-being has few weaknesses. Your one method of defense is not to let him see yours.”
She didn’t want to defend but to attack. “That’s not enough.”
“No?” He smiled curiously. “It would be, for most women.”
They were riding through the gate, and she braced herself. No weakness.
“Ah, I can’t say how delighted I was when my friend Jock told me you were joining me.” Alec Malcolm stepped forward and lifted her from the saddle. “I could see at once that you were an intelligent woman, but now I see you have a great heart. How kind to sacrifice yourself for that sweet lad Gavin.”
“Where is he?”
“Right this way.” He cast a glance at Jock. “You, too, my friend; I know that you can’t wait to see your clansman.” He led them across the courtyard toward the tower. “Jock tells me that Robert is not aware of your decision. How fortunate for Gavin that your heart is not as hard as your husband’s.” He nodded at the guard standing before the heavy door, and the man unlocked and opened it. “I regret making you go to him, but he’s not able to come to you.”
She felt a sudden sickness at his words and was glad that he was in front of her, negotiating the steep, curving stone steps leading down into the dungeon. No weakness.
She heard Jock following behind her.
Alec opened a door at the foot of the stairs and threw it wide. “My lady.” He stepped aside to let her go first.
The foul smell of mold, decay, and feces assaulted her from the darkness.
“Be careful,” Jock murmured in her ear.
He meant that whatever she saw, she was not to show that it affected her. She knew that, she thought impatiently. She had spent most of her life hiding pain from the enemy. She kept her face expressionless, but could not stifle a gasp of horror.
Gavin was hanging by his wrists four feet from the floor of the dungeon, his head slumped on his chest, his eyes closed in a faint. His ragged clothing hung in strips from his strained body, his legs looked limp and oddly crooked, and his face … Dear God, there was not an inch that was not bruised or bleeding.
“Was this necessary?” she asked unsteadily.
“Aye, I told him to speak,” Alec said, “but he wouldn’t obey. Obedience is very important to me.”
This was why he had brought her here, she realized. It was to lesson her in her role in the future. She was to be intimidated and cowed at the result of disobedience to him.
“Cut him down.” The whisper came from the darkness in the corner. “Please cut him down.… Pain …”
It was Jean, but a Jean Kate had never seen. She was huddled against the wall, her clothing as ragged as her husband’s, her eyes haunted as she gazed at Gavin’s hanging body.
“You’ll have to forgive my daughter’s dishevelment,” Alec said. “Nothing would do her but that she stay with her beloved husband.”
“Cut him down,” Jean whispered.
“Yes, cut him down,” Kate said briskly. “And send one of the guards for a wagon. You should have told us he would be unable to travel. This is most inconvenient.”
She could see that her coolness had surprised him, but not to the extent of discomposure. “Not yet.” He smiled. “I haven’t decided what to do with him yet.”
“Jock is going to take him to Craighdhu,” she said firmly. “It’s far the best move.” She turned to Jock. “Cut him down, Jock.”
Jock drew his sword and stepped toward Gavin.
“You forget where you are,” Malcolm said softly. “I command here.”
“He does not look well,” Kate said coldly. “If you kill him, that will enrage Robert, and he will attack Kilgranne. That’s not what we want now.”
“No?” He looked intrigued. “And what do we want?”
“What you promised me. The crown. Why else do you think I’m here?” She met his gaze. She was acting purely on instinct. Was she striking the right note? “I don’t deny I found the boy likable, but not enough to risk what I had at Craighdhu. You offered me something I wanted more, but don’t mistake me. I’m no tender blossom to be nurtured and guided unless I so choose.”
“You were contented enough at Craighdhu until I came.”
“I wanted the island, but Robert will never give it to me. He even refused to marry me in any way but handfast.” Her lips tightened scornfully. “He found me pleasant enough to bed but was afraid for his precious Craighdhu.”
“You’re very blunt.”
“It’s as well we understand each other at once. You wish to use me, and I wish to be used. You will find me a strong ally. Isn’t that better than a weak puppet?”
“Landfield said you could be dangerous,” he murmured.
“Not if we’re striving for the same goal.” She paused. “And we will not win the crown by dissipating our strength in battles over trifles.” She nodded at Jock. “Take your man and get him out of here.”
She held her breath, but this time Malcolm made no objection.
Jock fetched a stool from across the dungeon, stood on it, and holding Gavin around the middle with one arm, he cut the ropes binding his wrists.
“Be careful.” Jean struggled to her feet and ran forward out of the darkness. “His legs are broken.”
Jean’s face was as bruised as Gavin’s, and pity and rage brought bile to Kate’s stomach. Jock placed Gavin carefully on the ground
and knelt beside him, his hands running exploringly over the younger man’s body.
“The wagon,” Kate prompted Malcolm.
His musing gaze had never left Kate’s face. “You may just be right in this.”
“I am right. I’ve thought the matter over very carefully.” She saw him hesitate and said fiercely, “We mustn’t make blunders now. All my life I’ve been without importance to anyone. Now, I have a chance to be a queen. I won’t let you spoil my prospects.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “You may be a more exceptional queen than I anticipated.” He turned and sauntered toward the door. “Very well, Your Imperial Majesty, I’ll tell the guard to fetch the wagon.”
As soon as the door shut behind him, she flew to Gavin and fell to her knees. “How bad?” she asked Jock.
“Not good. Both arms out of the sockets, right leg broken in two places, left in three, his back is lashed to ribbons.” He glanced down. “Three fingers broken on the right hand.”
“Will he live?”
He nodded. “I think so. He may even come out of this without being a cripple, if I can set those bones right away.”
“Can you do that yourself?”
“It’s a battlefield skill I would have been foolish not to have learned.” He frowned. “I only hope there’s no damage that I can’t see on the surface.”
“That’s all,” Jean said dully. “The whip and then the rack.” She looked at Kate. “He made me watch. I told him about the handfast. I would have told him anything to make him stop.”
“By the saints, do you think I don’t understand? I would have done the same.” She looked down at Gavin’s poor bruised face and felt tears rise to her eyes. “It will be all right. Once you leave here, you’ll be able to care for him and get him well.”
“If my father lets me go with him,” Jean said.
Another problem, Kate thought wearily. Now she had to think of a plausible reason why Malcolm should send Jean along with Gavin.
“What a tender picture,” Alec said from the doorway. “You look quite the ministering angel, my lady.”
The hint of suspicion threading his voice must be instantly banished. “I hear my mother was splendid in that same role while she nursed her husband Lord Darnley.” She met his gaze. “Before she went off one night to a party, and gunpowder blew his house to shambles. Naturally, she claimed she knew nothing about it.”