Highland Savage. Hannah Howell

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СКАЧАТЬ all these months grieving o’er the loss of something that ne’er truly existed.”

      Before he could respond and hurt her even more, Katerina walked out of the chamber, leaving him alone with the other man, who watched him as if he was a complete lunatic.

      Chapter Three

      Lucas scowled at the man who sat across the fire from him. The only thing the man had said since Katerina had walked out was I am William and I think ye may be too witless to live. Although the insult stung, Lucas could only admire loyalty. This unrelenting silence, however, was becoming unendurable. Lucas had questions that needed answering and it was becoming obvious that Katerina was not soon to return to answer them.

      “Where did she go?” Lucas finally asked.

      “Away from ye,” William answered, not even glancing up from his carving.

      “I ken that weel enough, but where did that take her? Are there more rooms like this one?”

      “There are a lot of rooms down here. Some are a goodly size, some nay more than a niche in the rock. There are passages and hollows running throughout this hill, right up to the back of Dunlochan keep itself.”

      “’Tis one great bolt-hole.”

      “Aye, for the holy men who used to abide here and for those within the keep. I am thinking ’tis a mixture of what has always been here, what was natural, and hundreds of years of hard work. This land certainly gives a mon many a reason to want a secure place to hide for a wee while.”

      “True. So, why are ye hiding here now?”

      “Weel,” William briefly looked at him and the look in his dark eyes was not particularly friendly, “it certainly isnae because of ye or what ye think she did.”

      “Ye didnae see her that day, didnae see how still and calm she was as Ranald and his dogs beat, kicked, and cut me. They told me she had ordered it done. Ranald himself whispered it in my ear as he cut my face. Said it was Katerina’s plan to make sure I wasnae so bonnie any more and wouldnae find it so easy to play with a lassie’s heart.”

      “And ye would believe a mon like Ranald o’er Lady Katerina? Wheesht, I think the bastards kicked ye in the head one too many times for ’tis certain that your wits are sadly scattered.”

      “If Katerina was so innocent why didnae she send word to my clan about what had happened to me?”

      “And bring their wrath down upon the people of Dunlochan, most of whom had naught to do with it? She thought ye were dead and kenned that the Murray clan might seek blood to pay for the killing of ye. M’lady was fair surprised when nary a one of them came looking for ye.” William paused in his carving to look at Lucas more closely. “Just how did ye survive and get away?”

      “I can swim.”

      “Ah, the lass was that sure your leg had been broken.”

      “It was, but a mon can abide almost any pain if it means he doesnae drown. I crawled out of the water and kept right on crawling. Stopped only long enough to tend my wounds as best as I could and then headed home. There were good people along the way to give me aid.” Lucas shrugged, loath to think much about pain-filled days and nights, the terror of feeling so helpless, and all the travails of traveling unarmed and unable to even hunt for food. He also did not want to explain how his twin had found him because of a dream because too many people found that bond between twins a little hard to believe or tolerate. “I didnae notice Katerina looking for me either, and I would have been easy enough to track down and catch.”

      William shook his head. “She is right to say that ye ne’er truly kenned her. Did ye nay hear her say that they threw her in the loch as weel? Ah, I can see ye doubt the truth of it, but I will tell ye the tale anyway. They threw her in right after ye. Being that she is such a wee lass they were able to throw her farther than they did ye and she landed in the water, hitting only a few rocks when she went under. She nearly drowned. Kenning that she couldnae let the bastards see that she could swim and mayhap save herself, she swam beneath the water as much as she could and made her way to a sheltered cove. Poor lass was fair battered to death upon the rocks there ere she could get to shore. We found her two days later, weak and feverish. Calling for ye, she was, but, of course, that must have been her just wanting to make certain ye were dead.”

      Lucas just cocked one eyebrow, ignoring the man’s sarcasm and silently urging him to continue with his tale.

      “She sent us all out to look for ye,” William continued, “but we couldnae find ye. It was nigh on two months ere she was healed of her wounds and the fever that nearly killed her. S’truth, for three weeks nearly the only sensible things she uttered were orders to find ye and let everyone believe she was dead.”

      “Why play that game?”

      “Mayhap because someone obviously wants her dead?”

      The man’s continuing sarcasm truly grated on Lucas’s temper, but he fought to endure it. He was finally getting some answers. They might not be the right ones or even the truth, but he could decide on all that later. Right now he needed to know just what he had stumbled into.

      “Who does she think wants her dead?” Lucas asked William.

      “That bitch of a half-sister she was cursed with, Agnes. She wants it all, ye ken.”

      “All what?”

      “Did Lady Katerina nay tell ye about her father’s will, his dying wishes and commands?”

      “Nay, she didnae.”

      William sighed and shook his head. “Mayhap if she had ye wouldnae be so quick to think her guilty. The old laird, Katerina’s father, chose five men to act as a council after he died, to hold final approval of any mon chosen by her or her half-sister. If the men dinnae approve of the mon and the lass chooses to wed him anyway, she loses. All she gets is a wee bothy and a bit of land on the far western edges of Dunlochan lands, and a verra wee dowry. The other lass gets all the rest. There is nary a doubt that the council would have approved of ye as a husband for our lady so Agnes had to be rid of ye. Can ye nay see now that our lady had no cause to do ye harm, that ’twas only to her benefit to keep ye alive so that ye might choose her as your wife?”

      “Aye, but I can also see that, if Katerina thought I was turning to Agnes, it would be to her benefit to see me dead and gone.”

      A sharp curse escaped William, but then he shrugged and turned all of his attention back to his carving. “As I said, I begin to think ye too daft to live. After all, if the lass truly wished ye dead, all she had to do today was leave ye to Ranald and his dogs and just let the bastard finish what he had started a year ago. Mayhap ye ought to think on that for a wee while.”

      Lucas was thinking on it, but he would never admit it to William. It was the one thing that kept his doubts about Katerina’s guilt alive and pestering him. What she had done for him today did not change what had happened that long ago night, he told himself firmly. Perhaps she had been tormented by guilt and regret while they had been apart and could no longer condone his murder. Lucas knew he would be staying with Katerina and her men for now and intended to use the time to find the answers he needed to uncover all the truth.

      Wearied from weeping, Katerina slowly dragged herself off her bed and bathed her face in cold water. The СКАЧАТЬ