Highland Warrior (Campbell Trilogy #1)(76)
An anguished sound escaped her.
Niall’s gaze turned harder than she’d ever seen it. “It was the last thing they ever said.”
Caitrina nodded, understanding. After a minute she said, “So you thought I was dead?”
“Otherwise nothing would have made me leave you. The tower was aflame, I never thought anyone would get out of there alive.”
Yet somehow Jamie had managed it.
“Brian was in a bad state, barely breathing when I got him out of there. The blow to the head nearly killed him.”
“Did you hide in the hills with the MacGregors?”
He shook his head. “Nay. I knew the Campbell scourge would be hunting us—and I’d seen the Henchman riding in as we left. If we led them to the caves, we’d lead them right to the MacGregors. What was left of my guardsmen sailed in birlinns to Eire. We thought it would be safer for those left behind not to have to hide us.”
She couldn’t hide her amazement. “You went all the way to Ireland?”
“For a while. Until Brian and the other injured men recovered enough to return. My men were anxious to have word of their families. Some had been forced to flee before they’d learned of their safety.”
“When did you come back?”
“A couple of weeks ago, when word came that Alasdair MacGregor was going to surrender, we knew it was safe to come back. We took refuge in the hills near Loch Lomond.”
MacGregor country. “Why didn’t you return home to Bute?”
“I wasn’t sure what I would find. I suspected Campbells would have overtaken the place.” He gave her a grim look. “I was right. What I didn’t expect was my sister to be leading them in. How could you marry him, Caiti? How could you marry the man who killed our father and brother?”
The betrayal in his gaze cut like a knife. She tried not to wither under its icy edge. “Jamie had nothing to do with the attack.”
He looked at her as if she were a fool. “You believe that? The only reason he came to Ascog all those months ago was to hunt the MacGregors.”
“A fact that I could never have known since no one elected to tell me that we were harboring outlaws,” she reproached him. “Surely Father knew the danger? He had to know what would happen if it was discovered.”
Niall flexed his jaw. “He had no choice. The obligation of hospitality is absolute. You know of our debt to the MacGregors—of the history that binds us together. Honor demanded he give them shelter. And Father was sympathetic to their plight.”
Caitrina sighed. “I know.” Though his motives had been noble, it was still hard for her to accept the futility of her father’s death. “But you are wrong about Jamie’s part in the attack. He had no knowledge of his brother’s coming to Ascog. Indeed, Jamie came to help as soon as he found out. It was Jamie who pulled me from the fire and prevented my being raped by one of his brother’s men.”
He studied her face. “You’re sure about this?”
She nodded. “I remember him carrying me out.”
Niall shifted his gaze, staring back into the darkness of the cave. “Well, then I’m grateful for that, but you did not need to marry him. Hell, Caiti, he’s not just any Campbell, he’s Argyll’s bloody Henchman.”
How could she explain? She twisted her hands in her skirts, trying to find the words. “He’s not like that. I didn’t know what else to do.” She relayed the events that had led up to his proposal, including her escape to Toward and the attempt to communicate with the rest of their clan at Ascog. “I thought I was doing what was best. He and our uncle had been working for the peaceable surrender of Alasdair MacGregor, and Jamie offered marriage as a way for me to reclaim our home for the Lamonts. Our uncle not only supported but brokered the union. I had no idea that you and Brian had survived. So many weeks had gone by. Why didn’t you get word to me?”
“I would have, but I only learned of your survival when news of the banns reached me near Balquhidder. By then it was too late to stop the marriage. Seamus has been trying to tell you ever since you arrived at Rothesay, but you are rarely alone and it’s too dangerous to make our survival known.”
“How did you evade capture with Seamus and the others?”
“I had nothing to do with that. Brian and I arrived only yesterday. The rest of my men are still in the Lomond Hills, but Seamus came to Bute to tell you of our survival. Brian’s injury is the only reason I’ve risked bringing him here.”
“What happened to him?”
“The fool lad wouldn’t listen. I told him to stay out of the fighting, that he wasn’t old enough, but he’s as stubborn and proud as Malcolm and wouldn’t listen. He reinjured his head in the fighting.”
“What fighting?” She was almost too scared to ask. If her brothers were fighting in MacGregor country, that could only mean they’d allied themselves once again with the proscribed men.
Niall looked at her skeptically. “You don’t know?”
She shook her head.
“Alasdair MacGregor was hanged and quartered with eleven of his men a few days ago—including six men who’d surrendered as hostages and had no trial—at Market Cross in Edinburgh. More are scheduled to be executed in the next week.”
Caitrina shook her head, dumbstruck. “No. You’re wrong. Jamie negotiated the MacGregor’s surrender under the explicit agreement that he would be taken to England. It was one of the reasons for our marriage—a sign of good faith, if you will. Argyll promised to take him to England.”