A Price to Be Paid: A Scottish Highlander Romance (Legacy of the Laird Book 2)

Chapter 22

Lilidh blinked as the room came into focus. The roof above her head was ornate, and she found herself in a sea of pillows. The bed was so soft she felt like she could sink into its depths and never climb back out. After countless years of sleeping on a mattress that was barely anything at all, the bed was as comfortable as it was strange.

She lifted her head weakly to see that she was in a private room. It seemed vast, stretching into the distance, and the far end was dark. A bank of windows lay on one side and the closest was thrown open. The air in the room was cold, but not uncomfortably so, wrapped as she was.

“Ye”re awake,” a voice said, and Margaret’s face appeared above her.

“Aye,” Lilidh said slowly, and the events that brought her to the castle returned all at once. She tried to rise, and a wave of dizziness hit her.

“Slowly, now,” Margaret warned.

“Where’s Fynn?” Lilidh asked, looking around frantically. “Where’s my son?”

“Calm yerself, Lilidh,” the chamberlain said, laying a hand on her shoulder gently. “Fynn is perfectly fine. He’s with one of the girls, and likely exploring the castle, having the time of his life.”

Lilidh nodded and felt herself fall back onto the bed once more. “How long have I been asleep for?”

“No” long; half an hour at most. It was a panic attack. Ye were so upset when ye came in that ye werenae breathing properly; all worked up into a state.”

Lilidh wasn’t surprised at Margaret’s diagnosis of a panic attack; after all, she had plenty of reason to panic. “I need to speak to the laird,” she said. “Right away.”

Margaret nodded. “I dinnae doubt that. He’s already on his way; as soon as ye stirred, I called for him.”

Another wave of dizziness hit her, and Lilidh tried to calm her breathing. She would tell the laird, and everything would be alright. He’d fix things; protect her from MacBrennan, the man she thought she could trust once more. She’d done her part, and now she needed to throw herself on the man’s mercy. “Margaret,” she said, “I need to stay in the castle. Ye need to take me in.”

“Aye, but let’s wait until Blaine arrives, so ye dinnae need to repeat yerself.”

“Margaret, ye dinnae ken,” she said, her voice rising with urgency. “It’s no” safe in town anymore. He’s back.”

Margaret frowned, as if unable to stop herself. “Who’s back, Lilidh?”

The door swung open. “MacBrennan is back,” Laird Blaine McCaskill proclaimed, sweeping into the room. Behind him, the steward followed. She’d never spoken to the older man before, and in fact, there was something slightly eery about him. He was dressed in formal clothing, but it contrasted with the wild nature of the man, like he was one step away from ripping his clothing off and howling at the moon.

“Fergus,” he said by way of introduction.

Lilidh nodded, then turned to the laird. “How did ye know that he’s back?”

Blaine glanced at the others. “Why dinnae we pull up some chairs? We have a few things to discuss.”

Fergus nodded and retreated to the rear of the room, coming back with a chair under each arm. Margaret sat back in her own chair next to the bed, and all of them made themselves comfortable.

Blaine looked over at Lilidh and gave her a smile to set her at ease. “Why dinnae ye tell us what ye saw.”

“I saw him,” she said. “No” Mathe. No” the man who came back to me, but MacBrennan in truth. He was wearing his auld coat and his… his accursed sword. He’d shaved his beard, as well.”

“Where and when did ye see him?”

“Walking through town, only a few hours ago, as bold and brazen as ye please,” Lilidh said, shivering at the memory. “Nay doubt he was heading down to the Dog Ear.”

“Why do ye think that?” Blaine asked.

“I… I saw him go there last night.” She looked down with a frown. “I followed him. There’d been things happening over the last few days that made me suspicious.” She looked up again with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, laird, I truly am. I know I promised to tell ye right away if I saw anything strange, but I didnae know what I saw.”

“Calm yerself, Lilidh. I ken,” Blaine said.

“Ye do?” she asked, feeling a wave of relief sweeping over her, At least her job wasn’t at risk. After everything else that had happened, she didn’t know what she would do if she was to lose that chance at safety. “Thank ye, laird.”

“Dinnae thank me yet,” he replied grimly, giving Fergus a significant glance.

Lilidh watched the exchange and felt her heart beat faster. “What is it?”

Blaine looked back to her and she could see his eyes were troubled. “Lilidh,” he said, “There’s something ye need to know. Mathe MacBrennan has been working with us.”

Working with the laird? She heard the words, but they made little sense. How would that possibly explain the things that she’d seen? “I dinnae ken,” she whispered.

It was Fergus who spoke up. “Yer husband agreed to help Blaine with a nasty problem he has on his hands,” the old man said.

Blaine nodded. “Lilidh, do ye remember when we first met, after Mathe returned home? Ye came up to the castle to speak to us.”

She nodded. “Aye. I confessed to ye he’d come back. I was worried I’d lose my job.”

“Aye. Do ye remember what I said about the troubles in town?”

Lilidh cast her mind back. “Ye said there are people who want to cause ye harm. It worried ye that Mathe’s return might act as a catalyst; a rallying point, for them to come out of the shadows and move against ye.”

“That’s right,” Blaine said, nodding. “And I did worry; so much so, in fact, that I spoke to yer husband myself.”

“Ye did?”

“Aye. And even back then, I thought I detected a change in him; an honesty that I didnae remember ever seeing as a young man. When he spoke of his goals to make amends with ye and atone for the wrongs of the past, I believed him. And so I asked if he would help me uncover these traitors.”

“And he agreed?” Lilidh asked, scarcely able to believe it. Mathe often said it was the old laird’s influence that changed him over the years; it seemed so contrary to his goals to align himself with a McCaskill laird once again. How many times had he told her he wished to keep to himself? Perhaps she simply didn’t know him as much as she first thought.

“He didnae agree. No” at first,” Blaine said with the ghost of a smile. “He told me in nay uncertain terms that he wasnae interested. But then a few days later, he reconsidered, and we came to an arrangement.”

“What did ye offer?”

Blaine hesitated. “I offered naught. Mathe named his price, and I paid it.”

“What price?”

“Perhaps it’s better for that to remain between ye and yer husband,” he said. “But suffice to say, Mathe agreed to work with us, and to report any information back that he could learn. But Lilidh,” he stressed, leaning forward, “I made it perfectly clear that I didnae want Mathe to risk himself, or what he was trying to build with ye. If these traitors revealed themselves to Mathe, then that was one thing. But I didnae want him to go searching.”

Lilidh looked down, thinking of all the coincidences over the last few days, and how they fit into Blaine’s story. It’s not that she didn’t believe him, but it still seemed so out of character for Mathe to accept. What on earth had he demanded to make him feel it was worth the risk?

Fergus spoke up again. “Mathe and I met every few days, to make sure he was alright.”

“By the Dundonnell,” Lilidh said in realisation, looking at Fergus’s long hair and beard. “Fynn saw ye speak when Mathe took him fishing yesterday. He told me last night.”

“Aye, that was me. Did he catch a fish, in the end?”

“He caught a trout.” Lilidh shook her head. “Fynn mentioning you was one of the things that I felt suspicious about. So I went to the West Gate to speak to him, and saw him duck out of the stables. I dinnae know why, but I followed him.”

“Down to the Dog Ear,” Fergus said.

“Aye. And I saw him inside, like he’d never left. He was the centre of attention, and everyone seemed so happy he was back.” Lilidh fell silent, remembering the mixture of fear and disbelief that she’d felt at the sight of it.

“He didnae uncover anything last night, so we met again early this morning,” Fergus continued. “We agreed that tonight would be the last attempt. He told me he needed to force their hand, somehow, but if that didnae work, then it would all become too risky. Mathe was worried that ye”d find out, and making amends with his family was still the most important thing to him.”

Force their hand. Lilidh repeated the words, over and over in her mind. What would force the hand of men like this? Perhaps a sign was needed. Perhaps a symbol of the return of the most loyal subject of the old laird. Not Mathe, the man he became, but MacBrennan; the man they remembered. With his sword and his coat, for everyone to see.

“That’s why he was wearing his auld things,” she said, and even despite the hurt, Lilidh couldn’t ignore the surge of relief she felt as events were made clear. MacBrennan hadn’t returned as she feared. He hadn’t reneged on his promise and returned to his old ways, cruel as they were.

He had only lied to her.

He’d only gone behind her back and abused her trust, purposefully kept her ignorant. Whispering promises into her ear even while he plotted. Did it matter that his plotting was for a greater good, and that he was working with the laird?

“Why wasnae he honest with me?” she asked herself softly. “He could have trusted me with what he was doing.”

Blaine shook his head sadly. “Only Mathe can answer that, but for what it’s worth, I owe ye an apology, Lilidh MacBrennan. I pulled yer husband into this web.”

“Mathe made his own decisions,” Lilidh replied. “There’s nay blame on ye, Laird McCaskill, at least no” from me. He could have chosen differently.”

“Perhaps,” the laird said. “One more night though, and one last attempt, and then it will be over. We’ll see if the return of the phantom MacBrennan is enough to loosen their tongues.”