11. Future Plans
Future Plans
The morning’s breakfast threatened to crawl its way back up Catriona’s throat.
It didn’t help that breakfast had been particularly hurried and greasy—a choice between thin, lumpy gruel or the greasiest sausages in existence. With more new guests arriving, a Laird and Lady among them, nobody had much time for eating, but Sukie insisted.
Swallowing down the memory of her breakfast, literally speaking, Catriona sped up her pace.
I’ve lost her, she thought, heart sinking.
She’d been careful to hang behind Isobel and her followers, not wanting people to know that she was behind them.
At some point, however, Isobel must have taken a turn, and now there was no sign of her.
The halls were empty, and since Catriona was forbidden from interacting with the guests, she had no idea which room was going to be set aside for the Frasers.
She came to a halt in the middle of a round crossway, peering desperately down each of the other hallways in turn.
My sister, Isobel. Oh, I’d have known her anywhere. She hasn’t changed much, although I suppose she’s given up sucking on her thumb.
So she’s been with the Frasers, then.
I wonder if she’s happy?
She didn’t look happy. She looked serene and composed, which was certainly not the same thing.
Lady Fraser ordered her around as if she were a servant or a pet.
Laird Fraser clearly thought of her as something valuable, like a necklace or a well-placed piece of land, but that was it.
And Eamond Fraser, the man she was supposedly betrothed to, didn’t even spare her a second glance.
She’s beautifully dressed, though. Maybe she’s happy.
“Catriona? Catriona! Psst!”
She tensed, turning slowly.
There, anxiously twisting her fingers together in the voluminous folds of her skirt, stood Isobel. She hovered in a dark doorway, half-hidden behind a tapestry.
“There’s a passageway behind here,” she whispered, gesturing for Catriona to come towards her. “I think it’s a servants’ hall. Quick, before someone sees ye. Lady Fraser doesn’t like me to talk to anyone when she’s not around.”
Catriona darted across the crossroads. Voices were approaching from somewhere, and that seemed to throw Isobel into a panic. She curled her fingers around Catriona’s wrist, hauling her into the passage.
It was a dark, damp place, smelling thickly of must. A candle flickered in an alcove, the only light in the otherwise pitch-black hall.
At the other end, Catriona glimpsed the square of an open door, a little light spilling in.
Isobel dragged her towards that door. Through there was an opulent-looking room, covered in blankets and furs, the walls hung thickly with tapestries.
She could see the corner of a plush, inviting bed.
“Is that yer room in there?” Catriona asked, nodding.
Isobel shook her head. “Nay, there’s an adjoining room. I’ll go in there. It’s very comfortable, but the door locks, so Lady Fraser will want me to sleep there.”
“So ye can lock the door once ye are in?”
Isobel stared at her as if she were stupid. “Nay, so that she can lock me in. For my own safety…”
“Ye cannot be serious. That is not yer safety, that is…”
“Enough, Cat. Let’s not ruin this. I… I could not believe it when I saw ye in the crowd.”
Catriona stared at her sister for a long moment. To her horror, she felt tears welling up in her eyes. With a ragged gasp, she threw herself forward, flinging her arms around her sister. Isobel clutched at her with equal desperation, her thin arms almost squeezing the breath out of her.
“I never thought I’d see ye again,” Catriona whispered against Isobel’s rose-scented hair. “I never thought I’d see any of ye again.”
“I cannot believe ye are safe. It’s a dream come true. Do ye know what this means, Cat?”
Isobel pulled back, squeezing Catriona’s shoulders.
“What?”
“It means that we’re all alive, all safe,” Isobel answered, laughing. “All four of us. Alyth, Fiona, ye, me… we’re all here. None of us were killed. Not one.”
Catriona laughed in relief, a warm tear curling down her cheek. “It’s a miracle indeed.”
“Aye, that it is.”
Catriona fumbled in her pocket, drawing out the ring.
“Mother’s ring,” she whispered. “Do ye remember the night the Keep burned? Ye and I snuck out our things from Ma to look at.”
Isobel swallowed, her lower lip wobbling. “I was so angry that Fiona had gotten hers, but we had to wait until we were older.”
“I thought it was our fault the Keep was attacked, that we’d ruined everything by taking them.”
Isobel wiped the back of her hand across her eyes. “Aye, well, that was foolish.”
“Of course it was,” Catriona responded, a little taken aback by her sister’s sharp tone. “But it’s how we felt, wasn’t it?”
Isobel sniffed, drawing in a deep breath. “I’m glad ye still have it. I’m glad to see ye, Catriona. I’m happier than ye can imagine.”
She turned the ring over in her fingers a few times, then slipped it safely back into her pocket.
“Did ye come for me, then?”
Isobel blinked. “Did I what?”
“Did ye come to take me away? We can’t stay here, can we?”
Isobel’s brows knitted together. “What are ye talking about, Catriona?”
A cold feeling washed over her. She blinked, eyes adjusting to the dark, and took in her sister’s expression.
“Well, this isn’t right, is it?” she responded doubtfully. “I don’t intend to serve the MacLeods, not after the part they played in the burning of our Keep or what they’ve done to Da since. And ye should certainly hate the Frasers.”
“Hate the Frasers?” Isobel gave a light laugh. “Nay, not at all. They saved me, Catriona. They’re good people. They looked after me. Look at the dress I’m wearing! All my clothes are this lovely. I eat good food, and I travel with them, and I sleep in feather beds, and…”
“…and ye are locked in at night.”
Isobel stiffened. “Have ye been talking to Fiona?”
Catriona frowned. “Nay. Ye are the first one of us I’ve seen since I left the Keep.”
“Well, Fiona hates the Frasers. She tried to convince me to leave, but I think she’s gone a wee bit crazy from the life she had. Ye know, locked up in a Cunningham dungeon for years on end.”
Catriona shivered. “Poor Fiona.”
“Anyway, she didn’t understand. I hoped that ye would. We were always the closest, weren’t we?”
Isobel’s hand snuck out, taking Catriona’s. Her fingers were still cold, so cold, and Catriona longed to press them between her palms, trying to rub some warmth into them.
“Well, make me understand, then,” she said at last, somewhat unwillingly. “Why don’t ye want to go home?”
“Keep Fraser is my home now. Don’t ye see, Cat? This is how we’ll get peace in the Highlands. I am marrying Eamond Fraser, and together we’ll make changes. I’ll be Lady Fraser soon, and I can do anything I want. Within reason, of course,” she added, smiling happily.
“Ye can’t. Ye cannot marry him. They can’t make ye.”
Breathing in, Isobel swung her long, glossy hair over her shoulder.
“I love him,” she announced coolly.
Catriona’s brows drew in. “No, ye don’t.”
Isobel blinked, as if surprised at this response. “Of-of course I do. Why wouldn’t I? It’s what everyone wants. I always tell myself, Catriona, that I’m lucky. I’m lucky and I’m dutiful, and so everything will be fine.”
“Everything will not be fine. The Frasers hate our clan,” Catriona spoke slowly, frowning. “They want Da dead. They want to destroy the Glen. We cannot trust them.”
“Laird and Lady Fraser are… are a little bit difficult,” Isobel admitted, her full pink lips screwing up into a scowl. “But Eamond is completely different. I trust him. He’d do anything I asked.”
Catriona conjured up an image of Eamond Fraser, an innocuous, fairly good-natured man who hadn’t once glanced at his betrothed. The rest of the crowd had had their eyes fixed on Isobel, and he seemed to have forgotten about her existence entirely.
“He’s different in public,” Isobel said, as if reading Catriona’s mind. “He’s more reserved. I know who he is. He’ll help us, I know he will. Just give me a day or two to sort things out, Cat. I’ll take care of ye. When we leave, ye will come with us.” Her hand tightened. “We’ll be together again.”
Muffled voices echoed through the passageway, and Isobel’s face lit up in horror.
“Ye have to go,” she whispered, pushing Catriona towards the other doorway. “I have to get back inside before they find me in here. I’ll see ye soon, Cat, I’ll see ye very soon!”
With that, Catriona found herself standing out in the crossroads once more, the tapestry behind her covering the door and shivering ever so slightly in the draft. She stood there for a moment, head reeling, until echoed footsteps approached.
Sukie appeared, looking thoroughly annoyed.
“There ye are,” she grated. “Master Niall wants to see ye in his study. Ye are to go now. It’s urgent.”
Catriona stood outside the closed study door, thinking.
It occurred to her that she could just walk away and pretend she hadn’t received the message. She could ignore him. He was unlikely to come plunging furiously after her.
And yet despite it all, she lifted her hand, knocking on the door. The knock echoed. For a moment, there was silence.
Maybe he’s not there after all.
“Come in,” came Niall’s deep voice.
It made her shiver. Swallowing the saliva that had suddenly gathered in her mouth, Catriona stepped inside.
This time, Niall stood over by the window. Sunlight streamed in. By now, the sun would be melting the frost in the courtyard. She couldn’t help but think of Isobel, shivering in a thin, pretty dress that left her covered in goosebumps.
Niall glanced back at her, eyes flat, and Catriona’s heart sank.
“Ye know, then,” she said, her voice carefully neutral.
“That Isobel is yer sister?” he responded coolly. “That ye are a MacAlpin lass? Aye, I worked it out. No thanks to ye. I worked it out on my own.”
She let out a long, slow breath. “Ye deliberately made them send Isobel away so that I could talk to her.”
“I thought ye would have things to discuss. And I guessed that Isobel would not have a lot of time to chat privately when the Frasers were around. So,” he continued, taking a careful step towards her. “What now? What are ye going to do?”
Catriona drew her lower lip between her teeth. Her heart hammered in her chest, and it had nothing to do with the stress of the day. She found her gaze dropping to Niall’s mouth and the golden stubble glittering on his chin and cheeks.
Stop it! Now isn’t the time! Ye should not have kissed him before. It was a mistake, a big one. Stop it!
Gulping, she took a step back, putting some distance between them.
“I’m going back with Isobel,” she said at last, lifting her chin. “We’re going to be together.”
Niall’s gaze sharpened. “Ye cannot be this stupid.”
“Let me guess. Ye think I should stay here?”
“Aye, I do! Nobody but me knows who ye are. I’ll not tell.
I have no intention of seeing an innocent woman used as leverage.
I know the suffering yer sisters have gone through, even if Isobel refuses to admit that she has suffered.
I won’t put ye in that danger. I’ll keep ye safe from Kenneth and even from my father.
But if ye leave, ye’ll be at the mercy of the Frasers. Does that sound good to ye?”
Catriona shook her head. “Isobel will protect me.”
Even as she spoke, the words sounded hollow. Niall let out a short, mirthless laugh.
“Oh, that’s a joke. Ye must know that yer sister has no more power than a kitten.
A war is coming unless we work very hard to avoid it.
Farrish and Fraser are never content without bloodshed, and controlling Clan MacAlpin will give them power.
Ye can give them that power. If they discover who ye are—and don’t trust yer sister to keep yer secret—ye will be thrown to the wolves. ”
“Ye don’t know her.”
“Neither do ye!” Niall barked. “When is the last time ye saw her? Ten years? More?”
“That’s irrelevant.”
“She’s not the same person ye knew. Not anymore! She’s changed, and so have ye. Now, I have been patient. I have pretended to be indifferent to the choice ye make. No more, do ye hear me?”
She flinched. “Is that a threat?”
He let out a long sigh and slowly shook his head.
“Nay, lass. Consider it a warning. Some men may already suspect.”
An ice-cold spear shot through the back of her stomach. “What? Who?”
“Alasdair Farrish. I have a bad feeling about him. He’s a dangerous man, and Farrish is the most dangerous clan of us all, perhaps the worst in the whole Highlands. Listen, lass. Ye have no idea what ye are walking into. I’m sure ye are familiar with the phrase ‘better the devil ye know’?”
“Aye,” she responded uncertainly. “Are ye trying to say that yer father wouldn’t take advantage if he knew who I was?”
“I don’t know what he would do,” Niall responded. She felt as though he were telling the truth. “But I certainly know what Fraser would do. And wee Eamond, well… he’ll just sell ye off to whoever offers the best bargain.”
She flinched. “Ye are lying. My sister trusts him.”
“Yer sister has no idea who to trust.”
“I trust her more than ye. Ye already think like a brutish laird. Like Kenneth,” she hurled at him.
He blinked slowly, barely reacting to her insults.
“It’s up to ye to decide who to trust,” he said simply. “But be careful, lass. I mean it. Be very, very careful.”
Wordlessly, she turned on her heel and stormed out of his study, leaving the door swinging open.
I know my sister, she thought, furious. Who is he to tell me otherwise?
I know what I’m doing.