Chapter 28 #2
Something wasn’t right, but Killian couldn’t figure out what it was. Murdock’s demeanor wasn’t at all what he had expected, and there was an earnestness in his brown eyes that Killian just couldn’t comprehend.
“Och, we got yer gift,” he hissed.
Confusion flickered across Murdock’s face, deepening his frown.
“Then why did ye nae sign the peace treaty? Why did ye nae come to meet me in the woods? I was goin’ to keep waitin’, but me faither will get suspicious if I’m away for too long, so I thought I’d come and ask ye directly why there’s a delay.
” He swallowed loudly. “But it seems ye daenae want to sign the peace treaty at all.”
Gripping the pommel of his sword so tight that his knuckles began to throb, Killian took a step forward, his breath pluming in the cold morning air. “Is this a jest to ye? Did yer faither ask ye to torment me?”
He had to force himself not to hack the head right off the man before him.
“I daenae understand,” Murdock said, his confounded expression undeniably convincing.
“When I saw me sister with ye in the woods, I realized that… she was happy. Calmer, brighter, more at ease than I’ve ever seen her.
And what she said to me about never thinkin’ of anyone but meself—I thought on it some and kent that she was right.
I realized that I can stop this war so that me daughter gets to grow up without fearin’ for her life.
Ye and I hadnae started it, but we can end it. ”
Killian’s brow creased as if he were in pain, a wave of uncertainty sweeping through him.
What on earth was Murdock up to? What elaborate and strange joke was this, to speak of Ailis with such fondness? Killian had heard the stories himself. Murdock had never shown his sister an ounce of kindness before, so what was going on?
“I sent ye a peace treaty,” Murdock continued in that same earnest tone. “It was supposed to reach ye when ye returned from the chapel, after the weddin’. I had me best man ride ahead to deliver it.”
“Yer ‘gift’ was nay peace treaty,” Killian spat, once again expending every shred of willpower he possessed not to strike the wretch down. “It was me braither’s severed finger and a lock of yer daughter’s hair.”
Horror contorted Murdock’s face, his mouth falling open, his eyes widening to the whites.
“Nay. I assure ye, it was a peace treaty,” he rasped. “I wrote and signed it meself. It must have reached ye. As I said, I sent me best man.”
“And as I said, all we received was a box with me braither’s finger and a lock of yer daughter’s hair in it,” Killian shot back, uncertain of what to make of the man’s reaction.
Was it real or a performance?
At that moment, Paisley came running out with the box in question, as if she had known it might be needed. With a face that mirrored his inner fury, she opened the lid and showed Murdock.
“Ailis took the lock of yer daughter’s hair,” she spat. “And I’d wager she’s cursing yer name for usin’ yer own child against her, kennin’ how much the lassie means to her.”
Murdock bristled with disgust, though he leaned in to get a closer look at the finger, squinting at it.
“Where’s me sister?” he asked, reeling back. “I need to explain. I sent a peace treaty, I swear it. I would never do this.”
“She’s nae here,” Killian replied. “She saw this vile gift, saw that lock of yer daughter’s hair, and went back. Went back to keep yer daughter safe, and to stop any other bits bein’ cut off me braither. I told her it was a trick; she wouldnae heed me.”
Murdock shook his head, mumbling incoherently to himself as his anxious gaze flitted from the box to the woods to the castle to the sun coming up in the distance.
“Nay… nay, nay… this cannae be. I was careful. I…” He paused, wide-eyed. “We need to leave.”
“The only place ye need to go is me dungeons,” Killian countered, watching for any flinch or movement to suggest that Murdock was about to run.
But the man stood firm, clasping his hands together as if in prayer.
“Nay, ye daenae understand.” He took a shaky breath.
“Somethin’ happened to prevent me man from deliverin’ the peace treaty.
If me faither kens about it, then me daughter and sister are both in danger. He’ll kill them both to punish me.”
“Ye’ve never cared for either,” Killian scoffed, his own nerves spiking.
He had thought of how miserable Ailis’s life would be, now that she was back within the walls of Castle Ainsley. And though he had warned her that she might be killed there, he hadn’t actually believed it. Not until he saw abject fear etched into her brother’s features.
“I have done everythin’ to keep me sister safe,” Murdock snarled, his temper suddenly flaring. “I have been cruel to be kind. I wouldnae expect ye to understand, or to believe me, but it’s true. And if ye stand there questionin’ me, then we’ll both lose her, and me daughter will suffer too!”
Killian moved forward, but Paisley darted between the two men, her hands up in a gesture of diplomacy.
“Heaven help me if I’m wrong, Killian, but… I believe him,” she blurted. “The man who delivered the box—he had blood on him. It’s why I looked inside. I had this… sense that it was somethin’ awful, and I wanted to ken, so I could describe the man who delivered it.”
“What did he look like?” Murdock barked.
“Forty or so, brown hair with gray at the temples, blue eyes, a scar across his mouth,” Paisley replied.
A groan escaped Murdock’s lips, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “That isnae me man. Me faither kens.” He shook his head slowly. “Me faither kens what I did… what I meant to do.”
“And what’s that?” Paisley asked, her voice a beacon of calm in this sea of confusion.
Murdock sucked in a breath. “I meant to oust him. It was there in the treaty that I’d replace me faither and this war would end, with everyone returned to where they’re supposed to be. Nay more bloodshed. Nay more fightin’. The heirs fixin’ what our faithers couldnae… or wouldnae.”
For a moment, he looked like he might be sick.
“I kent the soldiers would support me; they fear me faither so much that they’d leap at the chance to be rid of him, at me command. And safely confined in the dungeons, he’d never bother anyone again.”
Killian could hardly fathom that he was listening to the devil, but despite everything, he was starting to believe him.
But if he was starting to come around to the idea that the man was telling the truth, then that meant…
“Horses!” He whirled around, shouting to the guards—to anyone who could get to the stables before him. “Three horses! Now!”