Chapter 11
When Killian tossed Lily a sword, she fought with him against the men as they came at her.
Lily had three cuts on her arm when their attackers finally fell back, and she watched Killian go to his man-at-arms again, then lift him up from the ground with ease.
“Fletcher,” she heard him call as he pulled the arrow out of the man’s back. “Dinnae die… please.”
He sounded distraught, and she could tell from his pinched expression that he was worried about Fletcher.
Her heart ached as she watched him sob over the man’s still body. Lily knew she could help, and even though her mind was still spinning with numerous confused thoughts, she offered her assistance.
She checked if Fletcher was still breathing first before she said, “We can stop the bleeding and rush him back to the castle for the healer to see him.”
“Please, help him,” Killian pleaded with her, his eyes teary as he looked up and met her gaze.
Lily’s heart clenched hard, and she could only nod because her throat had tightened.
He cares about this man.
She sprang into action and began searching the valley around them for any herbs she could find.
“I could not find much herbs, but this will help with the bleeding a little. It is not as potent as hemlock, but it will suffice for now.”
She crushed the leaves in her hands and gently applied them to the gaping hole the arrow had left in Fletcher’s back. When she finished, Killian lifted him off the ground, carried him to his saddle and strapped him on.
“I must ride with him… He is unconscious. Ye should ride alone,” he said, shocking her as he began climbing into his saddle.
“You are giving me a horse?” Lily questioned. “To ride on my own? What if I flee?”
Killian only stared at her for a long time, then he shrugged. “Then so be it,” he replied. “Take the horse, do as ye please… Ye are free to go, but do not forget what happened here today. Laird McLennan sent these men to kill us, just like he did when we were at the inn.”
“You do not know that,” Lily protested in a faint voice, shaking her head.
She believed Duncan to be a good man. She had lived with him for years. He cared for her, for Amelia, for his sister, for Arran… There was a long list of people he cared for. She trusted him.
“He is a good man, Killian,” she insisted stubbornly as tears threatened to spill for the first time since she had been taken from her home. “He would not do this. Laird McLennan would not kill innocent people for any reason.”
“Ye really believe that? Ye trust him that much?”
Lily saw his jaw harden as his gaze flickered over her one last time before he nudged his horse forward and tightened his grip on the reins.
With a loud command, he rode off into the distance, and his men followed, leaving her standing there alone with a horse and a choice to make.
She could turn in the opposite direction and ride towards McLennan Castle, or she could go with Killian and find out what he believed Duncan had done that made him so full of anger and hatred.
Lily sighed as she stared at the horse. Killian struck her as a good man. That was why she had jumped to fight with him at every chance she got. Besides, he had also protected her back at the inn, when he could have let those men kill her.
Laird McLennan would not try to kill me.
Lily was certain of that, even though she was not certain Duncan would risk his men or his life to come for her.
I am a mere servant. I am replaceable.
Lily could not bring herself to ride away even after she mounted the horse. She had to find out who had tried to kill her twice now.
It is definitely not Duncan. These men could not be part of his army.
Without letting herself re-think her choice, she pulled the reins and began riding in the same direction Killian had ridden so she could catch up.
It was night when they reached his keep. Lily galloped in on her horse after getting lost in his village twice. When she finally got into the keep, Killian and his men stood there, speaking in Gaelic.
He looked right at her once she stopped in her tracks. Her hands stayed limp at her sides, and she held her breath for a moment, hoping the shiver that rocked through her would pass. Killian did not stop looking at her.
Something about this man made her trust him easily. She wanted to help him… fight for him. Her insides tingled when she thought of the other insane things she also wanted to do with him.
His touch… His kisses.
Lily knew she wanted to kiss and touch him again.
“Ye came,” he interrupted her thoughts and strode towards her, stopping only a distance away.
He hadn’t come close, and she could already inhale his musky scent.
“I could not leave,” Lily murmured. “Not when I know that someone is after your life, and mine too, and trying to cast the blame on Laird McLennan. He has been a good man to me since I met him, and I shall prove his innocence by helping you find the real culprit.”
Killian’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits. “I dinnae need yer help. I ken who tried to kill us, and I will make him pay.”
“Maybe you do not need my help now, but you’ll have it, anyway. They also tried to kill me, and your guard, Fletcher, is wounded because of them. I will fight to help you find out who was behind this, and in return, you must apologize to Laird McLennan for the trouble you have caused.”
“Laird McLennan is behind this!” Killian’s chin trembled, and the hot, red fury slashing through his eyes burned her. “Ye trust him blindly because he is yer friend, but ye dinnae ken what he did… Ye dinnae ken what he took from me!”
“Then tell me,” Lily yelled right back, meeting his gaze and raising her chin in defiance.
“Tell me what he has done so wrong that you wish to see him suffer for it. Tell me why you plotted to kidnap his sister. Is it for revenge? I am here as a tool to help you get that? Or are you doing all of this for your own selfish reasons? What did he do so wrong that—”
“He killed my brother!” Killian’s words echoed around them.
Lily saw his eyes darken after he yelled the words. Then, he groaned, and his eyes moistened with tears. The implication shocked her to the core and made her stiffen.
“Yer beloved laird killed one of the few people that mattered to me. He killed my brother and left my people to suffer with his raids. He caused my people pain and destroyed all they have worked so hard to build. He has to pay!”
Lily’s lips parted in shock as she stared at him, taking in the range of emotions that rocked through him. She saw pain in his eyes when he looked at her, and fury too.
“Fight for me if ye want, but make no mistake, ye cannae trick me into believin’ yer friend’s innocence, no matter how hard ye try.
If yer aim is to do that, then I suggest ye leave me castle now and dinnae look back, because when the time for my revenge comes, I shall show no mercy… Nae even to ye.”
He stormed away after that, and Lily heard the reverberating thud of a door closing a second later. The guards standing around there stared at her for a long time.
I am free to go.
But she stood there, shaking inside. Why could she not take the chance and leave?
Lily ended up returning to the bedchamber Killian had assigned to her, and she spent the night staring out the window, thinking of the words he had said to her.
He killed my brother.
Lily could understand his pain. She had lost her only family when she had been little, and growing up without them before Amelia’s father had taken her in had been challenging. She did not know Killian’s story, but she knew what the grief of losing a loved one felt like.
As she stared into the night sky and listened to the hoots of night owls celebrating, she found herself thinking of Killian only. She thought of sending word to Laird McLennan.
But what if he really is not innocent?
The tiny shred of doubt settled in her mind. She did not know what to think at the moment, but she knew she had to act soon because whoever had tried to kill them twice now would try again.