Chapter 31
They made it back to the keep by dusk the next day, and Lily had only a few hours to rest in her chamber before Niamh came to find her.
“How are ye feelin’?” Niamh asked. “Killian mentioned the damage in Wehnthor. He said ye fought bravely for us.”
Lily smiled as Niamh sat on her bed and reached out to stroke her hands.
“I am all right. I just wish there was another way to end all of this without any more men dying,” Lily replied.
“We might find somethin’ in the ledgers,” Niamh said as they sat there.
Lily had enjoyed a bowl of broth for supper earlier, and since she was waiting for Killian to find the ledgers in the vault so they could go through them, she had decided to enjoy the solitude of her bedchamber for a while.
“Have ye thought of what all of this would mean if Laird McLennan truly is guilty?” Niamh asked. “Ye trust Laird McLennan a lot. Ye have trusted in his innocence since ye got here.”
Lily nodded. “I have thought of it countless times. The only answer I come up with each time is the truth. He is innocent.”
“How are ye so sure?”
Niamh’s question echoed in Lily’s thoughts for a while before Lily sighed and admitted, “I am not.”
In fact, she was not certain of anything these days.
Duncan’s innocence, Killian’s feelings for me…
Lily tried not to think of their last encounter in his study, but fighting the thoughts was worse than letting them invade her mind.
“Whatever happens, ye should ken that I am grateful to you for helpin’ us.”
A soft knock sounded at her door after that, and both women rose to their feet once the door opened.
“I have the ledgers,” Killian said from the doorway. “We should take a look at them together.”
Lily and Niamh headed to his study, and once they locked the door behind them, Killian shoved most of the ledgers towards them, then he sat and started going through most of them.
Niamh left them after a while, and Lily had been reading through one scroll when she looked up at him. “Do you think your brother ever suspected he would be betrayed and killed? Do you think he trusted the one who did this to him?”
It took some time before Killian responded, “I think he did. Peter trusted too easily… He trusted everyone, and that was his problem. I always wish I was here for him… here to protect him.”
Lily dropped the ledger she was going through, then moved to sit next to him. When she touched his hand, he sighed and faced her.
“I know I shouldnae blame myself, but it is all I ever do.”
“You are a good laird,” Lily whispered to him. “You are a good brother, a good leader… a good friend. Your men adore you. They all fight for you, and that’s a good thing, Killian. You are not alone.”
“I dinnae feel alone,” Killian whispered as he stared deep into her eyes. “Nae when I’m with ye.”
The moment turned intense between them again, and Lily’s lids fluttered shut as he slowly leaned into her and brushed his lips against hers.
She kissed him back, parted her lips so his tongue could slide into her mouth, but then he pulled away.
Lily was about to speak up when a raspy knock sounded at the study door, and it opened.
“M’laird,” the guard who walked in called, and Killian rose to his feet. “Ye need to get to Wehnthor at once. A soldier just arrived from there. He brought news. Laird McLennan arrived with his men, and they are demanding ye. He wants to end this in person.”
Killian’s hands clenched at his sides at the mention of Laird McLennan, and he turned to Lily, who rose to her feet too. “I will be there.”
The door closed, and he picked up his sword’s sheath from the ground, where he had kept it minutes ago. “I must ride back to Wehnthor.”
“I am coming with you,” Lily said almost immediately, but he stopped her with his hands on her shoulders before she could take another step.
“I need ye to stay here and find somethin’ in these ledgers. I’ll meet with Laird McLennan and end this.”
“Killian,” she called, nodding when he stared at her hard.
“Find somethin’ for me and send word through a guard. I will fight Laird McLennan if I have to. We’ll settle this, and I will come and find ye.”
Lily nodded, and he kissed her quickly again, stealing her breath away before he walked out the door. Alone again, she sat down and picked up a scroll.
She had to find out whom Richard Easton had met with Peter that night. Whomever they had done business with was the real killer here, and Richard had a record of that.
I just have to find the last record of the deal Peter made with Richard Easton.
Her eyes started to hurt after some time, but she kept at it, searching through every ledger to find the right one.
Lily did not realize she had fallen asleep in Killian’s study until the first rays of sunlight filtered in through the windows and kissed her face.
She groaned as she stirred awake and rubbed her face. Her neck hurt a little, and she massaged the kinks there first before she picked the ledger again.
She was reading through the last one when she heard the door open. She spun around with speed and saw Fletcher come into the study.
“Sir,” she called, jerking to her feet with the scroll in one hand. “Did Killian send you? Are you here for the ledgers? Did Laird McLennan withdraw?” Her heart thundered as she asked the questions in a rush, and she nearly forgot to breathe for a moment.
Fletcher closed the door behind him, locked it, then took a step towards her as she waited for his answer.
“Did ye find anythin’ in the ledgers?” he asked slowly as his eyes shifted from the ledger in her hand to her eyes again. “Anythin’?”
Lily noticed the sheath of his sword at his side and his tense shoulders as he placed his right hand on the sword’s hilt.
“I have not found anything yet,” she whispered, then stared at the scroll in her hand one last time, read through the last lines, and spotted the last name written there.
Fletcher Gillies.
A knot formed in the pit of her stomach, and cold terror filled her body. She slowly raised her head to look at Fletcher again, and seeing that he was staring right at her, a lump formed in her throat.
Lily hoped he did not notice the change in her demeanor as she stilled her tremors and looked to him again, meeting his hard gaze with a flinch this time.
“I, uh… I did not,” she lied.
Her throat closed up, but she held her breath. The wheels in her mind spun with her thoughts, creating a whirlwind of terror that clawed its way right through her till it clogged her throat.
It was Fletcher that night? Fletcher was the only one with Peter. They met Richard Easton together and… Oh, goodness, Killian needs to know.
“Did he tell ye?” Fletcher asked. “Did he tell ye that I have served his family for many years now? That I have worked and tolled for them? His faither and then his brother? That I have done everythin’ they wanted? While ignorin’ every thin’ I have always wanted?”
“I, uh… I should head to my chamber and—” Lily dashed towards the door, but Fletcher grabbed her shoulders before she could make it far, spun her around, and shoved her hard to the ground.
“Did ye think ye could get away from me?” he growled, his features hardening as he sneered at her.
Lily whimpered when he grabbed her and drew her up on her feet again. “I have served them and done all they wanted, but once I wanted somethin’ for myself, he thought I didnae deserve it.”
Her body trembled now, and tears stung her eyes while her racing heart caused pain in her chest. Lily tried to move her hand to the hilt of her sword, but he twisted her wrist till she cried out, then pulled her sword out and tossed it aside.
“So, you killed him?” Lily spat bitterly, not bothering to hide her disdain as her eyes bore into his. “You killed his brother for your selfish reasons? It was all you? All this time… you lied to him, you made him… Goodness, there is an ongoing war right now because of you.”
“Tha mi beo leis a chlaidheamh,” Fletcher hissed before he burst into a wild cackle that echoed through the entire study.
Lily remembered the words Killian had said to her the night he had shown her the dirk found in his brother’s body after he had died.
“I live by the sword,” Lily muttered, holding her breath as a sob tore through her to the surface.
“I killed for them my entire life, and all I wanted in return was my own gold mine here in the Highlands. I could have been wealthy if he let me have my way, but Peter cared more for his plans, and he didnae see the need to let me in on his business!”
“None of that justifies killing a man… None of that justifies betraying your family.”
“I do not care!” Fletcher yelled, his eyes bulging out in his red face.
Lily rarely got scared in battle, but at that moment, she knew she was in actual danger.
“Fletcher, please…”
“I tried to end it the simple way,” Fletcher continued before his grip on her arm tightened. “I tried to take ye both down. I tried to kill him, but ye got in the way, and then I tried to kill ye, but ye survived somehow… What more do I have to do?”
Lily struggled against him now, but his grip was too tight, and she couldn’t breathe.
“Now, all I had to do was get ye two alone so I could finally put an end to this. Laird McLennan willnae forgive Killian for killin’ ye, and that will be their end.”
There was madness in Fletcher’s eyes as he dragged her out of the study with him, not caring that he was hurting her as she struggled against his hold.
“What are you doing? Let me go! Fletcher, please, I’m begging you. I need you to let me go and—”
They got to the dungeons, and he shoved her into a cell, locked her up, and then met her gaze with his steely, blue one, one last time. “Ye both die today, or I’ll burn this keep to the ground!”