Chapter 15 #2
Magnus looked back at her then, and it was that look in his eye that truly made a ripple of fear run through her. It was not a look of anger or denial, but one of guilt.
“Who is this man, Magnus?” she asked, her voice loud in the quiet room. “Of whom is he speaking?”
Laird Gibson’s eyes fell on her, and as soon as they did, they softened. He bowed low and shook his head.
“I am sorry, lass, I didnae wish to ruin yer weddin’ day—”
“Ye willnae speak to her. Ye have arrived unannounced and uninvited!” Magnus roared.
Leah flinched; she had not seen him lose his temper before.
Gibson scoffed at him. “Does she ken of the man she has wed? Try to deny that ye killed me child!”
A great gasp went up from the crowd, and Leah’s eyes met her father’s as they were suddenly united in confusion and dismay.
“Magnus, what is he talking about?” she demanded, sweat beading on the base of her spine when she saw Magnus’s hollow gaze and despairing expression.
“I shall tell her if ye dinnae,” Gibson warned, and it was as if Magnus were carved from marble. He did not move or speak, and Leah felt cold dread settle in her gut.
Gibson stepped forward, sneering at him with utter contempt.
“A coward and a killer,” he hissed, clearly enjoying the spectacle he had created.
His gaze fell on Leah, and once more, his eyes softened.
“A long time ago, Clan MacWatt and Clan Gibson were embroiled in the clan wars. The fighting had been going on for decades. Our people were spent and tired, scattered to the winds and divided beyond repair. I kenned that an alliance had to be made if we were ever to see peace, so I chose for me daughter to marry.”
From the corner of her eye, Leah saw Magnus move his right hand to the hilt of the dirk at his belt.
“Elizabeth, me only daughter, would marry the heir to Clan MacWatt. Our alliance would unite us and make us a force to be reckoned with, beating the other smaller clans into submission and finally bringing peace to our lands.”
The whole room was hanging on Gibson’s every word as his gaze fell on Leah, his eyes sad and filled with pain.
“It worked for a time, and there was peace,” he continued, his voice rising steadily in volume, “until yer husband murdered me child in cold blood so that he could rule without the inconvenience of a wife he’d been forced to take out of duty.
” He turned to glare at Magnus. “History does have a habit of repeatin’ itself, does it nae?
Shall I take yer other eye in recompense and be done with this for good? ”
Leah clapped her hand over her mouth as she looked at Magnus. His jaw was set, his expression dark and brooding.
Her father took a step forward as Gibson turned to face him.
“Is this true?” he asked, horror lacing every word as he looked up at Magnus.
“Ye’re this lass’s faither?” Gibson asked, his face twisted into a grimace. “Ye’ve unwittingly made her marry a murderer, just as I did me daughter.”
In an instant, Magnus seemed to regain his faculties and suddenly came to life, advancing on Gibson, sweat covering his brow. He had the dirk in his hand now but held it with the blade facing away.
Leah heard the scrape of steel around the room as Gibson’s men drew their swords, but Magnus merely pushed the handle into Gibson’s chest as he spoke.
“I would never have hurt her,” he whispered darkly. “I would never have harmed Elizabeth.”
“Ye’re a liar!” Gibson shouted.
“She was carryin’ me child!”
Leah watched Gibson freeze in place, staring at MacWatt in bewilderment. He had clearly been unaware of Elizabeth’s condition.
“I would never have hurt me own wife. Especially nae when she was carryin’ me child. I only ever wanted to protect her.” Magnus shifted his gaze to Leah. “And I failed at that as well.”
He shook his head, his good eye glassy and filled with sorrow as he looked at Laird Gibson.
“I never told ye,” he said, his shoulders drooping as he took a step back.
He sheathed his blade, even as Gibson’s men kept their swords drawn.
“I didnae wish for ye to suffer more than ye already were. That’s why I spared ye of this knowledge.
But it’s true.” He backed further away, glancing around at the crowd.
“She was me wife, and I wished to do right by her. I never laid a finger on her, that I swear.”
After a long pause, Gibson’s eyes darted to his man-at-arms, and slowly, his men sheathed their weapons.
“She was with child?” he asked, the catch in his voice showing the emotion he was battling against.
“She was. For what it is worth, I would have cared for them both and any other bairns we might have had if we hadnae lost her.”
Everyone around them was utterly silent. The crowd barely moved.
Magnus straightened up to his full height and nodded to Gibson. “If ye wish to, ye are welcome to stay and celebrate with us. But dinnae threaten me bride again, or I’ll kill ye.”
He turned to Leah then, as if he might take her hand and they could resume their waltz together as though nothing had happened.
She felt as though the ground was opening up beneath her. The pounding of the waves returned in the back of her mind, and she was floating on an endless ocean again, unknown, lost, and alone.
She stared at Magnus, this stranger to whom she was now bound for life, and could not bring herself to move toward him. He stared at her, a frown etched on his face, the livid scar all the more prominent behind his eyepatch.
There seemed to be eyes everywhere around the room, every single person now staring at her as the slighted bride, the pitiable English girl who had been enticed into the sordid world of lairds and their wars.
She shook her head, not able to look at her father or anyone else.
“That is why everyone warned me about you,” she said, her eyes seeking out Oskar at the back of the room. “That’s why you tried to keep me away,” she stammered, feeling fear overwhelm her as the walls of the room began to close in on her.
“Leah… please,” Magnus said, slowly approaching her, his hand outstretched. But she could not go to him.
With a stifled cry, she turned away from her new husband, turned away from her father and her friends, and ran out of the room.