Chapter 11
They waited out the next couple of hours together anxiously.
Gareth kept trying to lift himself off the bed and walk, insisting that he was fine to travel, but then he would become dizzy and light-headed again, and no matter how hard he tried to hide the signs of it, Pelna would see them and force him back to bed.
Other than that, they largely sat in silence, each lost in their own dark thoughts.
Finally, she took a deep breath and spoke up, “Let us just say, fer the sheer sake of argument—”
“Aye, for we’ve not had nearly enough of that already,” he grumbled.
She primly ignored his comment and continued. “Let us say that one of yer people did murder Bran.”
Gareth rolled his eyes. “We have been over this. I told ye, I never gave any such order.”
“Nay, I am not sayin’ that ye did,” she interjected quickly. “Rather, I am askin’ if there might be one among yer number who might do such a thing without yer leave?”
“How in blazes am I supposed tae ken that, lass?” he demanded, exasperated.
She fought to keep her patience with him, reminding herself of the physical agony he must be in and doing her best to dismiss his bellicose nature as a symptom of that alone.
Even so, it was difficult for her to keep from responding to his sneering and snarling in kind.
She tried to picture him as a wounded animal, perhaps some wild woodland creature with its paw caught in a snare.
It might snap and bare its fangs when one attempts to rescue it, but that sort of behavior could hardly be taken personally, and saving it nevertheless remained the right thing to do.
“Ye might start,” she suggested, “by considerin’ whether ye ken of anyone who opposed yer father’s measures in fightin’ this war.
Someone who would have an ulterior motive in terms of provokin’ us further and therefore escalatin’ the conflict.
Some captain of yer soldiers who may have been overheard grumbling about the nature of his orders, for example, or an advisor whose counsel has been ignored a few too many times. ”
“Hm. Ye make a good point there,” he begrudgingly admitted. After appearing to give it some serious thought, he said, “Nay, I cannot think of anyone who would fit within those parameters. All of us have been loyal tae my father.”
“Ye are quite sure?” she prodded.
“Aye,” he retorted, “I’ve just said so, haven’t I?”
Pelna took a deep breath. “Then what about some family who lives close tae the border? One who may have lost too many of their members in battle against us and might seek tae pay us back for it more harshly and swiftly than yer father would allow?”
“But every family in our clan has had great losses due tae the fights with the Wallaces!” Gareth observed hotly. “Especially those close tae the border, as ye can see from the very cottage we are currently within.”
She could see how impatient he was getting with her line of questioning, but she couldn’t afford to care. She needed to get to the bottom of this, damn it, whatever it took.
Which meant asking something she knew he would react badly to.
“What about yer sister?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Elysa? How could ye think she would do such a reprehensible thing? Without my knowledge and against my father’s will? Are ye bloody daft?”
“Then ye can look me in the eye and tell me she has been entirely in agreement with yer father in every particular of these wars?” Pelna challenged.
“That she has never been critical of his policies? I pose these questions tae ye, believin’ ye tae be a truthful and honorable man, Gareth, despite our clans’ hatred for each other.
Tell me I am wrong, and I will not press the point. ”
She worried that he would explode at her but instead, he frowned, his eyes growing distant.
“There…have been times, here and there,” he admitted with difficulty.
“Skirmishes which she felt were needlessly provoked by us. Tactics that she decried as unnecessarily cruel. But the idea that she would act on her own like this and kill a simple farmer and an elderly one at that?” He shook his head firmly.
“Nay. I ken my sister better than anyone alive. We shared a womb, for heaven’s sake.
We are so close that we often seem tae read each other’s thoughts, predict each other’s actions.
She would never have crossed the border tae commit such a foul murder. Of that I am certain.”
Pelna nodded. “Thank ye fer answerin’ me honestly, at least. That could not have been easy fer ye tae admit, under the circumstances.
Still, someone has done this thing, and we must get tae the bottom of it before more people die without reason.
Clearly, someone has set out tae outsmart us. We must see that they do not succeed.”
“Well, we are the soon-tae-be leaders of our clans, aren’t we?” As he said it, there was a roguish twinkle in Gareth’s green eyes, one she found strangely disarming. “We must be deft in our thoughts and clever in our strategizin’ if we are tae live up to the legacies of our fathers.”
“Speak fer yerself,” she scoffed. “I will never lead anything, or have ye mistaken me fer a man?”
She couldn’t be certain due to the darkness of the room, but in the brief flicker of the firelight, Pelna was almost positive she saw him blush a little.
“Nay, my lady, no one with eyes could possibly make such an error. I was simply commentin’ on yer brothers.”
“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow. “What about them?”
He smirked knowingly, then winced as a stab of fresh pain went through his chest and shoulder.
“Come now, Lady Pelna. Although I am certain that yer father will name his eldest tae succeed him as laird, and though I have no doubt that Daric will be roused from whichever tavern he’s passed out in tae “assist” him, any fool could see that without yer guidance behind the scenes, both of them will be utterly lost in leadin’ the Wallace clan.
Ye are smart, resourceful, and most of all, brave and strong of spirit.
If ye were a man, ye would be laird. As it stands, I have little doubt that ye will privately play the role due tae the deficits of character inherent in yer brothers. ”
Pelna gave that some thought. Her father had made hints in that regard earlier, but they hadn’t had a chance to discuss it properly before Bran’s death and the rest of it. Could that be what Laird Cameron had in mind for her after his death?
It was a nice thought, to be sure, the idea that he would show so much faith in her, that he would give her credit for her intellect and potential leadership skills. However, he hadn’t had a chance to actually say that to her in so many words, which made all of this mere conjecture.
And also…
“Once my father is gone, though, what chance do I have of makin’ them listen tae me?” She sighed heavily. “I am merely their sister, and I am sure both of them will have their own ideas about how tae do things even if those ideas happen tae be wrongheaded and bad for our clan.”
“Ye are cunnin’ enough tae have them do as ye please, I believe,” Gareth said.
Despite the pain and tension in his voice, there was a strange warmth there as well, a friendliness she hadn’t heard from him before.
“Neither of them seem as though they would be entirely immune tae yer attempts tae sway them this way or that if it came tae it.”
“Manipulate them, ye mean? Get them tae do as I would have them do, rather than followin’ their own instincts?”
“Their own flawed instincts,” Gareth corrected with a grin.
It was that chummy smile that suddenly set alarm bells clanging in Pelna’s head.
She folded her arms, frowning at him. “Ah. I see the truth of it now.”
Gareth tilted his head, puzzled. “What do ye mean?”
“Ye, with yer sudden compliments and twinklin’ eyes,” she shot back angrily.
“Ye’ve hit upon a fascinatin’ solution tae this entire problem, haven’t ye?
Why, all ye need do is charm me enough that ye may whisper in my ear once my father is gone and expect me tae push my brothers into doing what would benefit ye and yer clan the most!
Ye would flatter me by sayin’ that I am in control of the Wallaces when, in fact, ye would be the one pullin’ the strings in all ways that matter! ”
He looked at her for a long moment, stunned, then threw his head back and laughed.
“What is so damned funny?” she demanded.
“Ye!” he exclaimed, grimacing in his mirth as the laughter caused his wound to hurt all the more.
“That was quite the fanciful notion that ye just put forth! Believe me, I wish I had been clever enough tae come up with such a grand scheme. Now that ye’ve stated it outright, I’m almost ashamed of myself for not coming up with it first. But nay, Lady Pelna, I had no such intention in mind.
I will be far too busy managin’ the affairs of my own clan when the time comes tae trouble myself with runnin’ yers using ye as a proxy.
Besides, as ye’ve just proved, ye are much too intelligent tae be used in such an ill fashion. ”
“More sugared words,” she spat with a scowl. “Ye are not tae be trusted. Indeed, I have half a mind tae get up and leave without yer company after all.”
“Then I suppose we ought tae be on our way, then,” he groaned, doing his best to raise himself from the bed, “before such a dangerous notion eclipses the other half of yer mind as well. Come, help me up, if ye please, and let us have this over with once and fer all. Before ye give me ideas for more nefarious schemes.”
Pelna did all she could to ignore his continued laughter as she helped him stand up straight.
It was anything but easy.