Chapter 27
Chaos dominated the courtyard, spilling into the rest of the castle. The posterior wings were spared from it, quiet save for the footsteps of the patrolling guards, but the rest of the place was filled with celebrating clansmen and women who had come to visit for Lughnasadh.
The courtyard smelled of roasting meat and the warm scent of burning logs. The same band who had played at the feast was back, their music filling the courtyard and prompting people to dance.
The evening was a swirl of colors as dancing couples flew past Rhea, the women’s petticoats and the men’s jackets turning her surroundings into an endless kaleidoscope.
Next to her, Mabel sat with a watered-down cup of wine, her cheeks flushed a pretty pink as she stared at the people with a smile on her lips.
Quiet as she was, this was the equivalent of cheering or dancing with abandon for her, but Rhea hoped she could get her to open up a little more that evening, just as she had at the feast.
This time, neither Callum nor Hudson was there. Rhea didn’t quite trust anyone else with her sister. It was bad enough that she had trusted Hudson with her.
“I wonder if they’re still doin’ their rounds,” she muttered, mostly to herself.
“Who? Callum?”
“Aye, Callum and his men,” she said. “Hudson isnae here either, and neither are the councilmen.”
The only one she could spot was Reggie, passing by the far curtain walls that very moment.
If there was anyone this ordeal had affected, it was Reggie. Even now, in the middle of the cèilidh, surrounded by so many people, he kept glancing repeatedly over his shoulder, as if he half-expected someone to be following him.
I’ve never seen a man so scared. Why is he so frightened? It’s nae as if he has to go to war.
Rhea didn’t even know if Reggie could wield a dagger, let alone a sword.
She could only imagine that a man like him, who had sat on the council for so long, had once been formidable in some way—either in brawn or brains.
But now he was older, frailer, though not quite so old as to excuse his behavior.
Some men are simply nae made for war.
“I’m sure they’ll be done any minute now,” Mabel said with a small shrug. “I cannae imagine that the Laird will be absent from the cèilidh.”
“It’s nice, though, is it nae?” Rhea asked, staring at the people who were dancing around the bonfires. “It’s been a long while since I’ve been to a cèilidh like this. First, it was Father, and then the war… I cannae remember the last time we hosted a cèilidh for Lughnasadh.”
“I can,” Mabel chirped. “It was three years ago.”
“Ye keep count?”
“One must preserve the past.” Mabel shrugged. “When there is nothin' else to be done, and when there is nay one else to do it, I write down everythin’ that I deem important for the future generations. So far, nothin' more important has happened.”
“Nothin'?” Rhea asked with a raised eyebrow.
“It’s more about the things that daenae happen,” Mabel emphasized. “Those are important. The lack of a cèilidh… now that can say much about a clan.”
“I fear ye are spendin’ too much time on yer own in that castle,” Rhea snorted, after a beat. “Ye have too much time to think about all this. Perhaps we should find ye a companion.”
“I’m nae a bairn anymore, Rhea,” Mabel said, turning a soft, gracious smile on her.
“Aye, I suppose ye’re nae,” Rhea conceded, smiling back at her. She reached over and cupped her cheek in a gentle hand, wondering where all the time had gone.
It hadn’t been that long ago when Mabel had been a little girl, running around Rhea’s skirts and trying to fool her governesses into letting her read instead of doing anything else they wanted her to.
“I’ll bring ye more wine,” Rhea said, pushing herself up off the seat.
The truth was that she was the one in need of more wine. Soon, her sister would return home. Even sooner, Callum would be gone. And she would be left alone once more to navigate the needs and demands of the castle and the clan, and that was something she didn’t want to consider at that very moment.
This is a cèilidh. I’m meant to be enjoyin’ meself.
She scanned the crowds around her as she headed to the makeshift bar they had set up in the courtyard, searching for Callum, looking for him in the shadows that loomed near the walls, though she doubted she would find him there.
Where was he? What was taking him so long? And where was everyone else?
Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the shadow that approached her. It was only when she felt a hand on her arm that she yelped, surprised by the sudden touch. She spun around to find none other than Reggie standing there, his dark eyes flitting back and forth as if searching for something.
“Reggie,” she gasped, lifting a hand to her chest. “Ye frightened me.”
“Forgive me, me Lady,” Reggie said in his thin, reedy voice. “But I’d like a moment of yer time.”
“Now?”
“Aye.”
“I’m listenin’,” she allowed.
“Nae here,” he insisted.
Once more, he looked nervously around him, as if he expected someone to sprout right out of the bonfires. In the firelight, his face seemed paler than usual, having lost all its color.
Rhea had the distinct feeling that the man was frightened.
“I’d rather… I’d rather speak to ye in private.”
She frowned in confusion. “Reggie, what is it?”
“I will tell ye,” Reggie promised. “I will tell ye everythin’, me Lady, but please… please come with me. We cannae speak here.”
It was her turn to look around her, wondering if there was something she had missed. If she or someone else was in danger and she didn’t know it, and Reggie could not quite find a different way to protect them other than whisking her away and telling her of the issue.
There was only one way to find out anyway.
She cast a glance in Mabel’s direction, relieved to see Sienna and Lara sitting with her, the three girls laughing near the fire.
“All right,” she said. “Lead the way.”
Reggie nodded a few times nervously, fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve as he turned around and gestured for her to follow him. He led her through the crowd, the two of them like a pair of shadows as they kept to the curtain walls.
Rhea found herself walking to the back of the castle, where there was no one but guards. Instead of stopping, however, Reggie took her to the emptiest, most remote spot he could find. It was only then that her heart sped up, bile rising in the back of her throat.
Had she been a fool to follow him there? Should she have been more careful, telling him that they could only speak if other people were present?
It hadn’t crossed her mind, the possibility that Reggie could hurt her.
He didn’t seem like the kind of man who could hurt anyone, not even a fly, and the thought had never occurred to her when he had insisted they talk alone.
But here, in the quiet and the dark, who could hear her if she asked for help?
She tried to maintain her composure, drawing in a steadying breath. “So, here we are,” she began, swallowing past a dry throat. “What is it that ye wanted to tell me?”
Reggie approached her, and she instinctively took a step back. But before she could get too far, he raised his hands, as if to show that he meant her no harm.
She didn’t quite trust him. Or rather, she wouldn’t have, had it not been for the frightened, miserable look in his eyes.
“Forgive me, me Lady,” he said, keeping his hands up. “I didnae mean to frighten ye. What I have to say to ye… it is I who should be afraid.”
Rhea frowned in confusion. This time, she was the one to approach him, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “What does that mean? What have ye done, Reggie?”
Reggie swallowed loudly, his throat bobbing. The guilty look on his face sent her heart beating like a drum in her chest. Fear gripped her.
Reggie had indeed done something, and whatever it was, it was clearly bad enough for him to fear for his safety. He had come to her first. He had come to her instead of Callum, and that could only mean that he dreaded what Callum would do to him if he found out.
“Tell me,” Rhea demanded, taking another step forward, only for him to cower, retreating toward the curtain walls. “Tell me, Reggie, or I swear…”
She didn’t know what to say after that. The truth was, she didn’t know what Reggie had done. It could be anything, from something harmless and small to treasonous. From the moment she had first met him, she had learned that he treated every disaster with utter panic.
“It was me!” he shrieked. “It was me, me Lady. I’m so sorry. I… I didnae ken what to do! I swear it! I was so frightened. I was so… I didnae ken what he’d do to me. Ye must understand. Ye must believe me. I didnae ken—”
“Reggie!” Rhea’s voice was sharp and loud, ringing in the air.
Reggie was quick to shush her, giving her an imploring look as he did so. “Daenae speak so loudly, please!” he hissed. “No one else can ken!”
“I daenae understand what it is ye’re sayin’!” Rhea huffed, throwing her hands up in frustration. “Slow down. Tell me again, from the start.”
Reggie made a sound that seemed suspiciously like a whimper. She watched him carefully as he struggled with himself, huffing in and out as if he was trying to force the words out of his mouth.
“When Laird Barclay came here, he tasked me with… with ensurin’ that he would get what he wanted,” he began. “I’m sure ye ken that he doesnae care about Lady Sienna. All he cares about is the lairdship.”
That was certainly not news to Rhea. Anyone who knew Laird Barclay knew that all he wanted was to take over Clan McMahon and that Sienna was only a means to an end.
“Of course,” Rhea said. “I’m nae a fool.”
“Certainly nae, me Lady.” Reggie nodded jerkily. “Well, he was prepared to do anythin’ it took to get the lairdship, includin’ threatenin’ me.”
“Threatenin’ ye?”
“Aye. He said he would kill me and me family if I… if I didnae do as he asked.”
“And ye believed him?”
“Of course I believed him!” Reggie hissed, waving his hands wildly before his face. “Would ye nae?”
“Ye could have told Callum,” Rhea pointed out. “Ye could have asked him for help.”
Leaning closer, Reggie seemed to gather all the composure he had left, his eyes flashing with a fire she had never seen in him before.
“I am bein’ followed,” he murmured. “I’ve only managed to slip away from me shadow now, during the festivities.
If I spoke one word, Laird Barclay would have kent, and trust me, me Lady, he would have made sure I suffered.
Ye may nae care about me and me family, but I do.
I care about them, and I care about me life. ”
“I never said I daenae care,” Rhea said, offended by the accusation. “I would have helped ye, Reggie. We would all have helped ye.”
“Ye’re nae listenin’ to me!” Reggie snapped. “Even now, I’m runnin’ the risk of bein’ discovered. Do ye nae see? If he finds out I’m here, talkin’ to ye, he will have us both killed!”
“Listen to me,” Rhea said, her eyes narrowing on him. “We have a duty to this clan. Ye and I—all of us. We have a duty, and we’re nae going to abandon it.”
“So what?” he retorted. “I was supposed to let me family die? I was supposed to give me life?”
“I would gladly give me life for the clan,” she declared.
“Ye never had to face it,” he scoffed. “Ye never had to look yer enemy in the eyes and dare defy him under threat of death. Do ye think that denyin’ him in front of the whole clan put ye at risk? Ye could have sent him away a hundred times, and he still wouldnae be able to harm ye.”
“That isnae true,” Rhea said, though she didn’t sound entirely certain.
The truth was that she couldn’t know for sure. She was better guarded than Reggie, that much was true. But she doubted that Laird Barclay would have so much trouble getting to her if he really wanted her dead. Or at least, not that much more trouble than he would have with Reggie.
“Ye daenae ken him like I do,” Reggie argued. “Ye ken nothin' about him.”
“I ken that he’s a terrible man,” Rhea said firmly. “And I ken that ye’re nae. Reggie, please… please tell me ye didnae do what he asked ye to do.”
Reggie’s gaze immediately fell to the ground between his feet. Guilt flashed across his face, and for a moment, he looked pained, as if it was torture to even consider everything he had done.
“Of course I did,” he muttered with a weary sigh. “What else could I have done? Refuse?”
“Aye!” she cried. “Of course!”
“I couldnae,” he insisted. “Besides, I… I tried to do as little harm as possible.”
“What did ye do?” she demanded.
Reggie fell silent, as if the mere air he was breathing was enough to choke him.
Rhea approached him once more, backing him up against the curtain walls, and he looked up nervously to check if there were any guards there. There weren’t. No one could hear him but Rhea.
“I… I was the one who cut the strap off the Laird’s saddle,” he admitted. Rhea thought back to the day she and Callum had ridden together, when he had fallen off his horse. “I was the one who told that lassie to rob ye. And I… I was the one who put poison in the Laird’s drink.”
Shock doused Rhea like a bucket of ice-cold water.
A chill crept through her as she stared at him.
It was as if she was staring at a stranger, not someone she had known for a whole year.
It was as if he had transformed right before her eyes, turning from a man she respected, even liked, to a man she abhorred.
“Ye could have killed him,” she gasped. “Ye could have… ye could have killed him, Reggie. How could ye?”
It was the only thing on her mind. Callum could have died, and Reggie would have been responsible for it, and yet he accepted none of the blame. He was nothing but a coward, a traitor. She couldn’t understand how he could put the entire clan in such peril.
“I told ye, they threatened me,” he said. “Please… please, me Lady… please daenae tell the Laird.”
Rhea scoffed, already turning around and stepping away from him. “Surely, ye jest. Of course I will tell him. He needs to be informed immediately.”
“Nay, please, I—”
A gasp sounded behind her, and she turned back just in time to see Reggie collapse to the ground.
At first, she didn’t know what she was seeing. It was dark there, the only light coming from the torches on the curtain walls. But then, in the half-light, she saw it—an arrow sticking out of Reggie’s chest.
She gasped, terror gripping her in its cold, merciless fist.
She stood rooted to the spot, unable to move as a figure emerged from the shadows, fully cloaked. She watched helplessly as the figure drew a dagger from its cloak and drove it straight into Reggie’s heart.
Only then did she regain her voice, a scream tearing from her throat.
She didn’t have time to run.