Chapter 18
Lachlan knew that he needed to apologize.
He couldn’t even fathom why he would have believed anything Errol Fenton said, but there had been something in his eyes.
Something that he made him believe and Sloane was someone that he couldn’t easily figure out.
She had all this strength but still a child-like wonder and at the same time, she had her secrets.
Even now, she backed away from him with wide eyes. “Sloane,” he said with a frown as he stepped toward her.
“I have to go,” she said softly. “But I will be right back.”
“Wait, Sloane, I want to talk about this,” he insisted, but she was already picking up her skirts and hurrying from the room.
Gritting his teeth, Lachlan waited a moment before he shook his head and hurried after. Whatever his wife was up to, it stopped now. He wanted to believe her, but she kept pulling stunts like this.
Not to mention that she was running around in her night shift. He didna trust the Fenton guards.
Quietly following her trail, uncertainty filled him when she turned to the abandoned wing. A shriek filled the air and he broke out into a run until he saw Sloane entering one of the chambers.
“Freya,” she shouted. “Freya, what are ye doing?!”
Freya? Bursting into the room, he stopped short when he saw Freya sprawled out on the bed with her skirts hiked up to her waist. Standing by the bed was one of Gair’s guards who looked at Sloane with shock.
“Ye said that we wouldna be interrupted,” he hissed at her.
“What?” Sloane asked as she hurried to Freya’s side. “Freya, are ye all right?”
“Get away from me,” Freya cried. “Doona touch me. How could ye do this to me?”
Slowly, his wife backed away from the bed and stared at her. “I didna do anything.”
“What in damnation is going on here?” Gair demanded suddenly as he and others of the keep crowded in the room. He was still wet from his dip in the water and there was fury on his face. “I heard a scream. Freya?” His jaw dropped open as he saw her. “What are ye doing?”
“Gair, ’tis not what ye think,” Freya cried out as she struggled off the bed to right herself. “Please!”
The pain was written all over his face as he backed away from the room. “I cannae do this. I just… I cannae.”
Weeping, Freya fell to her knees. In the chaos, Lachlan realized that the man had slipped away, but Sloane was still staring at them with horror on her face. “Freya, I swear to ye that I didna know.”
“Silence,” Lachlan roared as he hurried to Freya’s side. He knew that it looked like his sister was caught in a dalliance, but he knew that there was more going on. He’d heard his sister scream and she would never deliberately hurt Gair this way. Or him, for that matter. “Freya, what happened?”
“Lachlan, I’m so sorry,” she wept. “I thought I was meeting Gair, but when I got here, this man attacked me.”
A storm raged inside of him as he stared at his wife. “Ye knew about this? Did ye set her up? If Brisbane doesna marry her, the peace willna stand!”
“That is all ye care about?” his sister hissed as she pushed away from him. “I was attacked, Lachlan!”
Damnation. “Freya, I am sorry. Are ye all right?”
“No! I am not all right!” Bursting into tears, she stood and turned to face Sloane. “I doona know what I have done to offend ye, but I willna forgive ye for this.”
“Freya, I would never do something like this!”
“I heard what he said,” Freya whispered hoarsely. “That you promised him he wouldna be interrupted. Ye are made up of naught but lies and secrets.”
As his sister ran from the chamber, Lachlan knew that he needed to go after her, but all he could do was stare at Sloane. Her eyes were wide with fear when they met his.
“Lachlan, please, doona put this on me. Ye have to believe that I would never—”
“Stop talking,” he hissed as he moved away from her. “I must see to my sister. Just stay here until I can sort this out.”
“Stay here?” she echoed hollowly as she looked around. “But this isna our chamber.”
His heart lurched, and he swallowed hard. “Aye,” he said coldly as he turned. “Here. I will come fetch ye when I am ready for ye.”
All the blood drained from her face as he cast her one last gaze and left slamming the door behind him.
Stopping at the entrance of the keep, he instructed one of the warriors to round up Gair’s men.
The first thing that he wanted to do was to hunt down the man who attacked Freya and demand the truth from him.
When he went in search of his sister, he didn’t find her in her room, but he did find her with their parents. She was sobbing on the bed while Maggie stroked her back while their father hovered anxiously.
“Lachlan,” Calder said anxiously. “What in damnation is happening?”
“That is what I want to know,” Lachlan said in a low voice as he kneeled by his sister. She was still shivering. “Tell me what happened, Freya. I know ye doona want to talk about it, but ’tis important. Please.”
Sniffing, she straightened and nodded. “I didna mean to yell at ye, Lachlan. I am sorry.”
“Shhh,” he whispered. “’Tis all right. Just walk me through it.”
“Gair and I have been arguing since he has been here. We have been trying to work things out. I know he finds me difficult, but then I got a note from him this morning saying that he wanted to meet me tonight in the old wing. I know ye doona think that it was proper, but I spoke to Sloane about it. She agreed that meeting him would help strengthen our relationship.”
She inhaled a shuddering breath. “I got there first. I was so excited, but when the door finally opened, it wasna Gair. I wasna prepared. I thought he was going to tell me why Gair wasna coming, but then he was on me. I screamed and that is when Sloane burst in and that horrible man said… He said…”
“I heard what he said,” Lachlan said darkly.
“What did he say?” Maggie demanded. “What is going on?”
“He insinuated that Sloane set her up,” he said as he struggled to contain the rage still rising up inside of him. “What purpose would she have to do such a thing?”
Freya started to rock back and forth. “I doona know. She must not want Gair and I to marry…”
“’Tis about the alliance,” Calder said quietly.
“Errol must have set this up. Ye threatened to go to the king, but instead of following through, ye took it upon yerself to forge a new plan for peace. Errol effectively lost his daughter, but Gair may not hold up his end of the bargain. If he petitions the king for compensation, he may get the land that he has always wanted.”
“Sloane was in on it.” Lachlan felt sick. He wanted to tell them what Errol had said about Sloane killing Quinn, but he didn’t know what to believe. He did know that Sloane was right in the thick of things and she didn’t seem clean.
“Freya, I am going to speak to Gair. I have men hunting down yer attacker as we speak, but I want to keep this quiet. If I can explain things to Gair and keep this from turning into an incident then we can defeat Errol. He will leave here with nothing.”
“And Sloane?” Freya muttered darkly. “What will ye do about her?”
“I will get to her, but I need to speak to Gair first. Freya, I know that I have asked much of ye, but I need ye to be strong for me now.”
He could see the pain and anger in her eyes, but she nodded and leaned against their mother. “Go,” Maggie muttered. “We will take care of her.”
Rising, Lachlan looked at his father. He felt like he was somehow betraying his sister for the good of the clan and Calder looked at him with pity in his eyes. If there was anyone who understood how he was feeling, it was his father.
“I will return after I have spoken to Gair. It will be a long night.”
It pained him to leave his sister, but he had a clan to look after. Striding through the halls, Lachlan stopped at Gair’s chamber and pounded on the door. Although he heard movement inside, the Brisbane Laird didn’t open the door.
“Gair,” Lachlan said roughly. “Open up. We need to talk.”
The heavy door swung open and Gair stared at him with fury in his eyes. “Lachlan. I have no issue with ye, but I doona want to talk tonight.”
“’Tis not always about what ye want,” Lachlan said bitterly as he shouldered his way into the room without waiting for an invitation.
“Ye cannae possibly be thinking of asking me to marry yer sister after what I just witnessed,” Gair hissed.
“’Tis exactly what I am asking. I assure ye that my sister’s honor is still intact and even if she did love another, ye promised to wed her.
” Lachlan took a deep breath. “Fortunately, I am here to tell ye that Freya doesna love another. She only has eyes for ye and she thought it was ye that she was meeting tonight.”
“Is that what she said?” Gair said bitterly.
“That is what I know,” he shot back. “My sister is no liar. If ye need to, ye are welcome to speak to the staff. I intend to hunt down the messenger of the note and get the truth, but if my sister says that she thought she was meeting ye, then I believe her. I also believe that one of yer men attacked her and I already have guards out looking for him. When I get my hands on him, he willna live long.”
“I want my piece of him.” Gair’s snarl was nearly feral, but when he sank onto his bed, he looked broken. “I should have known. I saw the look on her face just before I walked away. Pain. Lachlan, what have I done?”
Lachlan knew the look well because it was the same look that was on Sloane’s face. The only difference was that the look on Freya’s face had been genuine. He wasn’t so sure about Sloane.
“She will understand,” he said roughly as he cleared his throat. “Ye may speak with her tonight if ye wish. She is with my parents. Someone set her up and I intend to find out who.”
“Errol,” Gair growled. “He is the only one who would benefit from me turning my back on Freya.”
“I am inclined to believe ye. Gair, if ye wish to protect Freya, ye will keep quiet about this. Even if ye believe that she was tricked, her reputation will suffer if this gets out. Not everyone will believe her and that will hurt her.”
Growling, Gair nodded. “I will speak to her. Ye should know that no matter what she says, I willna see her hurt any further. I do love her.”
“Aye,” Lachlan said softly. “I know. Ye are a good man. I would never have agreed to this if ye were not.”
“And what of yer wife? How does she factor into this?”
“I doona know, but I intend to find out before the sun rises. I willna allow these games to continue.”
Sloane stared at the bed as bile rose in her throat. She could only imagine the kind of horror that Freya had felt and she could only think of one person who would be responsible for it.
“Father, what have ye done,” she whispered as she pressed her back against the wall.
As soon as Lachlan had mentioned that Gair had to pay his dues from his failed challenge, Sloane knew that Freya was in trouble. She should have told Lachlan, but she didn’t want to waste any time.
Her father hadn’t just wanted to ruin the love between Freya and Gair and destroy the alliance, he’d wanted to take her down with them. And all because she wasn’t willing to do his bidding.
It had never been clearer that her father had never loved her. She was nothing more than a tool and he’d bided his time before he used her. The loss of that cut deep. How long had she wanted him to smile at her and tell her that he was proud of her?
And now Lachlan...
If she couldn’t make him realize that she would never hurt Freya, she would lose him as well, and that would cut even deeper.
As the hours passed, her body ached from the cold of the room, but she couldn’t sit on the bed and warm herself and she couldn’t leave. If she left before Lachlan returned, he would think the worst of her and she couldn’t live with that.
So, she stayed.
The rays of the sun were just starting to light the horizon when the door opened and Lachlan marched in with fury etched on his powerful face. “Tell me that ye had nothing to do with this,” he demanded. “Tell me and pray that I doona believe ye are lying.”
Tears ran down her cheek and she wrapped her arms around herself.
“The night of our wedding, my father pulled me aside and he told me that nothing was more important than the peace between the clans. He told me that Freya had a reputation with other men. I didna know her at the time and I agreed to keep an eye on her for him and make sure that she remained true to Gair.”
“I gave ye my clan’s name,” Lachlan growled. “And ye decided to spy on us?”
“No,” she cried out. “I sent no letters or messages to my father. I got to know Freya and I knew that my father had nothing to worry about.”
“So, ye decided to create a problem? All to please yer father who is hell-bent on destroying Gair?”
A chill swept through her as Lachlan took a step toward her. “I didna know,” she whispered. “Freya told me that she was meeting Gair, I had no reason to believe otherwise until ye told me of Gair’s nightly plans. I raced to Freya’s side to make sure that she was okay.”
“Aye, to cover yer folly,” Lachlan hissed.
“Please, husband. Ye have to believe me.”
“I was willing to believe that yer father was lying to me once about ye, but I heard that man when he saw ye. I know what he accused ye of. Ye have kept too many secrets, Sloane.” He shook his head. “I doona believe ye.”
It was happening. She was losing everything. “Lachlan, please.”
“When I leave this room, I will be removing yer father from our lands and revoking his invitation to visit. Ye will leave with him and that is the kindest thing that I can do for ye. If ye find yerself with child after ye have left, I will return when the child no longer needs its mother’s milk. We willna have to speak again.”
“No,” Sloane whispered as she stared at him. The very thought of going with her father made her blood curdle. “I am not leaving this keep.”
His gaze moved to her belly and anger flushed her cheeks.
“To my knowledge, I am not with child. That is not what this is about. Ye are my husband and this is my home.”
“If ye stay, it willna be as my wife and ye willna be mistress of this keep,” he said harshly. “Do ye understand?”
He was offering her nothing more than a nightmare. If she stayed, she would be surrounded by people who hated her and she would be ignored by the man that she was growing to love, but if she left, she would never have a chance to prove her innocence. At least here, she had some hope.
“Aye,” she said softly. “I understand.”
“Verra well.” He looked out the window. “I intend to get a few hours of sleep, but the sun is rising. I suggest ye get to the kitchens and report to the cook. Ye can prepare breakfast. And Sloane? Ye are to stay away from my sister. If I see ye speaking to her, I will exile ye with nothing more than the dress on yer back. Tomorrow, when I am gone, ye can remove yer things from our room. Ye can sleep here so ye can always be reminded of what ye nearly did to the woman who thought ye were her friend.”
He slammed the door behind him when he left and Sloane sank to her knees and wept.