Chapter 15
The Truth Comes Out
Cormac was having the most delicious dream.
Until raised voices outside the door, followed by a loud bang, pulled him awake.
He was upright and reaching for his blade before his eyes were fully open, his first thought the woman beside him. Then he registered what he was seeing. There in the doorway stood Boyd MacKinnon, the Monk himself, and behind him an apologetic Seumas shrugging his shoulders.
He got out of bed and wrapped his plaid about him.
Boyd took in the scene, his eyes on the woman in the bed, then turned to Cormac. "Shadow. Is there a reason why my son's godmother is passed out in yer bed?"
"Lady Fenella is yer son's godmother?"
"Who is Lady Fenella?"
"The woman in my bed."
"That woman there is Una Murray. Our village seamstress. My wife's closest friend. She disappeared and has had Bella beside herself with worry. The only reason I left home and hearth was to find her."
Cormac cursed. "What do ye mean? I was told she was Lady Fenella Lockhart, the woman some men wanted to ransom."
"So ye got her to warm yer bed instead? Good grief, man, what is the matter with ye?" Boyd's voice had risen enough that Seumas took a quiet step back into the corridor.
"No! 'Tis not what it looks like."
"'Tis exactly what it looks like." Boyd crossed the room and leaned down, then straightened with disgust when he smelled alcohol. "Did ye drug her to have yer way with her?"
"I did not drug her!" Cormac roared. "Ye should ken me better than that. And stop gawking at her, damn you."
"Would ye both stop shouting." Una's voice came muffled from the pillow. "I have a terrible headache."
She came to slowly, blinking against the light, nursing her head with one hand. Her face was pale and her eyes, when they finally focused, were slightly glazed.
Then she saw Boyd MacKinnon standing at the foot of the bed and they went wide.
She pushed herself upright, too fast, winced, and immediately began making urgent eye signals at Boyd across the room.
"Boyd," she whispered. "Ye need to be careful. This is Mr Shadow. He will not take kindly to yer shouting. Ye have Bella and Quinn to worry about."
"I ken exactly who he is, Una. We have a long history and I'll shout at him if I bloody well like, especially when it comes to protecting ye."
"'Tis all a misunderstanding. He does not ken who I am."
"'Tis a bit late for that." Boyd turned his scowl on her. "Una, what the bloody hell have ye gone and done now?"
***
"ARE YE REALLY UNA MURRAY and not Fenella Lockhart?" Cormac asked.
He had not moved from his side of the room. He stood with his arms at his sides and his voice was quiet and controlled.
Una met his eyes. "Aye."
"Why did ye not tell me?"
"Because when yer men took me I thought ye were bringing me to the thane for a reward. I could not let on I was not Fenella when that might be the only thing keeping me safe."
"How did those men mistake ye for Lady Fenella?"
Una paused a moment, then took a deep breath. "Lady Fenella is a distant cousin, and I tutor her and her sisters in embroidery. 'Tis possible they saw us together and simply mistook me for her. We also share very similar features."
"And where is she now?"
"The family are away at royal court in Edinburgh for the summer. Someone should warn them that Fenella is a particular target."
Cormac nodded, then asked, "So were ye just going to keep pretending until we reached Edinburgh?"
She held his gaze steadily. "Aye. I mean no. I was going to escape last night and make my way to MacKinnon Keep. I intended to, but then I fell asleep."
"Ye were going to run away?" His voice had dropped further. "Alone. On the road. Without a word to me. With no real plan?"
"I was going to MacKinnon Keep!"
"Boyd's keep is two days from here on a road that is not safe for a woman alone, and ye ken it!" He was across the room now, the fear of what she had planned landing hard. "Do ye have any idea the kind of danger that awaited ye in the forest?" he roared.
"I knew what I was doing, Mr. Shadow, and I'll thank ye not to shout at me when my head feels like it's been split open with an axe!"
"Then perhaps ye should not have drunk two pints of ale on the night ye were planning to escape!"
"It was one pint!"
"It was two. I counted."
"So now ye're counting my drinks!"
"Someone had to!"
Boyd, who had been watching from the window, cleared his throat. They both turned. "Just to be clear," he said, "I am still in the room."
"Stay out of it," Cormac snapped.
"She is my wife's best friend and Quinn's godmother. I'll stay in it as long as I please."
"This is between me and Una."
"It stopped being just between the two of ye the moment she ended up in yer bed," Boyd replied.
"I did not compromise her." Cormac pressed two fingers to his brow. "She is entirely as I found her. I give ye my word."
Boyd looked at Una. She gave a small, tired nod. His expression eased a fraction.
Cormac turned back to her. The anger had not gone from his expression, but something else was moving behind it now, slower and less certain.
"That is why ye stiffened every time I called ye Fenella," he said.
"Aye," she replied quietly.
Una knew what was coming. She had known it the moment Boyd walked through the door and said her real name aloud.
The truth was out. The borrowed name was gone and there was nothing underneath it but a village seamstress with a cottage and a workbasket and no family worth speaking of.
She was nobody. She had always been nobody.
The past days had simply been a dream she had been foolish enough to believe in.
Cormac said nothing.
She waited for anger, dismissal, cold withdrawal. She got silence. Somehow that was worse.
She reached for her shawl from the foot of the bed.
"I ken ye'll want nothing to do with me now," she said, keeping her voice steady. "I shall return home with Laird MacKinnon." She swung her legs off the bed and stood, the room tilting slightly beneath her. "I am sorry for the deception. Ye were kind to me. I am grateful for it."
She moved toward the door where her things were.
Cormac still said nothing. She took that as her answer.
***
THERE WAS A NOISE FROM the doorway.
Maisie filled the frame with a large pitcher of hot water and an expression that screamed of exasperation.
"I dinnae ken what is going on in this hallway this morn," she said, crossing to the washstand and setting the pitcher down with a clank, "but there is far too much shouting in my inn at this hour and I will not have it!
There are clean drying cloths on the rail.
" She looked between all three of them. "Breakfast will be served downstairs.
I expect ye all to be at it and behaving like decent folk.
" She directed her final look at Cormac and Boyd. "Particularly you two. Out."
Boyd scowled but walked out and stood in the hallway.
Cormac stood a moment longer, looking at Una. She did not look back. He followed Boyd out and pulled the door closed behind him.
***
THE SMALL ROOM AT THE end of the corridor had two barrels and a narrow window letting in grey morning light. Seumas had made himself scarce. It was now just Boyd and Cormac.
Cormac had barely closed the door when Boyd punched him in the face.
"Ouch! What the devil was that for?"
"That was for making my wife cry."
"When have I ever made Bella cry?"
"When ye kidnapped Una."
"I did not kidnap her! At least, not at first."
"What do ye mean?"
Cormac told him everything: the king's mission, the interception on the road, all of it. Boyd listened without interrupting, his arms folded, his expression darkening by degrees.
"And were ye going to just hand the lass over to a group of cutthroats?" Boyd asked when he was done.
"No! Of course not. I protected her, and they've all been handed over to the king's enforcer."
"How did ye get caught up in all this anyway?"
"Because King David could not get a hold of ye, ye love-sick fool. The thieves were operating in yer burgh and his messengers were too frightened to deliver a message that might drag ye away from Bella and Quinn."
Boyd smiled despite himself. "Aye, 'tis true. I probably would have murdered them."
"Yet here ye are instead of in yer keep with yer family."
"Only because Bella was crying and Quinn was fussing. I hate it when my wife is sad." He uncrossed his arms and let out a long breath. "Ye understand what ye've done to that lass's reputation, even without meaning to."
"I do," Cormac replied.
"Then ye'll wed her. Today. Before either of us leaves this inn.
" Boyd moved to the barrel by the window and sat on it.
"Here is what we'll do. Ye marry her this morning, make it legal and proper, and then I take her back to MacKinnon Keep with me as a married woman.
It will look far better for her that way.
Bella and the village will see she is well and safely wed.
Ye finish yer work for the king in Edinburgh and when ye're done ye can fetch yer wife from my Keep.
It gives ye both time to adjust to yer new situation and it keeps Una close to people who love her.
" He sat back and considered the matter settled. "It will also appease Bella."
Cormac looked at Boyd. "No," he said.
"I beg yer pardon?"
"No. Absolutely not." Cormac's voice was firm. "I will not be parted from my own damned wife minutes after we're wed."
Boyd stood up from the barrel. "Be reasonable. This is the best way forward."
"I heard ye the first time."
"Then why are ye resisting? Una stays with me and Bella until ye come to fetch her. Bella will be glad of the company and Quinn adores her. It is the sensible arrangement."
"Boyd."
"She will be safe and well cared for and ye can concentrate on raiding and whatever the king requires."
"Boyd." Cormac took a step toward him. "Una stays with me. That is the end of it. If ye want to be useful, go fetch the priest."