“But ye didnae. Why?”
An unwelcome tension stretched even tighter between them.
“I would ne’er harm Alexander. I was trying to keep him safe.”
He took a small step closer. “Ye didnae answer my question.”
She closed her eyes. “I love my husband. And I would rather see the stone destroyed than in the hands of my father.” She paused. “He isnae the man I thought he was.”
“Now that is the smartest thing ye’ve said yet. I could have told ye that, lass.” John shook his head. “I cannae keep this from my laird. Ye must tell him the truth or I will. And he will know before we take our leave to Lewis this morn. Do ye understand?”
She paused. “Ye cannae let Alexander travel to Lewis.”
“The MacLeod tried to kill ye—twice.”
“Nay, he didnae.”
“Lady MacDonell, I’d like to think I’m a verra patient man, but ye have a way of making me become verra impatient.”
“John,” she said, calling him by his Christian name in the hope that he wouldn’t see her as the enemy. She reached out, and the muscles of his forearm hardened beneath her hand. “Ye must believe me. I am loyal to my husband, but if I tell ye…I cannae have harm befall my clan. Nay matter what they have done, they are still my family.”
“And so is your husband.” He sighed. “I am nae the laird, m’lady. I only follow his orders. I can make ye nay such promises. Now tell me why ye think the MacLeod isnae responsible.”
There was a heavy moment of silence.
“Because the man ye held in the dungeon was my father’s man.”
***
Alex walked into the great hall to break his fast. He finally managed to get some sleep since he knew John watched over his beloved wife. When memories of Sybella started to flood him, he merely reminded himself that she was a deceitful MacKenzie wench. Nothing more.
He was immediately drawn to the clan crest on the floor. He wondered how long it would take for the lass to be tempted to remove the eye of the raven. A small part of him silently hoped that she wouldn’t and perhaps their tender moments were truly that.
He looked down and noticed the rock was loose. Well, it could’ve been the fact that it wasn’t the damn seeing stone. He lifted his eyes to find his wife standing in the entry to the great hall. Her widened eyes couldn’t mask her guilty expression if she tried. Instead of following John’s advice to wait, Alex felt his temper quickly rearing its ugly head.
Thundering toward his wife, Alex grabbed her roughly by the arm. His fingers dug into her soft flesh. “I will speak with ye now.” She practically had to run to keep up with him as he pulled her along behind him.
“Alex, please. Ye are hurting me.”
“Your arm is the least of your worries.” He lessened his grip, and once he closed the study door, he thrust her away from him. “Ye betrayed me.”
“Please calm down. I didnae.”
“Donna tell me to calm down. Where is the stone?” he demanded.
“Alex, please.”
“Where is the stone?” he repeated.
“I donna have it. I—”
“Donna play games with me.”
“I speak the truth. I—”
He threw back his head and roared with laughter. “Ye speak the truth? Since when does a MacKenzie ever speak the truth?”
“I know ye’re angry, but let me explain.”
“Where is the stone? Ye will give it to me. Now.”
“I donna have it. I threw it in the loch.” She took an abrupt step toward him and lifted her hand to his cheek. “Please listen to me. Ye must believe me. I lov—”
He pushed her hand away and his eyes narrowed. “Ye took the stone only to throw it away in the loch? Careful, your lies are becoming tangled, Wife. I was a fool to marry ye, but at least I was wise enough to have my men follow ye. Whether ye tell me or nae, I will find that damn rock. And ye MacKenzies shall ne’er have it.”
She looked hurt and tears welled in her eyes.
“Your game is over, lass. I know everything. The only reason your father arranged this marriage was for ye to steal back the stone.”
“Alex, ye have to believe me. I—”
“Do ye honestly think I care?” He heard his bitterness spill over into his voice.
She hesitated. “How long have ye known? Last eve when ye laid with me…Did ye…Did ye think I could…”
He smirked.
“Alex, after what we shared…”
“I gave the MacKenzie wench a good tupping was all.”
He felt the sting of the slap, and Sybella’s eyes burned with fire. “My father is many things, but he was right about something. Ye are a wicked man, Alexander MacDonell. Lest ye forget, your clan stole my clan’s seeing stone. Your clan burnt our church to the ground…while a piper encircled it playing a bloody melody!”
Alex wasn’t about to tell her the piper had been his idea. He needed to get back to the task at hand. “And ye betrayed me.”
“And that is truly all ye see,” she said as her voice faded. Sybella placed her hand over her heart and looked him in the eye. Her gaze was clouded with tears. “With all of my heart and all that is mine, I truly loved ye, Alexander MacDonell. Mayhap one day ye will nae be blinded by your hatred and will open your eyes to see what was before ye.”
“All I see before me is a damn MacKenzie who feigned herself off as my wife in an attempt to betray me and my clan. Ye are naught more than a MacKenzie whore.”
And with that, she smothered a sob and fled.
***
Sybella needed time to erase the pain. Ice spread through her veins and she felt an acute sense of loss. Alex’s words had hurt her beyond recognition, and her misery was so prominent that it was actual physical pain. Her anguish controlled her. Trapped in her own lie, she was defeated.
She ran to the stables. When she grabbed her saddle and carried it to her horse’s stall, the stable hand approached her.
“M’lady, please let me do that for ye.”
“Nay, I will saddle him. Thank ye.” She didn’t dare look the man in the eye. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing, but she suddenly found Glengarry extremely suffocating. She needed air, needed to breathe, and needed to be as far away from Alexander as possible.
Sybella pulled her mount over to the riding block. With nothing but the clothes on her back, she galloped out the gate and did not look back. Someone called to her in the distance, but she knew the voice was not her husband’s. No matter, she was dead to him.
She rode hard, fast, and her horse thundered beneath her feet. Tears blinded her and she had to trust her mount to see. Alex’s words replayed in her mind and a stab of guilt lay buried in her chest. She pulled on the reins for her horse to stop and covered her face with her trembling hands, giving vent to the agony of her loss. Her breasts rose and fell under her labored breathing. She took deep breaths until she was strong enough to hold her head up.
She kicked her mount to continue to the only place where she knew she’d be accepted.
Kintail.
***
John called out to the daft lass, but she rode through the gates of Glengarry like the hounds of hell nipped at her heels. He turned and yelled at one of his men.
“Go after her! Bring her back!”
One of the guards charged out of the gate after Lady MacDonell, and John shook his head. As they had agreed, the lass went to speak with Alex to tell him about the stone and Lewis. And from the looks of things, John had a fairly good idea of what had happened.
He found Alex in the first place he looked, sitting behind his father’s desk with a tankard of ale. John closed the door behind him.
“Already ye are in your cups?”
“She took the stone.”
John sat down.
“I know. Ye had me follow her, remember?”
“Where is it?”
John paused and his eyes narrowed. “Your wife didnae tell ye?”
Alex sat back and rubbed his hand through his hair. “Of course she didnae. She told me she threw it into the loch.”
“She did.” Alex was silent for a moment and John sat forward. “What exactly did she tell ye?”
Alex shrugged. “I did most of the talking. After a while, I could nay longer listen to her lies.”
“And did your wife tell ye that she loves ye?”
Alex smirked. “I donna know what she said. If she did say that, it was spoken conveniently after I caught her in another one of her lies.”
“I want ye to listen to me verra carefully, Alex. I love ye as a brother, but sometimes ye are naught more than a daft fool.”
Twenty
Sybella rode into the bailey of her family home. For some reason, the formidable, gray stone castle was not as welcoming as she remembered it being. With not a single tear left within her to cry, she handed her mount to the stable hand and simply walked into the great hall.
Everyone was seated in time for sup, and they all looked up and spotted her at the same time. She merely stood frozen in the entrance, dirty and defeated, as Colin raced toward her.
“Ella, what are ye doing here? What has happened?”
“I’ve come home, Brother.”
He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Where is the MacDonell?”
“He doesnae come. ’Tis too late, Colin. He knows everything.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Colin wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Come in, Ella. I cannae believe ye traveled all this way by yourself.”
She dropped her lashes quickly to hide the hurt. “I’ve taken one of my husband’s prized mounts. Please have one of the men see the horse returned to Glengarry at once.”
“Donna worry about that now.”
Her father approached her. “My dearest daughter, we didnae expect ye. What are ye doing here?”
She glanced to the end of the table to see that Mary’s expression was one of concern. Sybella lowered her gaze and looked back at her father. “I have come home.” Knowing her anguish peaked to shatter the last shreds of her control, no other words came to mind.
Mary rose and hugged Sybella. “I have missed ye. Why donna I have a bath drawn for ye, and we will get ye something to eat and drink.” Mary rubbed her hand gently up and down Sybella’s back.
“Where is the MacDonell? Surely ye didnae come alone. I have arranged for his passage to Lewis,” said her father.
All Sybella could do was give her sire a blank stare. This was entirely his fault. Because of his machinations, she lost the love of her life. And she found the only place she was welcomed was in her own personal hell, and of course under her father’s roof, which was basically one and the same.
Colin shook his head. “Nae now, Father. We must take care of Ella.”
Mary guided Sybella to her chamber and neither one of them spoke. Mary opened the door and Sybella sat down in a trancelike state on her old bed. The men carried in the tub and the steaming buckets of water, and Sybella didn’t even notice they had departed until Mary helped her undress.
Sybella’s mind was numb as she lowered herself into the tub. Even the warm water didn’t help to soothe her nerves. For once, Mary must have sensed Sybella’s unease because she left her to her own devices—although, the woman showed her concern and returned with a nightrail and a tray of food.
Mary sat down on the bed and smiled with compassion. “What has happened, Sybella?”
Her voice broke miserably. “I betrayed my husband.”
Instead of chastising Sybella like Mary always did, Sybella’s cousin-by-marriage merely sat and listened. In truth, Sybella needed a friend, or at least one person who did not judge her. She’d forgotten what that felt like.
“Do ye know our clan has a seer?” asked Sybella, her voice sounding distant.
Mary’s mouth dropped open. “A seer? Nay. Who?”
Sybella shrugged. “I donna know.”
“What does this have to do…How did ye betray the MacDonell?”
Sybella rubbed her hands over her face. “Several years ago when Alexander’s father burnt our church, he stole our seer’s sacred stone. This seer apparently could foretell the future with this stone, and the last he foretold was Father’s success on Lewis.”
Mary stared wordlessly.
“Father and Colin knew Alexander’s father held the stone, and when the MacDonell died, Father arranged for me to wed Alexander. But what Alexander thought to be an alliance formed between MacKenzies and MacDonells was naught more than another MacKenzie scheme to steal back the stone.”
Sybella rubbed the wet cloth up and down her arm.
“Father’s man shot an arrow aimed for my head so that Alexander would keep me within the walls of Glengarry to search for the stone. When I took too long to find it, Father’s man tried to kill my husband. The man was captured and wore the MacLeod tartan to make it look like the MacLeod was responsible. At any rate, Alexander was to travel to Lewis to kill the MacLeod because of Father. Now my husband knows all and I betrayed him.”
“Sybella, I cannae believe what ye speak is true. How could your father do this? How could your father expect ye to do this? The MacDonell is your husband.”
“Alexander nay longer cares what becomes of me. I am only another deceitful MacKenzie in his eyes.”
Mary knelt beside the tub and touched Sybella’s shoulder. “I donna know what to say.”
“There is naught left to say. I am home where I belong. I deserve my fate.” Sybella rose from the tub and grabbed the drying cloth. She donned her nightrail and took a sip of mulled wine from the tray that Mary had brought.
Sybella raised her eyes to find Mary watching her.
“Praise the saints. Ye love him.”
“It doesnae matter. I mean naught to him.”
Mary wrapped her arms around Sybella. “All this time and ye finally found love. Tha mi duilich.” I am sorry.
Sybella’s head was bowed into Mary’s shoulder, her body bent over in despair. Again, she was assaulted by her sick yearning for the husband who no longer wanted her and who could never love her.
She was nothing.
Nothing but a MacKenzie.
***
“If what ye say is true, why wouldn’t she tell me?” Alex continued to pace in his study.
John smirked. “Hell, did ye even give the lass a chance? Ye barely let her speak and were verra quick to judge.”
“I need to go after her.”
“I sent one of my men and he should be back by now. Let’s go to the bailey and see if he returned with your wife.”
Alex and John were walking out into the bailey as the rider dismounted from his horse. The rest of Alex’s men stood around, preparing to travel to Lewis.
The guard approached them, shaking his head. “Lady MacDonell had too much of a start. Her horse was too fast. I lost her.”
“Damn. Which direction was she headed?” asked Alex with concern.
“Toward Kintail.”
Alex ran his hand through his hair. “God’s teeth. This is naught short of a disaster. Mount up. We ride to Kintail.”
“I shall be here when ye return. Donna worry about Sybella.”
Alex turned around to see MacGregor standing with Rosalia. “I donna have time to explain, but I donna travel to Lewis. We take our leave to Kintail to bring back my wife.”
Rosalia’s eyes widened. “Kintail? When did Sybella leave for Kintail?”
Alex felt guilty enough. He didn’t need his cousin placing a dagger through his cold heart.
“Do ye want me to come with ye?” asked MacGregor.
“Na
y, if ye could stay here and keep an eye on Aunt—”
“Nay worries.” MacGregor slapped him on the shoulder. “Bring back the stone in one piece.”
“I could care less about the stone. I will bring back my wife.”
MacGregor’s only response was an approving smile. “I told ye she loved ye.”
“What are ye two talking about?” asked Rosalia.
MacGregor draped his arm across his wife’s shoulders and led her away.
Since the men were already prepared to travel to Lewis, they didn’t need long to be ready to ride. Alex probably didn’t need to take as many men as he was, but he would rather have too many by his side than not enough, especially because he didn’t know what he would face when he met up with the MacKenzie.
The bastard was ruthless, using Sybella to do his bidding. Not only did the man have someone try to kill Alex, but the fool had someone take a shot at Sybella—his own daughter. What if the archer would’ve hit her?
The men mounted up and thundered out the gate. With a score of his best men, Alex pushed his mount faster. Fire fueled his veins and his eyes were dark, dazzling with fury. And to think he was supposed to travel to Lewis to take the MacLeod’s head. He only knew one thing for certain.
He would come back to Glengarry with his wife by his side and return with a head that was not the MacLeod.
***
Sybella’s bedchamber door opened and she sighed. “Mary, I donna really want to talk to ye right now.”
“Well then, mayhap ye will speak with me.”
She jolted upright. “Father.” He closed the door and Sybella rose from the bed, wrapping a blanket around her.
He walked over to the sitting area and sat down in a chair. “Please, join me.”
Sybella reluctantly sat down and faced her father, his arm resting casually on the table.
“Where is my stone, Daughter?” A sudden chill hung on the edge of his words.
She shot him a cold look. “Where is your bloody stone? Ye donna ask if I’m all right. Your archer took aim at me in the forest, and then your man tried to kill my husband. Ye blame the attempt on the MacLeod and then try to have my husband do your bidding. ‘I need ye to gain your husband’s trust and be a dutiful wife. That is all I ask of ye.’ How dare ye! Ye used me to get your precious stone and still planned on harming Alexander. I am your only daughter. Why, Father? I demand to know why.”
Victoria Roberts - [Bad Boys of the Highlands 03] Page 21