It was still early, but there were a few people out and about. News of Greg’s actions had spread, and everyone she met stopped and asked her if she was all right and apologized for their accusations against her. Despite everything, it warmed her heart to know that they were starting to like her.
“Ye really have turned things around,” Ainsley said as they stepped off the path and into the western part of the forest. “I have to be honest with ye, Moira, I didnae think that ye could do it. Highlanders are a stubborn lot and can hold a grudge for years.”
Pride swelled inside of her. “I have worked hard to greet each and every one of them, to allow them to get to know me rather than make assumptions through a bunch of rumors. I am just happy that ’tis paying off.”
Quietly, they walked deeper into the woods. “What do ye think he hid out here? A journal of some sort? Evidence of past sins? Evidence that might point to the person he hired to try and kill Connor?”
“Hmm?” Ainsley asked. “Oh, I doonae know about all that. I imagine that all we might find out here is proof that Greg used his immeasurable skills out here to bring a woman pleasure.”
Stopping abruptly, Moira blinked in confusion. “Ye saw Greg bring a woman out here?”
With a snort, Ainsley smirked. “No, Moira, I was the woman that Greg brought out here. Him and his brother. There is nothing out here but trees and birds. Certainly no one to hear ye scream.”
A slight chill crawled down her spine. Right before her eyes, the woman that she’d considered a friend seemed to transform. Gone was the teary wide-eyed innocent look of a woman who’d suffered betrayal after betrayal. In its place stood a hard woman with a calculating look on her face.
And hatred in her eyes.
“I doonae understand,” Moira whispered. “What is this all about?”
“I doonae relish the thought of killing ye. Ye have always been kind, but I am afraid that things have not gone to plan.” Slowly, she reached under her skirts and pulled out a weapon she’d been hiding under there. Swallowing hard, Moira backed up a few paces and held a hand over her belly. Ainsley gripped the mallet and followed the action with a stark smile. “My dear, sweet, Moira. Ye willnae leave these woods alive, and that child of yers will never be born.”
Then, she struck.
Once again, Moira was gone. Connor blew out his breath and cursed himself inwardly. Nothing he did was right, and last night, he’d walked out on his wife after she’d nearly been killed while under his protection. It wouldn’t surprise him if she decided she’d rather live on the opposite side of his lands and never see him again.
She was nowhere in the keep, and he’d already checked Miriam’s cottage on the way in. Remembering that Grace had said something about a picnic, he went in search of her and found her looking for him. “Connor, I was looking for Grace and Ainsley, but I cannae find them. A few people have said that they have seen them heading toward the western part of the border, but why would they be going there? We are supposed to be meeting in the kitchen.”
He frowned. “I upset her last night and left. Perhaps she needed to go for a walk this morning.”
“Ye upset her? After everything that she went through? Connor Sinclair, what did ye do?”
“I told her that I loved her.”
Pressing her hand to her heart, she smiled so sweetly before launching herself into his arms. He barely caught her and stumbled back with a grunt. “Ye arenae nine anymore,” he grumbled.
“I am so happy with ye that I doonae even care that ye are making fun of me. Connor, I knew that ye would realize that the two of ye are meant to be together. I know Moira is stubborn, but she will come around. Ye will see. I am just so happy that ye took the first step.”
“Aye, and she all but called me a liar. I got upset and left her, Grace. I need to find her so I can let her know that I understand, to know that I will take her whether she believes me or not. Do ye know when they will return?”
“Connor, I think we should go to her. I havenae wanted to say anything because I thought perhaps it was all in my head, but there is something strange about Ainsley since she’s arrived. She sneaks off in the dead of night and at all hours. I believe she was having an affair with Greg because more than once I saw them leaving for the woods. I would never say anything to her about it because she deserves happiness, but then she acts so shy when we talk about men. And now we know that Greg was a killer.” Grace’s voice trailed off, and she bit her lower lip. “I doonae think that Moira should be alone with her.”
Horrified, he stared at his sister. “Why did ye not say anything to me last night when we caught Greg?”
“It wouldnae be the first time that a woman chose poorly when it came to a man, and she already felt so much guilt. I didnae want to humiliate her further by dragging her secret out. I lost one friend for years after unfairly accusing her. I could not do it to another, but the more I think about it, the more things simply do not add up. I doonae think she is being honest about everything, Connor. Let me help ye look for her.”
“Nay. Ye will find Mungo, Clyde, and Nathair, and have them form a search party. Then ye are to stay in the keep.”
“I want to help!”
“Ye have, and ye are, but Grace, I must know that ye are safe if I am to find my wife.” Pulling her close, he squeezed her. “Promise me that ye will do this for me.”
“Aye,” she sniffed. “This time, I will stay behind. They left on foot.”
There were paths too narrow for a horse in the dense woods along the western border. It was useless for hunting but it was the perfect place for a secret tryst.
Or perhaps something more devious.
He didn’t want to believe that Ainsley was a killer, but with Moira’s life at stake, he didn’t dare disbelieve anything. Hurrying, he raced to the woods but was stopped short when something stepped out onto the path and smirked at him before he raised his sword and struck. The blade sliced along his cheek and left a red trail trickling down his shirt.
It was the man’s likeness more than his surprise assault that had Connor stumbling back.
“Tis not possible. Ye are dead!”
“Perhaps I am a ghost,” Greg declared with a ghoulish grin as he raised his sword. It was still dripping with Connor’s blood. His face twisted with rage. “Or perhaps I had to stand by in the shadows while ye murdered my brother.”
“Twins.” Of course. There was no other explanation. Connor had been suspicious of Greg, but he was always surrounded when the incidents occurred. Now, it could have been him or his brother. “So are ye Greg?”
“George.”
“Well, George, ye should know that yer brother took his own life, like a coward.” Carefully, Connor circled the other man. He had a small dirk at his side, although it would do no good until he could get the sword away.
“Ye shut yer mouth! My brother would never! Ye murdered him in those prisons, and now ye spread filth!”
“Even if he didnae, I would have had every reason to execute him. He attacked my wife.” A thought struck him, and every hope he had that Moira might be safe fled. “Ainsley knew.”
“We pledged to die for our mistress, and Greg did. Ye were not to be harmed, but I cannot live without avenging my brother. Not even for her.”
He was not to be harmed? It seemed that everything that had happened had been to intentionally harm him, but as he thought back, he realized that the attempts always seemed to be a little off. Fires when he was not in the room. Projectiles that didn’t quite hit the mark. Opportunities that were never flushed out.
“I took Ainsley in. I gave her shelter and sanctuary. Why would she turn on me like this?”
George snorted. “The great Laird Sinclair. So besotted with his own wife that he doesnae see the people around him for how they truly are. Ainsley has the makings of a queen. She is meant to be by yer side, not that wretched woman that ye took for a wife. And when Lady Moira was gone, Ainsley would have taken her place.”
<
br /> Nausea rolled through him. Ainsley truly was the master manipulator. Sleeping with one of the twins, or even both of them, while tricking them into doing her bidding. George was so in love with her, it was a wonder that he could think at all. The death of his brother must have made him finally realize what they’d been doing.
Now, it was too late. If Ainsley attacked Moira, she would never see it coming. Once again, she would be betrayed by someone that she trusted. He had to get to her. Had to warn her.
“Yet ye plan to betray yer mistress? She cannae be my wife if I am dead,” Connor reminded George as he mentally took in his surroundings. The man wielded his weapons competently, but Connor had something that George did not.
A desperate reason to survive.
“That bitch can rot!” George spat as he lunged. Connor sidestepped, barely missing another glancing glow, but George was so lost in his own anger that he didn’t seem to mind. “She swore that no harm would come to us. She seduced my brother with her lips around his cock and made him promises of grandeur if he would follow her. I never trusted her. Women cannae be trusted, especially women who would fall to their knees for the likes of us, but Greg meant everything to me, and I cannae say that I didnae enjoy my time between her thighs. I was a fool, but no longer.”
And then he charged. Connor knew there was only one chance he had to survive, and he waited until the last minute, moving so that when the sword entered, it nicked him. Grasping the hilt, he stumbled back and kicked at George until he could separate the enemy from his weapon.
With a groan, he pulled the sword free. Blood began to pour from his wound. If he had allowed it to go any deeper, he may not have survived. Even as it stood, he would be lucky if he could staunch the blood long enough to get to Moira.
“Doonae worry,” Connor said as he struggled to control his rage. From the ground, George stared at him with hatred in his eyes. Connor could appreciate a man who faced his death with bravery. “Ye will see yer brother soon enough.”
23
“We were friends,” Moira said softly as she stared at Ainsley. In truth, she didn’t even recognize the wrathful woman standing over. Blood dripped from the mallet in her hand. Moira’s blood. In the haze of her pain, she was grateful that Ainsley had grabbed the wooden weapon and not the iron ax.
“Friends?” Ainsley spat. “As if I could ever be friends with someone like ye! When ye first arrived on Sinclair lands, ye were the laughing stock of everyone. Yer own family, who started feuds over the bloody weather, couldnae keep ye safe. Grace and I befriended ye because we were ordered to by her father. At first, ye were nothing more than an irritant until Connor started looking at ye like he should have looked at me.”
Slowly standing, Moira turned to face Ainsley. If she was going to die, it wasn’t going to be cowering on the ground. Her head ached, but if she wanted to survive, she would have to ignore it.
And she would survive. She hadn’t come this far just to be taken out by the likes of a treacherous waif of a lass. She had a child to raise and a husband to love. “Ye did all of this because ye were jealous?”
“This? This is nothing! Seven years ago, when I overheard Connor telling one of his friends that he actually planned to marry ye, I knew I had to act. Laird Covington desperately wanted an alliance with the Sinclairs and a piece of the land. I devised a way to give it to them, and make sure that ye would never step foot on Sinclair land again.”
The truth dawned on Moira, and she realized that Ainsley wasn’t just angry. She was insane. “Ye had the Sinclairs killed,” she whispered in horror. “Ye knew that someone would point the finger at me.”
“Oh, I wish I had been there! I never dreamed that ‘twould be Grace to accuse ye. I had plenty of time to explore the keep, and it didnae take me long to identify the secret tunnels that led to the borders. All I had to do was draw a map. It took less than a week, and Covington’s men laid siege, all dressed in Hamilton colors and ready to point the finger at ye.”
“Ye killed two good people. People who cared for ye. Ye had Connor tortured!”
“Aye, he needed to be taught a lesson. I was to be the one who rescued him, who healed him with my love and my body, but Grace wouldnae let me out of her sight and forced me into hiding with her. Connor was supposed to turn to me in his time of need! Instead, he sent me home to keep me safe,” Ainsley said in disgust as she started to pace. “And when the plan didnae work the way Covington wanted, he blackmailed me into marriage with the most terrible man. I endured though. I murdered my wretch of a husband and returned.”
“Only to find Connor wedding me.” Even through the pain, Moira smiled. “Ye have lost, Ainsley. Even if ye kill me now, Connor will never marry ye.”
“Why not?”
She remembered his words last night, the words that she had foolishly ignored because of pride, and it was those words that bolstered her now. “Because he loves me.”
Ainsley stared at her for a moment as if she couldn’t even fathom the concept. Then she threw back her head and laughed until tears ran down her face. “Love ye? Men like him doonae love, Moira. Honestly, I thought ye smarter than that. They do nothing if it doesnae get them more power. If I had been born a man, I would have done well in this world. Instead, I must attach myself to a powerful man and make my gains through him.”
“Ye are wrong. Connor gained nothing through marriage to me. No dowry. No land. Nothing but an alliance with a clan ye call the laughingstock of the Highlands. He doesnae need to gain power for he wields the power he has with fairness and intelligence. Everything that I have gained in this life is not because of him. I did it on my own, and he loves me for it. “
“Enough!” Ainsley hissed as she raised the mallet. “As we speak, my man is leaving enough evidence to convict ye attempting to assassinate Connor and ruin his clan that even a man blindly in love willnae be able to ignore. Ye will die knowing that he will never forgive ye, and when he needs someone, I will be there. Finally, I will be the Sinclair mistress!”
Moira dodged the swing of the mallet and deliberately threw herself to the ground, covering her belly as she fell. Her training was against a sword, but she stayed mindful of the power behind the weapon. Lashing out her leg, she aimed for Ainsley’s knee. Whatever the insane woman was expecting, it was not for Moira to fight back, and she shrieked as she went down, but she didn’t lose her grip on the tool.
Lunging for Ainsley, she struck the woman in the side with her elbow twice before the woman released the mallet. Grabbing it, she stood and stared down at her. The fallen woman’s face was a storm of fury. Remembering all that she went through after the siege on Sinclair lands, the death of two wonderful people who’d been like parents to her, the loss of innocent lives and trust all for the sake of Ainsley’s twisted plan, she hefted the mallet over her shoulder. All she could see was vengeance.
The moment stretched as they stared at each other.
“Ye cannae do it,” Ainsley rasped. “Ye doonae have what it takes to kill. That is why ye doonae deserve to be by his side.”
“Ye are wrong,” Connor said suddenly from behind Moira. Relief swam through her, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off Ainsley. Instead, she circled around so she could see them both. Blood soaked through his shirt and tartan from his shoulder, and there was a deep cut on his cheek.
“Connor,” she whispered.
“I chose Moira all those years ago because of her strength and her gentleness. She has the biggest heart and the fiercest spirit. Sometimes I think that it is I who doesnae deserve to be with her.” Behind him, his guards began to appear, but not just his warriors. Men and women, some who openly distrusted and accused her of treason, emerged from the woods until they were all surrounded by the Sinclairs. Even if Ainsley got up, there was no escape.
Connor’s eyes flashed with anger. “Yer man is dead, Ainsley. There is no one left to protect ye. ’Tis my right to order yer death, but yer bloodshed has spanned several clans, and ’twill be
the King’s duty to unravel the truth.”
Ainsley scrambled to her feet, her face deathly pale. “Nay, ye cannae do this to me, Connor. Give me death. Doonae force me to suffer the humiliation the King will wrought on me.”
“Request denied,” Connor said coldly before he joined Moira, and gently took the mallet from her. “Moira, are ye all right?”
“Aye, ’tis nothing that won’t heal.” Knowing that he was by her side, that he was there to protect her, gave her all the strength she needed. “Ye have brought quite an army to rescue me. I am almost offended.”
He smiled briefly. “My lioness of a wife. These people arenae here on my orders. These are the Sinclairs ye have won over, the ones who knew the truth even before George admitted Ainsley’s betrayal. They are here to do what they should have done from the very beginning.” Turning, he stared at Ainsley. “Pay attention. This is the power that Moira wields.”
Slowly, one by one, the surrounding Sinclairs knelt before her and bowed their heads. Inhaling, Moira slowly turned as she stared in wonder. “Moira Sinclair, formerly of the Hamilton clan, we swear our fealty and allegiance to ye as our mistress. To trust ye to lead, and to protect ye. To love ye and to support ye, ’til there is no longer breath in our lungs or in yours.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “Ye have my word as Mistress that I will uphold yer laird’s wishes, to protect and support ye, ’til there is no longer breath in my lungs or yers.”
A cheer went up through the woods as they stood. Ainsley chose that moment to attempt to run, but she was captured quickly. Her furious scream sent shudders down Moira’s spine, but she pushed it aside and turned to gaze up at her husband.
There, in front of everyone, he bent his head and kissed her.
She hid it well, but Connor could see his wife struggled. Still, she waved his help away as they walked to the keep. Too much pride to accept help, especially after the clan had bound themselves to her like that. She didn’t want to appear weak, but as soon as she made it inside the doors, she fell. He caught her swiftly and demanded the healer as he carried her up to their chambers.
Highlander's Moonlight Seduction (Scottish Medieval Historical Romance) Page 16