Page 56 of A Temptress in Tartan

“I was six years old. The night before my mother died, my father and the rest of the clan had been out on a raid. I did not know at the time that the raid had been against the Douglases.” Elizabeth swallowed roughly. “When the clan returned there was much celebrating and as an adult looking back now, much indulgence in mead and whisky among the men.”

When she paused, the Lord Advocate said, “Continue please.”

“Late that night when everyone was abed, Lachlan Douglas managed to find a way inside our castle.”

An outbreak of conversation rippled through the chamber, causing the Lord Advocate to raise his hand, demanding silence once more. “You said Lachlan Douglas was there that night.”

She nodded. “He was but a lad of seven at the time, and it was the night my family murdered his mother and father in that raid.”

This time when her gaze met his, it was filled with such remorse that it rocked him clear to his toes.

“And how did you know he was present? Did he attack?” the Lord Advocate asked.

“Nay, I woke up to his presence beside my bed. He stood there beside me, staring at me.”

“Did you know who he was?” the Lord Advocate asked.

“Not at the time, but when he went to my father, I soon learned he was a Douglas.”

“Did he have a weapon?” King James asked.

“Was his intent to kill you in retaliation?” Hugh Godfrey demanded.

“I cannot know his intent,” Elizabeth said, “but he had no weapon in his hands. He stared down at me for the longest time before he finally left my chamber.”

“What happened next?” the Lord Advocate prompted.

“I slipped from my bed, and silently followed him down the hallway to my parents’ chamber. He had crept inside and stood at the base of their bed, staring at them as he had done to me. My father must have sensed his presence because he woke and sat up. My mother remained sleeping.”

Lachlan could see Elizabeth’s hands trembling as she continued. “Lachlan did not attack, nor did my father, but I heard Lachlan curse my family,” she said in a pained voice.

“What did he say exactly?” Hugh Godfrey asked with a hint of a smile.

Elizabeth’s gaze shifted to the panel. Lachlan recognized the fear in her eyes and knew what she said next would not bode well for him.

“He said, ‘I curse you and your family. May what you reaped this day return to you tenfold.’ And with that, he disappeared from the castle.”

“And how did all that affect your mother?” the Lord Advocate prompted.

Tears came to Elizabeth’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “My father found her dead beside him the following morning.”

“He cursed the Ruthvens!” John Swinton exclaimed. “He killed Lady Ruthven!”

Hugh Godfrey stood and flipped his massive Bible open. “It says here in the book of Isaiah: ‘Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? For the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.’” Godfrey looked up from the page and seared Lachlan with contempt. “There is no light in this man, therefore he is evil according to the word of God.”

Shocked disbelief erupted throughout the chamber.

“He is a warlock!”

“The Devil does possess him!”

“Burn the sorcerer!”

Lachlan felt Elizabeth’s gaze upon him as her tears fell all the harder. The noise in the chamber was deafening as the shouts for justice against him continued. He tried to communicate to his wife that he did not blame her for telling the truth, and he realized perhaps they should have discussed what had happened before their marriage, but he’d had no idea that she’d remembered that night until now. And she’d married him anyway.

When the noise settled down, the Lord Advocate swung toward Lachlan. “Are the events Elizabeth has confessed before this tribunal true?”

Lachlan’s heart froze in his chest. He could not deny anything, and because of it, he would now be put to death for cursing the family who had murdered his parents.