Page 40 of Highlander’s Haunted Past

The Earl, still holding the silver piece, tucked it back under the cup and gestured for Kenna to begin moving them. She gripped the cups and began to circle them, moving them this way and that as Sutherland had done, her eyes never leaving his face as he stared down at the table.

“Ye see, when Mary thinks she is looking for a bit of silver, she tracks every move. Every twitch of yer finger. Every shuffle and every switch. She tracks them with singular focus until she is given the opportunity to expose her prize.

“In this case, she was watching ye, every little thing ye did, large or small. To keep the cups moving, so to speak, I whispered little doubts in her ear, and in yer new husband’s ear. I made yer wedding a raucous affair so she would continue to question yer family’s morality. I even signed the letters with a ‘K’ just in case they were intercepted. And she watched ye, just as I hoped she would, waiting for that perfect moment to tip the cup and expose ye as a Gordon spy.”

Kenna stopped moving the cups and pulled her hands away cautiously, her mind whirling at his words.

Sutherland looked up at her and smiled as he reached out to tip the centermost cup over with a flick. There on the table was the silver piece.

“‘Tis an admirable quality, Mary’s focus, but it also gets her into a bit of trouble.”

“How is that?”

Sutherland reached over and tipped another of the cups. There on the table, gleaming in the light, was a golden coin.

“She always forgets that there could be a better prize in play, one that she might find if she simply looked fer it.”

“Ye ken I am going to tell Queen Mary what I saw here.”

“And make it yer word against mine? I’ll tell Mary that ye planted the evidence here, desperate to try and pin yer sins on another. I would then suggest that she conducts a full search of yer room at the inn.”

“Where she would find nothing.”

“Wouldn’t she? Not hidden beneath the loose floorboard in the corner of the room? Oh, sweet Kenna, did ye really think I had not planted something amongst yer things? Florence holds quite the court in that inn; people do not pay attention to who is going in and out anymore. ‘Tis too difficult to keep track of.”

“Did my brothers help ye with this?”

“To an extent. They gave me ye, which was the greatest assistance. They agreed to deliver some letters to the Earl of Huntly, letters I wrote before we left the comforts of Inverness Castle. They told him where our party was headed, what route we planned on taking, and a few other helpful details. Delivering those letters was all I asked of them. The better question would be: What did the Earl of Huntly ask them to do after they delivered my letters?”

The accusation was plain. Thomas is an excellent archer, Kenna thought with a sting. The flash of gold, perhaps, had been his gold chain. It had been the last thing their mother had given him, and he wore the damn thing everywhere. Kenna used to find it endearing, but now the memory was stained with a betrayal beyond anything she had ever known. All of her memories of her brothers were ruined, the final twist of their story leading them to a bad ending.

“So what do we do now? Now that I ken what a conniving bastard ye are?”

“There is nothing fer ye to do anymore. As I said, I planted plenty of evidence against ye. In a contest of testimonies, I’ll surely win. There are two choices now: ye could run back home and hope that yer former family still holds some love fer ye, or ye could stay and play a few more games until someone comes to retrieve ye, at which point I will lay down an accusation against ye, and ye’ll be executed. ‘Tis the lady’s choice.”

“Such chivalry.”

Sutherland shrugged with a mocking grin just as a loud knock echoed through the house. The knock was followed by a groaning squeak, the maid heaving aside the heavy front door to welcome whoever had come to call. Whoever it was would soon bear witness to her undoing.

“Ach, sorry, lass, it would seem that ye did not choose quick enough. If ye still wish to run or try to run, then ye could just go through that door behind ye. It will take ye to the kitchens, where there is a second door, and then ye can slip away into the night. Now, please excuse me, I have a show to put on.”

Sutherland stood and went over to the table that was still covered in the letters, his calm demeanor slipping into something wild and fearful. He began to shake, his jowls quivering.

“How could ye try and do this to me! I had so much faith in ye, Kenna! The Queen will hear of this at once!”

There were running footsteps coming toward the room now. Was it Rob? Would he believe her?

No, Kenna thought with a squeeze in her heart, he will not believe ye so long as he remembers who else ye count as family.

He hadn’t believed her before—he had even seemed to have been expecting her to have done something. Nothing would have changed between then and now.

Maybe running was her best option after all. Whether she got away or not, at least she wouldn’t have to see the disappointment on Rob’s face when Sutherland spun his tale. But her feet were frozen to the spot, her body unable to react to everything her mind was trying to force it to understand.

Sutherland kept shouting, now calling for whoever had arrived to come and assist him.

The door was thrown to the side with such force that it collided against the wall with a loud crack. Rob rushed into the room, his face so dark and full of malice that Kenna began to tremble. This wasn’t the man with the lopsided grin, this wasn’t the Rob she knew. This was the part of him that she, as a wife, wasn’t supposed to see. This was him as a Highland warrior, sword drawn and thirsty for blood. This version of Rob would kill her. He wouldn’t even hesitate.

Rob was followed by another man: the Lockhart. Of course he was here. Of course he would witness her downfall. It was all he had been pushing for since that fateful day in the Queen’s pavilion. How happy he must be to finally have her in his grasp.