Page 81 of The Laird's Secret Bairn

“Ye believe him.” It wasn’t a question. Stephen had known him long enough to read the answer in his silence.

“I daenae want to believe him.” Dougal dragged a hand down his face. “A man like Angus showing up at me gates demanding blood one week and weeping over his own failures the next? It doesnae sit right with me.”

“But ye believe him regardless.”

Dougal exhaled slowly. “Aye, I do.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve seen grief before, and I’ve seen men fake it, and what I saw on Angus’s face today wasnae fake.” He stared into the flames. “He said that he cared more for his honor than for Elsie. That he drove her to the choices she made, same as I did in me own way. He asked to meet Lily, Stephen. Asked it like a man who’s spent nearly eight years imagining what he lost, nae like a man plotting to steal her away.”

Stephen was quiet for a long time. “If Angus isnae behind the poisoning…”

Dougal’s jaw tightened, the full weight of the realization settling over him like a boulder. “It means someone in me own castle tried to kill me daughter. Someone I trust. Someone who walks me halls every day, who’s nae stranger but one of our own.”

Stephen’s jaw set. He was as angry as Dougal was. He had been there since Dougal brought Lily home and cared for her. He even considered her his niece. If something happened to her, he would be devastated.

“Ye’re certain.”

“I’m certain enough.” Dougal’s voice was hard, cold in a way Stephen recognized from years on the battlefield together. “I will offer Angus peace. A treaty and a chance to meet Lily when the time is right, and she’s ready for it. He accepted without hesitation. A guilty man doesnae accept peace so readily, nae when he could have pressed his advantage.”

“So we ride home.”

It was not something Dougal would have thought he’d be considering, but everything had changed now.

“We ride home.” Dougal rose, reaching for his cloak. “And I find the bastard who tried to take me daughter from me, and I make certain they never draw breath to try it again.”

“Dougal.” Stephen’s voice carried a warning. “Ye cannae go tearing through the castle and accusing every soul within it. Ye’llneed proof, nae only suspicion, or ye’ll turn yer own household against ye.”

“I ken.” Dougal’s expression didn’t soften. “But I’ll find the proof, even if I must question every servant and guard meself. Lily nearly died. I willnae rest until I ken who’s responsible.”

“Aye, well.” Stephen swung himself up onto his horse, some of the grimness easing from his face for the first time since they’d ridden out. “I’ll nae deny that I’m glad to be heading home to see her. The lassie has a way of making a man forget the whole world’s gone mad.”

“That she does.”

“Nearly lost me mind when I heard she’d fallen ill.” Stephen shook his head. “Ye ken I love that girl like she were me own kin.”

“I ken it well.” Dougal mounted beside him, something in his chest loosening slightly. “She asks after ye more than she asks after most, truth be told. Wanted to ken if Uncle Stephen would bring her a ribbon from wherever we’d gone.”

Stephen laughed, the sound short and genuine. “Did she now? I’ll have to find her one, then, will I nae? Cannae disappoint the lass.”

“Ye spoil her rotten.”

“Aye, and ye daenae?” Stephen arched an eyebrow. “I’ve seen ye deny that child nothing since the day ye brought her home, Dougal. Daenae lecture me on spoiling her.”

“That’s different.”

“Is it?”

Dougal said nothing, only urged his horse forward, though the corner of his mouth had betrayed him with the ghost of a smile.

It would be good to see his daughter again.

29

Planning a feast was not something Skye was accustomed to. She had attended plenty, but planning one was something else.

Kenna was helping, of course. It was her idea after all, and she was taking the lead, but she relied on her more than Freya or Emily ever had.