Vaughn Hargrave’s voice cut through the tension like shears through fine silk. “Really? How then do you explain her chamber? Forgive my bluntness, Master Keane, but was she enjoying herself when you tore her apart, Cameron?”
Tavish’s eyes widened, and he looked to the king. “What do you mean? I went to her chamber this morn—there was naught amiss. Some things were in disarray, but her belongings were—”
“Disarray?” Keane screamed. “Her bed is soaked with blood! The gown she was wearing is shredded as if an animal attacked her! Like you attacked your whore!”
Glenna flinched but did not look up as the crowd gave a collective gasp.
“What?” Tavish’s voice was unlike Glenna had ever heard it, unsure and hesitant. “No—her…her bed hadn’t even been slept in. I looked again after the king arrived. There was no blood, no—”
The king stood and interrupted with a wave of his hand. “Take him. I wish to see his face myself once the door is opened.” To Glenna’s dismay, he gestured toward her. “You as well, Miss Douglas. I would know if you are complicit in this diabolical scheme.” The king addressed the hall. “The rest of you remain where you are. I am sure there is a sensible explanation for all of this, and one not so dire as to warrant the waste of this good meal.”
Glenna rose on trembling legs and followed the party from the hall—the king and Master Keane leading the way while the soldiers took hold once more of Tavish’s arms. She pulled her arm away with a gasp when someone grabbed it, but it was Harriet Cameron, and she reached out once more and took Glenna’s hand firmly in her own.
Glenna squeezed the woman’s fingers.
In moments they were in the west tower, and a soldier opened the door to Audrey’s chamber, while the other shoved Tavish inside.
“No, no,” he protested loudly. “Someone did this; this was not here before.”
Glenna stepped inside the room, feeling the king’s watchful gaze on her. She couldn’t help her gasp, though—the tales had not prepared her for the sight.
The bed curtains hung limp where they had been ripped from their ties, revealing the jumbled bedclothes that were no longer elegantly striped, but covered over in large, dark stains that had ran past the edge of the thick mattress and soaked into its depth. Miss Keane’s incredible yellow gown lay strewn about the floor in long rags, the silk turned ugly brown where the spray had splattered.
“Miss Douglas?” the king prompted, startling Glenna from the trance the carnage had inflicted. “What was the state of this chamber prior to this afternoon?”
“I don’t know, my liege,” she said in a rasping voice. “I’ve not been inside this room since Miss Keane arrived at Roscraig.”
“No one has seen the inside of this chamber except Tavish Cameron,” Niall Keane accused. “And so it is he who knows what transpired here.” Master Keane’s chest heaved, his face purpled. “I will kill you!”
“The maid,” Tavish shouted, trying to back out of the guards’ hold. “There was a maid in here before me this morning, only I don’t think she was a maid. The woman I told you about, liege, in Hargrave’s party. She is a spy.”
“You liar!” Keane shouted. “You have done to my Audrey what your father did to Cordelia Hargrave!”
“Enough,” James said. He turned to the guards. “Escort Master Cameron to his chamber, and make certain he stays there all the night. Miss Douglas, I understand that chamber also belongs to you, and so I will grant you leave between it and your father’s floor. But you will be watched. Any attempts to aid Cameron in escape or further subterfuge will be severely dealt with. Do you understand?”
“Aye, my liege,” Glenna whispered.
“I had intended to take my leisure at Roscraig, but these issues cannot be left unaddressed. Court will convene in the morning in the hall. Your grievances, Keane, shall be first attended. In the meantime, the soldiers not posted as guards shall take torches and continue searching for Audrey Keane. Venture from the trails into the woods. Scour the ravines.” He looked to Glenna once more. “What might she be wearing, Miss Douglas?”
“I…I don’t know,” Glenna said and glanced toward her wardrobe. “She has so many beautiful clothes. I could see if anything is missing.”
“Do so. Then you may retire for the evening.” The king looked at Harriet pointedly, but said nothing to Tavish’s stricken mother. “I shall return to the hall and seek to restore some semblance of order. Until court tomorrow, Roscraig is solely under my command—none shall be permitted to leave.” The king swept from the chamber, and the guards dragged Tavish after him.
Glenna saw the grief and fury on his face. What must he have done this evening, in searching for Audrey?
The guard left behind held up the torch and gestured to the closed doors of Audrey’s wardrobe. Glenna opened it gingerly, unreasonably afraid that something or someone might jump out at her. Audrey’s gowns were in disarray, but Glenna pulled each one out as she remembered it: the gown she’d arrived in, the one from the first feast, the kirtle she was wearing the night Muir brought her the trunk from Edinburgh…
Glenna paused for a moment, and then pawed through the remaining gowns. She swallowed and then turned her head to look about the room; there was the small leather trunk in a corner, but it was open and clearly empty.
Glenna turned her face up to the stern-looking guard. “There is one gown missing, that I can call to mind,” Glenna said in a strangled voice.
“Can you describe it, miss?” the man asked politely.
“Aye. It was ivory and blue, with a silk cape.” She paused to swallow. “It was to be her wedding gown.”
* * * *
The door closed behind Tavish, and he stood alone in the chamber he had shared with Glenna Douglas. He hadn’t been inside it for any appreciable length of time in two days, and the room had a dusty, abandoned feel.
