Page 69 of Highland Sky

Chapter Nineteen

“Well, I think it’s time I go up to the room and give Kellina the ring,” Nash told his friends later that night. They’d been drinking together at the Soused Grouse Tavern and Inn, and it felt damned good to be back together with his friends again. However, Nash was feeling guilty about leaving his brother back at the MacKenzie camp, doing the work that was really his punishment, not North’s.

“I still dinna see why Kellina didna want to drink with us,” said Gavin.

“She was in a hurry to get to bed. Right, Nash?” asked Cam with a wink. Cam was always a lady’s man, but since he’d married Yvaine, he didn’t spend his time with the girls anymore. Even so, he still understood them more than Nash or the others ever would.

“I think Kellina went up to the room early because she was worried about the kitten,” explained Nash. “It really shook her up when Sutherland threatened to kill it.”

“No’ to mention, kill her,” added Gavin.

“Aye, we’d better keep an open eye for more angry Sutherlands,” said Cam. “Ye never ken where they may be lurkin’.”

Gavin downed the rest of his ale and banged the tankard on the table. “Ye should be with her, Nash. She needs ye right now.”

“One thing ye’ll learn about Kellina is that she really doesna need anyone,” Nash told his friends. “She is verra independent. I’m only glad she didna have a blade on her, or I have no doubt she would have tried to kill Sutherland today, and she might have gotten killed instead.”

“All this over a damned cat?” asked Gavin. “I canna understand this.”

“It’s no’ about the kitten,” said Nash. “No’ really.”

“Nay. I’m sure it’s about the raid,” said Cam, nodding his head, understanding.

“Well . . . aye and nay,” Nash answered.

“What does that mean?” asked Gavin. “Ye are makin’ no sense, friend.”

“I agree. And I also get the feelin’ there is somethin’ ye are no’ tellin’ us.” Cam put his elbows on the table and leaned forward, waiting. “Well? What is it, Nash? Speak up. It’s just us here, and ye ken ye can tell us anythin’.”

“Aye. What’s botherin’ ye, Nash?” asked Gavin, leaning forward as well. “Ye dinna seem to be yerself tonight.”

“It’s nothin’,” said Nash, pushing out his chair and standing up. “I’ll tell ye one thing, though. I’m glad I convinced Kellina to give that kitten a bath in the loch. I dinna fancy wakin’ up scratchin’ from fleas.”

*

If Kellina hadn’tbeen worried about leaving Midnight alone in the room, she swore she would have found a blade and hunted down the Sutherland chieftain and killed him for what he had done. It was not only for almost killing her kitten, but for calling her a witch and threatening to kill her, too. However, she was most angry at the Sutherlands for killing Lorna and the girls. For all she knew, Sileas and Eilidh might really have been her half-sisters.

“Blethers, Midnight, I am sick over all of this,” she said, sitting down on the bed with the kitten on her lap. Midnight playfully bit at her fingers, but it didn’t hurt half as bad as the news she’d received from Ciaran just before he’d died. “I have to get over it,” she said, stroking the kitten. “None of it matters anymore. It’s in the past.” She repositioned the kitten on her lap. “Jamie and Caitlin are my siblin’s, and they will always be.”

“That’s right,” she heard from behind her. Turning her head, she saw Nash standing in the doorway. He had one arm leaning on the door jamb, his other hand still on the latch. He looked handsome in the firelight from the room that lit up his face, but still kept him in shadow at the same time.

“How long have ye been standin’ there?” she asked.

“Long enough to ken that ye are still bothered by everythin’ that happened lately.”

“Well, do ye blame me?”

“Nay,” he said, closing the door and walking over to the bed. “I dinna blame ye, lass. I just thought the whole reason for us comin’ here was to try to relax and ease our minds. To forget about all the awful things that have happened.”

“It’s no’ easy to forget that our parents killed each other, Nash.”

“I ken that.” He let out a sigh. “Kellina, it’s a horrible thing that happened, and I wish just as much as ye that I could change the events of time. But we canna do that.” He sat down on the bed across from her, reaching out and taking her hand. “We are married now, and I dinna want this to ever come between us. We are no’ our parents, and neither are we anythin’ like Ciaran. Now, we need to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and get on with our lives. We need to start livin’ our lives together – as husband and wife.”

“Aye. Ye are right,” said Kellina with a sniffle. “I’m sorry, Nash. I dinna want to ruin our special time together.”

The cat jumped off her lap and to the ground. She started to reach for it, but Nash’s hand shot out and he stopped her.

“Leave it,” he said. “There is somethin’ I want to say to ye, and that cat is only goin’ to distract us.”