Page 63 of Highland Storm

“And we are in mourning,” Lìli interjected from her seat by the table, her tone fraught with worry. She rocked her babe, eying Keane pleadingly, as though he were the one now at fault. But there was more, and there was no sense in putting off what must be said.

“I mean to join him,” Keane announced.

Every pair of eyes snapped to meet Keane’s. He felt them more acutely than he did the heat of the fire pit. Brother stood glaring at brother, green eyes clashing over the dancing flames. Only Lael had ever defied Aidan so, ten years past, and she alone could comprehend what Keane felt as he stared Aidan down, more than prepared to stand his ground.

He had given his word to David, and despite that he was a dún Scoti long before he was a king’s man, he had long suspected that auld slab of stone hidden in the belly of their ben would prove a curse to his kin—as much as it was a curse to men. It was a slaughter waiting to happen—a fly in the web. If Keane had had his druthers years ago, they would have buried that rock so deep beneath the mountain that no man would ever lay eyes upon it again. That the gods themselves had seen fit to do so was a blessing in disguise.

The silence endured.

“And… I have taken a wife.”

Silence.

Uncomfortable with the growing tension, Cameron MacKinnon crossed his arms, peering down at the floor, and his sisters and Lìli all remained quiet as well.

Aidan allowed him to continue without interrupting—or mayhap he was simply too angry to speak. “In return I swore David my fealty,” Keane said.

The separation between them had never been more palpable.

Keane measured his words carefully. “I have not come to fight, Aidan.”

The muscles in Aidan’s jaw twitched as he, too, crossed his arms as though to temper his reaction to the news.

“What did you come for?”

“Una. She was my kinswoman, too.”

And again there was silence, along with a tension so heavy one could slice it with a blade. His brother eyed Sorcha meaningfully, nodding subtly toward Cameron.

She caught his meaning at once and took Cameron by the arm, pulling him away from the pit. “Come,” she said sweetly, “I have news to share…” And she drew him out of the room, speaking in gentler tones once they were out in the hall. Keane heard them exchanging words as they walked away, but Aidan had yet to utter a sound.

“I would know what happened to Una,” Keane demanded, sending a pleading look toward Lìli. “I did not ride all this way to argue about David.”

Tears filled Lìli’s eyes. “It was Constance who found her,” she said, but quickly looked away, unable to continue.

“Constance?”

“Cameron’s sister.”

Keane lifted both brows, surprised to find that she was in Dubhtolargg. His brother must have brought her back from Chreagach Mhor. Why was a matter to be discussed another time, for Aidan sounded defeated when he spoke again. But his tone lacked the anger it bore but moments before.

“The girl has seen more than she should have.”

Keane waited with bated breath. Not even his brother would be so cruel as to kill a woman for the sake of that sacred stone. But for the first time since his arrival, Keane felt a moment of dread, for he realized that he had yet to spy Cameron’s sister’s face, and then he realized Sorcha had pulled him away to tell him news. “Aidan? What did Constance see?”

No one dared speak.

A muscle ticked at Keane’s jaw. “If aught has befallen the lass, Cameron has a right to know.”

For a long, long moment, the crackle and pop of old wood was the only sound to breach the thickening silence. His brother seemed momentarily unable to speak. Suddenly, a trembling hand went to his face as though to conceal his grief. Three days’ worth of whiskers darkened Aidan’s jaw, and suddenly Keane understood what Una’s death had cost him.

“She is with Kellen now,” Lìli explained, and it was she who rose to the occasion, explaining what happened.

As best as anyone could say, Constance came across Una in the Stone’s chamber, down below her grotto. There, she saw the Stone of Destiny and read aloud the words on the ancient plaque. According to Constance, Una struck at her like a viper. There was an explosion of light, followed by a terrible thunder and she had no inkling how she came to find herself standing outside the caverns. But there they found her, trembling in the cold… and blinded. Una remained below. Now everything was gone. The upper chamber where they’d happened to store their wares, Una’s grotto, as well as the Stone’s cavern were all now mounted with layer upon layer of debris. It was as though the mountain collapsed upon itself. No one could survive such a catastrophe.

Keane heard his brother’s breath catch, and he was yet unable to speak. “Ye dinna retrieve the body?”

Aidan shook his head, looking wearier than Keane had ever seen him.