AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘You didn’t have to be cruel to him,’ said Morna angrily.
‘Are you his champion now on such short acquaintance?’
‘More than I am yours, for he released me from my imprisonment.’
‘Ah, you think I locked you up out of some dark design. You misunderstand me. Few women look as good as you, here at Fitheach, and the men, well, they are a rough bunch. I sought only to keep you clear of their rather coarse attentions.’
‘I can take care of myself. And your cousin ails, and is deserving of your kindness.’
‘He is deserving of a whipping for he is a snivelling wretch, stinking of piss and blood. He is nought but a pup who likes to yap. You think because he is weak that he is trustworthy? Drostan will talk at great length of glory and honour and yet he has never wielded a sword in anger. He will crow like a cockerel of chivalry and courtly love yet he has tupped every low-born girl in this castle with no thought for their honour. He gets their guard down by making them pity him, and then he takes advantage of them. You should have more sense than to believe everything you hear.’
‘Tell me, William, that man, the Cranstoun. What happened to him?’
His expression hardened. ‘I got him to tell me what I wanted to know,’ he said, picking at something under his nail, ‘and then I threw him from the castle walls to break on the rocks below. The tide took him out to sea.’
Morna gasped and took a step back from him. ‘That is cruel.’
‘No more cruel than selling a woman into slavery. Tell me, when you beat on the lid of that crate, when you screamed and begged for them to let you out, did any man offer words of comfort or try to help you? You told me they laughed, and that wretch laughed along with the rest of them, I am sure. Just before I gave him a watery end, he cursed us both. He said you were a filthy, Buchanan whore who deserved to be drowned like an unwanted dog.’
Will’s face was hard and angry, so Morna retreated back a step.
‘Are you afraid of me now?’ he said.
‘No. Never.’
He narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Maybe you should be.’
Morna gathered her courage. ‘What of Fearchar Bain and his wife, your lover. How do you justify killing your own family.’
Will took hold of her arm in a fierce grip. ‘We will not speak of that.’
‘Because you are ashamed?’
‘Because it has nought to do with you.’
‘Fine, William, you may keep your secrets. I shall be gone soon, and we may never see each other again, so why should you care if I have a low opinion of you?’
This seemed to anger him for he came closer, his face pulled into a scowl, eyes stormy. Then he took a deep breath and smiled wickedly as if putting his anger away was just a blink of the eye.
‘Morna Buchana, I do believe you are jealous about my having a lover?’
‘If you think to scandalise me with that, you are very much mistaken. It is no surprise to me given our past acquaintance that you are not a moral man.’
‘I’ve never pretended to be. You do not know the truth of the matter, and so closed-minded are you, I doubt you’d listen to the truth if you heard it.’
‘Very well, I will play this game. Drostan says you murdered his father to become Laird because you were lying with his wife.’
‘The lying with the Laird’s wife bit is true and very pleasing it was too, so I’ll not beg forgiveness for that or feign regret. Edana was beautiful and liked men. She had other lovers than me, and she was a faithless bitch to Fearchar Bain.’
‘Where is she now?’
‘I don’t know, and I don’t care,’ he said, in a cold way.
‘And Fearchar Bain?’
‘I killed the bastard.’
‘How could you do it? He was your uncle, your own family, he took you in?’
