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“Kat? What brings ye here? I did not expect tae see ye until after breakfast.” And perhaps not even then, though he hoped not to have to go looking for her.
She entered the room to stand just inside the door. “I wanted to speak with you.”
“I see. Can it not wait?” He was not in the mood to battle with her again over the rights and wrongs of his decision. She was to receive a switching, and that was the end of it.
She shook her head. “I prefer not to wait.”
He inclined his head. “Go on.”
She stiffened her spine and advanced another pace. “If… If I am to be punished, I would prefer to get it over with.”
He shook his head. “This is not about what ye prefer, Kat.”
“I will not be able to sleep. The waiting is the worst.”
He knew that. It was part of the point, to leave her to anticipate what was to come. She would make a far better job of frightening herself than anything he might say or do.
“Go back tae your chamber, Kat. I shall see ye in the morning.”
“But, I—”
“Ye should consider yourself blessed, in fact,” he added, unable to conceal the bitterness in his tone. “The three who attacked ye will barely see the morning at all.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “You have caught them?”
“Of course. They are clod-headed fools, all three. They didnae reckon on ye surviving. They expected there tae be no witnesses, no one to tell of their guilt.”
In truth, even had he only succeeded in recovering his bride’s body and not been able to hear her testimony, he would probably have apprehended them soon enough. They were simple folk. They would have spoken of their crime, they could not help it. Rumours would soon be rife, and their laird would be at their door. The outcome would have been the same, but they would have had a few more days to live.
“Ye will be relieved to learn that all three o’ the Mullett brothers are currently languishing i’ my dungeon. They are tae hang at first light.”
Katherine gasped. The remaining colour drained from her already pallid features. She reached blindly for the closest chair and clung to it, shaking her head. “No. You cannot do that.”
He quirked his lip. “Ye sound remarkably like their mother. She said much the same thing, as did the wife o’ one o’ them, soon to be a widow. She has a bairn tae worry about.”
“You must not. Your people…they will blame me. They will hate me.”
“Yes. Perhaps. For a while, at least.”
“I do not want anyone killed, not for me.”
“I wish ye had considered the consequences before. I expect Mistress Mullett does, too. But what is done is done. I cannae let this go unpunished. I have nae choice but tae make an example o’ them.”
“Please, do not do this. There must be another way.”
He regarded her with curiosity. “I would have thought ye might be glad they could no longer pose a threat t’ye.”
“Well, I am not. Their poor mother…”
“They tried to kill ye,” he reminded her. “They betrayed me, sought to destroy my alliance, our king’s alliance, wi’ your family even before it has started. They deserve tae die.”
“I know they did all of that, but they did not plan any of it. There was no way they could have known they would meet me on the lane. I did not even know myself that I was going to be there. It was…an impulse. A mad, wicked impulse, but they acted without thinking.”
“I doubt any of ’em has ever done much i’ the way o’ thinking.” Robbie observed. “If they tried it, their brains would probably catch fire.”
“Let them live. Please. If an example must be made, let it be me. It was my fault, you have said so yourself.”
“I am not about tae hang you from my battlements, Kat. An’ ye’re wrong. Your actions made this tragedy possible, but it was not your fault that these fools were so consumed with lust for revenge that they would kill a defenceless woman on a mere whim. My people may sympathise wi’ the sentiment they expressed, but most would no’ condone such actions whether premeditated or not. The clan will expect justice an’ ’tis my responsibility as laird tae see it done.”
