His words were earnest and he imbued them with all the sincerity his heart could muster, but he wasn’t sure it was enough. There were still tears in her eyes.
“How can I believe ye? Why did ye wait this long tae tell us?” Her voice cracked with emotion.
“I tried tae tell ye lass, but I could never find the right time. I love ye, Caitlin. Ye are the only thing that means anything in the world tae me now.”
“How can I believe that? How can I know that this is nae some kind of trick tae escape?”
“Ye said that ye could tell if I was lying. Dinnae doubt yerself now, Caitlin. Ye are the girl who can throw axes better than anyone I hae ever met. Ye are the one who taught me how tae dance. I could never love anyone like I love ye. All I want is for us tae hae a life taegether. And I’ll dae anything tae prove it tae ye…even if it means stopping my da myself,” he said.
Caitlin looked at him directly.
“Dae ye think ye can win?”
“I dinnae ken, but I hae tae try. Even if it means my life, I want tae die knowing that I’m daeing what’s right, that I’m protecting my wife, the woman that I love. I’d rather have one Frasier die than know that a McClearey has been killed,” Rhys said.
He hung his head as he came to terms with his plan. He knew it was the only way, but it didn’t make it easy to cope with. But he had made solemn vows to Caitlin and nothing could break them. His loyalty to her overwhelmed his loyalty to everything else—even his own flesh and blood. She was his family now, and if he had to kill his father to stop harm from coming to her, then he would.
Whether she believed him or not was another matter. He was certain that if Bryn was there, the McClearey laird would have thought it was another trick to try and escape imprisonment. But Caitlin had seen inside Rhys’s soul and knew his integrity. The door whined as it opened. Caitlin had pulled the keys from the wall and unlocked the door. Rhys stepped out and clasped her hands tightly.
“Stop ye da,” she said as she flung her arms around him. He held her trembling body close and was overwhelmed with emotion himself, knowing that his father was a mighty warrior and his chances of coming back alive were slim. But sometimes all it took was one man to stand up against injustice. “And stay alive,” she offered, looking at him with forlorn hope. Their lives had only just begun and it was painful to think of them being over before they had a chance to enjoy it fully.
Rhys allowed himself to feel the sadness pervade his heart, but then he pushed it away as he strode out of the dungeons ready to meet his father. Raw anger and primal emotion flooded inside him as he prepared to fight for the glory of his wife.
17
Caitlin felt the fleeting emotion linger on her lips. She ran out of the dungeon herself, but instead of following Rhys, she went to find her father and brothers. Bryn, Mark, and Dominic were with the warriors of the clan, getting ready to fight in battle.
“Da, please dinnae gae! This is nae what any of us wanted. The fighting should be over!” she cried.
“I wanted that, I truly did, but Malcolm has other plans. I’m nae gaeing tae stand by and let us be attacked. We’ll take the fight tae them,” Bryn said. Caitlin looked astonished. “I’m sorry for forcing ye intae marriage like this. I should hae known better. Keep ye ma safe,” Bryn said, and then rode off before Caitlin could even have a chance to tell him that Rhys was going to fight his father. She watched helplessly as the clan rode away, the horses’ hooves thundering against the ground. She cried out, begging them to stop, but her plaintive pleas were lost amid the noise of war.
But Caitlin was hardly the type of girl to stay behind and wait while the most defining battle of her life was taking place. She looked around frantically and hopped on a mare, pushing it to its limits as she rode away from the keep and followed the trail of warriors to the battlefield.
Unfortunately for her, all the most powerful horses had been taken and while the mare she was left with had all the heart in the world, it was still slower than those her clansmen had ridden away on. Thus, when she finally reached the battlefield, she saw that the fight was well underway. The clans were fighting and she was taken back to that moment in her youth when she had seen the remnants of battle, the sick glory of blood and guts having been spread about the world. Her stomach retched as she heard the clashing of swords and the cries of deathly anguish. Bones crunched as soldiers crashed into each other. The area was a swirling morass and Caitlin had to move the horse quickly to prevent herself from being caught in a fight. She skipped away and soon found that she had lost her bearings. The world was a blur and all around her was a cacophony, but then something happened that rang a clear bell in her mind. She held onto her horse’s reins tightly when she heard a loud cackle. The air thrummed as Malcolm’s war hammer came crashing down and slammed into the ground. The horses managed to skip away to evade the blow, but it was startled and in its fear, it threw Caitlin off.
She fell to the ground as the horse road away. Her throat was raw with a
