“Give up, Cooper, if ye want to live in peace,” Leith ordered, “I’ll nay kill ye but be assured yer place in this family is revoked. Ye have done too many abominable things. Ye’ve stolen the people, village and power away from me. Yer undermining of me ends now.”
Mary peeled her hands away from her mouth, “Leith, no stop! I’d be the last person to beg you for mercy for him as he did try to kill me but…” she looked Cooper in a sudden surge of pity, “he did not do all those things on his own. It was your mother who told him to do them. Cooper told me so.”
Gray eyes snapped between Mary and Cooper and Leith’s face was mired in disbelief. “What? Is that true? Did me Mother make ye do all those things.”
“I’ll nay say a word,” Cooper snarled, “kill me if ye will.”
Leith tightened his jaw and pressed the knife down. “Is it worth it, Cooper? Is it worth losing yer life for this?”
“Do ye have it in ye to kill me?” Cooper taunted.
Lieth ripped the dagger from his throat and jabbed into Cooper’s shoulder. The man howled. “When it comes to protecting what is mine, yes, I have it in me to kill ye. Ye will nay die from the wound, Cooper. I have more sense than that; ‘tis only a flesh wound. Now, tell me all or the next one will be through yer throat!”
“‘Twas for yer own good, she said,” Cooper replied, his ice-blue eyes narrowed in pain. “Everything she did was always for yer own good but yer head’s been so far up yer arse, ye never got to see it. She even asked me to save ye from yerself as yer kind, forgiving nature would see ye in ruin.”
Slowly, Leith stood, but Cooper still lay on his back, “What the bloody hell is going on with me Mother. What in the seven hells did she have ye do? Talk quick!”
* * *
Stopping at the foot of the trail to his home, Leith paused in spurring his horse forward. The talk he had with Copper about his mother’s actions had sent chills of disbelief along his spine, but with each clod of his horse’s hooves, he began to feel Cooper’s claims were all true.
His mother could be the one to do those things, she had already tried to marry Mary off, and had sent Mary to prison. So, what was there to stop her from ordering Cooper to take control from his father when he was ill. The question of who had poisoned his father was cleared up too; Lachlan was dead.
What he had to do now was find his mother, sit her down and tell her that her machinations were not going to work either. Mary was on his horse and resting on his chest. Her cheek was bruised as was her neck, and Leith was proud of how she had held on to save her life. It turned out that his mother had influenced Cooper against Mary too. And the hateful rumors he had spread had influenced more people like Fiona to hate her.
That’s another person I’m going to let go.
She was dozing on his chest and his eyes dipped to trace the curve of her lashes on her cheek. She was beautiful, even bruised, she was still gorgeous. His chest clenched when he thought of what could have been if he had arrived after Cooper had slit her throat.
I’d have gone mad and slaughtered him like the pig I kent he was. Then, I’d beg God to make me trade places with her. I don’t just love her, I’m in love with her. She’s all I need, she’s brave, insightful, kind, generous, stunning…lovely inside and out. She’s all I need for me wife.
As they got to the castle, Leith slid from the horse and took Mary into his arms. He carried her right to the healing rooms and laid her down on a bed. Rinalda, who had spotted him the moment he came in, looked as though a heavy boulder had been lifted off her shoulders at seeing Mary.
He smoothed a lock from Mary’s face and said, “Take care of her.”
“And ye, Sir?” Rinalda said, seeing the blood on his arm.
“I’ll take care of this meself,” Leith answered. “Just take care of her for me.”
“I will,” Rinalda smiled and went off to get her remedies.
Leith dropped a kiss to Mary’s forehead before moving off. He had to find his mother and confront her on all of what Cooper had told him. He took the stairs to her room but she was not there. He then went to his father’s room and saw the door cracked open. He came closer and heard his mother speak. Her tone was one he had never heard coming from her before—it was downright chilling and cruel.
“Look at ye…as useless as ye were when I met ye. I was the one who built ye. When me Faither died without any brothers or sons, I inherited this place. I married ye, but ye never asked me for advice even as I was raised at the heels of a great Laird. Ye never cared about what me Father would want for the clan; ye never cared about pleasing me nor did anything to make me love ye. I married ye to get a son, but I never loved ye. I’ve been wanting to have Leith rule for years now, but this Sassenach named Mary showed up and took him off his path. Now that Cooper has gotten her out of the way,
