The Faithful Heart (24 page)

 

 

“Without your father,” Mary pointed out harshly.

 

 

“The murderer will be brought to justice,” Morgana stated in a tone
ringing with conviction.

 

 

“Aye and it’s the same man who killed your brother Conor, Ruairc
MacMahon! He should have never been allowed to go free!”

 

 

She shook her head. “It may well be, Mary, but Ruairc wasn’t
responsible for either death, of that I am sure. Father trusted
Ruairc, and so do I.”

 

 

“Then you are both a pair of childish simpletons! He is a wolf in
sheep's clothing and--”

 

 

“Be careful how you address the chief of the
sept
, Mary
Maguire,” Morgana warned, her eyes glittering.

 

 

“I meant no offence, of course, Morgana Mor,” Mary apologised
sulkily, using he chiefs complimentary title of ‘great.’ “But I
would have justice for both deaths. Ruairc MacMahon should be put to
death immediately for what he has done.”

 

 

“How can you be so certain of his guilt, Mary, when you are ignorant
of the true facts?” Morgana challenged.

 

 

“I know it was Ruairc’s dagger that killed our beloved Conor, and
Aofa told us it was Ruairc’s potions that caused Morgan’s death.
Execute the traitor now, so that justice may be done,” Mary argued
with an almost fanatical gleam in her eyes.

 

 

“You mean revenge! There is no justice in killing an innocent man.
Ruairc was blameless two years ago, and he is innocent again now.
Find me the person he would have had to pay to carry out his orders,
since he was with me at Clogher all day yesterday. If he did not
administer the poison with his own hands, he is innocent. Ruairc
would no more stoop to secretly poisoning a man, than he would to
stabbing someone in the back.”

 

 

Mary frowned and then shook her head. “You defend him because your
brain is addled by your passion for him! He is a MacMahon. He is not
to be trusted, for all your high opinion of Ruairc’s character.”

 

 

She lost her temper then. "Watch what you say, Mary. Take heed of me
now, for this is your last warning,” Morgana threatened as she
grasped the older woman’s arm and shook it. “Just remember, you are
part of this clan only for as long as you remain loyal to me. If you
do not like it here, you may go.”

 

 

Mary gasped and went white. “Are you telling me to leave?”

 

 

Morgana shook her head. “No, I am simply telling you that I am no
childish simpleton, and only people who believe in appearance
without any facts could be accused of being so.

 

 

"Ruairc is innocent of Conor’s death, and I have that from my
father’s own lips. I will not permit you to challenge my father's
wisdom about this matter again, or mine.

 

 

"And I will not tolerate you spreading appalling rumours regarding
Ruairc to whichever evil-minded persons are willing to listen to
your idle gossip. Appearances can be deceiving, it is true, so I
hope I have not seen a friend in you, and wil find that I have
placed my trust in you mistakenly.”

 

 

She looked as though she had been slapped. "I have been more loyal
than you could ever know—"

 

 

"So tell me, how does attacking the one strong man who can help me
show loyalty?"

 

 

"Ruairc is not the only one who will support you, if you are acting
justly—"

 

 

"Yet no one supported this clan for two years if they let things
fall into such a deplorable state!" She indicated the kitchen with a
sweep of her hand. "You know what it was like only yesterday. Thanks
to Ruairc and I and the men we organized, we have a full larder. So
do not dare question me on this matter again. Ruairc is innocent,
and if I hear you say anything to the contrary, you'll be getting
his cell in the dungeon."

 

 

"If he's so innocent, what's he doing there," Mary shot back.

 

 

"Being kept safe by me from those who would stab him in the back
either physically, or metaphorically,"she said with a glare.

 

 

“Maybe he deserves it! If Conor had lived, things would have been
very different!” Mary raged, her grief bubbling to the surface at
all she had lost.

 

 

“True. We would have probably all starved that much sooner. Conor
was my brother and I loved him, but as for him being chief of the
clan....”

 

 

“With a good woman like me by his side, I could have...”

 

 

Morgana glanced sharply at the furious woman, and her back
stiffened.

 

 

“That’s what I have been missing here, isn’t it?” Morgana asserted,
the light dawning at last. “I should have known when I went through
Conor’s room and found everything lovingly mended and preserved.

 

 

"And to think all that time when I believed you were taking an
interest in my brother as you would your son, Seamus, it turns out
that you were lovers!”

 

 

The older woman gave a smile of triumph. “Aye, that we were! But it
wouldn’t have suited Miss High and Mighty like yourself to have me
as the chief’s wife now would it?” Mary hissed. “I’m not young and
beautiful like you, Morgana, but I have twice as much sense and a
good head for figures and housekeeping.”

 

 

Morgana crossed her arms in front of her chest, both in anger, and
to steady herself in the face of alll that Mary had just revealed.
Had the older woman really been so ambitious all along, and resented
her so much? She had counted her a friend, trusted her so much that
she had invited her to come back to the castle as soon as she had
returned from the convent…

 

 

“It's unfair to say that I stood in your way, for may I remind you,
before you accuse me of being arrogant and snobbish, that I worked
as hard as any scullery maid in this clan! I hadn’t a thing to my
name that I hadn’t earned myself through hunting and trading, or
through my own handiwork.

 

 

“Why don’t you face the truth? You know full well that my father
would never have allowed your marriage. More to the point, I can’t
see that Conor would ever have wed you. Why, he said to me just
before he died, that no matter how a woman tricked him, he would
never be fooled into giving up his freedom.

 

 

“It was
you
, wasn’t it! What did you do, Mary, pretend that
you were with child, and when he refused to marry you, you killed
him?” Morgana accused.

 

 

Mary turned pale. Her hand rose then. She would have struck Morgana
had it not been for the vice-like grip that Morgana used to restrain
Mary’s wrist.

 

 

“Damn you, you’ll pay for this!” Mary hissed.

 

 

Morgana laughed almost hysterically. “Can’t you see I’ve already
paid dearly? My brother, my intended husband, and now my father are
all lost to me!

 

 

“You may feel you have ample cause to resent me, but do you really
think you could fill my place? Can you honestly say you would like
to take up all my responsibilities and cares? More to the point, if
the MacMahons come over that hill yonder and try to invade our land,
capture Lisleavan, are you prepared to take up your sword and shield
and fight them to the death in armed combat?” Morgana challenged.

 

 

Mary slumped down onto a kitchen bench as the truth of Morgana’s
tirade hit home.

 

 

Morgana sighed, and let go of her wrist. She dragged in a ragged
breath,and stated more calmly, “Everything I have, I have fought
for. Everything Conor had, he was handed on a silver salver, and
even then he turned his nose up at it. I will continue to fight for
the clan, but I will not fight with it. Ruairc is innocent, and
there is nothing more to be said upon that subject.

 

 

“As for you, Mary, I give you a choice. If you won’t help me without
allowing the resentment over your disappointed hopes to fester and
rankle in your heart, then leave Lisleavan now,” Morgana advised,
close to tears. "I will be sorry to lose your help and wise counsel,
but I thought it was being given because you cared for me, for our
clan, not because of your overweening ambitions."

 

 

Mary finally lifted one hand in a gesture of despair. “All right,
all right, my anger is past. I am sorry. You are the chief, and I
owe you loyalty if not love. But I can’t reconcile myself to
Ruairc’s presence in this castle, for I am certain he is a traitor.”

 

 

Morgana shook her head. “My father told me on his deathbed that he
wasn’t. All of the particulars he gave me, I know to be true. I have
no time to go into it now. Suffice it to say that my father was
deserving of loyalty and respect, and so his word must be good
enough for both of us.

 

 

"And since Ruairc was with me all day, he is not guilty of poisoning
father now. It was an acute attack and was nearly over when we
arrived. I need to seek the true murderer without wasting time and
effort defending the innocent.

 

 

"Now, if you are sure you wish to remain, I am pleased and grateful
for you to do so, Mary. But I will also make it clear to you now
that the next time you question my authority or try to thwart me, it
will be your last day here. Is that clear?” Morgana demanded.

 

 

Mary nodded quietly.

 

 

“In that case, supervise the baking, and prepare those deer and
pheasant. Oh, and pluck six of the geese. I’m going to go milk the
cows and slaughter the pigs.”

 

 

Morgana turned on her heel and stalked out into the morning mists,
her head awhirl with conflicting emotions. She ached to run down to
the dungeon to confide in Ruairc, but she knew it would only add
fuel to the fire of Mary's jealousy and resentment of them both.

 

 

I’m surrounded by traitors,
she reflected with a grimace of
distaste as she pressed her head against the first cow’s flanks and
began to milk the animal rhythmically.

 

 

Whether or not Mary had really been involved with Conor’s death was
impossible to say, but it meant she was yet another person who had
to be watched for any signs of guilt.

 

 

As she milked, she reflected that Mary hadn’t gained anything by
Conor’s death. Morgana was confident that with the right degree of
diplomacy, she could eventually win Mary around to her side once
more.Or at least the side of what was best for the clan.

 

 

As for her own sister, while it was unthinkable for any daughter to
murder her father, let alone one so idolised by him, nevertheless
Morgana knew that such things did happen. What Aofa could have hoped
to gain was a mystery still, but she felt sure Ruairc's suspicions
were on the right track. And that Aofa's her eagerness in pointing
the finger at Ruairc was much more than than her usual envy and
malice.

 

 

The only person I can trust is in the dungeon,
Morgana
sighed. And of course, Morgan had warned her many years ago that a
ruler of the clan could seldom afford to trust anyone.

 

 

Morgana began to think longingly of the convent as she moved up and
down the rows of cows in the byre. She didn’t want to spend the rest
of her life waiting for the next betrayal. Perhaps it was better to
leave Lisleaven now, while she still could.

 

 

But not until I finish what I've started here,
Morgana
reminded herself asshe brought the milk back into the kitchen and
began to re-examine the menus for the guests she would sure would
come.

 

 

Yet she knew even as she thought it, that it was unworthy of her.
She was not one to turn tail and run. Still, the knowledge that one
by one, all of her choices were being stripped from her, rankled
deeply, and she was tired of feeling like a pawn in someone else's
game. One she didn't even know the rules of yet. But she had a
strong feeling the stakes were the highest possible, and it was
going to be to the death.

 

 

She went to see Ruairc to bring him some food for breakfast and
lunch, and recounted briefly the conversation she had had with Mary.

 

 

Ruairc looked genuinely astonished."I swear yo you, I had no idea—"

 

 

"I know, my love. I can see it from the expression on his face. So
again it begs the question, if there was nothing wrong with it, why
hide it. Yes, I can see why regarding my father. I know he would not
have been happy. But why hide it from you, his best friend?"

 

 

"It makes me feel like it's impossible to truly know and trust
anyone," he said with a sigh.

 

 

"Except for each other,"she said, putting her face through the bars
to kiss him.

 

 

"Yes, thank God for that. I know the mind plays tricks on us with
the ones we love. We fear betrayal from them most of all because
we're so vulnerable." He fingered one auburn curl resting on her
cheek. "But I trust you with my life. I hope if a time ever comes
where you have doubts about me again, you'll listen to your heart,
not your head."

 

 

She nodded. "I've learned my mistake, darling, judged by appearance,
not the reality of the love we shared day after day. I swear I will
try never to let it happen again." She kissed him again.

 

 

He broke of the miss and nodded, satisfied. "Much as I would love to
let you continue with this, you need to go, and I need to think.
This new piece of information makes me look at the events of two
years ago in a whole new light."