A Fire Within (These Highland Hills, Book 3) (38 page)

She allowed herself to be led to the bench at the foot of her
brother and sister-in-law's bed, where she sank gratefully down
upon it. She indeed felt dizzy. Dizzy with fear for Dar.

"So, he barely managed a month," she heard Niall say, fury in
his voice, "before he no longer could bear it here. Just time enough
for us to lower our guard and cease to watch him as closely."

"He had to go, m'lord. Athe must be stopped. Darach's the
only one who can do it, if anyone can.,,

"He broke his word. There's naught more to be said."

Exasperation, tinged with anger, cleared Caitlin's head in record time. She leaped to her feet and strode over to stand before
her brother.

"Are ye deaf as well as pigheadedly determined to find fault
where there's none?" she demanded, grabbing her brother's arm.
"Dar went back to stop Athe from assassinating the Regent! And
the only way he could do that was by fighting him for the chieftainship, a chieftainship he has never even wanted."

"He could've-should've-come to me first," Niall growled.
"He gave me his word that he'd not leave Kilchurn without my
permission. My permission, Caitlin. Not yers, not Goraidh's, not
anyone else's. Mine, and only mine!"

"Aye, that he did, m'lord," Goraidh interjected. "But what's
between he and Athe is MacNaghten business, not Campbell.
He didn't need or want yer help. Indeed, it would've only made
things worse."

"Not as worse as it will now be." A grim look on his face, Niall
shook his head. "I never should've trusted him. And I never will
again.

"Well, that's another matter entirely, and best saved for later."
Unflinchingly, Goraidh met Niall's blazing glance. "What's
needed now is for ye and yer men to hie yerself to Hell's Glen to ensure the Regent's safety. For if Dar fails to stop Athe, there'll
then be only ye who can foil the ambush."

"And who's to say that the ambush won't be meant for us
instead?" Niall demanded. "Mayhap this is all but part of some
plot Darach concocted to avenge himself on me. Did ye think
of that, MacNaghten?"

"Aye, both Darach and I thought ye might suspect that. But
it isn't true. My son would've never left here save for the most
dire of reasons." Goraidh glanced at Caitlin. "He had too much
to lose to leave here otherwise."

At the look of understanding in the hermit's eyes, Caitlin's eyes
again filled with tears. "I left him yesterday, furious and accusing
him of having been given a second chance, yet unwilling to give ye
a second chance. But he has done so, hasn't he, Goraidh? He came
to ye, spoke with ye, and entrusted this terrible responsibility to ye.
The responsibility of convincing my brother that Dar spoke the
truth, and that Niall now needs to heed and act on his words."

The older man smiled sadly. "Aye, he did. And I told him I
was proud of him. So verra, verra proud."

"That doesn't make me inclined to risk my life or those of my
men. Proud ye may be of yet son," Niall said, "but to me he's
naught more than a liar and deceiver."

"Niall, that's not fair."

At his wife's unexpected intrusion into the conversation, Niall
turned now to her. "Fair? I've been more than fair to that man,
Annie. And this is how he repays me!"

"And what exactly would ye have done, if it had been ye instead
of him in such straits?" she asked, moving to his side. "Would
ye have involved another clan in what was Campbell business? I
don't recall ye asking for aid when ye were struggling so hard to
keep yer position as chief."

High color flushed her husband's cheeks. "It wasn't anyone
else's business. Besides, I had things under control."

Anne chuckled. "Aye, that ye did, save when ye nearly died
from poisoning and, in the interim, I was almost burned at the
stake. But, be that as it may, ye never once asked for help, either
from within the clan or from outside it. And Darach's as proud
and resourceful a man as ye."

"He also isn't a liar or deceiver," Goraidh added heatedly. "He
said to tell ye that if he succeeded in ousting Athe, ye'd know by
the lack of MacNaghtens in Hell's Glen in two days' time. And,
if so, Darach would await ye at Dundarave to surrender himself
back into yer control for the remaining year he owed ye."

"Och, aye." Niall's laugh was disparaging. "I can just see him
surrendering to me if he is, by then, the MacNaghten. Under the
terms of the proscribement, that would likely be a death sentence
for him, and well he knows it."

"Nonetheless, he told me to tell ye that."

For the first time, indecision flickered in Niall's eyes. Hope
swelled in Caitlin.

"Ye can't do aught to aid Dar in his quest to remove Athe from
power," she said, gazing up at her brother. "Which he's at least
finally trying to remedy, after causing the unfortunate situation
that all began when first he abducted me. Ye can, though, believe
Dar when he warns ye of what might happen to the Regent if he
fails to stop Athe. And ye can do something about that.

"I may well lose him in this brave but likely futile sacrifice of
his," Caitlin continued, squeezing Niall's arm. "At least honor
him-and me in my choice of this good, noble man-by doing
as he asks. Please, Niall. Please!"

He looked down at her. "Ye can still ask this, knowing ye risk
my life and the lives of our men in the doing? Are ye certain there's
not the tiniest bit of doubt about this plan in yet mind?"

She met his piercing gaze with a joyous one of her own. She
couldn't be with Dar to fight at his side. But she could fight for
him nonetheless.

"I trust Dar with not only my life," Caitlin said, her conviction shining in her eyes and resonating in her voice, "but with
all our lives. There's no doubt in my mind that what he says is
true. No doubt whatsoever."

This time, Athe did decide to take refuge in the summer shielings on Ben Vorlich, deep and safe in MacFarlane lands. It was
the perfect staging area from which to make but a half day's
ride to Hell's Glen, Dar thought as they urged their mounts up
the ever rising terrain. It was also a good place to hide among
MacFarlanes who were already beginning to bring their gentle,
shaggy cattle up to graze on the lush summer grasses.

The presence of another clan, however, Dar well knew, wouldn't
deter Athe from fighting or killing him. That was MacNaghten
business, and nothing in which another clan would care to involve itself.

Besides, he reminded himself as he and Kenneth rode past the
cattle folds and small, sod-covered houses, the summer community consisted mainly of women and girls who milked the cows
and made cheese and butter, and boys who were responsible for
herding the cattle out each day to fresh patches of grass, then
bringing them back to the cattle folds each eve. Adult MacFarlane
men were in short supply, there primarily as protection, to do
repairs, hunt, and help with some of the more difficult cattle.

Even though they were dressed in nondescript plaids, it didn't
take long to find his clansmen. Indeed, holed up in the huts on
the farthest side of the temporary village, from their vantage
halfway up the glen, his clansmen noticed the new arrivals before
Dar and Kenneth discovered them. A group of about ten men
immediately set out in their direction.

"I suppose there's no turning back now," Dar said.

"Nor do I want to," muttered his companion riding beside him. "It's past time Athe relinquish his position as chief. Not
once has he used it for the betterment of the clan. Nor did his
father before him."

"If events don't go in my favor"-Dar shot his cousin a quick
glance-"and ye can get away, do so. Naught's served in both of
us dying this day."

Kenneth gave a sharp laugh. "And where would I go? To beg
shelter from Niall Campbell?"

"He's a merciful man, Cousin. And, for all practical purposes,
ye'd be an outlaw from the clan." Dar paused. "Ye could also help
him track down Athe. Ye'd know, better than anyone would,
where he'd be likely to go next."

"Ye're asking me to turn traitor against my own clan, Dar."

"Aye, in a sense I am." He sighed. "But we were the cause of
Athe's return to power. It seems only just that we also be part of
taking that power away from him. If I fail, there's only ye left.
And ye can't do it without help. Powerful help."

"Best ye don't think of failing," Kenneth said through gritted
teeth as their clansmen drew near. "Best ye face them all as the
man of the hour, come to save them from their madman of a
chief."

Dar smiled and reined in his horse. "That I will. Still, it's always
best to have a backup plan."

Geordie MacNaghten, a big, blustering hulk of a man and
their distant cousin, halted before them just then. "So, ye decided
to pay us a wee visit, did ye, Dar? Yet brother isn't at all pleased,
ye can be sure."

"No more pleased than I was," Dar replied calmly, "when I
heard he'd shot our uncle in cold blood."

"So, the wee Kenneth went bawling to ye, did he?" Geordie's lip
curled in derision. "Well, it'll go poorly for him that he did."

"And is that what our clan has become in my absence?" Dar
swung his leg over his horse, jumped down, and walked up to meet Geordie eye to eye. "Cowardly bullies who shoot unarmed
men and beat those not trained in the warrior arts? If so, I've
stayed away far too long, and shirked what has always been my
destiny."

The other man stared at Dar for a moment longer, then averted
his gaze. "Well, we'll see what destiny truly has in store for ye.
Come along. Athe doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Dar motioned in the direction of the hill. "Lead on, then. I'm
as eager to meet with him as he seems to be with me."

They set out, the other clansmen falling into step around
them. As they passed, women and children paused in their work
to stare.

Dar kept his gaze riveted straight ahead. Now that the moment
he had so long avoided was almost here, his emotions churned
within him. Perhaps the path to this day had been laid out for
him long ago, in the boyhood rivalry Dar had always wondered
at, and of which he had always come out on the losing end. But
that past submission had been of his choice, because he had seen
no other option.

Today, though, the time had come to confront his brother.
There was no father left to please, leastwise no reluctant, standin father, and no reason to yield to an older brother in the futile
hope of doing so.

There was only the hope of saving his clan from far worse
retribution. Yet, even if he did manage to kill Athe and gain
command of the clan, Dar didn't know what more he could do
for them. In the end, perhaps all that was left was to help them
live out the remainder of their days with honor.

His mouth quirked in irony. Was it even possible? Could the
man most thought to be a despicable killer, no matter if he bested
Athe this day, ever be permitted to lead the clan?

Such a consideration seemed so impossible, so inconceivable,
that it would surely require some sort of Divine intervention even to succeed. A Divine intervention that both Caitlin and
Goraidh had long claimed was the reason he had finally arrived
at this moment. Perhaps it was the will of God. In the end, God
was surely his only hope.

He was no longer so proud that he wouldn't accept the Lord's
help. He hoped he had gained a bit of wisdom in the time of his
banishment, and especially in the past weeks he had spent with
Caitlin ... and even Goraidh.

Regret flooded him. Now, when it was too late, Dar regretted
not offering his father his forgiveness. Now, he might never have
the chance to correct that omission.

As hard as it was to admit, Dar had been inexpressibly touched
by the hermit's declaration that he was proud of him. At long last,
he had finally heard the words he had so yearned to hear.

At least, Dar had loved and been loved by Caitlin. Too much
had happened to truly savor their time together, and most certainly since they had finally spoken of their love. Still, there was
comfort-and a certain peace-in remembering what they had
shared.

She had helped him to feel worthwhile again, to feel like a
man. He had never been more vibrantly alive than he was when
he was with her. But, most of all, she had helped him to see that
true honor, despite any and all opposition, lay in doing what one
felt in one's heart to be right.

I know I've turned my back on Ye for a long while, Lord, Dar
couldn't help but silently pray. I know I've no right to be asking Ye
for Yer help now. I don't ask so much for myself, though, as for my
people. They're so lost, following a leader who's so verra unworthy of
them. Bring them, at last, a leader they deserve. And if it isn't me,
at least bring forth someone who is worthy.

I ask, as well, fora chance to see and speak with my father again.
Or else give him the gift of knowing, leastwise in his heart, that I
forgave him. And, just a wee bit more for me, too, if Ye will, that I might be able to be with Caitlin one last time and thank her for
all she has done for me. But if none of this is Yer will, then so be it.
Just let me at least die clothed in Yer mercy and forgiveness. In Yer
love ...