“I apologize, but I had to come to speak to ye—to ye both. I’m afraid I made a terrible mistake, and I only hope that there is enough time to keep ye from facin' the worst of it.”
Willow’s expression turned dour, matching her twin’s. Still, even with how similar the two looked, there was no mistaking who each of them was to Keegan. He gestured into the room, his brows dipping low over his eyes.
“Step in, Lilith. Let us hear what ye have to say.”
She did, following Keegan’s unspoken command to sit at the small table to the side of the bed. The woman still wore her gown from the wedding ceremony, and it was clear that she’d not slept or rested since things had calmed down.
As Lilith sat, Willow took up a spot next to her in the other chair, pulling it around to the same side as her sister so that she might lay a hand on the woman’s shoulder.
“I am so terribly sorry, Willow. I dinnae think ye actually cared for the laird.” Keegan watched as Lilith gripped Willow’s hands, her eyes tearing as she allowed the words to flow from her just as rapidly. “It’s Magnus. He intends to attack the castle.”
Keegan’s stomach clenched. “What?”
Lilith looked to the laird only briefly, but even in that flash of a moment, he could see her guilt practically screaming from her expression.
“I was supposed to give him a sign when the castle had all gone to bed. I havenae done it. I couldnae after I saw ye with Keegan in the dance.”
Willow’s eyes were wide as she looked between her sister and Keegan, then back again. “I daenae understand. Why would ye help that man? Ye sought to aid Melissa, and now ye’ve told Magnus that ye might harm her clan?”
Keegan appreciated that Willow’s questions reflected the ones in his own mind. Lilith had been acting strange the entire evening. Though he wished to attribute it to the journey and the strained relationship between their clans, he wished he’d been wrong about there being more behind it.
Lilith sucked in a shaky breath, gripping Willow’s hands like she might fall off the earth without the secure hold. After a moment, she pulled her head up to meet Willow’s eyes, and Keegan stepped closer to the table. He kept his stare pinned to Lilith for any sign of falsehoods or trickery.
“Ye have to understand, Sister. Ye were captured. How was I to ken that ye werenae being treated poorly?”
Willow shook her head. “I can understand yer confusion, but in me letter, Lilith, I wrote ye about comin' to the weddin' and bein' sure to keep Magnus well away. I begged ye to prevent Magnus from comin', and now ye’ve gone and done just the opposite.”
Sobs racked through Lilith as she sat before her sister’s judgment, and Keegan kept an ear on the conversation as he began to get dressed, choosing a set of breeks from things to avoid a failure in modesty as he might with attempting to secure his plaid with Lilith present.
“I apologize, Willow, truly!” Lilith’s voice shook. “I swear I had thought I was doing the right thing. I dinnae realize that Keegan was treatin' ye fairly. Or…or that ye had come to have an affection for him. Magnus had said…och, this is all wrong!”
Willow adjusted in her seat, leaning forward toward Lilith as Keegan finished lacing up the front of his shirt.
“I understand that ye had to assume me captor was cruel to me. With how Magnus treated Melissa and yerself, what else couldye think? But what did Magnus say? Ye make it sound as if there’s more?”
It took Lilith a moment to collect herself, and Willow was far more patient than Keegan wished to be. He was ready to shove things into motion. If Magnus were near enough to see Lilith’s signal, it gave the laird very little time to prepare. As the woman spoke again, Keegan yanked on his breeks, turning away from them to keep himself hidden as he did up his ties.
“Magnus was injured when he returned.” Lilith continued, and Keegan scoffed through his nose.
“The bastard shouldnae have returned at all. I willnae be making the same mistake twice.”
He couldn’t see his sister-in-law’s face, but Keegan could hear the subtle hiss as Lilith reacted to his words. The lass was going to have to come around to the truth soon because her brother was not long for this earth. Brother or not, the man had beaten her, lied to both the sisters, killed Keegan’s parents, and abandoned Willow when she no longer proved useful to him.
“Go on, Lilith.” Willow’s voice hinted at the urgency she must have felt coming from Keegan, and he silently thanked her for it. “We need to understand what he plans.”
“When Magnus came back to the castle, he went on and on about the terrible things ye went through. He described ye havin' been beaten worse than me; he said that ye were forced to give yerself to Keegan and that the only reason for the weddin'—when he learned of it, that is—was that yer honor had already been sullied.”
Lilith’s voice cracked, but both Willow and Keegan could tell that there was more, and so they each waited, looking at the other with so much concern weighing down their brows.
“The things he said, Sister. I…I willnae repeat them for fear of makin' us both sick. It was horrendous, and I was desperate to do anythin' to save ye from the gruesome tortures and injuries to yer virtue.”
“That’s…” Keegan was at Willow’s side, nearly finished dressing, as he took her shoulder and squeezed for encouragement. “That isnae the truth of the matter, Lilith. I was never beaten. Keegan gave his word to protect me and leave the men as unharmed as he could durin' the exchange. I wasnae…forced to do anythin'. Until a few hours ago—this being our weddin' night—I was still untouched.”
“Yer brother has lied to ye, Lilith. And now,” he stared down at her intently, not holding back his rage or hunger for vengeance in the slightest, “ye’ll be tellin' me everythin' about Magnus’s plan of attack. And trust me when I say that I will ken it immediately if ye arenae honest with me.”
Lilith’s eyes were flared wide, and the fear in her face was plain for anyone to see. Keegan couldn’t be bothered to care how he might have upset the lass. She had nearly betrayed him and his people to Magnus. More importantly, she had betrayed Willow—her only sister, who had been nothing but protective of her since the moment Keegan met her.
“I…I-I will tell ye everythin' I have heard, Laird Brahanne. I promise ye.” Lilith’s voice trembled as her entire body shook. “I will start by sayin' that yer assumption that he is likely close, guessin' by yer haste to get dressed, is well-founded. Ye’ll be wantin' to rouse yer guard at once.”