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“Och, now, they’re older. They’ve lost that mischievousness. Besides, me braithers and I saw their tricks too many times tae be caught out by them now.”

“You are all very close,” Katherine observed.

“We are. O’ course, having—” Domhnall stopped suddenly, and turned at her with wide eyes, as though surprised at himself.

“Having what?” Katherine pressed.

Domhnall shook his head. “It daesnae matter,” he said quickly. “But aye. We’re very close. We fought like cats and dogs as bairns, but now we’re older, we’re a formidable force.”

While she was still curious about what he had stopped himself saying, Katherine smiled and felt a warmth at the idea of Domhnall’s family having such a connection. Swiftly after that, however, an emptiness overshadowed her. It was clear he and his siblings had experienced many years of fun and frolicking together. Something she herself had missed out on.

Reginald had been as cold in the past as he was now. Being so many years older than her hadn’t helped. If she were to describe their relationship, close would not be a word she could use. Nor had she had a sister to share anything with. She would have liked that, but unfortunately, it was never meant to be.

The conversation died down between them for a while, and they continued on in silence. The wind was now broken up by the trees, and while she could hardly say she was warm, Katherine was comfortable and in no rush to return to the castle. The smell in the air and the snow filled her with excitement for the Yuletide festivities to come and she lost herself in thought of spiced wine, cozy fires and sweetmeats.

A little while later, Domhnall said, “Ye have told me o’ yer faither, but what o’ yer maither?”

“My mother died giving birth to my sister,” Katherine said sadly.

“I’m sorry tae hear that. Is yer sister still in England?”

Katherine shook her head. “Unfortunately, she died at the same time as my mother.”

Domhnall did not reply to that, and Katherine could only conclude that he simply did not know what to say. Most people who had learned of her mother’s and sister’s demise reacted in the very same way. It was a lot to take in, but Katherine had been only two years old at the time, and hardly remembered her mother at all. Of course, her father had told her stories about hiswonderful and beautiful wife, but the only face she could put to the personality was the few portraits he had kept of her.

“What of your parents?” Katherine asked, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence that had shrouded them.

“Both me maither and faither were murdered by the English on the same afternoon,” Domhnall said far too calmly.

“Oh, me word,” Katherine gasped, glancing over at him and noting the tight muscle of his jaw. “I’m so sorry.”

Stoically, Domhnall shook his head. “Ye were nae their murderer, Katherine.”

“That’s beside the point. What happened?”

Domhnall sighed before continuing. “The English raided our castle ‘afore we kent what was happening, and then… and then, they were both gone.”

Again, a silence fell between them, and it was now Katherine’s turn not to know what she ought to say. No one had really told her anything about the MacLeod’s family history, and though she had realized their parents were no longer living, given the fact she had not seen them anywhere in the castle, she certainly hadn’t been prepared for Domhnall’s answer.

So consumed with her own frustrations about the circumstances she found herself in had she been, she hadn’t even consideredDomhnall’s situation, and with this newfound information, she could only imagine he likely felt far more resentment about the wedding than she.

Being forced to marry an English woman after his parents had been murdered by the English? How must that make him feel? I suppose I ken, as I felt the same…

In that moment, she then remembered a few days afore, when she had challenged him to spar. Her heart suddenly sank at the horrible things she had said. Ordinarily, she was not a cruel person. But frustrated by what she was being forced to do seemed to have cracked open a part of her never before shown.

Now, however, she felt utterly dreadful at the things she had said. No wonder he had lost his temper.

“I’m truly sorry,” Katherine said sadly. “And I’m even more sorry for those awful things I said to you the other day. Had I known what had happened…”

“I ken, Katherine,” he replied, his tone full of understanding. “Fer all yer damned stubbornness, I dinnae tak’ ye fer a cruel lass.”

“My apology hardly feels enough. I must have hurt you so deeply. I cannot imagine what?—”

Domhnall suddenly raised his hand to silence her. Katherine was about to protest when she noticed his head spinning back behind him, a deep frown lining his brow.

“What is it?” she whispered automatically.

Still turned in the saddle and looking behind them, Domhnall murmured, “I dinnae think we’re alone.”