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Beaux could see his point. He didn’t agree with it, but he could see it. “I would suggest ye tell Jamison what is happening and let him decide,” he said. “He is still in command of Four Crosses, is he not?”

Tobias was loath to agree, given that he had felt all along that he should be in command, so it was Thad who answered. “He is,” he said. “He must know.”

“I’ll go,” Beaux volunteered. He eyed Thad. “Ye need tae turn the lass over tae yer cousin and have a physic look at yer skull.”

Thad sighed heavily. He wasn’t feeling at all well. “Agreed,” he said. He thrust Amaline at Tobias. “Lock her up where her sister was. That is the least she deserves. I am off to join the wounded.”

He was indicating the far end of the hall that still had a few wounded there left over from the battle several days ago.

Most were recuperating but some weren’t.

The de Lohr surgeon had taken his wounded and retreated back to Lioncross with the army but there was still an old physic left who tended the people of Four Crosses.

It was that man Thad sought out as Tobias, unhappy that he has been relegated to tending Amaline, pulled the girl along with him as he headed out of the hall.

As the de Lohr knights parted ways, Beaux turned to Kendrick.

“I’ll go find Jamie,” he said. “This place is an utter madhouse, it ’tis.

I would say the sooner we leave, the better.

I dunna want tae linger at this place and wait for the next terrible thing tae happen.

Spies? Attacks? Madmen? We need tae save Jamie from this place. ”

Kendrick couldn’t disagree. “Aye,” he said. “See if ye can persuade him tae leave on the morrow.”

Beaux nodded. “I’ll try.”

Leaving Kendrick with the still sleeping Caspian in the great hall, Beaux exited the hall out into the coming night.

It was very cold and the sun, at this point, was mostly down.

Off to his left, he could see Tobias dragging the crying girl to the gatehouse, the one who had freed her sister from the vault.

Beaux could only surmise that was another sister to Lady Havilland given the conversation he’d just heard.

More and more, he was coming to think this entire castle was a madhouse.

After what Tobias had told them, there was a far greater picture here than he could have imagined.

Perhaps coming here might have saved Jamison from becoming entrenched in the madness if he had married Lady Havilland.

A warrior woman who lied to protect a mad father…

a sister who had betrayed them… now another sister who had released the treacherous sister…

aye, this place was a madhouse. Better get out of this place and be well rid of it.

So he headed to the keep, knowing that Jamison was still there because they could still hear him bellowing every so often.

Surely, it was difficult for the man to lose a woman he believed he wanted to marry, but Beaux was convinced that getting him out of Four Crosses was the best thing for him.

The keep loomed ahead now, a big and squat thing, three stories tall, and Beaux disappeared into the bowels of it.

It was very dark inside now with the sunset.

He could see a couple of rooms on the entry level and he peered into each room, in succession, trying to see if Jamison was in any one of them.

One was a solar, a cold and dark and cluttered place, and the second room looked to be more of a dining chamber of sorts.

He didn’t see anyone around so he took the narrow spiral stairs, as dark as pitch, up to the floor above and immediately came into contact with a body seated on the landing.

In fact, he almost tripped over the boots.

Eyes adjusting to the darkness, he caught sight of red hair.

“Jamie?” he whispered.

The boots shifted. “I’m here.”

Jamison had yelled so much that he had no voice left. He spoke in barely above a whisper. Beaux came off the stairs and went to him, nearly tripping again before kneeling down beside him. He sighed faintly, putting his hand on the wavy red hair.

“’Tis not the way ye expected yer day tae end, is it?” he quipped softly.

Jamison shook his head, weakly. “Nay,” he muttered. “Why did ye have tae come, Beaux? Why could ye not have simply left me alone?”

Beaux lowered himself onto the floor next to him. “Because yer da asked it of me,” he said. “Because ye’re closer than a brother tae me and the MacKenzies are out for yer blood. I came tae help ye, Jamie, but I know I dunna seem like it.”

Jamison exhaled, low and slow. “I know ye did,” he said. “But I have been sitting here thinkin’… if it means I am tae lose Havilland, then I willna go home. Ye can tell me da that ye couldna find me.”

Beaux shook his head. “He would insist we look again,” he said. “We would have tae look until we found ye. Ye know that.”

“Then tell him I’m dead.”

Beaux looked at him in the darkness, seeing his profile in the weak light. “Do ye know what that would do tae yer da?”

“Do ye know what losing Havilland is doing tae me?”

Beaux didn’t want to be unkind. He knew that men in love were strange creatures.

But he never thought he’d see Jamison succumb to a romance so quickly.

It was true that Lady Havilland was a stunning creature, but he was sure that Jamison’s infatuation with the woman was simply that– an infatuation. It couldn’t be love.

… could it?

“Are ye telling me that yer da means less tae ye than a woman ye’ve only known a few days?

” Beaux said. “Think, Jamison. There are hundreds o’ people depending on ye, people that are rejoicing in the fact that ye’re coming home tae lead them.

Are all of those people worth less than yer Lady Havilland? ”

Jamison wouldn’t look at him. “I know me duty,” he said. “I know what is expected. No one knows duty more than I do. But when do I get what I want? If I want tae marry a woman I adore, why can I not do it? Why must I think of others before meself?”

Beaux could see the distress in the man’s eyes as he spoke. “Look at me,” he said. When Jamison didn’t move, he commanded it. “Jamie, look at me. Look at me and tell me ye love this woman enough that ye’re willin’ tae give up everything for her.”

Jamison turned to him, then. “I’m willing tae give up everything for her.”

“And ye’re willing tae let Robbie become Clan Chief when yer da passes on? Because he will be yer da’s heir; not Hector. Hector will have tae take commands from Robbie.”

That brought a reaction. Jamison looked away, refusing to meet Beaux’s eye. “Robbie is a fool.”

“I know he is. But if we return tae Foulis Castle and tell yer da that ye’re dead, Robbie becomes his heir. Is that what ye want?”

Jamison was staring off into the darkness, unwilling or unable to answer.

“I willna leave this place without Havilland,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I’ve made a decision, Beaux– no matter me duty tae me clan, and no matter if it will result in the destruction of an alliance, I willna return home without marrying Havilland first. If it is a choice between peace and me own heart, I will choose me heart.

I’ve never had tae make that choice before. ”

Beaux wasn’t thrilled with hearing that statement but he didn’t argue. Out of respect to Jamison, he wouldn’t argue, whether or not he agreed.

“What if she willna marry ye?” he asked softly. “She’s kept ye outside her door all day long. Ye canna force the lass tae marry ye no matter how badly ye want tae.”

Jamison shrugged, weakly. “She has tae come out sometime,” he said, turning to look at Beaux with a weary smile on his face. “When she does, I will be here.”

There wasn’t much more Beaux could say to that. Shifting his bulk, he leaned back against the wall, next to Jamison. For a moment, he pondered the situation and what had brought them to this point. He also pondered the original reason for him coming to Jamison. That had yet to be brought up.

“There’s something more ye should know,” he said. “While ye’ve been up here trying tae reason with yer lady, one sister has released the other from the vault.”

Jamison’s head snapped to him, his face glazed with shock. “Amaline released Madeline?”

Beaux nodded. “I dunna know the name o’ the one who did the releasing, but she beat Thad over the head, stole his keys, and released yer prisoner. I think ye need tae go see tae yer command, Jamie. Things are happening while ye’re up here in the keep.”

Jamison was stunned by the information. “But Amaline was in her chamber all day,” he said, pointing to the chamber across the landing. “I saw her emerge about a half hour ago. She dinna say a word tae me. She simply fled down the stairs.”

Beaux glanced over at the door Jamison was indicating. “Mayhap she was in her chamber, plotting her sister’s release,” he said. “In any case, yer spy is gone now.”

“Where is Amaline?”

“Thad was able tae capture that one. Tobias took her tae the vault.”

It was a shocking set of circumstances he was describing, enough to cause Jamison to think of something other than his wounded heart.

Beaux was correct; while he was up here screaming at Havilland, his command was in turmoil.

He looked at Beaux for a moment longer before lurching to his feet.

He began to bang on Havilland’s door again.

“Havi,” he tried to yell with his hoarse voice. “Amaline has released Madeline from the vault. I need tae speak with ye!”

Truth was, he didn’t expect any real reaction from Havilland. She would probably think it was a trick. But they both heard the bolt on the other side of the door thrown and, suddenly, the panel yanked open. Havilland appeared in the doorway.

“You had better not be lying just to force me to open the door,” she seethed. “If you are lying, I swear that I will….”