Page 58 of Highland Sky

“Haud yer wheesht. Both of ye,” commanded the chieftain, using all his strength to shut them up. “When Robena saw Una kill her husband, she rushed forward with her dagger and stabbed Bram to death. She went crazy, and wanted . . . Una to pay for what she’d done.”

“Nay!” screamed Kellina. “I dinna believe this at all.”

“So, it seems that no’ just any MacKenzie killed my faither, but it was yer mathair, Kellina.” Nash glared at Kellina now.

“What I want to ken is what the hell were ye doin’ while all this was goin’ on?” growled North.

“Aye, Chieftain. Why didna ye stop the women?” asked Tomas. “Ye said ye were there.”

“I was too shocked by what I saw to even move,” said Kellina’s uncle. “I was also . . . verra drunk . . . but already regrettin’ my actions.”

“God’s eyes, Uncle. Ye could have stopped them all from dyin’ and ye didna do a thing,” Kellina all but shouted. “Their deaths are all because of ye!”

“How did the women die?” Tomas interrupted.

“I called out to them,” said the chieftain. “When Una turned to look at me . . . Robena killed her, too.”

“My mathair wasna a murderer! I refuse to believe it.” Kellina started crying.

“Kellina,” said Nash, putting his arm around her, but she pushed it away.

“Finish the damned story, and then die already, Uncle.” A dark side of Kellina was coming to the surface that Nash didn’t like to see. “I think ye killed them all and are just makin’ this up to cover yer arse.”

“Kellina, the man is confessin’ on his deathbed,” said Nash. “Let him talk. Afterwards, I will personally kill him for what he’s done.”

“Stop it! Both of ye,” commanded Tomas. “I willna let ye touch him.” Tomas’ hand went to the hilt of his sword.

“Nay, Tomas, it’s all right,” North told him. His hand wavered above his sword as he spoke. “They are upset, as am I. This is hard to hear.”

“But it’s the truth,” said the chieftain. “I hid the truth . . . because I didna want anyone to ken. The clans would battle . . . if they kent it was me. And I could no’ bear to let Lorna and the girls . . . ken what kind of man I . . . really was. Still, I had no choice. I was goin’ to . . . tell them, I swear.”

“How did Kellina’s mathair die, since she was the last one standin’?” asked Nash. “The only one left to kill her was ye.”

Kellina’s head snapped around and her eyes bore fire. “Did ye kill her, Uncle? Tell me! I have to ken the truth. Did ye kill my mathair or no’?” Kellina wiped away a tear.

“Nay, I didna . . . kill her.” Ciaran spat up more blood and had a coughing fit before he continued. “Kellina, Daughter, I am . . . sorry.”

“Stop callin’ me Daughter. I am no’ yer daughter.”

“Aye . . . ye are.”

“What?” Both Kellina and Nash said together.

“I did have yer mathair, but no’ that awful night. Instead, it happened earlier . . . right after she married Avery.”

“Ye disgust me!” Kellina shouted, jumping up, but Nash pulled her back down, and put his arm around her to hold her still. “It’s no’ true,” cried Kellina. “My mathair would have told me.”

“She couldna, lass. She kept it a secret because she loved Avery and . . . didna want to lose him,” the chieftain continued. “She also kent it would mean Avery would try to kill me.”

“Aye, Avery would have killed ye, my laird, if he had kent,” agreed Tomas. “And then he would have been killed in return.”

“I’m no’ yer child,” spat Kellina. “I canna be. My mathair was married . . . I’m Avery’s daughter.”

“Perhaps,” said Ciaran. “But I dinna think so. Ye . . . dinna look like Jamie or Caitlin with their dark hair. Ye look more like Sileas and Eilidh, with blond hair and blue eyes instead,” he said, speaking of his daughters who had died in the battle with the Sutherlands.

“Ye killed my mathair, didna ye?” cried Kellina. “Ye did it to keep her quiet.”

“Nay. She took her own life, right in . . . front of my eyes.”