A Beautiful Lie (The Camaraes) (103 page)

Lachlan could hear his nephew and niece long before he reached the chambers that he shared with his wife, (they hadn
’
t yet moved in to Graem
’
s old suite of rooms.)  He thought this was because the two youngest were being their usual exuberant selves
–
this proved partly true, but it also proved true that they were out in the corridors playing.

“
Uncle Lachlan!  Uncle Lachlan!
”
the pair squealed in delight the moment that they laid eyes on the new Laird.  They bounded up to him excitedly, apparently wholly unaffected by that morning gruesome events.

“
What are you two doing out here?
”
he frowned, but he let Maeve clamber up his leg and into his arms, while Roan bounced around his feet, happily telling his uncle that they
’
d been playing a game.  Roan had been the fearless knight and Maeve the helpless damsel, only Maeve pouted about this and insisted that she was in fact the dragon.

“
You
’
re too pretty to be the dragon, petal.
”
  Lachlan couldn
’
t help but smile at her upturned face. 
“
But why are you playing out here and not in with your mother and Auntie Muria?
”

“
Auntie Muira
’
s sick,
”
Roan said simply.

Lachlan felt his heart clatter in his chest. 
“
Sick?
”
he choked, but they
’
d already reached the door to his room, so he pushed that open hurriedly instead of waiting for further information.

Sure enough Muira was lying on the bed, Bridghe flitting around by her side looking worried.  The moments she saw Lachlan she hurried over to his side.

“
I- I don
’
t know what
’
s wrong with her,
”
she stammered nervously. 
“
We heard the- the bell chime,
”
she said with emphasis,
“
and then Muria was violently sick before passing out.  She- she hasn
’
t said anything since then,
”
Bridghe finished wretchedly. 

“
Take them,
”
Lachlan grunted, passing Bridghe her daughter. 
“
Let me speak to her alone.
”

“
But I-
”

“
Go!
”
Lachlan commanded.  In a voice his sister never usually would have obeyed, but this time she fled the room with her children.

Lachlan hurried over to the bed where Muira was lying.  Lying and not moving, her eyes were glassy and unfocused, and she didn
’
t seem aware of her husband at all as he sat down on the mattress beside her.  He reached for one of her hands and held it to his chest.

“
Muira, love?
”
he whispered, stroking a tender finger over her cheek.  Her eyelids fluttered and she finally seemed to notice him.  She looked at Lachlan at any rate, but she didn
’
t try to speak. 
“
Muira?
”
he murmured her name again.  He didn
’
t want to ask her what was wrong; he already knew
–
Tavish.

“
What happened?
”

Lachlan almost jumped at the unexpected sound of his wife
’
s voice.  He hadn
’
t really been prepared for her to respond so soon.  Her eyes were on his face, and Lachlan
’
s heart shattered when he saw the haunted, broken look in their depths.

“
Muira,
”
he sighed heavily. 
“
You know what happened,
”
he said softly.  He was not going to recount the whole horrible affair for his wife to hear!  He really didn
’
t think that she would be able to cope with that.

“
He
’
s really gone then?
”
she whimpered. 
“
Somehow, I- I couldn
’
t quite believe that it would actually happen.
”
 

Lachlan sighed again, and swept a few stray strands of hair off her face. 
“
You know why it had to happen though, Muira?  He couldn
’
t be allowed to go unpunished for what he
’
d done.
”

“
I know that,
”
she sniffed, and tried to roll onto her side, turning away from her husband, only Lachlan refused to let her.  He placed his hands on her shoulders and held her still. 
“
Lachlan!
”
Muira cried.

“
You blame me, don
’
t you?
”
he asked, his voice truly agonised. 
“
Muira, as much as I hated that man for what he did to you, do you honestly think that I enjoyed what happened here this morning?
”

“
What?  No!  Of course I don
’
t, Lachlan!
”
Muira gasped, and then she took her husband by surprise once again, by throwing herself into his arms. 
“
I just- I can
’
t- seem to get my head around it all.
”

“
Tell me, talk to me,
”
Lachlan urged gently, although he was still rather reluctant to hear what his wife had to confess.

Muira licked her lips hesitantly, but then she nodded and whispered:
“
Sometimes I- I can
’
t help wondering if it would have been better for everyone concerned if I
’
d never ran away from Tavish, if I
’
d just let him have me.
”
  Lachlan gave a small, stilted nod; he
’
d known that he wouldn
’
t like whatever she had to say! 
“
But then- then I think about how, if that had been the case, I
’
d never have met you and become your wife, and I- I
’
m almost glad that things happened the way they did,
”
she sobbed. 
“
Does that make me a horrible, wicked woman?
”

“
No,
”
Lachlan said quickly, but with an honest urgency. 
“
Not unless it makes me a horrible, wicked man.  I know that I
’
ll thank Tavish for the rest of my life for driving you to me,
”
he murmured softly, dabbing a kiss against Muira
’
s lips.

Muira gave her head a little nod, and then held onto her husband tighter.  She burrowed against the hard wall of his chest, feeling so a little better just because he was here, holding her, loving her, and she suddenly knew that somehow things were going to be all right again.  It might take a little while, but she still had the man she adored, her brother was well, and there was a little baby on its way.

“
I love you,
”
Muira whispered, tucking her head under Lachlan
’
s chin. 
“
I never thought I
’
d ever love a man as much as I love you,
”
she sighed, clinging to him tighter.  She smiled when she felt his lips brush the crown of her head.

“
I love you too,
”
Lachlan swore softly. 
“
And I intend to spend the rest of my life proving to you how much.
”

Epilogue

“
I
’
m never going through this again,
”
Muira moaned, trying and failing to get comfortable.  She was, in her opinion, the size of a small house, and all swollen and achy, and hot, and-
“
Don
’
t shut that window!
”
she snapped at her husband.  Lachlan turned and shot her a puzzled glance. 
“
It
’
s boiling!
”
she sighed, fanning herself with a hand. 

Lachlan looked out again at the cool September evening and tried his hardest not to grin.  Grinning around his heavy pregnant wife wasn
’
t the wisest of things to do he
’
d learnt over the past few weeks.