Caeleb’s gaze snapped from Jacob MacKinnon’s face onto Tommen and Manas when they entered the great hall.

Caeleb rose, “I will return.”

Caeleb glimpsed the curiosity that flickered in Jacob’s eye in the instant before he strode past the MacKinnon laird toward his men. Caeleb jerked his head toward the stairs, and the two men veered in that direction. They reached the stairs first and Caeleb hurried up, with them close behind.

When they reached his library and closed the door behind them, he whirled. “Where is Gwen?”

“My laird, we found her east of Cromerth village,” Tommen said. “How did ye know she would be in that area?” Tommen asked.

Frustration welled up. “Where the bloody hell is she?”

“They told us at the gate that the MacKinnon was here,” Tommen said. “I had one of my men take her to the dungeons.”

Caeleb pushed past them. 

“Where are ye going?” Tommen demanded.

“To speak with her.” He opened the door and strode out into the hallway.

The men caught up with him.

“She is a traitor,” Tommen said.

Before Caeleb could reply, Manas said, “There was a young lass traveling with her.”

Caeleb looked at him. “She was with another woman?”

Manas shook his head. “Nae, a little girl, seven or eight summers.”

“I caught her with Malcom Donald,” Tommen snapped.

“Silence, Tommen,” Caeleb ordered, then to Manas, “Who is the little girl?”

“Gwen’s sister.”

Caeleb halted. Gwen had a sister. God help him, did he know Gwen at all?

 

Caeleb kept his expression neutral and tried to relax in his seat in the great hall as Tommen and Manas escorted a small girl into the room. They stopped a few feet away. The girl stood at attention, hands by her sides. Her eyes were wide with curiosity and fear. As Manas had said, the lass couldn’t have seen more than seven or eight. She was a wee thing with freckles and Gwendolyn’s auburn hair and dark eyes.

“Who are you, child?” he asked.

She stared at the floorboards as she answered, “Arabelle Elizabeth Guinevere Douglas, laird.”

“Douglas? Ye are no’ a Donald?” He’d half believed Gwen had to be a Donald.

The girl looked up, her brow furrowed. “Nae, laird.”

“What were you doing with Gwen?”

“She came to take me away.”

“Away from what?” 

Arabelle looked around the room as if reluctant to speak of something forbidden.

“‘Tis all right, Arabelle,” he soothed. “You have no reason to fear me, but in order for me to help, ye must tell me everything.”

She studied him for a moment. He recognized Gwen’s keen mind behind those dark eyes. “Since I was young, Robert and Gwen raised me,” she said. “Robert was our brother, but he died when I was little. We’ve lived in many places. But each time, we had to leave. There are men after us, but I dinnae know who they are.”

“You do no’ know these men. Do ye know why they are after you?”

She shook her head. “I only know it has something to do with our father, James, Laird of Douglas.”

Caeleb started. “Black Douglas is your father?”

His mind raced. Black Douglas. That’s where he had seen that star symbol carved on Gwendolyn’s necklace. Black Douglas was a powerful, yet dangerous man. He had as many enemies as he had friends. No wonder Gwen hadn’t told him. Had the MacLeods been an enemy to the Douglas’s, it would have placed both her and her sister in grave danger.

The girl’s gaze dropped. “We are his illegitimate children.”

Caeleb smiled gently. “There is no shame in that, lass.”

She looked up and frowned. “The men after us want us dead. Two and a half years ago, they killed our brother. It’s just me and Gwen now.”

“If you’re a Douglas, how did ye come to live with the Donalds?”

“We moved in with the Donalds four years ago. We were living at Glenwood Abbey. Malcolm quickly offered Gwen a position in the castle. She didnae let me go with her though.” A strange looked passed over her features.

“Why?” Caeleb asked.

“Gwen said we couldnae trust the Donalds. She said I was safer at the abbey where the other lasses would watch after me. I am a grown-up lass. I agreed—but only because she promised that soon we wouldn’t have to run away anymore.” A wistful light entered her eyes. “We left Maggie’s because Gwen found a place for us to live where we could be safe. She said the Donalds were a mistake, though.”

He watched the girl. “What kind of mistake?”

She shrugged. “Malcom said she had to make right her mistakes.”

“Did he say what those mistakes were?”

“Only that she had lied to him.”

His heart pounded. “Did Gwen tell ye to say that?”

She frowned. “How could she do that? She wasnae there when Malcolm asked me.”

“Ah,” he said. “Of course, you are right.”

Caeleb couldn’t imagine what they had gone through. He had never worried about where he would live, or what he would eat. Things Gwendolyn worried about every day in order to keep her and her sister safe. This child was why Gwendolyn had been so secretive and unwilling to trust him. Still, had she told him, he could have protected her. Damn Douglas. Known to travel and fight beside the king, he’d abandoned his children. Illegitimate or not, they were still his blood.

Caeleb smiled at the girl. “Thank ye, Arabelle, for telling me the truth.”

“Will you free my sister?”

She stared with hopeful, innocent blue eyes.

He smiled. “Are ye hungry?”

She nodded vigorously.

“Manas, take Arabelle to the kitchens. Have Moira warm up some of her roasted beef.”

“Aye, my laird.”

“And my sister?” she asked again.

“Soon, lass.”

Manas held the door open and waited for Arabelle to follow. With a smile and a curtsy, she left.

The words love conquers all rattled around Caeleb’s head. If love conquered all, could it also forgive?