“Ye said he killed your da.” Strath paced before Belfinch, who’d been chained to a wall in the castle’s dungeon.

The man watched him, his expression blank, his lips unmoving.

“Why did he kill your da? How do ye know it was him?”

Still nothing. Strath refused to let the man’s lack of response cause him to lose his temper. Strong and steady won every time.

“Why does he think his wife was taken by Scots?”

Belfinch winced.

“Ye know why. Tell me.”

Still, he kept his mouth firmly closed. Strath seized the front of his shirt and lifted the bastard several inches off his arse. Belfinch gritted his teeth. He was scared but fighting it.

“I willna hesitate to beat the truth from ye, dinna test me.”

“The old man is mad,” Belfinch said through bared teeth, eyes cagey. “I’ve been dealing with his ramblings for months.”

Strath regarded Belfinch skeptically. He was hiding something. And Strath was about to take a giant leap at knowing what that might be. There’d been two clues. One from Belfinch himself, and another from Eva’s father. “Ye know something.”

The man shrugged as much as one could in shackles while being pinned to the wall by a much larger warrior. “I know a lot of things.” Spittle peppered the corners of his mouth.

“Why does Lady Eva believe her mother could be alive? Why did Northwyck say she died of a fever?” Strath kept his voice even, not displaying any outward sign of what he guessed.

The corner of Belfinch’s eye twitched. “Why does anyone say someone has died of a fever?”

“Dinna answer my questions with riddles.” The vein in Strath’s neck throbbed, and he had to restrain himself from head-butting the bastard into unconsciousness. He kept his hands fisted in Belfinch’s shirt rather than pressing his forearm to the man’s throat.

In the dim light of the dungeon, Strath could have sworn the man paled a shade. And why shouldn’t he? The fact he hadn’t already pissed himself was either a sign he wasn’t as afraid of Strath as he should be and was therefore stupid, or, well, really there was no other reason besides stupidity.

“We’ll start with your fingernails,” Strath said. “We willna tear them off at first. Nay, we’ve a lass who likes to jab her sewing needles beneath the nail. The pain will be excruciating.”

More sweat beaded on Belfinch’s forehead, and he bared his teeth but still said nothing.

“When ye’re bleeding from your nails, we’ll move to your toes. When we finish with your feet, we still won’t tear off your nails. Nay, we’ll save that for later. Instead, we will start to peel the skin away from your arms. Layer by layer, until we reach the bone.”

Belfinch trembled with fear, the stink of his sweat pungent.

“Her mot-th-her—” Belfinch stuttered, his teeth chattering. “Eva has always believed her mother died of a fever because that is what her father told her.”

“Is she dead or alive?”

The man’s body strained, ceasing its trembling before letting out a great shudder. He was trying hard to be brave. Trying hard to hold on to his secrets, but Strath wasn’t going to let him.

“Tomaidh, get Elsie, and tell her to bring her needles.” Of course, Strath was lying. There was no lass, and he’d made up the name. But often the threat of torture was enough to get men talking.

“Wait!” Belfinch shouted.

Tomaidh halted, and Strath nodded. “Go on then, tell me, else I will send for Elsie.”

Belfinch’s beady eyes flicked back and forth before he finally said, “Lady Northwyck…is not dead.”

Strath stilled. “Say again?”

“She is not dead.”

“Lady Eva’s mother, the wife of Lord Northwyck, is not dead?”

Belfinch nodded emphatically. “Not dead.” His eyes were wide, and he seemed to be telling the truth.

“Where is she? What happened to her?”

The man’s shoulders slumped, as though he’d tried for too long to hold in the truth but had given up now. Once one part had slipped, what did it matter if he held in the rest?

“When we abducted her, we held her for months, nearly six of them. And she did catch a fever. But then, in the dead of night a load of you heathens descended upon our castle and took her into the Highlands,” he said dejectedly.

“Explain.” Strath’s heart started to pound, and he tightened his fists on the man’s shirt. Eva’s mother was alive? She’d told him how much she missed her. How close they were. Even her father had said that Eva’s mother was the strength in their household. God, what it would mean to Eva to see her again.

“We believed Northwyck to be behind our ruin. Our crops failed season after season. Our cattle and sheep died. And yet Northwyck thrived. There was no other reason for it other than he had to be stealing what was ours and poisoning our flock. So my father had Lady Northwyck taken.”

“Who stole her from ye?” Strath demanded through gritted teeth. “Was it her family? The Lindsays?”

“I do not know.”

“Liar.” He slammed Belfinch against the wall.

“I swear.” Belfinch’s gaze was flying everywhere as though he couldn’t find a place to focus.

The bastard was lying. He had to be. “How do ye know she’s still alive?”

Belfinch swallowed, shaking now. “He wouldn’t have killed her.”

“Who wouldna?”

“I don’t know!” he shrieked, squeezing his eyes shut, anticipating a blow that Strath did not deal. “Only that he wasn’t paid to kill her.”

“That doesna mean she did not die of illness, or by some other means.”

Belfinch nodded, hurrying to say, “I retract my statement then. I believe she is still alive, for there would be no cause for her death.”

“Is this why Northwyck killed your father?”

“Aye.”

“And ye blackmailed him all these years, holding over his head the accusation of murder and his wife’s whereabouts?”

“Aye.”

“Ye’re a bastard. And ye deserve a painful death.” Strath pulled the sgian dubh from his boot and pressed it to the skin at Belfinch’s throat.

“Please. I am the only link you have to finding her,” he pleaded, licking his parched lips.

“Ye just said ye didna know the Scot who has her.” Strath pressed harder, causing a droplet of Belfinch’s blood to slide down the blade.

Belfinch winced. “I know who took her. Please don’t kill me.”

Strath could have pounded him for keeping the information. For making it such hard work to get out. “Who?”

“Your king.”

Strath let out a growl, pushing the blade enough to sting but not cause any real damage. Belfinch howled all the same, wrenching against the shackles. If Strath weren’t careful, the man would impale himself on the blasted dagger.

“Ye’re a lying bastard! The king didna take Northwyck’s wife! I’ll give ye one more chance to explain.”

“But he did! She’s his cousin!”

“What?” At that, Strath’s anger cleared. Had he heard correctly?

“Lady Northwyck’s mother is sister to Robert the Bruce’s mother.”

“This is absurd.”

Belfinch started to laugh, an uproarious maniacal sound. Mad… “But it is the truth. And you know it. The Lindsays are powerful, and you know they are related to the king. Do you not see? The king sent you to stop me from tormenting his relation’s husband. He sent you to find out whether the lass lived because we sent a rumor north that Eva was dead. That was what this was all about. ”

“It was about the Scottish people,” Strath insisted, tasting bitterness on his tongue.

Why could his king not have been honest with him? Did he not trust him with the truth? Why didn’t Eva tell him she was a bloody royal—did she even know? So many questions swirled through his mind. And then he thought about the fact that his men had judged her solely on being wholly English when in fact half her blood was Scots.

And dear God, the lass didn’t know the truth about her mother. The letter she’d received had been real. Her father had lied. So many questions… Burning most of all: why had her cousin, the King of Scotland, not sent for his relations in England?

Belfinch’s laughter continued, and Strath’s patience had come to an end. He shut the man up with a hard knock to the head. The English bastard slumped to the ground, laughter silenced at least for now.

“My laird,” Tomaidh said.

Strath shook his head. “Not now.” He left the dungeon by way of the ladder, and Tomaidh followed. They pulled up the ladder, leaving Belfinch where he was, unable to escape.

Mo chreach… His mind tumbled back to Eva.

She had no idea.

Strath wanted to punch a wall. He marched back toward the great hall but found it empty.

Tomaidh followed but far enough behind to give him the space he’d requested.

“Tomaidh,” he said, turning around. “What am I going to tell her?”

“Tell her about what?” Uncle Jamie came toward them.

“Bloody hell,” Strath grumbled. “We’d best go somewhere private.”

In his uncle’s study, he explained what had happened in the dungeon, and Jamie, too, was left quite speechless.

“The king not telling ye everything has nothing to do with trust, lad. There is something deeper here. Darker.”

“Like what?”

“I dinna know.”

“Do ye think my da knows?”

Jamie shook his head. “He would have told ye, even if the king swore him to secrecy. Your da trusts ye and wouldna have wanted ye to go into this mission blind.”

Strath let out a breath. “That’s true.”

“When ye sent word to the king of Belfinch’s capture, I sent word to your Da. He is not far, should be here by morning.”

“Where is he?”

“Castle Buchanan. He had a meeting with your uncle Samuel and sent word he’d like to know when ye arrived.”

“Ah.” Strath nodded, wondering if that was his father’s way of keeping an eye out for him.

“Lorna was hoping for a visit from your Aunt Catriona, but she and Samuel are expecting their first grandchild any day now, and she canna leave her daughter’s side.”

Strath did grin at that. “My mother will be much the same when my sister goes to her childbed.”

“I suspect Lorna will, too.”

Strath grew somber once more, thinking of mothers and daughters. “What should I tell Eva?”

“Do ye have to tell her anything?”

“If it were me, and I’d been unsure of whether my mother was alive, aye, I’d want to know. Besides, there is also the matter that she might be able to get some information from her da.”

“Good point. I think when it comes to matters such as this, the straight truth is the best. Keep it simple, keep it concise. Dinna dally. Just tell her. And then answer the questions when they come. Shall I come with ye?”

“Nay, I want to tell her on my own.”

“I’ll sit with her da, then,” Jamie said. “Mayhap I can make sense of it. My grandda was like that, and though jumbled, there is some measure of truth in what they say.”

The men made their way up the stairs to the next level. A guard was stationed outside the chamber door, and he nodded as they approached.

“Is the lass inside?” Strath asked.

“Aye, she’s not left.”

“Thank ye.” Strath eased open the door, not wanting to startle either of the parties inside.

Eva sat in a chair with her back to the door. She didn’t turn when he entered, though he did see her shoulders tighten, and she sat up a little straighter. Her father lay on the bed, covered in a blanket and fast asleep. His face was flushed as though he had a fever.

Jamie stood by the door as Strath approached Eva. He placed a hand on the back of her chair, though he wished it were on her shoulder. God, how he wanted to offer her comfort.

“Lass,” he whispered.

“You took longer than I thought.” There was none of the joy or spirit in her voice he’d come to look forward to in their exchanges.

“May we speak in private?”

She hesitated in answering.

“My uncle will sit here with your da. If he wakes, he’ll come and find us.”

“All right,” she said.

Strath held out his hand. She took it as she rose and followed him out the door and down the hall to an alcove covered with a curtain. Inside, were two benches that faced each other and an arrow-slit window that looked out over the bailey.

“This is cozy,” she said, a half-hearted smile on her face.

Strath found it hard to return the smile. The news he had to impart weighed heavily on his mind. She sat across from him, making a bigger deal out of arranging her skirts than he’d ever seen before. Her hands trembled as she ran them over the fabric, making his heart lurch. He wanted to pull her into his arms, to hold her while he told her this dark secret.

“When was the last time ye ate something?” he asked.

“At breakfast.”

“Ye should eat something.”

“I’m not that hungry.”

Damn it. Here they were talking about food, and if she wasn’t hungry now, he knew as soon as he imparted this news to her, she would not be hungry at all. But he couldn’t force her to eat, and making her wait to hear the news was cruel.

“I have discovered something today when speaking with Belfinch,” he started, waiting for her to say something.

She bit her lip, eyes rounder than apples. Mo chreach. It was best she heard it from him.

“Don’t keep me waiting, please, Strath. You’re scaring me.”

He nodded, recalling what his uncle said. Just as it was best to yank out a bad tooth rather than letting it fester, so too did he need to yank this truth from his heart.

Drawing in a deep breath, he let it all out in a rush. “Your mother did not die of a fever.”

“So it’s true? She’s alive?” She narrowed her eyes. Her fingers clasped so tight in her lap, her knuckles had turned white. “Who told ye this? Was it my father? I’m not sure we can trust him.” Her words came out in a tumble, like waves crashing on the shore.

Strath leaned forward, cupped her cheek, and met her gaze. “It was not your father, and I believe there is a great possibility that your mother is alive. And she is with my king. A relation of yours.”

One minute she was staring at him incredulous and he was nodding his head, and the next, she was slumping forward, and he was catching her limp body against his.

“That could have gone better,” he mumbled to himself. “Tomaidh?” The man was never too far.

From a distance, he could hear the clipped boot heels of his mate coming down the hall.

“Aye, my laird?” Tomaidh peered behind the curtain, brows rising when he spotted the lass.

“Bring me a wet cloth and some whisky.”

Tomaidh gazed on with sympathy. “Did ye have a chance to tell her?”

Strath frowned. “Nay, she swooned because I’m such a handsome devil,” he said sarcastically. “Of course I told her. Well, partly.”

“I’ll be back straight away.”

Strath stared down at the lovely lass in his arms. The love of his life. The woman he desired above no other. When she woke and they found out what had happened to her mother, what then? Would she want to go be with her? Did that change things for the two of them?

Ballocks, he couldn’t let her go that easily. He’d sooner give up his lands and castle than part with her. Even if he had to live in the land of heathens.