“Isla… what are ye—” He didn’t finish his sentence before Aideen lurched for him and thrust his blade forward to stab him.
Jack saw his cousin’s wild eyes, and his brows raised. He dodged his cousin’s strike, while his mind tried to understand what was happening.
They started a battle of swords when Aideen drew out his sword and began fighting him.
“Why do ye do this, Aideen?” Jack asked when he could finally find his voice. His voice sounded shrill with his disbelief, and even though his entire body ached, it was nothing compared to the pain that entered his heart.
Isla stood by the chamber’s entrance, her eyes wide, and her hands covering her mouth. He noticed the terrified stare in her eyes when his gaze drifted to her briefly, then his cousin’s blade cut through his arm and yanked a cry from his lips.
Jack landed the next strike on his cousin’s thigh. The clash of swords in the air was the only sound in the chamber. The metallic scent of blood, the only smell in the air.
“Ye amaze me, Cousin, and ye leave me no other choice,” Aideen roared as he backed away a little. “Imagine my surprise when ye returned from Birlet Shallows unharmed. It is like the Heavens are toyin’ with me.”
Aideen tossed his head back and cackled. The gleam in his eyes increased, and the smug smirk that appeared on his lips finally made Jack realized what was happening.
“It was ye all along?” Jack stammered. “Ye… it was ye who sent the Blacks to find and kill me?”
“Dinnae make it sound like a big deal, Cousin,” Aideen answered, his sword still aimed at Jack. “Ye should have died long ago in that war. The only reason why ye made it back alive is because of Jamie. I soon realized that I made a mistake in sparing yer life.”
Jack blinked, but his surprise only lasted a second. He saw Isla inch forward as they spoke, and panic rose in his chest. His eyes widened, and he tried to signal her to stay back without letting Aideen realize that she was approaching him with the dirk he had dropped on the floor minutes earlier.
“Ye’ve plotted behind me this entire time while all I have done is trust ye.”
“Ye wound me, Cousin… all ye have ever done is command and make me feel less than ye. The Lairdship is rightfully mine and nay yers.”
Aideen’s fierce voice thundered around his chamber. His chest rose and fell with the force of his breathing, and he shook his head before adding. “Ye never listen to me… this is all because of ye. The Lairdship should have been mine from the start.”
“And Elliot? Is that why ye killed him? So there will be nayone left to fight ye once I die?” Jack asked in a strained voice.
Deep down he wished his cousin would deny at least this crime and he desperately hoped it was not true.
How could Aideen do this?
When Aideen’s smirk grew wider, he knew and every bubble of hope he had burst.
“Was that yer doin’ too? What did Elliot ever do to ye?”
“He had to die too, dinnae ye see? After endin’ ye and the foolish English lady in Birlet Shallows, I had to make sure there was no other contestant to my inheritance of the Lairdship.
“I must confess I did care for ye cousin… but I will do better for this Clan than ye have ever done, and yer pretty English lady? Well, I ken all about her and where she is from.”
“Ye would never have found out anyway and ye will have died peacefully. It wasnae my plan to make ye suffer first,” Aideen continued. “The councilmen will support me once ye are gone. The killin’s in the Castle and the chaos in the village… all of that was to make sure they realize how incompetent ye are as their Laird, and they did.”
“They will never support ye,” Jack said through gritted teeth. “In the end, they will see ye as ye are, and someone else who thinks ye arenae worthy will fight to oust ye.”
Aideen laughed again. He tossed his head back a bit, cackled, then fixed his cold stare on Jack again. “And who will that be? Ye have nay heirs remember? Even the Calloways are on my side now. Since ye refused to wed their daughter like they asked, ye would have caused strife between our Clan and their men… dinnae ye see that ye would have ruined Humphreys in the end?”
“It is ye who will ruin this Clan.”
“I have given my everythin’ to this Clan,” Aideen yelled. His expression changed and the flash of anger in his eyes chilled Jack’s spine.
Isla made her move then, but Aideen was faster. He grabbed her wrist before she could stab him, twisted it, and spun her around so he could press his blade to her neck and hold her captive.
“Ye let her go this instant,” Jack threatened as his empty hand formed a tight fist at his side. “Let her go… ye fight is with me.”
“Of course it is… but it will be fun to make her watch, wouldnae it? I’d like to see how the English lady from the future reacts to watchin’ ye die—”
“Ye knew?”