“If that were the case, Niall, why would he have met ye here, in the open? He could have stayed behind the walls at Cnocreidh and let ye lay siege until he decimated your forces. I know as well as ye do ye would never have given up as long as ye thought ye had a chance to rescue me. As to killing me, he certainly didn’t have to bring me here to see that done. Ye are as guilty of blind trust as ye say I am. Ye may believe all of the rest of this is conjecture, but here is a fact no one can deny. I witnessed it. The man ye trusted to guard me, the man ye believed to be your most faithful ally, abandoned me and apparently lied to ye about it.”
“Why would he do that, Katherine?” Niall asked, sounding irritated. “What could he hope to gain?”
“Duncurra,” she answered, exasperated. “I suspect he thought to fatally weaken ye with the raids last spring. Malcolm and Eithne are an unholy pair, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the financial ruin she nearly achieved was part of the plan. If that had gone on unchecked, Malcolm could have taken Duncurra by now with an army of squires. Instead, he had to ensure ye would retaliate against Matheson with a sufficient force as to leave Duncurra vulnerable. The raids have become increasingly more brutal, Malcolm was goading ye to do this.”
“But Malcolm didn’t kidnap ye.”
“Nay, he just laid the groundwork for someone else to. Malcolm intended to draw ye and your army out of Duncurra. Niall, don’t ye see, Duncurra can be held for quite a while with a small number of men, but not if the approaching army is expected to be there as reinforcement.”
The realization hit Niall like a rock fall. Tadhg, who had been standing to one side, cautiously watching the exchange, said, “Niall, I swear to ye, by all the angels and saints, I led one raid on your holding last fall in retaliation for your many raids on mine, and I abducted your wife to force ye into negotiating a truce. I fear the man who is responsible for this may already be in control of Duncurra but, if ye are willing, I will lend ye the support of my army to reclaim it.”
Niall considered the offer for a moment. This, too, could be a trick to ensure the Mathesons surrounded and destroyed his army. However, Katherine was right, Tadhg could have achieved that, with much less damage to his own army, if he had simply stayed at Cnocreidh. Finally, Naill extended his arm and said, “I would be grateful for your support.” He added, “But make no mistake, Matheson, I haven’t forgiven ye for abducting my wife.”
Tadhg gripped his forearm, grinned, and said, “I didn’t expect ye had. However, speaking of your wife, perhaps it would be best to send her back to Cnocreidh now until Ducurra is secured.”
Niall agreed, but Katherine refused. “I will not go back to Cnocreidh, my place is with ye.”
“Katherine, we are going into battle, it would be folly for ye to be there. Ye could be killed,” he said as he pulled her into an embrace.
“Nay, Niall. Nay,” she said, and beat her fists against his chest. “I didn’t want ye to send me away to Brathanead, and look what happened. I will be safe with ye.”
“Katherine, I was wrong to send ye to Brathanead and I am sorry, but I will not allow ye to return to Duncurra until I am sure it is safe.”
“Ye’ll send an excessively large number of men to guard me, anyway. I can stay well to the rear of any battle, miles back if ye choose, but please don’t send me away.”
Niall considered her plea for a moment. Truthfully, he didn’t want her out of his sight ever again, but this was just too dangerous, he had no idea what they would find when they reached Duncurra. “Nay, Katherine, I will come for ye as soon as it is safe. Ye will go back to Cnocreidh now.” Although his voice was gentle, it brooked no further argument.
Angry and frustrated, Katherine once again had no choice. She mounted Eachann and headed back to the Matheson stronghold, accompanied by Tadhg’s commander, Hamish, seven other Matheson warriors, and four of Niall’s elite guard, Muir, Turcuil, Rab-the-red, and Keavy.
“Does she ever just do what she is told?” asked Tadhg.
“Gave ye trouble, did she?” responded Niall with a chuckle. “Good for her.”
With Katherine headed to safety, Niall and Tadhg turned their armies toward Duncurra.
Twenty Nine
“He’s a romantic fool,” said Malcolm sadly as he watched his son ride back to the Chisholm army.
“He’s a lapdog,” said Eithne with disdain. “Every time he’s kicked, he slinks back to Niall.”
Malcolm leveled an angry stare at her. “And yet ye have gotten in your fair share of kicks, but he doesn’t show ye that same devotion. Perhaps he sees nothing in ye worth slinking back to.”