Page 29 of It Began With A Kiss
“Ye canna come in, Aiden. I am trying on my dress,” she said, moving across the room but hiding behind the wooden door.
“I would not dream of spoiling the moment when I first espy you in the chapel, my dear, but there is an emergency I would greatly appreciate your counsel on,” Aiden said quietly.
“Give me a moment to change and I will be with you shortly,” Iona murmured, before turning to the ladies and clapping her hands. “I think flowered embroidery will suit the gown nicely. Help me get this off and into another gown,” Iona declared, and the women nodded their agreement before pulling the fabric from her body.
Once changed from her wedding finery, Iona met Aiden in the passageway. He offered her his arm and they hurried down the corridor, to the turret stairs, and out the keep. They continued onward to the rear postern gate where knights standing guard bowed before opening the portal.
“Will you tell me what has happened, or should I guess?” she finally asked, whilst crossing the narrow path to the mainland.
He halted their progress. “There has been another murder,” he said, before urging her forward and into the village. They kept silent until they met up with Finlay who stood over a body that had been covered with a blanket. He nodded to the man who uncovered the girl beneath.
A gasp left Iona as she knelt by the servant. “Thora!” she turned her head briefly to collect herself before turning her attention to the now cold, dead woman. “What happened?”
Aiden knelt by her side and pointed to her neck. “Strangled. But if that wasn’t enough, the killer broke her neck, which explains the odd angle her head is resting.”
“But who could have done such a deed? For the most part this woman was a harmless servant,” she said. Aiden stood and helped her to rise next to him. He placed an arm around her shoulder for support.
“Our guess is whoever hired her to kill us. ’Tis clear she did not perform up to the standards of whomever was behind this.”
“Broden,” she hissed.
Finlay nodded. “Aye, ’tis our assumption, as well, which is why Aiden has doubled the patrols tae find the scoundrel.”
Iona’s brow rose and she raised her head to the man at her side. “We will need more effort on our part than tae double the guards. It hath not done us any good in finding the brute since my husband was killed. We are no closer tae finding him now than we were before, and now we have another murder on our hands. What could possibly be next?”
Finlay frowned. “You think he is up to more?”
A snort left her. “Of course, there is more,” she answered, pointing down to the dead girl. “This is just another act tae get our attention. He will not quit until he has gotten what he wants… being laird of the castle. ’Twas always a sore point that he was not born first and was second to Ewan. But what is unclear, is what that madman will do next?”
Finlay spoke up as Aiden paced back and forth lost in thought. “I think we need tae double the guards surrounding the both of ye, my laird. Iona may have drunk the wine that poisoned her, but it was meant for ye. And ye also caught Thora coming out of Lady Iona’s chamber… somewhere she had no place being.”
Another gasp left her. “Ye did not mention this tae me, Aiden.”
He kissed her temple. “My apologies, my lady, but I thought I had thwarted any plans she may have had, especially since I dumped what she left in your chamber out of the window.”
“’Twas still important. I should have been told,” she scolded.
“Again, I apologize, Iona. I did not wish to worry you.”
She was satisfied… for the moment. “Mayhap Thora was acting on her own ambitions.”
Both Finlay and Aiden’s brows crossed at her words, but Finlay spoke up first. “Ye think her attempts on yer life was her plan and not Broden’s?”
She waited a few moments until she at last spoke her mind. “I have not mentioned this before, but when Ewan yet lived, I spent much of my time attempting tae stay out of Broden’s path. He always put me in uncomfortable positions and tended tae place his hands where they did not belong on my body.” She looked down at these final words knowing what was to come next.
“And you did not think such information was of import,” Aiden said, almost replicating her own words but moments before.
She looked at him sheepishly. “My apologies, Aiden, but at first ’twas not something I was willing tae discuss with a stranger who had just invaded my home. Then… I just wished tae forget the whole matter.”
Finlay nodded to a few men who stood nearby with a wagon. They came over and took Thora’s body to ready her for burial. “I think this just increased the importance of finding Broden,” he stated as the three of them began to make their way back to the castle. “’Tis obvious the man has other ulterior motives where the lady is concerned… most likely making her his wife once he has again taken over the estate and clan.”
“He would not dare!” Iona objected, more frightened than she was before, thinking of being in the hands of that monster.
Aiden nodded. “I agree. Double the guards around the lady and her son. Where is he, by the way?”
“He was here in the village playing with his friends,” she said, worry now reflected in her eyes.
Aiden’s own eyes widened before turning his attention to Finlay. “Find him, and quickly. Bring him back under close guard to the castle. Neither one is to leave the grounds until Broden is found.
