Page 121 of The Highlander Steals a Virgin
Rhys blinked. “What the hell are ye talkin’ about?”
Finn’s smile was bitter. “Ah. So ye daenae ken the full story.”
The room seemed to tighten.
“Then allow me to explain,” Finn said softly.
Rhys didn’t lower his blade.
He didn’t breathe.
He didn’t blink.
“This keep. This clan. It should’ve been mine. Me faither was the firstborn. But when your da came along, full of charm and bluster, everything shifted. Always the golden son. And when the time came, yer faither’s name was carved into stone. Nae mine.”
Rhys took another step forward. “All ofthisis about succession?”
“This is about everythin'!” Finn roared suddenly, veins bulging at his temples and in his neck. “Me whole life, Rhys. I spent years watchin' from the sidelines, pullin' strings, doin’ what I could to prove meself. But nothin’ was ever good enough. Nae for him. Nae for them. Nae even for ye.”
“Ye had yer place,” Rhys said coldly. “Ye had yer family. Ye had yer damn honor.”
“I had shackles,” Finn spat. “Tied to a clan that never saw me for what I was. So I broke free.”
“And the night I was taken at Murdoch Keep? It wasnae capture, Rhys. It was a meeting. An agreement.”
Rhys felt fire in his lungs.
“With Murdoch,” Finn continued. “He offered me a chance to reclaim what was mine. Said we could rewrite what was owed.”
Billy barked a humorless laugh. “So ye bartered with a madman for a seat that was never meant for ye?”
Finn turned to him. “I did what I had to. Ye think I could ever best Rhys Adams in open combat? Ye’d gut me before the first strike. So I had to be smarter. Subtler.”
“Ye betrayed every soul in this keep,” Myles said. “What did ye sell us for, Finn? Silver? Land?”
Finn’s gaze settled back on Rhys. “I sold nothin’. I took what should’ve been mine. Slowly. Quietly. I planted doubts, whispered truths, dug into the past.”
“What truths?” Rhys’s voice was rough now. “What else have ye done?”
Finn exhaled, shaking his head. “Oh, just twisted the truth a bit. Told him that yer precious Amara wasnae even his. That she was sired by Leighton. That yer da and hers had plotted their own alliance behind both our faithers’ backs. An affair, Rhys. And a daughter born from it.”
The courtyard went still.
“Is it so far from the truth, cousin?”
“Enough.” Rhys’s voice thundered through the chamber. “I’ll nae hear another word against her or her late maither.”
Finn said smoothly. “He believed it so much that he joined me in this. Sent his men to intercept ye. It was all arranged. Because he and I saw the same truth.”
“And what truth is that?” Rhys snarled.
“That ye were never meant to laird.” Finn’s smile was cold. “Ye were meant to die the night of the truce. Murdoch and I planned it together. Yer da was to die first.”
William’s blade clattered with another’s to his right.
“What did ye say?” Rhys whispered.
Finn’s eyes glittered. “Wekilled yer da. At the table. Same knife I used to gut that boar for the feast.”
