“He killed Osla.” I didn’t ask it as a question. I knew what he would say.
“Aye. Niall would do anything to keep Baodan from learning what he had done. He knew that I dinna wish to tell him, but Mother would see it differently. Like ye, she would see the need for Baodan to know the truth. He killed Osla for the same reason. In the end, she wished to tell Baodan the truth, but he refused to give her the chance.”
“So why not tell Baodan the truth once Kenna fell ill? Surely that concerned you enough to make you not worry about how the news might hurt him?”
He closed his eyes and I could sense the regret he tried to push away.
“I should have, lass. ’Tis the verra first thing I should have done, but I dinna trust him. Ye have changed him more than ye know, Mitsy. Before ye found him, Baodan blamed me as much as himself. I thought that if I approached him without proof, he would cast me aside for good. ’Tis why I sent our mother away, so that she would be safe until I found the proof I needed to approach Baodan.”
Listening to his words, the final piece clicked into place. “But Niall went after her anyway, didn’t he? He didn’t mean to kill Griogair. He tried for your mother.”
He nodded and glanced somberly in my direction. “Aye and ’tis me fault that Griogair is dead. Before I sent Mother away, I finally got the truth from her. She found the journal just as ye have done. She promised not to tell Baodan right away, to give me time to gather proof. Had I told Baodan sooner, Griogair would not have met such a fate. I doona believe that Niall truly wishes to be Laird, but the mishap provided him a convenient place to hide.”
I reached out to him, wishing that he would understand through the squeeze of my hand just how wrong he was.
“There is no one to blame for Griogair’s death but Niall. It’s impossible to always see what the right choice is. You did your best with the knowledge you had. Of course you would expect that Baodan wouldn’t believe you without proof. He has treated you poorly for far too long. He knows that now.”
“Does he? I doubt it verra much, lass.”
Eoghanan carried just about as much self-loathing as Baodan. It broke my heart to see it in both of them. “He does, I know he does because he told me.”
“If he did, lass, then ye canna know how much he must love ye. For he never speaks to anyone about himself.”
“Well, I’m pretty good at extracting information.” I nudged him playfully, and a slight smile showed at the corner of his mouth, disappearing as quickly as it came.
“Aye, ye are that, and I see that ye are right. As soon as Baodan returns, we shall tell him. All has been kept secret for far too long. With Griogair’s death, Niall must be stopped.”
“Ye doona need to wait another moment for me to arrive. I think it best if ye both start speaking at once.”
Either his footsteps were quiet or we were too engrossed in conversation, but neither of us noticed his approach until he stood before us. Tired, anxious, and scowling, Baodan moved past us on the stairwell and into the tower room.
Chapter 33
“Well…” he stood with his arms crossed, waiting for us to join him inside the room. Exhausted and dirty from his journey, it would have been understandable for him to be testy anyhow, but I knew that seeing Niall at the burial played a large part in Baodan’s cool greeting.
“Hey,” Looking up, I gave him a half-smile as I approached. Standing on my tip-toes once I was in front of him, I kissed him gently.
He thawed instantly and exhaled loudly as he squeezed me tight against him. I expected the breath had been awaiting escape for days.
“I’m sorry, lass. I am so pleased to see ye, but me soul is sick. I am tired of all these untruths. If either of ye know something that I doona, please for the love o’God, tell me now.”
No matter the stress that hung in the air, I found it heaven to clutch onto him, to know he stood near me and not within Niall’s reach. “Sit down. I’ll tell you, and so will Eoghanan. The story isn’t really mine.”
*
As Eoghanan stepped forward, I leaned against the wall allowing the brothers their moment of revelation, never tearing my gaze from Baodan’s stony face. I knew the ache that started deep in your stomach and spread after the betrayal of a spouse. The difference was, Baodan loved Osla where I never truly loved Brian, not in the way that one should. It would be even harder for Baodan.
The revelation of all Niall had done seemed expected, I could see it in his eyes that Baodan now knew the evil that lay within his brother. Osla’s betrayal would be what stopped him cold. And it did.