He pinioned his formerly trusted advisor, a kindly, mild-mannered man, with a steely look. “I saw ye in the hall just now, lookin’ to run from me. Well, ye should have run, man.”
Pearson hung his head.
Edan returned his wrathful gaze to the rest. “Well, I have to tell ye that yer wee attempt at matchmakin’ didnae go very well. I kicked that bastard Nurkirk out of here on his arse, so ye’ll nae be seein’ any more of him. And now I expect every single one of ye to personally apologize to me wife for the disrespect ye’ve shown her.
“Ye’re lucky that I got here in time to prevent ye from carryin’ out yer plot. Ye should be grateful I did because I’ve saved yer cowardly skins. Do ye ken why? Because Nurkirk is a bastard! Ask any of his clansfolk. They hate him. I hate him. Ye should all hate him. Christ! To think that through yer stupidity ye were so close to givin’ me clan away to that vile, sleekit creature, the clan that me family’s ruled for centuries! Yer perfidy takes me breath away. Thank God me faither’s nae here to see this.”
Deciding they were sufficiently cowed, he wrapped up his speech.
“I hope ye all realize that after the disloyalty ye’ve shown me and me wife, it’ll take a long time until ye earn me trust back. And be warned, I’ll be watchin’ ye—all of ye. And woe betide anyone who steps out of line. I trust that nothin’ like this will happen again.”
He stopped abruptly and sat down, making sure to keep his mask of fury in place. He actually felt a lot better for getting it all off his chest, and he hoped it would work and put any idea of future plots out of their minds. He glanced at Zander, who gave him an almost imperceptible nod of approval.
His rant had been not only to let off steam. It had a purpose. If he was ever going to be able to trust any one of them again, he had to put the fear of God into them. Yet, he needed them.
Clan Aberfeld was relatively small in comparison to some of the bigger, more powerful ones. As a whole, the council as it stood was irreplaceable. Much as it pained him, that meant it would be necessary to forget and forgive the shameful incident if the clan was going to thrive.
One of the councilmen near the head of the table stood up. It was Carson Smithers, the elected head of the council. A burly, balding man in his sixties, he was still very active and still trained with the soldiers daily—a tough, old soldier who had seen and done much in his long life. In the past, Carson had often given sound military advice not only to Edan but also to his father.
He cleared his throat and said humbly, “Me Laird, as head of the council, I ask for yer permission to speak on behalf of all of us here.”
“Ye have me permission, Carson,” Edan told him with a nod, hoping for abject apologies.
“We want to offer ye and Lady Aberfeld our sincerest apologies for what has happened. We take full responsibility for our decisions, which we now realize were made in grave error and a gross misunderstanding of the situation. We sincerely believed we were doin’ the right thing for the future of our clan. We stand corrected and beg yer forgiveness and understandin’ for anyoffense and distress we have caused ye and yer wife. We will, of course, obey yer wishes and apologize to her personally over the comin’ days. Thank ye, Me Laird.” Carson sat down.
“Does everyone here agree with what Carson has just said?” Edan asked, scanning the faces around the table closely.
To his satisfaction and relief, subdued “ayes” came from all seated there. Edan’s eyes were drawn to Findlay, who seemed quite on edge and fidgety.
Good. That means he’s got the message.
Edan stood up and dismissed the meeting, glad it was over and he could get back to the normal business of running his clan. He and Zander waited until the chamber was empty before finally leaving themselves. They went immediately to Edan’s study, where he poured each of them a stiff dram of whisky.
“Christ, I need a drink. Me throat’s dry after all that shoutin’.” He swallowed the whisky gratefully in one gulp, relishing its warmth as it went down his throat.
“Slàinte mhath,” Zander said, raising his glass before drinking.
“Aye,slàinte mhath.” Edan repeated the old Gaelic toast to health, feeling he needed it at that moment. He collapsed into an armchair. “Well, I’m glad to have got that out of the way. How did ye think it went?”
Zander sat down opposite him. “I thought it went very well. Ye certainly had those back-stabbin’ bastards terrified for a while there. It was quite amusin’ to watch, I must admit. Though I ken ’tis nay laughin’ matter.”
“Laugh away, me friend. That was me aim—to frighten them into submission,” Edan admitted. “It had to be done. Do ye think they’ll learn their lesson after that?”
“Christ, aye, I do. I have never done anythin’ wrong, and I was practically pissin’ me pants. Ye were so terrifyin’ at times. I need nay reminder nae to cross ye in the future,” Zander joked.
Edan let out a long breath, suddenly feeling very tired. “I meant it when I said it would take a long time for me to trust them again. It does somethin’ to a man when he finds out that folks he trusted wanted to declare him dead and buried when he’s still alive. But ’tis Olivia I really feel bad for. Can ye imagine what she must have felt like, with them tryin’ to push her into marryin’ that dog Nurkirk? She says she meant to refuse him, but if I hadnae come home just in time, I’m certain they would have forced her. She had nay way of defendin’ herself against them, and I wasnae here to do it for her as I should have.”
“I ken ye’re blamin’ yerself, Edan, but there’s nay way ye could have kenned the danger she was in.”
“I should have made sure she was better protected. I shouldnae have left her at all.”
“Ye had nay choice. Ye had to answer the call to arms.”
“Aye, well, somehow that doesnae make me feel any better. She doesnae even ken me, Zander. I’m a stranger to her. It wasnae fair to bring her here. She’s a bonny, wee lass with lots of spirit. Do ye ken, she didnae even shy away from me scars?”
Zander’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Well, that’s grand, man! That shows she has spirit, all right. Because, by God, ye’re an ugly bugger.”
For the first time in what seemed like ages, Edan laughed freely. “Aye, I am that. Anyway, so I have to win Olivia over now that I’m back. And I have a feelin’ I’ll have me work cut out.”
