AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Silence,’ hissed Cormac.
What was the younger man about to say that Cormac so wanted to silence?
‘I wonder that you come here like this?’ said Will. ‘What did you hope to achieve, that I would be so intimidated by the mighty Cormac Buchanan that I would roll over and show my belly?’
‘I expected you to see reason, Will O’Neill.’
‘That man you so despised at Bannockburn is gone. I am a Bain now and Laird of this clan here. If you think I will flinch each time you bark, you have underestimated me Cormac Buchanan, and not for the first time.’
‘Aye,’ said Cormac with an icy smile, ‘Drostan told me all about how you became a Laird.’
‘So, because of Drostan’s whining here you are, in all your pomp. I wonder you took the trouble of coming here in person, especially when your clan is so vulnerable. Did Drostan not mention that it was Ranulph Gowan who nailed your sister in a crate and took her out to sea? Do I need to describe what her fate would have been had I not rescued her? Yes, Buchanan, that is the truth of it, I rescued her.’
‘She fell into your path, aye, I’ll give you that.’
‘If Ranulph Gowan is making his move against you, maybe you should be back at Beharra, defending what is yours, instead of...’
‘My brother looks after my interests in my absence,’ snapped Cormac, ‘which means I have all the time in the world to deal with you.’
Will smiled, enjoying the challenge of sparring with an equal for a change.
‘Ah yes, your brother, the handsome butcher, Lyall. He has quite the reputation. I heard he tore a man apart at the siege of Berwick with his bare hands, and then ate his flesh.’
Cormac smiled. ‘My brother’s reputation is ill-deserved. He merely gave an enemy what was coming to him. That is the Buchanan way. As to butcher, that is more my reputation than Lyall’s. If you do not bring Morna to me now, you will find out why.’
‘I’ve a mind to keep Morna just where she is – safe in my keep, where I am protecting her, not jailing her.’
‘If my sister is no prisoner, then bring her out.’
‘Not just yet. I want to take the measure of a man who would be careless enough to let his own clansman abduct his sister and then sell her to his worst enemy.’
‘My own clansman?’
‘Ah, it seems Drostan has only told half the story for he did not know that it was one of your own who betrayed you to Ranulph Gowan.’
Cormac’s face hardened, and his eyes narrowed. Will decided to prod the wound and see just how slim Cormac’s hold on his temper really was. ‘Judging by the look on your face, neither did you.’
‘Who?’
‘A bastard by the name of Ramsay Seward. Did you not think to question his disappearance?’
Cormac’s face froze into a mask of hate. He exchanged glances with the Sutherland fellow. ‘We thought he had been abducted along with Morna. Is he here too?’ he said, rising in his saddle.
‘No, dead, at the hands of Ranulph Gowan, who prefers to cover his tracks, it would seem. My cousin, Drostan, he likes to tell his tales, but he does not know all the facts. I do, for Morna trusts me enough to confide in me.’
‘Morna is easily led.’
Will laughed. ‘If you believe that, Buchanan, then you do not know your sister at all. It seems she is safer at Fitheach with me than you, given the attempt to abduct and ruin her.’
What hard blood pulsed through this man’s veins, thought Will, for, although the revelation of his man’s treachery must have been a shock to him, that icy ferocity had not flickered.
Cormac looked down at the reins in his hand and then out at Fitheach with disdain. ‘I am bored with this game and wish to be gone from this festering rat’s nest. Hand over my sister, Bain, and I may let you live.’
‘Why on earth would I do that when I am safe and snug within my keep, while you are out on an exposed hillside far from home with a north wind biting your face and freezing your balls. If you are prepared to be reasonable, I will extend the hospitality of my keep to you, and you alone. This lot can stay out here.’
‘Your hospitality? Oh, I can trust in that I am sure,’ said Cormac contemptuously. ‘Tell me, are you delaying to up your price?’
‘Price?’
