AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lachlan gave him a wry look. “I suppose this means peace will nae be coming to Dunvegan anytime soon.”
Before Cameron could answer, Iain asked, “Are ye married to the lass?” There was a greater tension to Iain’s voice than Cameron had expected, given his brother had all but offered them his support.
“Nay.”
Iain and Lachlan exchanged a glance that almost looked like relief. Cameron frowned.
“Did ye ask the lass, er, that is, do ye wish to marry her?” Iain asked.
“I asked, but she will nae marry me—yet.”
“’Cause ye have nae kenned each other long?” Iain asked.
Cameron rubbed the back of his neck. “Partly. But ’tis mostly due to Eolande’s prophecy for me and the one the seer told her, as well.”
At the matching blank looks he received, Cameron realized neither man’s wife had informed him of her activities while he had been gone. Cameron quickly told them of the women traveling to see Eolande and the attack. Both men stood still, listening, their faces going from ones of ease to irritation and then anger. “The attacker Bridgette killed is down below,” Cameron finished. “I’m going to take Sorcha down to look at him and see if it loosens any memories.”
“But ye got sidetracked,” Lachlan quipped.
Cameron scowled at him. “Aye,” he admitted.
“The lass must marry ye,” Iain said firmly. “Ye have taken her innocence.”
“Nay,” Cameron replied in a low voice. “I have taken all but that.” He would not say more. They did not need the private details that were only for Sorcha and himself. He sighed and quickly told them of what Eolande had said to her. “So, ye see, Sorcha is determined that she will nae marry me until she kens me better and until I would nae have to go against the king to do so.”
Lachlan and Iain exchanged a knowing look that made disquiet rise in Cameron. “Is there something I should ken?” he demanded, piercing both his brothers with a look.
“Come,” Iain replied, his voice grim. “This is a conversation best had in private.”
Cameron nodded, and then followed behind Iain to the laird’s bedchamber. After the door shut, he rounded on his brother. “Well?”
A distinctive uneasy look came over Iain. “It seems it was David who called us to the MacDonald hold.”
Cameron frowned. “Why?”
“A special messenger arrived there and presented him with a resolution from some of his barons, the Earl of March, the Earl of Ross, the Campbells, and the Steward and his sons.”
Tension knotted Cameron’s stomach and made it clench tight. “The rebellion has been proclaimed publicly.” It was not a question. He knew it, without his brother saying it.
“Aye,” Iain replied grimly. “They claim David misused funds levied on the people of Scotland. They say the king led the people to believe he was using the funds to pay his ransom from King Edward of England. But instead, David used the funds to reward his favorite men, such as the commoners who he had presented with land and good marriages to build the support around him that he wishes. Iain took a sharp breath. “The resolution claimed that he rewarded his favorites by knowingly taking money from the good, suffering, poor people of Scotland.”
“Lies,” Lachlan said hotly.
Both Cameron and Iain nodded their agreement. “It won’t matter, though,” Cameron said quietly. “If enough people believe it, the people will rebel against the king and—”
“And he will lose his throne. Possibly his life,” Iain finished with quiet intensity. “The rebellion must be crushed immediately.”
“And he called ye there to gain yer aid?” Cameron asked.
Iain nodded. “Aye, and he also wants ye to go see the Earl of Ross and compel the man to withdraw his name from the resolution.”
Cameron let out a derisive chuckle. “I suppose of the four of us MacLeod brothers, I’m the one he’d most willingly put into a position that could well get us killed, given how I failed him.”
“Aye,” Iain said bluntly. “But he also knows how ye yearn to rectify what happened. And,” he added forcefully, “he kens, as well as we all do, that ye are more than capable of bending the Earl of Ross to the king’s will, in spite of what happened with Katherine.”
“I thank ye for the confidence, Brother,” Cameron replied. “What of the king’s orders for me to search out Katherine’s killers?”
“Ye’re to do that still,” Iain said, “but the Earl of Ross is to be yer first priority now.”
