Page 62 of Kilted Seduction
“Aye. But battles are always messy, and I want the man beholden tae me, nae conquered and seething under the yoke. If I must depend on the weakness o’ his men, then it means I must find ways tae bring him tae siege, without him kenning I am behind it. And find ways tae ensure nae allies save meself can come tae his aid.”
The sheer callousness of Lachlan Ross’s words chilled Thora to the bone. She’d never imagined such cruelty. To let men starve, and deliberately work to impoverish an entire clan… it was monstrous.
“We could…”
“I will decide what we dae. But fer now, we’ve Yule festivities tae complete. And I’ve other plans in motion.” There was a sharp scuffing noise, then the sound of boot heels on the stone as two sets of footsteps died away.
Aedan’s jaw was clenched, his eyes blazing. “That bastard…”
“Aye. He is. And now ye ken what his plans were and are. Ye can send a petition tae the king tae have him brought before a tribunal o’ lairds. ‘Tis best this way.”
“I’d rather tak’ his head in battle.”
“But if ye dae that, ye’ll nae have proof o’ his actions, and the other clans will scorn ye fer actin’ against an ally. Ye ken that. Let us get out o’ here, and we’ll send a missive tae the king as soon as possible.”
“The weather…”
“As soon as the storm fades. We’ll pack while we wait and have a servant tak’ a message tae Mac.”
“The message will be intercepted. Ye ken his servants report tae him.”
“We’ll make it something innocuous, but something from which Mac can guess our meaning. A simple phrase like ‘the hare runs fast and seeks its winter den’.”
For a moment, she thought Aedan would refuse. Then, finally, the coiled muscles under her hands relaxed. “Ye’re right. We would never win a fight in the man’s own castle, surrounded by his allies and his soldiers. Best tae make our escape and send word tae the king and let him sort it out.”
The hall was silent, and try as she might, Thora could hear neither footsteps nor voices. She pulled the door open a crack and found nothing on the other side but an empty hall. “The coast is clear. We should hurry tae our rooms.”
Together, the two of them slipped out of the library and down the hall toward their rooms. Aedan gestured to their empty packs. “Ye start packing. I’ll send the message tae Mac. He’ll understand it more readily from me.”
Thora went to obey.
She couldn’t shake the sense of unease that followed her, however. And the sense that time was running out, and she had to reveal the truth to Aedan. She was almost tempted to take his arm and tell him while they waited for the storm to break.
In the end, however, she couldn’t do it. Aedan had enough to think about, with the truth of Lachlan’s plotting laid in front of him. She couldn’t add another burden. After theyescaped Lachlan she would tell him and endure whatever the consequences.
It was hard to hold the quill pen steady to write his message, he was shaking with so much anger. It took everything Aedan had to calm himself enough to write out the short code he and Mac had devised some time ago for ‘need to escape’.
Once it was done, and the message was sent, he could lean against the wall and breathe and think about Lachlan Ross.
He’d never liked the man, but he’d never suspected that the older laird might be behind the troubles his clan had faced in recent years. Nor had he believed Thora when she had said Lachlan intended to move against him. Even after he’d come to accept the truth of her visions, he hadn’t believed that.
He didn’t want to believe it now, but he’d heard the truth from the man’s own mouth, in circumstances that made him believe he hadn’t been intended to hear it. Lachlan intended to bring him down, to crush him and absorb Clan Cameron into Clan Ross. The thought made his stomach clench so hard he feared he’d vomit up everything he’d eaten at the Yule feast earlier.
And the wine… he’d believed Thora when she had said that it was Lachlan’s men that had attacked them, but he’d never guess that Lachlan had made an effort to discover his weaknesses - enough to discover that one, critical chink in his armor. He’d thoughtit an accident that the men who’d drugged them had selected a medicine he was particularly vulnerable to.
If he’d drunk as much as he usually would of a bottle of wine, would he have ever woken up?
He couldn’t continue to think of it. Otherwise, he would lose his mind, his temper, or both. Such thoughts could wait until they were safely away from Castle Ross.
Instead, he focused on Thora moving around the room, packing with a quiet efficiency he had to admire. She looked as if she did this frequently, and he allowed himself to contemplate the idle question of how often she’d had to pack and leave in a hurry, prodded by her visions and their urgency.
Her parents had died because she didnae warn them in time. It couldnae be considered her fault, and yet… I understand why she might feel that way. ‘Tis the same as I felt when me faither passed away. Nay wonder she’s so determined tae dae all she can tae thwart the things she sees. I dinnae envy her the gift.
A knock roused him from his thoughts, and he went to the door and opened it to find the maid with a note. He took it, sent her away, then closed the door and opened the missive.
The storm looked like it would break within a candle-mark or so, and Mac would have the horses ready, as well as rumors spreading of some sort of ‘unspecified disaster’ at Castle Cameron. Aedan took a deep breath and let it out, his shoulders slumping in relief.
He’d feared they’d be stuck for days longer, and he wasn’t certain he could control himself for that long, not after what had transpired in the Hall earlier, and what he had just overheard.
