Page 42 of Plaid Attitude
As the others chuckled—in agreement, or the opposite—Nicola spoke up. “Bullshite or no', 'tis Da's decision.”
“But 'tiswrong!” Leanna declared emphatically. “We all ken it. None of us wanted to use such a stupid method to find the next heir, and now that we're married, none of us want tobethe next heir!”
“No' all of us,” Fen corrected quietly.
Coira, who was only half-listening, slowly registered the silence. She turned to discover all ten of them staring at her, some wearing pitying expressions, some mulish, a few angry. On her behalf, hopefully.
“What?” she blurted, like an idiot.
Leanna's mouth screwed up into a frown which still somehow managed to look adorable. “Ye deserve to lead the clan, Coira.”
“I ken it,” Coira sighed, “and ye'll never ken how much it means to me that ye say that. But Da's made it clear who will lead the Oliphants after him.” She nodded to Kenneth, Brodie, Pherson, Kester and Ramsay. “One of ye, by dint of yer magical penises.”
Robena grinned. “I cannae speak for them all, but Kester's reallyismagical.”
As her husband flushed and dropped his forehead to his palm, Brodie shook his head in his normally taciturn way. “My penisispractically miraculous, but penis or no', I have nae intention of becoming laird.”
Fen took his hand and Coira saw something like relief in her eyes. This painfully shy sister likely dreaded the thought of becoming the lady of the castle, and her husband was equally happy hiding in the kitchens, creating beautiful dinners and pastries.
Pherson exchanged glances with Wynda. “Aye, same for me. I ken naught about leading men, much less a clan. I'm happy with my family and my birds.”
His wife frowned. “And I cannae imagine finding more time in my day. Between Wren and copying out my books and the treatises Da loans me, and of course helping with the falcons... There's nae time left for the Oliphants!”
Coira hid her smile, knowing this scholarly sister of hers reallydidthink of all those things as more important than the clan. Unlike Coira...
Kenneth, the oldest among them, cleared his throat. When they all turned to him, he gently took his wife's hand in his. “Those of us already leading clans dinnae want the responsibility, either. Therearelairds who rule over two widely separated lands, but I wouldnae want that.”
“Aye,” Ramsay agreed. “And when such a thing happens because of alliances, one clan becomes part of the other. I'll no' ask the Oliphants to become McIlvains, any more than I'd ask my clan to give upourplaid.”
While Kester nodded in agreement, Coira swallowed down the sour taste at the thought. The Oliphants were a proud people, with a history stretching back farther than evensheknew. The thought of them giving up their colors, their traditions, theirhistory, just because Da chose Kenneth, Kester, or Ramsay as the next laird...
The thought made her sick.
And surely, if Da were thinking clearly, 'twould make him sick as well!
But that left only Brodie or Pherson to lead the clan, and both had admitted they weren't experienced with leading large groups of men, much less the minutia of the day-to-day running of the clan.
Unlike her.
Be honest. Ye're no' an expert when it comes to leading the men. They accept ye, and ye like to think they'll listen to ye, but can ye trust that? Or are they really just humoring ye because Doughall respects yer opinion.
Doughall.
As had happenedanytime she even thought about him in the last fortnight, Coira's stomach flipped over.
What they'd shared...
By the Virgin, she'd used him! She'd needed comfort and demanded too much. He gave hersuchpleasure, but then felt obligated to offer marriage, even knowing how she felt about it. Guilt warred with anger in her chest, and she'd found the whole situation was easier if she just ignored it.
But...
But Doughall was impossible to ignore. Always there, as he'd been for years, always respectful. Lately he'd been offering her secret smiles, but even those had lessened in the last two weeks.
One more crime to add to her long list.
Why couldn't she make things easy with him? He was agood man, she knew this. She respected him—hell, she cared for him, she could admit that! He'd offered her something she never dreamed possible, and all he asked in return was the chance to keep offering that pleasure to her?
Why are ye such a dobber when it comes to him?
