Page 68 of When A Laird Loves A Lady
“No!” Marion exclaimed.
“Aye!” Bridgette fairly shouted.“Ye act like an old ill-tempered witch! And if ye’re nae careful, yer sourdisposition will get ye banished from the clan.”
“And just who’s going to banish me?Nae Iain. Her?” Fiona speared Marion with a dark look. “She could nae banish anant from its bed.”
“She’s pulled me up from the cliffof a mountain and saved my life, and she did nae blanch when she heard theseer’s prophecy,” Bridgette exclaimed. “She’s strong and courageous.”
“Ye met a seer?” Elspeth asked, herbrown eyes wide with curiosity.
“It was nothing,” Marion rushedout, praying Bridgette would say no more.
“Nothing?” Bridgette exclaimed.“The seer told Marion that Iain would fly the Fairy Flag to save her.”
Marion hastily looked over hershoulder, praying that Iain was not listening. His eyes were trained on theirtable, though conversation around him clearly continued. Thank goodness, shedidn’t think he could hear what was being said.
“If the MacLeod did nae fly theflag to save my sister, he’ll nae fly it to save theSassenach.”
Marion gritted her teeth. This wasnot going well at all. “I never thought—”
“I tell ye, he’s going to fly it,”Bridgette interrupted.
Fiona shoved back the bench thatshe, Alanna, and Elspeth were sitting on, and she stood. “Iain!” she calledacross the hall, her voice ringing out like a shrill whistle above the hum.
Marion froze. Aside from tacklingthe woman, Marion could think of no other way to stop her from speaking.
Iain’s gaze sharpened on Fiona.“Aye?” he answered, not even having to raise his voice as the room had falleninto silence.
“It seems yer new wife thinks ye’regoing to fly the Fairy Flag to save her.”
Whatever Iain felt about Fiona’sstatement didn’t show on his face. His face showed nothing but mild interest.Lachlan’s jaw, however, was hanging open.
Marion felt as if the heat of herembarrassment would set her body to instant flames. “No,” she said, hurrying toexplain. “I didn’t. I don’t. It wasn’t me.”
“Oh, forgive me,” Fiona saiddramatically. “A seer told yer wife that ye would fly the Fairy Flag to saveher. Tell her, MacLeod. Tell her how it will never be so. Tell her that theflag may only be flown one more time and ye would nae fly it to save her! Tellher ye’d only risk flying it to save the clan. Tell her! Tell her how the clancomes first, how the clan will always come first!”
Marion wanted to shrink away anddisappear. She felt two hundred pairs of eyes on her, and it was worse than anythingshe’d ever felt. It was worse than years of being invisible to her father, andthen only being seen for how he could use her. And Iain, she knew, could notlet the questions go unanswered with his clansmen looking on, and she fearedhis words would be like tiny cuts to her heart.
Sixteen
Iain cursed under his breath. He’d known somethingwas stirring at Marion’s table by her worried look and the angry ones aroundher. As he swept his gaze across the waiting crowd, he realized he had nochoice but to answer. Something inside him tightened painfully as he settledhis gaze on Marion. If he only had himself to consider, he’d fly the flag tosave her life without hesitation. Yet he was chief of the clan, and he alwayshad to consider the entire clan, and Fiona knew that. He’d married Catrionabecause she’d needed him, but also because the clan had wanted it. He didn’tregret it, and he grew to love her greatly, but he always considered the clan’sneeds and desires above his own.
“Iain,” Lachlan hissed beside him.“Ye must answer.”
Iain nodded and spoke withouttaking his eyes off Marion. “Ye all ken that the flag can only be flown threetimes, and on the third, it will either destroy our enemies or destroy us. Andye all ken it’s already been flown twice.”
“Aye,” came answers from namelessfaces in the crowd.
“It was flown first when theMacDonalds battled us,” said a woman.
“And again during the plague,” saidLachlan.
“Aye.” Iain had to choose his nextwords carefully to preserve Marion’s feelings. As he considered how to say whathe must, his heart thudded in his chest and his ears. “When the flag is flownagain, it will be for the good of the clan, as is my duty.”
He hoped Marion understood. As hestared at her, she did not seem upset. Her face did not fall, nor her shouldersslump, but then Marion was used to trying to appear brave. Wanting to draw allattention away from the Fairy Flag and what he would and would not do, hemotioned for the bard to come forth and begin the entertainment.
“Ye answered well,” Lachlan said.
“I dunnae ken that I did,” headmitted. “I answered as my duty demands.”
