Page 52 of When a Warrior Woos a Lass
“Findlay said much the same,” the Campbell chortled. “Ye need to beat her. It certainly made the bedchamber more entertaining for Findlay.”
From the corner of his vision, Alex saw Marsaili glaring at him and trembling with rage.
“I imagine I could bring some warmth out of yer wife,” Thomas said, lowering the blade from Alex’s neck. Thomas’s gaze slid to Marsaili for a moment before returning to Alex. “I’ve a special way with lasses. Though, I have heard ye do, as well, MacLean.”
Alex flinched, his gut telling him Thomas was alluding to the darker side of passion he used to crave and had fulfilled with the lasses he’d been with before Lena. “As I made clear earlier, Lena is my possession now, and I dunnae share what is mine.”
“So yer break with David occurred over him forcing ye to marry Lena MacLean?” the Steward asked.
“Aye,” Alex responded. “Then he took away one of my castles as punishment for what he called my ‘insolent behavior.’ I’ll nae serve a king who forgets the lairds who put him on his throne and kept him there. I wish for a king who looks to the lairds to rule by his side, nae under his boot.”
“Well said, MacLean. And I wish to believe ye. Truly, I do. But…”
“Ye need proof of my fealty,” Alex said. He’d expected this, and he hoped Marsaili’s word would be proof enough, because if it wasn’t, he was certain whatever the Steward required him to do would be against everything he believed in.
“Aye. I do require additional proof.” The Steward cut his gaze from Alex to Marsaili. “Tell me, lass. Is the account that the MacLean gave us correct?”
“Aye,” Marsaili immediately replied. “I witnessed his argument with the king, and the MacLean did, indeed, storm away, and I overheard him tell his man Donald that the king had lost his fealty.”
Alex stared at Marsaili, surprised at her words. He’d never told Donald that, so the lass was lying. He suspected she fabricated the truth to ensure he was accepted so her father would tell her the location of her child.
“Thank ye for the information, lass,” the Steward said.
Marsaili looked to her father, a beseeching expression on her face that stabbed at Alex’s heart. “Da?”
The Campbell waved a dismissive hand at her. “Wait outside in the passage for me. I’ll speak with ye when I’m finished here.”
Anger flashed in Marsaili’s eyes so briefly that Alex would have thought he imagined it if it weren’t for her flaring nostrils, even as she smiled meekly. She nodded and started from the room, serving him a chilly look as she went. He was pleased to see her show of support for Lena, even though it meant she believed the worst of him.
Once the door closed behind her, the Steward said, “Ye must ken the position I’m in.”
Dread filled Alex’s chest. The Steward had decided to demand a show of fealty.
“Aye,” Alex said, striving to make his tone nonchalant. “How do ye wish me to prove myself?”
“It so happens,” Thomas said, surprising Alex by speaking, “that we have received word of an ambush planned on one of our raiding parties today. And the enemy party is being led by none other than the renowned Lachlan MacLeod.”
Alex’s gut clenched at the ill timing of the ambush by Lachlan’s men. “What do ye wish me to do?”
“Kill Lachlan,” the Campbell announced from the dais.
Knots of tension formed in Alex’s shoulders and neck. He would never do such a thing, but he had to find a way to convince the Steward he was faithful. His mind raced as he searched for an acceptable solution, but before he found an answer, the Steward spoke.
“Nay,” he said. “Dunnae kill Lachlan MacLeod. Bring him to me, though, and I will spare his life when he thinks he is near death. That way, when I am king, I will have the man’s undying fealty. One thing I ken about the MacLeod brothers is that they are tight as a well-woven blanket. If I have one brother’s fealty, I will have them all. I would be near unstoppable with the MacLeods behind me.”
“I want him dead!” the Campbell roared.
The Steward gave the man a black look. “Dunnae be shortsighted. We need to gather as many strong clans behind us as we can. When I am on the throne, I will give ye more power than the MacLeods, and then ye may seek yer revenge.”
“Is that a vow?” the Campbell demanded.
“Aye,” the Steward said. “It is. Sworn here this day and witnessed by Thomas and the MacLean.”
“I would go with the MacLean to ensure he dunnae try any deception with Lachlan,” the Campbell said, glaring at Alex.
“By all means, away with ye, then.” The Steward turned his gaze first on Thomas and then on Alex. Something in the depths of the man’s eyes set off warning bells in Alex’s mind. “Thomas will keep watch over yer wife while ye are away, so dunnae concern yerself with her safety.”
A troubling image of Thomas with Lena entered Alex’s head. He swallowed with difficulty but found his voice. “That will nae be necessary. I’ll leave my men Broch and Donald to watch her.” He would instruct Donald to take her from here the moment he could get the two of them away unnoticed.
