Page 31 of Highlander's Rebellious Affair
He loved when his father told stories about the ancient Lairds who built the Castle and formed the Clan. The stories had started from their journey to this foreign land and Ian had enjoyed that part too.
“Can ye remember what we spoke of last?”
“The mountains–”
“Aye, the mountains… as the men dug down roots trying to raise a Castle, they found somethin’ no one could ever imagine. It wasnae bonnie like any other thin’ in the land, it was rock mixed with buttery yellow, and it appeared rare. The men knew it was unusual and rare, so they reported to their Laird about this, he wanted to see for himself, so he asked that they take him to it.”
Ian wiggled on the ground so he fit the crook of his father’s arm around his neck properly as he paid close attention to the story. “The rare rock that no one understood was gold, a treasure that they found buried in the earth… it belonged to nay one, and so the Laird who was very smart told his men to leave it.
“He knew of the greed of men, he knew that soon each of them would covet what it was, and the power they could gain if they knew the value of what they had found, so he chose to let them live in ignorance.”
“Tis nothin’ of importance,” he said to them. “Just some old crust deep beneath the lands that we should ignore and build our homes. The Laird made the men ignore the treasure while he secretly took the ones he trusted and had them dig until they got the treasure out, then he moved somewhere far in the mountains where nay one would ever find it.
“And nay one has?” Ian asked, curious about the treasure.
“Only Lairds after Lairds ken where to find this treasure, but they never use it… for it will corrupt the minds of the people and make them hungry for power. This is what the Laird wanted to avoid.”
“Sing me the song, Papa.”
His father smiled and rubbed his hair. “One day, my son, when ye are old enough I will sing ye the entire song, but for today–”
Ian watched as his father rose to his feet and dusted his hands on his kilt. “For today, we should go have dinner with yer sister. I am certain her nurse is rollin’ around in anger as we speak.”
Ian giggled, and clung to his father’s hand as they made their way into the Castle again and headed for the dining room. They had a large dinner that night, like it was a feast. There was fish stuffed with oats, haggis, potatoes made with sweet turnips, chives and butter, and Ian’s favorite, wild strawberries.
After dinner his faither had the nurse take him to his room, and that was the last time he saw him. Ian had woken up when his sister had knocked on his door, her face tear stained as she told him what she saw. It was a dark night, it rained heavily outside, the sound of the rain slashing against the roof of their keep was all Ian could hear as his sister’s hushed words filled him with dread.
“Faither is in trouble. I went in to find him because I am scared of the rain, and then I saw a man in a black cloak come out of his chamber. I had to hide and when he was gone, I saw faither laying still on the bed, unmoving. I screamed and rushed to ask the guards for help–”
Ian had been too young to understand what his sister was saying to him in hushed tones amid tears, but even as a ten-year-old, he was smart enough to know when his sister was frightened.
“What did ye see?”
“Uncle Lyall,” Rhea had whispered as her face went pale. “He was the man in the black cloak.”
* * *
Ian awoke with a loud gasp and he tried to jump out of the bed, but Callum stopped him from getting to his feet. Panting, he looked around, his pupils trying to focus, his mind trying to understand what was happening.
“Yer fever has broken,” Callum said, and he swallowed. Ian’s eyes widened as he remembered what happened to him.
“Hope?” he asked and Callum sighed. “She is asleep, she was up with ye all through the night and she needed to rest, so I asked her to go sleep in my inner chamber.”
Ian groaned, and his hands moved to touch the wound at his back, but Callum stopped him. “Everyone was worried about ye. What do ye remember? Can ye tell us who did this to ye?”
Ian shook his head, his gaze not leaving his friend’s. “The last thing I saw was the rider who shot at me takin’ another path and fleein’, like he wasnae intent to finish what he started but this was merely a way to scare me.”
“I would disagree with that.”
“The arrow was poisoned; I think he expected no one to find ye out here so he had no reason to follow and make sure ye were dead.
“Dinnae worry, Orlaith has treated ye,” Callum added when Ian reached out to touch his back again.
With a groan, he tried to get on his feet, but swooned and Callum steadied him. “I have to get back to the Castle… Lyall is organizin’ this stupid feast and he has ordered every man to be there. If I am nay, he would use this as an opportunity to cause a scene and I will nay allow that.”
“There is very little Lyall can do to ye seein’ as yer supporters grow stronger. If he tries to kill ye now then there will be a lot of suspicion,” Callum said. “He is a very smart man, and he kens this.”
“If it is nay Lyall tryin’ to kill me, then who is?” Ian asked, and the question remained unanswered because he couldn’t think of anyone he had made an enemy off.
