Page 71 of Betrayed

“I am told there are some among ye who would have my life,” the king answered. “It was necessary that I decide what course of action I would take in the face of such perfidy.” Raising his hand, he signaled his guards. Alexander MacRurie and Ian MacArthur were hauled forth from the ranks of their companions and flung at the foot of the dais. “Ye two spoke on my murder. I canna trust ye. Yer deaths will provide an exampleto yer companions.” Again the king signaled, and before anyone realized what was happening, the two unfortunates were pinioned and swiftly beheaded with well-sharpened swords that had been prepared for just this occasion. The heads hardly rolled, but blood gushed from the severed necks of the two men, spilling across the floor, sending the women assembled within the room shrieking and seeking a place where the blood would not reach.

“Seize them all!”the king's voice thundered as he pointed to the Lord of the Isles and his companions. “Throw them in the dungeon prepared for their arrival!” Stepping over the river of blood, he held out his hand to a now stony-faced Countess of Ross. “Come, madam, for ye are to be my guest for the interim.”

Fiona stepped forward and cried, “’Tis dishonorably done, James Stewart! The lord and the chieftains have come unarmed into yer hall this day to make their peace with ye. Is this how ye treat those who would pledge loyalty and friendship to ye?Shame! Shame!

The king looked across the hall at the woman who had spoken. She was tall for a woman, and he was sure he knew her. She was certainly very fair. A chieftain's wife by the look of her. Then he recognized her. “Once, madam, ye pledged yer loyalty to me,” he said meaningfully.

“I have kept my pledge, even to speaking on yer behalf, my liege, in The MacDonald's hall. If he is here today, it is partly because of me. How dare ye break the laws of hospitality to unjustly imprison these men? Ye who love justice above all things. Is this yer justice?”

“She is as brave as she is bonnie,” Alexander MacDonald whispered to his brother, Colin MacDonald. “If she weren't yer wife, and if I did not have a wife myself, I would wed her this day!”

“Leave my hall, madam, and don't come back!” the king roared. “Do ye dare to instruct me? A little cattle thief and a whore?”

The Lord of the Isles gripped his brother of Nairn's arm in a tight grasp. “Don't move, Colly, or the bonnie Fiona will be a widow. He only insults her because she has pricked at his conscience.”

“Better an honest whore,my liege,than a dishonorable king!” Fiona said with devastating impact, then turned and walked from the hall, the chieftains’ wives following behind her.

The king opened his mouth with the full intent to order Fiona's arrest, but in the shadow of his throne his cousin, Ninian Stewart, said softly, “She is a woman with three bairns, one new and at her breast. She would make a magnificent martyr, cousin. The highlands would be aflame for years to come. Let her go.”

The king's mouth snapped shut audibly.

There was another within the room who, shocked, had also recognized Fiona. Hamish Stewart in a show of family loyalty had accompanied his cousin north. He had known Fiona instantly. Her skirmish with the king had been more than it seemed to the watching court. Slipping from the hall, he hurried after the retreating clanswomen, catching one by the arm, and asking her, “Who was the woman to beard the king, lady?”

“’Twas The MacDonald of Nairn's wife, sir,” the woman replied, pulling away from his grasp to dash after her companions.

Hamish Stewart was amazed. How had Fiona Hay become The MacDonald of Nairn's wife? He would have sworn she would have moved heaven and earth to return home to Brae and Black Angus. Why had she not? Hamish Stewart followed the clanswomen outside,where a roar of disapproval greeted the news that their chieftains were imprisoned on the king's orders. The highlanders moved back from the castle grounds to their encampment just up the river. Hamish Stewart followed along at a discreet distance. He had to find Fiona. He had to know what had happened.

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