Page 82 of Wedded to the Twisted Highlander
The councilmen shifted uncomfortably, exchanging nervous glances. He watched as they squirmed, each averting their gazes as if they could avoid his wrath by ignoring his presence.
“We dinnae ken, Me Laird,” one of them managed to blurt out.
The man’s voice trembled with uncertainty. Thomas could hear the fear in his voice, and it grated on him.
How could his own men be such cowards? It was enough to make him want to plow through them as if they were a field of wheat that needed to be chopped down.
“We’re still tryin’ to piece together what happened.”
Thomas rounded on them, his face contorted in rage. “Come again? I dinnae think I heard ye correctly. Did ye tell me that ye’re still tryin’ to piece together what happened? Ye should have been prepared for this! Ye should have secured the castle! What is all yer trainin’ for? Why did ye nae send for me the instant the castle was under siege? Or are ye tellin’ me that someone let the snake into the garden?”
He paused, letting the possibility sink in. The longer it festered, the tighter he clenched his fists. His blood boiled as he glared at the men before him.
“Laird Chalium is a cunnin’ foe—” another councilman tried to interject, but Thomas cut him off with a sharp wave of his hand.
“Cunnin’ or nae, that doesnae excuse yer failure!” His voice rose, causing the clansfolk standing in the hall to cower. “Who was it?”
“We dinnae ken what ye’re talkin’ about.” A weakling of a man stepped forward with his hand raised.
Thomas narrowed his eyes at him like a hawk. “Who let Laird Chalium into the castle? Someone had to have opened the gatesand ushered his forces in. So tell me, which one of ye did it?” he demanded, his tone dripping with accusation.
The clansfolk shifted uncomfortably as fear etched deeper lines into their faces.
Thomas’s gaze landed on Duncan as he recalled the last conversation they had. “Ye were the only man I told about me plans. And ye warned me, did ye nae?”
“Me Laird, I didnae let them in. I swear on me life,” Duncan said as Thomas pulled his dirk from its sheath and charged toward him.
Could his second-in-command have betrayed him?
For a fleeting moment, Thomas hesitated.
“Duncan,” he said, his voice cold and just as sharp as the blade that grazed his man-at-arms’ neck. “I told ye of me plans to leave the castle, did I nae? It was just ye and I in the study that evening. It was late. What did ye do, huh? Light a candle that morning to tell the enemy which side of the castle to attack?”
Duncan’s jaw flexed as he rolled his shoulders back. “Ye told me of yer plans, aye, but I said nothing.”
“And ye didnae think to increase the number of guards on watch while I was gone?” Thomas asked.
It was not Duncan he was mad at, but himself. He had trusted Duncan and held him in high regard, and yet here he was, the poison to his ointment.
Duncan hesitated as the tip of the blade drew blood.
Thomas’s anger surged anew like a wild tempest, threatening to consume him.
“Ye didnae even warn them, did ye?” he spat, his voice laced with venom. “Ye didnae do anything to lift a finger, did ye? How long have ye been workin’ wit’ Liard Chalium? Tell me!”
His voice boomed and rattled the stained-glass windows of the Great Hall.
Gasps rippled through the clansfolk at the sudden accusation.
Duncan’s face paled.
He took a step back, his hands raised defensively. “Me Laird, nay! I swear to ye, I had nothing to do with this!” His voice trembled, desperation creeping in.
“Ye expect me to believe that?” Thomas sneered, Duncan’s betrayal turning his stomach. “Ye, who have been by me side for years? Ye, who have kenned all me plans and secrets? Why? How much was yer loyalty bought for? Or was it the fact that ye couldnae see me happy?”
“The lass was ruinin’ ye and the clan. Yer faither and I worked so hard to keep ye focused on the things that mattered the most. Clan and family.”
“Astrid is family. Or were ye hopin’ that she’d be here? Is that why ye didnae want us to go? Astrid was the target… But if Astrid was the target, then who did Laird Chalium take?”
