Page 40 of The Mad Highlander
“I…” Alaister glanced over at Cameron, and he closed his eyes tight and pursed his lips for a second before he opened his eyes and shook his head. “Och, how can I nae fight now when the young lad offered so readily? I’m nay coward, Cayden. Aye, if it comes to a straight fight between our clans and the Murdochs, I will fight with ye.”
“Guid!” Cayden stated. He looked around the table and could see he was winning them over. Young blood had joined him, perhaps the feigned bravery of youth, but Cayden had used that to his advantage and added the man who had been the biggest detractor at the meeting so far. “Ye dinnae have to take me word for it about McReed. Iris and Robyn were there, and ye canspeak to them, too. I dinnae like being called a fibber, but ye cannae call all three of us the same.”
“I can see what some of ye are still thinkin’,” Hunter chimed in. “Aye, the death of Iris might be enough to stop a war, but what if Laird O’Brien sent the men and blamed it on someone else to add fuel to the fire? That would be smart thinkin’, wouldn’t it? That’s nae possible in me mind, but I heard at least one person mention it this mornin’. Cayden needs nae reason to go to war with the Murdochs—he has already promised to save the lad. So, stop yer brutish thinkin’. We all ken McReed is behind this, and we all ken why.”
“Thank ye,” Cayden said. “Now, I am goin’ to speak with McReed, and I will make me decision after that. He tried to kill me wife, so it is me decision on what happens to him. Afore that, I want to hear from ye now. Either ye are with me, or ye are with the Murdochs. That is what it boils down to. If ye are nae prepared for war, should it come, then ye should leave the room right now. If ye will stand by me side as I have stood by yers all these years, then stay.”
“It’s not as simple as that,” a council member suggested.
“Aye, it is as simple as that,” Cayden said. He stood back up and looked around the room. “Where do yer loyalties lie?”
The silence crashed down in the room as Cayden towered above them. A few of them looked at the other council members, and some met Cayden’s eyes. Not one of them moved from their chairs.
“Guid men,” Cayden said before striding out of the room.
Cayden nodded to the man guarding the door, and the guard retrieved the key from his pocket and unlocked the stout wooden door. It swung inward with a screech.
Cayden walked past the guard and into the room. There was no window, and the only illumination came from the candle in the hallway where their guard stood. Yellow triangles flicked across the bare stone as the light entered the doorway and was cast across the room in straight lines.
McReed shielded his face. He quickly got up from his straw bed when he recognized the man entering. He had been fierce in the council meeting, surrounded by his peers, but here, he looked like a timid mouse caught before the castle cat. McReed stood up and tried to face Cayden, but he backed himself against the wall.
McReed’s eyes danced between Cayden’s face and the short sword hanging on the Laird’s belt. “Let me out of here!” From the way McReed had said it, it was obviously meant as a demand, but his emotions betrayed him, and it sounded like begging.
“Ye ken there is only one way ye are leavin’ this room,” Cayden replied.
“I havnae done anythin’.” McReed tried to stand up as tall as he could, but he was still a good six inches shorter than the Laird.
“Aye, ye have. I ken ye are behind this, McReed. There is naethin’ ye can say to me now to make me change me mind, and we both ken that. Ye havnae been framed for this, and I didnae conjure yer name to start a war. If ye leave this room or nae depends on ye. Ye ordered her killed in cold blood, and I should have yer blood in return, but I’m willin’ to make a compromise. Apologize to me now, and I willnae have yer head. Ye will live out yer days in the dungeon instead. Show me ye are nae sorry, and I will take yer head meself.”
McReed studied the Laird as he considered how he could get out of the prison. He opened his mouth and closed it, but no words came out.
“What say ye?” Cayden demanded.
McReed shook his head. “We cannae go to war.”
“So, ye admit it? Now, apologize to me. I will walk out of this room in a moment, and ye willnae have a second chance.”
McReed held the Laird’s gaze but still did not speak.
“Be it on yer own head, so to speak.” Cayden turned to leave.
“Nay, wait!”
Cayden spun around.
“Ye need to stop yer foolish war. I ken ye have found a lass, but that doesnae give ye the right to storm another laird’s castle. Ye dinnae ken the half of it, do ye?”
Cayden stepped back into the center of the room. “What are ye talkin’ about?”
“He’ll kill ye and the rest of yer clan then he’ll kill everyone who stood with ye. Ye might call me a coward, but I’ll live to fight another day.”
“So, that’s it? Ye think he will win? Ye are doin’ this to curry favor with Murdoch? Your show of faith willnae be rewarded. I have the backin’ of all the council members now, and they will be bolstered even more when they hear what ye had to say to me. Murdoch doesnae stand a chance against us united.”
“Aye, but he’s nae yer only enemy, is he?” McReed grinned, showing a blackened front tooth that was not usually visible when he smiled.
Cayden grabbed McReed by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the wall.
“What do ye ken, McReed? Who are me other enemies?”
