Page 132 of Laird of Steel
“A truce?” Fertech growled under his breath. “With a Sassenach kiss-arse? Never.”
But the remaining earls had other thoughts.
The short one whispered, “But Fertech, if His Holiness himself sent word…”
The youngest chimed in, “I for one have no wish to challenge the church.”
The hairy one snorted. “And if the truce is onlytemporary,I’m for it. After all, we’ve been freezing our arses for a fortnight and gotten nowhere.”
The redhead groaned, pressing tenderly at his cracked nose. “I suppose ’tis better than sitting here, bleeding to death.” He punctuated his remark by hawking bloody spittle on the grass.
Fertech still wasn’t convinced. “I won’t bow before that traitor of an upstart.”
“No one’s asking you to, Fertech,” the hairy one said. “We’re only agreeing to a reprieve. Just so the missive can be read. Right?” He lifted one caterpillar of a brow at Adam.
Adam nodded.
“Fine,” Fertech decided with a sigh. Then he called up to the king. “’Tis agreed, Your Grace. For now.”
The king consulted with the men standing beside him, then announced, “We will open the palisade gate and meet the earls there.”
Gellir gave Adam a clandestine glance. He wondered what his cousin intended. What was written on that parchment? What could His Faux Holiness have to say about a land conflict in faraway Scotland? And how much danger was Adam putting himself in, pretending to be the representative of the Pope?
Was the missive an attempt to challenge the authority of the king? Did it praise the efforts of the earls to recover their lands? Or was it a condemnation of the earls’ demands and an affirmation of Malcolm’s status as supreme monarch?
What side had Adam taken? And did he realize the grave responsibility he bore, espousing a holy opinion that came from God knew where?
He couldn’t let his cousin endanger himself like that. The merest slip of Adam’s tongue could betray him. The slightest wavering of his voice could bring his charade to an end. His words, spoken in the presence of the most powerful man in Scotland, could be used to denounce him.
Gellir reached out a hand, intending to grab Adam. To put an end to his cousin’s playacting before he buried himself in political intrigue.
But Merraid prevented him, catching his arm in an iron grip. Despite the lovely blue of her eyes, the look she gave him was grave. Deadly. Forbidding. With the subtlety of a sharp blade sinking into soft flesh, she gave him a wordless warning.
Nay.
He should have ignored her. He should have pulled from her grasp and prevented Adam from joining the earls. But by the time he disengaged from her gaze, the entourage was halfway to the palisade gates.
When the clan armies followed after them to watch, he turned on Merraid, seizing her by the upper arms.
“What have you done?” he demanded in a sharp whisper.
With an easy outward flick of her elbows, she broke his hold on her and met his scowl with a scowl of her own. “Saved ye.” She indignantly brushed the dust from her arms. “Ye could at least show a wee bit o’ gratitude.”
He sighed heavily. His shoulders sagged. He rubbed the back of his neck, frustrated with the pesky lass.
But in the end, he realized he couldn’t blame her. She was only a maidservant. She didn’t understand governance. Loyalty. The church. She didn’t understand that a nobleman’s life was not his own. Bloody hell. She couldn’t even accept arranged marriage.
“Iamgrateful,” he said, trying to muster up a smile. “’Tis only that I fear the two of you are wading into perilous waters.” Then his smile faltered, and he shook his head in disbelief. “Feigning to be a messenger from His Holiness…”
“Don’t fret,” she said brightly. “Adam is brilliant. And once the earls hear my words—”
“Yourwords?” His heart plummeted.“Youwrote the missive?”
“Aye,” she beamed.
He felt ill. “What did you say…exactly?”
She creased her brow. “I can’t remember exactly. But I put in a good quote from Aesop—‘United we stand. Divided we fall.’ And one from Alexander the Great—‘remember, upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.’ And Publilius Syrus, who said ‘where there is unity, there is always victory.’”
