Page 141 of Laird of Steel
By the glimmer in the king’s eyes, he seemed amused rather than offended. “By all means.” He gestured to Fertech’s pavilion. “May we?”
“Of course, Your Grace,” Fertech said.
She entered the pavilion, which was lavishly appointed for the long siege Fertech had expected.
The king followed with four of his men. Naturally, they wouldn’t be completely alone. A king must always have at least two trusty men guarding his flank. And ayoungking was wise to keep a pair of older, experienced advisors nearby.
Malcolm seated himself, commanding the earl’s chair as if it were his own. He summoned her near.
She knelt before him.
“What do you wish to say to us?”
Merraid had a challenging task before her. She had to combine the truth with diplomacy. She had to leave Hew’s name out of the story. And she had to do it in as few words as possible so as not to waste the king’s time.
“As ye may recall, the Laird o’ Dunlop wrote to ye to secure Sir Gellir as bridegroom to his daughter.”
“Lady Carenza,” Malcolm replied. “She is a great beauty.”
“Aye, Your Grace, and sweet and kind. Her father bid her wed at once. But what he didn’t know was her heart belonged to another.” She lowered her eyes. “And she was already with child.”
The advisors grumbled in disapproval.
The king hushed them. “Go on.”
“The lady wished to do the right thing. She wished to honor the betrothal. But she didn’t have the heart to deceive her bridegroom. And so she ran away.”
The king nodded.
“Once Sir Gellir learned his bride had fled to her true love,” she continued, “he couldn’t let her bear the shame o’ her actions. Neither did he wish shame upon his clan. And so he wrote a missive, sayin’ ’twashewho’d broken the betrothal.”
“A noble sacrifice,” the king said with an admiring sigh.
“Aye, Your Grace.”
The king steepled his hands, considering her words. “What would you have us do?”
“Forgive them, Your Grace,” she said. “That’s all. Lady Carenza and Sir Gellir, they’re goodhearted, both o’ them. They meant to do right. ’Tis neither o’ their fault the betrothal was broken. They shouldn’t have to suffer disgrace and dishonor because of it.”
The king narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re a good friend to Grim Gellir.”
“I try to be, Your Grace.”
“You fought nobly for us by his side.”
She humbly lowered her gaze.
The king didn’t give her an answer. After their brief discourse, he simply rose and said to his men, “Shall we go? Ere the earls reconsider our newly won peace?”
Merraid managed to hide her disappointment. But shewasdisappointed. Was that it? Did Malcolm mean to do nothing?
When they emerged from the pavilion, the tension in the air was so palpable, Merraid expected lightning at any moment. Gellir’s brow was as dark as a thunderhead. Laird Deirdre’s fists were clenched. Feiyan had gone pale. Even young Isabel had a quivering hand over her mouth, as if she expected someone to lose their head.
She supposed they had a right to be upset. They couldn’t know what secrets she’d revealed to the king. But though Merraid was impulsive, she wasn’t a fool. They should have trusted her.
King Malcolm held up his hands then and announced, “We have been made aware that the betrothal between Lady Carenza of Dunlop and Sir Gellir Cameliard of Rivenloch has been broken.”
The earls glanced around, unsure what they were supposed to do.
