Page 7 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
Fergus pursed his lips in annoyance. “What ye dismiss as tedious is of great importance to the rest of us.”
He paused a bit dramatically, in Elias’s opinion.
“Well?” Elias prompted after a minute had gone by and no one said anything.
“‘Tis yer lack of a wife,” Callum, who had yet to say anything, spoke up.
Callum was an old warrior chief, with long hair and a short-cropped beard. His black eyes met Elias’s squarely, but there was also a touch of discomfort in them.
He was better suited to talking about battle strategy and weapons, so he must have been very annoyed to have brought up Elias’s unmarried state.
“Why must ye always bring that up? There are more important things to discuss than whether I have a wife underfoot.”
The five elders stared at Elias as if he had lost his mind.
“Ye dinnae mean that,” Brodie finally said. “A wife will fill the coffers with her dowry.”
“She will have her guards to add to our ranks,” Callum added.
“Combining our crops will surely help support our people through the tough winters,” Athol argued.
With each reason why getting married was so important, Elias grew more and more angry.
“And ye?” he asked, turning his gaze to Fergus. “What is yer reason for me havin’ a wife?”
Fergus stared at Elias, his expression flat and unchanging. “Ye are of age, Me Laird. Ye need to start a family so that Clan McAllister will have an heir.”
Elias was enraged. He didn’t like people getting into his business, especially when it concerned his marital status. Hebanged his large fist on the wooden table. The force of it was so strong that the tankards sitting in front of the others rattled. Callum reached out and picked his tankard up from the table before any of his ale could spill.
“I dinnae need to find a wife,” Elias thundered. “Aside from me parents, marriage doesnae seem to work out for most couples. Why should I shackle meself to a woman who will likely be unhappy and make the rest of us miserable?”
“‘Tis the way of things, Me Laird,” Brodie said slowly as if trying to explain the concept to a child.
“Ye have a duty—” Athol began, but Elias cut him off.
“Tell me, what woman would want to be with me?” He ran a finger from his left eye down to his chin, over the scar that carved a path in his face.
The council members had the good sense to blanch and briefly look away. All except Fergus.
Elias should have known that Fergus would not back down. The old man wasn’t afraid of anything.
“There are uglier men than ye, Me Laird. Plenty of women would be honored to be yer wife?—”
“So they can spend me coin!” Elias snapped.
“Mayhap,” Fergus said with a nod. “But that doesnae matter. What does is that ye are two-and-thirty now. ‘Tis time ye do yer duty and take a wife.”
Elias opened his mouth to argue, but Fergus raised his voice and continued, “If ye dinnae, then we, as a council, are duty-bound to choose one for ye.”
Elias’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Logically, he knew this was the way things were done. He’d just never expected it to happen to him. He’d thought the council knew of his determination to remain unmarried. He had no desire to continue his line. Not after what his brother had done—killing their parents just to become Laird.
He didn’t know whether it was bad blood in the family or just that his brother had somehow become unhinged. But he had not wanted to risk a child of his inheriting Aidan’s cruelty.
“Ye are serious?” he said, looking from one pair of elderly eyes to another.
All five men nodded, their expressions not showing even an ounce of hesitation. They were bound and determined to see him wed, no matter his thoughts about it.
“How long do I have before ye all truss me up and throw a bride at me?” Elias asked defiantly.
