Page 31 of Her Scot of the Morrow
“And what was that?” the king prompted. “What do ye mean by all things considered? Because ‘tis said nothing happened other than a willow tree appeared outside yer castle.”
Her head jerked back, and she narrowed her eyes. “And who said this?”
“I did.” The king narrowed his eyes in return. “And ‘twould do ye well to remember to whom ye speak, Lady Sutherland.”
Ha.King or not, I liked this guy. He called bullshit when he saw it. No wonder he and Sloan were friends.
“Of course, my King,” Elspet returned so smoothly and confidently, I knew she was up to no good, and I sensed Sloan did too, but then this was Elspet we were talking about, and her son was no better. He didn’t stop the leering looks he threw my way, no doubt hoping to provoke Sloan into doing something he’d regret.
“Go on.” King Robert’s gaze started with Elspet as if asking her, but landed on Dugal. “Laird Sutherland, what happened next?”
“After this appeared on my wrist—” Dugal showed him his tattoo— “Willow arrived in dragon form a short time later, having already shifted, denying me the chance to see the gem on her chest so I might know if she is destined for me. If that’s not traitorous enough, she laid waste to my castle and freed Sloan.”
“And just to be clear,” the king prompted when Dugal felt he explained everything based on his self-righteous look, “what part of yer castle did Willow lay waste to?”
Although Dugal hesitated, as if not expecting the question, he had no choice but to answer. “The bottom portion.”
Robert’s eyebrows flew up. “So yedidthrow Sloan MacLeod, one of my favored warriors, and by all means an ambassador in my name, in yer dungeon without provocation? Without any proof, he kept yer pact mate from ye? And all this was done before Willow’s dragon arrived because a mere tree appeared on yer land?”
Dugal’s right eye twitched as he seemed to weigh how to respond.
“A tree that is verra much a part of this pact,” Dugal reminded them rather than actually answering the question.He gestured in my direction. “As is the mark Willow wears on her wrist and the gem ye saw with yer own two eyes over her dragon’s heart, showing she descends from my clan's sorcerer. A marking worn by the one who is destined to become my fated mate, repaying the debt the MacLeod’s owe us for breaking the pact so long ago.”
The king’s steely gaze fell to my wrist, which was covered by my sleeve, showing no glint of warmth. He met my eyes. “Is that true, lass?”
“It is,” I confessed readily enough, hoping he would leave it at that because I didn’t want to look at the damn thing again, but I should have known better.
“Might I see it?”
Despite wanting to say no because I didn't want anything on my body to match the monster across from me, I knew I had no choice. So, I nodded, pushed up my sleeve, and showed it to him, shocked to see it had changed once again, and I wasn’t so sure it was for the best.
CHAPTER TWENTY
–Sloan–
IF I KNEW nothing else, it was that my good friend, King Robert, was trying to buy time and get to a truth that would suit him best. In this case, peace between the MacLeods and the Sutherlands for the sake of our beloved Scotland, and I didn’t blame him in the least.
I would do the same if I were in his position.
The only problem? I wasn’t in his position, and this was the love of my life we were talking about, so it was difficult sifting my emotions through a strainer and seeing only logic, but he depended on me for that, so I would. I had to because there was too much at stake.
So when Willow revealed her tattoo to the king to figure out what came next, I wasn’t sure how to react. Even so, I did my best to keep my face free of my turbulent emotions.
Willow, however, did no such thing. Her brow furrowed in confusion because the tattoo now had three-quarters of the gem to match her dragon’s. “What onEarth?”
“’Tis proof enough,” Elspet declared when she had no right and spoke out of turn.
“And how is that proof?” I countered calmly in a tone I knew my king would appreciate because it tended to keep situations from escalating. Although tempted to slip my hand into Willow’s to comfort her, I knew better. “One can plainly see, it doesnae match the marking on Laird Dugal’s wrist, nor does the pact mention anything about only part of the gem being visible.”
“That is true, is it not, Laird Sutherland?” Robert said, intercepting the Sutherlands before they could counter with another lie. He met Dugal’s eyes rather than Elspet’s because the king understood he was the weaker of the two, more likely to speak out in anger rather than use good sense. “I read the pact myself, and it clearly said the markings would match.”
“Mayhap,” Dugal conceded, beginning to reveal his cards as Willow would put it. “But then ‘tis safe to say after what ye witnessed earlier, my King, Willow cannae be trusted.” His narrowed gaze slid to Willow. “Not only did she destroy my castle and frighten my people, revealing how destructive and brutal she can be, but she did so again today, felling Sutherland warriors without provocation when she might have shown mercy.”
“ThehellI did,” she began, but snapped her mouth shut with a tight expression when I gave her a warning look to tread lightly.
More so, this was something we could use.
“Is that true, then?” the king asked, looking first at Willow, then me, cunningly redirecting the question. “Ye saw it firsthand, Sloan, and I trust ye to give me the truth because if ye dinnae yer clan will suffer for it.” Right on cue, two of his men unsheathed their blades in warning and shifted closer to me as the king dared me to lie. “I beg ye to think carefully about yer answer for the sake of all ye hold dear and for my ongoing commitment to peace betwixt ye and the Sutherlands.”
