“Shut yer yap, ye foolish child,” Ian said between clenched teeth. “Did ye not hear what Robbie said? The Kerr outnumber us two tae one. We were outnumbered at Etal, but we dinna know it until the last. We only knew once we were in battle. If we march on the Kerr now, we know that death and injury will be great. We know there are more of them than us. Tae walk intae a battle with them would be stupid.”
“But –!”
“Is that what ye’re trying tae do, Argyle? Kill more of our men?”
It was a brilliant move on Ian’s part, turning the responsibility for death back on his nephew because the rest of the senior clansmen were looking at Argyle in question now. Sensing that only made Argyle more combative.
“Ye favored yer daughter and men died because of it,” he shot back. “Now, I want tae seek vengeance for the death of an old woman and ye willna do it. ’Tis cowardice!”
“Shut yer mouth before I rip yer tongue out,” Robbie hissed, moving between Argyle and his father. “My father is the bravest man among us. Where is yer own father, Argyle? Brendan? Hiding in his cottage, drinking ale until he falls down and sleeps in the dirt? Ye’ve got a drunken fool for a father!”
Argyle flinched, moving towards Robbie, but Brendan grabbed him. Ian took hold of Robbie so he wouldn’t break his cousin’s neck.
“Enough,” Ian said, turning Robbie away from his cousin. “Arguing doesna solve the problem. Argyle, if ye canna be helpful, then ye will leave. I’ll not have ye confusing the issue.”
Argyle pulled himself from his brother’s grip. “Thereisno confusion,” he said. “The Kerr killed one of our people. We must punish them.”
Ian sighed heavily. “So we send an army of warriors to their stronghold?” he said. “Lad, if the casualties at Etal upset ye,then the casualties against Kerr will be far worse. Do ye not understand that?”
Argyle was pale with anger and perhaps some shame. “I understand that our clan has a chief that only values his daughter’s life,” he said. “A chief should be fair and just, which is something ye’re not. We need a man we can trust.”
Robbie heard him and swung around. “What are ye saying?” he demanded. “That yer drunken father be clan chief? That’s a bloody jest and ye know it. Ye only want him tae be chief so ye can rule in his stead, Argyle. Yer ambition is showing, Cousin.”
Argyle was losing ground. Robbie wasn’t afraid to expose him and, worst of all, Robbie knew exactly what was happening. He was making sure everyone else did, too. Infuriated, Argyle struggled to keep calm.
“If I was ambitious, ye’d already be dead and buried,” he snarled. “Since Uncle Ian willna do right by the clan and punish the Kerr, I seem tae be the only one willing tae point that out. Beware, Cousin– someday, the men of our clan will wake up and realize that they need another man tae lead them.”
With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the hall. Brendan, without looking at either Ian or Robbie, followed him. Both brothers marched from the hall, shoving dogs aside in their haste to leave. By the time they reached the bailey outside, Brendan grabbed his brother by the arm.
“What’s the meaning of that?” Brendan hissed, yanking his brother to a halt. “If ye intend tae rise up and take control, then ye just let Uncle Ian and Robbie know that. It was stupid!”
Argyle didn’t like being yanked around by his brother and jerked his arm from the man’s grip. “It’s time, Brendan,” he said, running an angry hand through his mop of dark hair. “It’s time tae make plans. Uncle Ian should no longer be our leader, the man we trust. He’ll avenge his daughter, but not a dead woman?”
Brendan sighed sharply. “I know,” he said. “So do the others. Well, some of them. But now ye’ve put the man on his guard. We’ll never be able tae wrest power from him now.”
Argyle knew that but he didn’t want to admit it. He kept raking his fingers through his hair.
“She did this,” he muttered. “Annie. She’s the one who started it.”
Brendan shook his head. “This started long before Annie,” he said quietly. “It started when she rejected yer advances those years ago when she first became a woman. Ye’ve never forgiven her and that makes the battle at Etal worse.”
Argyle was looking at the ground, his jaw flexing as he ground his teeth. “Why do ye say that?”
Brendan knew his brother well. “Because ye should have been the one tae avenge her,” he said. “As her husband, that would have been yer right. Instead… instead, Ian drove the men tae Etal and then sent Annie tae Castle Questing when ye started tae turn men against her. Their deaths, ye said, were her fault.”
“They were,” Argyle said firmly. “And now she’s in England with the Sassenach kin. And now…”
He suddenly paused, causing Brendan to peer at him strangely. “Now what?”
Argyle lifted his head. His jaw had stopped flexing and an odd, wide-eyed expression crossed his features.
“Brendan,” he said slowly. Then he looked at his brother and grabbed him by the arm. “Brendan, we dunna have tae wrest power from Uncle Ian. I know a way he’ll gladly give it tae us. Tae me.”
Brendan cocked his head. “How?”
“With Annie,” Argyle said simply. “I’ll go tae Castle Questing and take Annie. Nay…nottake her. I’ll need her tae come with me willingly. I’ll go tae Castle Questing and tell her that her dahas taken ill. Nay…nay… that Robbie is ill and needs her. She’ll come home for Robbie.”
Brendan was starting to catch on. “She’d come without question,” he said. “But once ye have her, then what?”
