“Murdoch,” Ina chastised.
“It’s true, innit? The chief wasna surprised when I disgraced him by Sal falling pregnant and having to marry her. Nae that I was put out by it. Would have done it anyways.”
He looked back to Lachlan. “I wasna supposed to marry before Andrew. But that’s how it happened. After our bairn was born, Ina wed the future chief of Clan Carson. All stiff an’ proper, the way everyone liked it.”
“Murdoch,” Ina said again, and this time there was a thread of warning in her tone. “I’ll nae let you speak badly of it.”
“The dagger belonged to Andrew?” Lachlan interjected, fearing that a row between the older people might jeopardize the entire conversation.
“Nay,” Ina answered. “It belonged to Andrew’s grandfather.”
“Then how did it end up hidden in Archibald Blair’s house?”
“They only ever called him the Old Carson,” Ina said, ignoring Lachlan’s question. “He had two children, a son who became chief; that was Murdoch and Andrew’s father. And a daughter, Myra.”
Lachlan waited, listened, the back of his neck prickling, but for what reason he could not say.
“The Carsons were always mighty, warring. Especially with the Blairs, but we’ve been at war with nearly all the clans along the coast at one time or another,” Ina said. “And foreign enemies coming from the sea as well. We were nae without our own ships, after all. Our clan grew wealthy, and we began to command trade along the coast.” She paused with a pleasant smile. “Can you imagine wealthy Highland Carsons, Lachlan? It was true for a long while, I suppose.”
“We brought goods into the Highlands from the Irish,” Murdoch added. “Traded with all the clans. Took their wools and their skins. Sent them to Edinburgh, Glasgow, west back to the isles. North to Skye, all along the coast south of us.”
Lachlan’s head spun with all the things he was learning. “But you didn’t trade with the Blairs,” Lachlan said. “I’ve heard the tales; you left them to starve.”
Murdoch shook his head and met his gaze squarely. “That was an old feud and one I wasna witness to. But my understanding of it was that it was a punishment for a wrong done to my grandda’s da—a Blair lad killed a Carson lad in a bit of mean play. He was just a wee boy, they say; nae old enough to join in the sport, but had gone along any matter. Just a bairn. It grieved the Carson’s wife something fierce, and she swore an ancient hatred that was never to be forgiven on earth. Carson women can hold a grudge like nae other.”
This information shook Lachlan, as he realized how deep the resentment of the Blairs by the Carsons went. And yet, he had kindled the need-fire today, with the Carson Town’s blessing.
“Our success gained our clan powerful friends in Edinburgh,” Murdoch continued. “Friends who made it possible to secure a hold on the Forth in order to continue our trade when the tolls in the city became unfair, and they thought to cheat the stupid Highlanders. But we could nae claim the keep as our own without help.”
It was Ina’s turn. “And so the Old Carson arranged a marriage for his Myra to a baron of the Borderlands. The keep on the firth was her dowry. And the dagger, matching the marriage brooch that would go to the Old Carson’s son, and then to my husband Andrew, was her legacy.” She paused. “It is likely she gave the dagger to her new husband as a wedding gift.”
Lord Thomas Annesley…
“Do you mean to say,” Lachlan began haltingly, “that Thomas Annesley was—”
“Myra Carson’s son,” Ina supplied with a gentle smile.
Lachlan went stone still for a very long moment. Then he turned his head slowly to regard Murdoch Carson. “If Thomas Annesley is my father, that means I am descended from the Old Carson. It means…it means we are blood kin, Murdoch.”
“Aye,” the chief agreed in a neutral tone. “Cousins, by my reckoning.”
“It’s why you let me kindle the need-fire,” Lachlan realized. “My lineage is as much Carson as it is Blair.”
“More so, I’d say,” Ina interjected. “Edna and Archibald are both dead. Even if Thomas Annesley is, as well, you have us, Lachlan.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “Me and Rory, we think of you as ours already. Murdoch is your blood. And sure, you’ve a Carson bride.” She looked about the little room, quiet, warm, safe. “Do you think this place is suitable for living yet?”
“You did this for me?” Lachlan hedged, a thorny pit widening in his stomach.
Ina shook her head with a mischievous smile. “Nay. It’s for myself and Rory. We want you and Fin to have the farm to yourselves.”
“I’ve no heir, Lachlan,” Murdoch said abruptly. And then he left it alone, hovering between them in this quiet place that Lachlan had unwittingly helped ready.
“Is their aught else I should know?” At their shaking heads, Lachlan stood up from the chair, his own head buzzing with confusion. “I need to be alone.” He walked to the door, still blocked by Murdoch’s considerable size, but then was struck by another thought.
“Did you know who I was when you bargained for me?” he demanded of the chief.
“Aye,” Murdoch answered. “After the English knight came with the letter.”
“And still you kept it from me. Called me an outsider, when I was your kin.”
