“Aye. Absolutely. We arenae as open with our affection as ye and Óg, but we love each other. But that’s nae all I fear. What happens if the Rosses and Roses learn he and Óg are gone? What if they choose now to attack again?”
Saoirse nodded. She knew some of the contentiousness between the Mackenzies and Rosses because Magnus told her. She knew Magnus’s father kidnapped a Ross woman, even though she was eventually returned to her clan. The trouble continued, even after Seamus became laird. There was land in dispute, and without a king who cared, there was no one to mediate. Edward Balliol, the pretender and usurper king, certainly didn’t. Magnus had made inroads with Monty Ross, but they had resolved nothing with the Roses.
“Uncle Hamish! Grandda!” Saoirse called out to the two lairds as they donned their leines. The others continued to practice, but they wished to discuss the ongoing troubles with Balliol. They hadn’t the chance while they were at Dunrobin or on the road. They knew Andrew Murray, Guardian of Scotland, would summon them again soon.
“Aye, Saoirse.” Liam raised his eyebrows.
“Actually, ma question is for ye, Uncle Hamish.” Saoirse looked at Caroline, who didn’t seem to know where to look. “Caroline’s worried that Monty will launch an attack if he kens Seamus and Óg are both gone.”
Hamish inhaled and released the breath slowly. He held the same concerns about his nephew. Amelia had been a Ross before she married Hamish. She’d been the Earl of Ross’s daughter when they married, then a sister to the next Earl of Ross. She was the current earl’s aunt.
“I sent a missive to Monty, informing him that his cousins and I would fight alongside Seamus and Óg if it came to battle. He kens we’re riding out with them. I dinna think he will do aught while I’m with them. After we settle this, I would broker a truce between them. This has gone on long enough. Our family trees are too complicated to allow a feud between them. It draws too many people into the middle with nay way to choose sides.”
“Aye. So far Brodie and Dominic havenae involved the Campbells, but if things escalate between the Rosses and Mackenzies, then it’s inevitable,” Liam explained. “Brodie will ride to his brother-by-marriage’s aid. We’ll ride alongside the Mackenzies. That’ll put the Sutherlands in the middle.”
“I only wish to be in the middle if it’s as an arbitrator. I dinna need to be caught in the middle of their squabble with both sides expecting me to defend them.” Hamish shook his head. His ties to Liam had always been far stronger than the ones to his wife’s father or brother. But he was very fond of his nephew, Montgomery Ross. The younger man couldn’t have children and hadn’t married, so his nephew, Montgomery Campbell, was his heir and tánaiste. Thus far, the Campbells had remained uninvolved, just like the Sutherlands, but Hamish doubted their neutrality would last much longer.
“Riders approach! Rosses!”
Hamish and Liam glanced at one another. It was too uncanny that they’d just spoken of the clan and now members were arriving. The energy shifted in the lists, and Saoirse felt it. Her relatives and husband hurried toward her, while the Mackenzie warriors went on the defensive. Óg took her hand as everyone entered the bailey just before the riders.
“Monty, do ye have the second sight? I was just talking aboot ye,” Hamish greeted the man.
“Och, that canna be good, Uncle.” Monty swung down from his horse and looked around. He sobered as he spied Seamus and Óg staring at him. Mòr stood between the two brothers, and the other Sinclairs were nearby. Tristan and Ric were off to the right. “Seamus, I would speak to ye and Óg. There’s something ye should ken.”
Monty’s gaze filled with regret as he sighed and shook his head. Whatever he would impart wouldn’t be good.
“Caroline, Saoirse, come with us.” Seamus held out his hand to his wife. She hesitated, unprepared for Seamus’s instruction or his proffered hand. She couldn’t recall the last time they’d held hands in public, but she smiled shyly as she accepted. She glanced at Saoirse and Óg, who walked arm in arm. She hoped her marriage would become more like the one Saoirse and Óg intended to have.
“Uncle Hamish, ye and Liam should come too.” Monty sighed and shook his head again. The four lairds, along with Magnus and the two women, went inside to Seamus’s solar. Caroline ordered food on the way. They didn’t have to wait long for servants to bring bread, cheese, fruit, and mugs of ale. Once the group was alone, and they shut the door, Monty drummed his fingers on the oblong wood table around which they sat.
“This is bluidy complicated, but what aboot our families isnae.” Monty clasped his hands and leaned forward onto the table. “One of ma clanswomen is involved in the attempts against Óg. Oona’s—this woman’s—mother was a Matheson. I didna ken that until a sennight ago. Her parents married before I was alive. Donan kenned, but somehow, I didna.” It had shocked him that his second-in-command and partner had known. Donan assumed Monty had been aware of the connection his entire life like Donan had. “I recalled Oona married a Sutherland when we were all adolescents. But her husband died three years after they wed.”
“I remember her. She was Amelia’s friend. But she married a Sinclair aboot five years after her husband died.”
“Oona? Morag and Ròs’s mother?” Saoirse looked at her grandfather. The two young women were her age and close friends to her and Rose Kyla. They worked in the kitchens. Oona became the housekeeper when Hagatha passed away three years ago.
“Aye,” Liam acknowledged.
“One of them did it, didna they?” Saoirse looked at Liam, then Hamish, then Monty, before settling her gaze on Magnus.
“They all did from what I learned.” Monty ran a hand through his strawberry-blond hair.
“How’d ye find out?” Saoirse demanded. She sat back, her tone surprising her.
“By accident. Oona’s husband is among yer men. She and her daughters left Dunbeath just after ye did. Sneaked away would be better. When they arrived, they claimed they were there to visit Oona’s sister. She claimed her husband died recently, and she was considering returning to her clan of birth. That struck me as odd, since she’s been a Sinclair for more than a score of years. Donan had her followed, but naught came up. It was Monty Óg who learned the truth. Apparently, Morag is a beauty and took an interest in ma unwed tánaiste.”
“What did she tell him?” Magnus wondered.
“Plenty, but none that mattered. She flattered him too much, and he grew suspicious. He started asking questions once he learned her grandmother was a Matheson. We arenae on good terms with them these days since they’re yer allies.” Monty looked at Magnus and Seamus. “She let it slip that her mother’s cousin is a merchant and travels. She claimed he sells the prettiest ribbons.”
“That mon we talked to.” Saoirse turned to Magnus. “That’s how he kenned ye supposedly made a lot of enemies ending yer betrothal.”
“Aye. And that’s what Caleb meant when he said he wasna the only one there who could do the job.” Magnus swept his gaze around the table, his stomach in knots.
“Ye’ve the right of it,” Monty interjected. “The merchant is Oona’s cousin, but he’s also cousin-by-marriage to the mon ye captured. Once Monty Óg learned that, he detained the merchant. Tore his wagon apart and searched everything. He found naught, but he scared the mon within an inch of his life. He confessed everything. Yer captive supplied arsenic to Oona, who told tales to her daughters aboot Magnus Óg forcing Louisa and abusing her. The lasses thought they were righting a wrong.”
“But why did Caleb get involved in the first place?” Saoirse asked.
