“No.” Aidan shook his head. “I would not expect ye to stand by and watch him be sentenced to death.”
Lachlann cleared his throat with some difficulty.
“Death?” Niall’s eyes flared with indignation, his chest heaving. He jumped to his feet. “What law is this that would condemn a man in a fair fight, or an accident as Lachlann has said, to death?”
“’Tis our code. Ye have been here among us. Why would we follow a different law? We will not.”
Niall was flustered. “We appreciate all ye’ve done for us, accepting us in and sharing with us what ye have.”
Aidan nodded.
“But we are not part of yer tribe. Visitors only. Andwehave verra few laws that would put a man to death.”
“As do we,” Aidan said. “Murdering a man from the line of kings is such a law.”
Lachlann’s chest tightened with pain.
Silence fell over the group. Ethne’s face had lost all color.
Niall tapped his fingers against his thigh. A sure sign of his mounting irritation. “Allow us to take Lachlann to the castle. Let us speak to the sheriff there.”
“The castle is notourlaw and well ye know it.” Aidan had spoken in a calm voice, and when he turned away, Lachlann didn’t miss the tip of Niall’s head.
Stand ready.
Aidan continued. “If we find Lachlann intended to kill Uradech, my sentence will be final. If I find him innocent, he will be allowed to leave. I would not want to put ye in a position that could lead to even more deaths. It is better if we hold him. He will be kept comfortable. Ye needn’t worry about him.”
A clear threat. Aldred shifted back toward the man closest to him, readying for an attack.
“Please!” Lachlann spoke to Niall and Aldred, although his eyes remained on Aidan. “I accept yer decision, and I believe my friends will as well.”
Aldred’s nostrils flared, his face tight as he shot daggers directly at Lachlann. They were not happy with this show of chivalry, but he continued.
“I regret Uradech’s death, and I believe the truth will bear me out.”
Thomas came beside him, a heavy, iron chain draped over his large hands and hanging to the ground. Lachlann held his breath, but didn’t resist when the man secured his wrists behind him before shoving him toward the entry.
“Is that really necessary?” Niall’s voice was tight with unleashed fury. “The man has just given his word that he’ll abide by yer laws, Aidan. Can ye not show him compassion?”
When Thomas yanked the chain, Lachlann pulled up short. Aldred made a sound of outrage behind them.
“This is the way of our tribe.” Aidan indicated Thomas should continue. “And do not try to follow. We will keep him separate until after Uradech’s burial ceremony.”
The sun seemed brighter than usual as Lachlann was directed by way of shoving to a narrow clearing on the hill above the caves. Apparently, being a prisoner meant he could no longer be spoken to like a man; they would treat him instead like an animal.
Once they traveled up the brae, Thomas jerked him around to remove the restraints. Lachlann struggled to ease his mounting fear and gazed out at the beautiful sea, white with foam and breaking waves. The salty scent was fresh, stirring a memory from his childhood that he couldn’t quite pin down. He rarely thought about his life before he’d been brought into Garnait’s clan, before he’d been accepted into a family of eight children. He remembered so little of that time.
“Inside.” Thomas barked the order and pointed to a hole in the ground.
Peering inside, Lachlann could make out little. He turned a questioning glance to the man.
Thomas indicated the opening with an angry gesture. The hole was barely large enough for a small man to go through. “Down ye go.”
“Down?”
The man heaved an angry sigh. “Inside. ’Tis a pit, man.”
The word alone sent waves of revulsion over Lachlann. Dark. Damp. Dank. Overrun with spiders and other creepy things. But he squared his shoulders. Raised his chin. “How do I get inside?”
