Her hand cupped his jaw. “Promise?”
He squeezed her backside as she gave a gasp. Delicious! “Cluaran, nothing shall halt me from you.” She lifted up on her toes, caressing her breath and emotion and soul against his lips.
***
Keirah darted her gaze at the waning peat bricks in the hearth. How many hours had the discussions carried on for? Discussion – really? Naw, the only item missing in the solar was a raging thumbscrew. Dark looks with challenging words with tenseatmosphere with angry demeanor ran paramount. Ugh! She looked again toward the hearth; the popping and blazing fire was more at ease than the feeling inside this solar. Even the air was stifling with fumes from male perspiration and peat smoke.
None of this swayed her lord king; the chaos only seemed to sharpen his determination like a sword’s blade after grinding upon a whetstone.Look at him rally!Could anyone see Alexander was a master at the art of being the highest sovereign? Aye. He was stern when needed, giving as required to adhere with the plan to postpone, but he was focused above all else. Stunning! It was as if her eyes could almost see the weight from his father’s ambitions of reclaiming the isles pressing down upon the young king this moment.
King Alexander leaned forward on his throne. “Nae, King Håkonsson must be told of the offer.”Aye, stand the ground, lord king!
“He will not agree, lord king; you have asked before in regards to Bute, Arran, and the Cumbraes. Our lord king willnotrelease these lands unto you, no matter the amount offered in this missive,” Henry of Orkney countered.
The King of Scots leaned farther, his eyes flashing. “You have yet to break the missive’s seal before your lord king; however, you dismiss the offer.” He leaned back to flip his palm in the air. “’Tis an insult!”Aye!
“The friars you sent were told these lands will not fall into Scottish hands,” Gilbert of Hamar chimed in.
“Not fall butreturninto Scottish hands!” the Lord Constable bellowed, his face plum.
Calm reigned as the king took the North’s delegation in his sights. “You shall give us the solar to converse a moment.” It was an ask in words but tone of an order.
Lord Kollungr turned to leave in the footfalls belonging to the bishops, but he never took his gaze from her till Sir James shut the door from the passageway. A shiver ran her spine. The ruse had held strong; he didn’t seem to suspect a shadow-glance by the chandelier’s fall. Yet, how much longer could she place a brave front which didn’t seep her bones completely?
Her attention snapped back toward the present. “Lady Keirah,” the king said, tersely, “your intent and focus shall remain at my side – not Lord Kollungr’s nor the grave test he unleashed upon this proceeding.”
The king raised his hand toward the Lord Constable, who stepped forth and tossed a rope onto the vast table located in the chamber’s center. Her eyes narrowed at the find as she and Aonghus approached.
“Your instincts were keen regarding a trap, Sir Aonghus, and your plan unfolded flawlessly,” the king stated sternly. “If one looks upon the tail of the rope present, it appears to have been partially severed in a fresh cut.”
Aonghus muttered furiously, “The weight and time unleashed the remaining tear.”
There; a blade had cut smoothly then the other thick portion unraveled, as her knight said. It was confirmed; Lord Kollungr would have let the wee lassie die for his own gain.Oh, Fálki, this was a new low even for you!
A bow took her skull. “My lord king, please forgive my moment cast by distraction. It shall not happen once more.”
“Lord Kollungr makes a mockery of these proceedings. My lady, please do not plea for forgiveness; your attention is all I seek,” the king clarified. “You have been at King Håkonsson’s side; your grasp in what he will release is deemed of great importance to me.”
“Aye.” She fortified her tone. “My lord king, the Clyde islands belonging to Bute, Arran, and Cumbraes are of fierce merit to Scotland…”
The one with his fingers upon the treasury’s purse strings interrupted: “Aye.” The Lord Chamberlain smoothed a linen over his shiny scalp nervously. “The trade routes are in King Håkonsson’s sights.”
“For certain,” she agreed, “’tis these isles King Håkonsson will never agree to release.”
“Then there is also the stronghold of Tarbert adjacent,” Aonghus added, his features terse as his knuckles were blanched on the rope in his fist.
The Lord Constable stated gravely at her. “You, my dear lady, have already born witness to the lengths in which King Håkonsson will aspire to control Bute, with Rudri and Sturan conquering Rothesay Castle.”
The elder nobleman didn’t know the shame she carried. She lowered her eyes when the faces of those killed before her flashed in her mind, alongside Lord Kollungr’s grotesque grin when the order to execute had been given. “Aye,” was her solemn reply.
The king took the helm, declaring as she raised her eyes, “We do not need him to release these isles – only delay. Or have all present forgotten the purpose for which we are forced to listen to this piss called a discussion?” He thrust his hand toward the shut door where the delegations waited outside. “Lady Keirah, is there a glimmer you may cast regarding when the storm’s timing shall come to pass?”
A deep breath filled her chest, fearfully. “When the clouds shadowed over the moon in a force greater than ever witnessedbefore, the moon, ’twas full,” she answered. Her shoulders lowered more.
“A full moon is two dawns away and will last three eves.” The Lord Constable raised his bushy brows, appearing hopeful.
“Aye,” the Lord Chamberlain concurred and added sourly, “However, forthwith it may very well be a moon in the next cycle,notthis to come.”Forever Sir Sunshine of the chamber.
“Hell, William,” Lord Constable cussed the greedy Scot, casting aside formalities in his frustration, “how does youth make one so dreary?”
