There was an uproar of noise and commotion as his clansmen expressed their shock and horror, their disgust and fury. The betrayal of the Crown was something that did not go unnoticed or unanswered in a Scotsman’s heart. They were a proud people, built on the strength of their fortitude and respect of their own people.
Kieran waited as long as his patience would allow for before he continued.
“I ken this is terrible news. The Lord Stone came tae see me today, as I am sure many o’ ye ken. He is a cruel man – he holds no compassion in his heart, only hatred and an evil mind.”
“An’ what is that tae us?” someone else called out from Kieran’s left.
“Aye, I heard ye slept with the man’s wife,” another cried out. Kieran clenched his jaw; there was one thing he despised, and that was someone with something to say who remained hidden while they said it.
He counted to ten in his head, waiting for his heartbeat to slow down and his fury to calm down before finally saying something.
“Aye, yer right. I have shared a bed with the Lady Vivien Stone. But if ye give her half a chance, ye will see that she has only our best interests at heart.”
“How can that possibly be true?” someone called out, interrupting Kieran. His blood was beginning to boil with suppressed rage – he was not there to be interrogated as the Laird of his clan. He was there to seek the help of his men, to end the English threat once and for all.
“My choices are my own when it comes tae that,” he said, narrowing his eyes as he looked around the hall, “Now I ken that yer all unhappy with certain occurrences, but I can promise ye, all the Lady has done is warn us and try tae protect us. She is the one who warned me abou’ the attack on the granary.”
Kieran paused as many of his clansmen gasped in their shock and disbelief.
“She is the reason we managed tae save our food an’ fight off the English without engaging in a full-on battle. For that, I myself am indebted tae her for life. Regardless o’ what ye all might think o’ me, the Lady has naething tae dae with the things the Lord Stone has thrown upon us.”
“Why did ye never tell us this?” a warrior close to the dais asked, not bothering to hide among his fellows.
Kieran nodded his thanks to the man for being willing to show himself before replying. “I didnae mention it as I kent that many o’ ye would not have accepted this as the truth. But I stand ‘afore ye now, telling ye the truth at last, so that ye can mak’ up yer own minds on what ye wish tae dae.”
“The Lady has done much more for us than she has ever done for Lord Stone. She wishes only tae protect us from his cruelty, an’ I believe she hopes tae join us.”
“She’s a married woman, Laird. How can she join us when her husband lives?” another man questioned Kieran, standing up to make himself better heard.
Kieran sighed inwards; this was more painful than he had imagined it would be. The last thing he needed was to be interrogated by his men about Vivien when she was not the problem at hand.
“We will deal with that as best we can; it isnae the priority right now.”
“Then what is?” the same man asked, still standing up.
“I need ye all – all my men – tae stand with me while we teach this Englishmen a final lesson, an’ chase him off our land at the same time. He threatens tae occupy our land, tae enslave us. An’ for that we cannae stand; we cannae ignore the threat an’ stand by idly while he takes our land, our homes, our women an’ children tae dae with as he wishes. Aye?”
Kieran looked from one man’s eyes to the next to the next, doing his best to meet as many of them as he possibly could.
Very few of his men turned their gazes away from his as his eyes sought out theirs.
It was a good sign, he noted to himself.
“Aye,” many of his men agreed in a chorus, nodding their heads emphatically as they stamped their fists on the tables and their feet on the ground.
“We are not the same as the English,” Kieran said, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of thunder rumbling throughout the hall, “We are born o’ a different breed. We ken what it is tae feel passion, compassion, understanding, an’ most importantly, tae care abou’ our clansmen. Dae we not?” Kieran raised his voice as loudly as he could at the end, without shouting or screaming at his men.
A resounding chorus of agreement met him, with the intensifying of fists and feet pounding on the surfaces around him. The thunderclap of his men rallying to his call rolled around the hall; it was a satisfying sound, one that Kieran had feared he would never hear again.
“We are Highlanders,” he cried out, smiling broadly, “We dinnae cower ‘afore the English – we dinnae bow tae their rules. We mak’ our own, an’ we protect what is ours. It is time tae kick them off our land.”
Kieran’s men shouted their agreement – at last agreeing with their Laird, and in his mind, realizing what was worth fighting for and what was not. He was their Laird, he always would be; that position of power and honor ran through his veins, just as surely as his blood did.
* * *
Under Kieran’s watchful eye, his men attacked Stone Castle that very night.
Thunderclouds had rolled in throughout the early evening, blocking out the moon and any additional light it might have provided to the Englishmen.
