Alex’s jaw clenched instantly. Just because he refused to let her go dinna mean he wanted her for himself. “I doona need ye to play matchmaker for me.” He shook his head at Mathe. “In order to right the dishonor she brought on this clan, Keely must be married to a MacKay. A man up to the challenge of bedding the wench.” Alex turned his attention on young Jamie. “One with plenty of experience where women are concerned. One who can guarantee Keely won’t want to escape their bedchamber.”
The council members chuckled, except for Jamie.
“My brother, God keep him, was not the sort to cavort with women out of wedlock. His inexperience dinna help where Keely was concerned. She’s a spirited lass.”Spirited. Passionate. Beautiful. And a damned liar.
“God bless, Laird John.” Mathe crossed himself, his sadness palpable.
“Aye.” Jamie crossed himself, too.
“Before I had a chance to suggest what man I thought should be the next laird, ye elected me.”
“Yer dissention doesna matter, Laird Alex. Ye canna undo what has already been decided. And we’ve all taken the knee—pledging our allegiance to ye.”
Alex’s gaze slowly crept over the four men at the table. Each nodded in agreeance. Curse his misfortune. But, there was another solution, one that crossed his mind out of desperation. His family’s branch of the MacKays was one of several independent clans. If the council voted to dissolve their branch and joined forces with the main clan, the Sutherlands wouldn’t be so quick to attack again.
Or, as laird, he alone could make that choice. But something so underhanded would count as the ultimate betrayal. As much as he dinna want to be laird, he would never deceive his kinsmen. “There is another choice.”
Mathe studied him suspiciously, and Jamie just gaped at him.
“What are ye suggesting?” Mathe queried.
“Join forces with a larger branch of the MacKays.”
The room grew silent, and Alex knew the answer—they wouldn’t do it.
“Yer sire would be ashamed of ye!” Mathe chastised him. “Give up our lands, our independence? For what? To become the chattel of a stranger?”
His brother had said something similar when they’d met on the beach. “I could negotiate the terms, assure that ye and the other captains retain yer positions and wealth.”
“Cuimhnich air na daoine às an tàinig u.” Mathe shook his head in disgust.
Alex remembered well enough who he came from and dinna need the captain to tell him so. “I am my sire’s son, make no mistake, Mathe. But I am a man without roots—and in good conscience, canna claim what rightfully belongs to another.”
Mathe cast his gaze downward, his expression one of deep disappointment.
Diplomacy wasn’t a gift Alex possessed. He always spoke bluntly, preferring truth over softening the blow of what he had to say. “If ye willna join forces with another clan, then elect Jamie as the new laird.”
“Jamie, Graham, and Dag, will ye give me time alone with Alexander?” Mathe asked.
The council members dinna need any encouragement to take their leave. One by one, they exited the solar, avoiding Alex. Once the door closed, Mathe turned to Alex.
“I dinna know what happened to ye during yer travels. Maybe ye’ve shed too much blood, killed too many men and fooked too many women to know the difference between right or wrong. But I will tell ye now, whether ye wish to hear it or not, if ye abandon us again, it will destroy any hope yer people have for a secure future.”
Alex walked to the closest wall and rested his forehead against the rough, gray stones. “My father loved ye.”
“Aye,” Mathe said. “And he loved ye—more than ye know.”
Alex grunted in doubt. “My sire dinna know me.”
“Ye’re wrong, Alex. The day he realized ye weren’t coming back, it broke his heart. And John’s, too.”
His last claim made Alex whip around. “Doona lie to me.”
“Lie?” Mathe stood up and walked around the table. “Gaze upon these ancient stones, lad. Imagine how many generations of MacKays have stood in this same chamber revealing secrets unknown to the clan. If these stones could talk, what do ye think they’d say?”
Alex ran his fingers over the wall, in awe of the men who had cut the rocks so perfectly, then fit them together to form the great keep that had provided shelter for his family for seven generations. “I doona ken.”
“Clean the sand from yer ears, boy, and listen to me. See with yer heart, not yer eyes alone. Ye fear the unknown, nothing more. If ye truly wanted to go, ye would have never raised the sword in defense of our clan against the Sutherlands. And that woman—Keely Oliphant—she wouldna be here, either. Ye’re afraid of what the future holds—yet willing to hold on to the past.”
