How many times had he proven his loyalty? Actions spoke louder than words, and Jamie had done nothing to form a new branch of the clan. “Aye.” Jamie bowed his head in reverence.
“Do ye wish to break away from this clan and form yer own branch of MacKays?”
“My father always wished it, and yer sire, my beloved uncle, promised that one day, after this keep had been completed, he would give my home back to us so my father could build his own clan.”
Alex rubbed his stubbled chin. “Ye speak truthfully. I remember hearing it.”
“Men often make promises they intend to break.”
“Not my sire, and not me.”
Jamie poured himself a serving of ale. “Ye shouldna have found out like this!” he shouted so Mathe would hear. “I’d like to know where Mathe heard this rumor.”
“Mathe is bedding one of yer maids.”
Jamie shot up from his chair, headed for Mathe. But Alex latched onto his tartan.
“Sit down.”
“Which maid?” Jamie demanded.
“Struanna,” Mathe said.
“The toothless wench from the kitchens?” Jamie asked, realizing Mathe had been the one hiding behind the curtains the night he had returned home and was talking with his captain. “What man in his right mind would bed her? She’s as old and haggard as the hills.”
Alex bellowed with laughter.
“She may nay be much to look at,” Mathe said. “But she will never stray, and she sews the finest tunics.”
Jamie shook his head. Everyone deserves a chance at happiness, including Mathe and Struanna. Knowing he couldna employ her anymore, he said, “Ye will marry the woman and bring her to live here.”
Mathe held up his hands. “I dinna say I wanted to marry her.”
“If ye can plow in her field,” Alex said. “Then ye will marry her.”
Jamie laughed into his ale. Finally, a way to get back at Mathe without lopping his bloody head off. Saddling him with Struanna as a wife pleased him very much.
“And what are ye so happy about?” Alex asked seriously. “Ye have disappointed me greatly, Cousin. And it will take much to repair the trust between us.”
“Ye canna hold my father’s aspirations against me. Ye acknowledged hearing about it.”
“Tis the way ye went about it that disturbs me. Secretly discussing it with yer men but not me. If I were any other laird…”
“Ye’d kill me?”
“I could, and no one would say anything against it.”
Jamie immediately stood and loosened his tunic collar, revealing his neck. “If ye think of me as a usurper, end my life now. I doona wish to live another day without yer trust and respect.”
Their gazes locked.
Jamie wasna merely testing his cousin’s resolve. He’d rather die than live outside Alex’s grace. He meant that much to Jamie. All of the clan did. He gazed about the great hall; so many memories had been built there. He’d learned to fight in the bailey, had his first kiss by the hearth across the chamber, gotten into his first fight at the lower tables, and was voted in as a council member… “Ye are my brother and laird, Alex.”
“Am I?” Alex waved him away. “Ye will await my thoughts on this matter.”
Chapter Nineteen
Aweek laterwhile Helen and Jamie were taking a walk by the loch, Petro and Miran with them, a maid from the kitchens arrived out of breath.
