Chapter Sixteen
They reached thenext village—Cacalay—two days later, a snowstorm in their wake. Kai made sure the tents were secure and ordered his men to cover the horses with blankets and hobble them close together. After he inspected everything, he took Colin with him to find the leaders. But the people who inhabited the place were not welcoming, and all but shunned Kai.
“I doona like the feeling I get here,” Colin cautioned.
Kai agreed and patted the hilt of his sword, his weapon belt crowded with an array of weapons. “If anyone challenges us, I am ready.”
The village contained at least twenty cottages, a smithy, and a lodging house. As they walked by the lodge, men could be heard laughing and singing inside. Kai thought it the right place to find the elders he sought.
“Do ye wish me to wait here or to go with ye?”
“Come with me, but let me speak first.”
“Aye.”
Kai stepped inside, the smell of spirits and male sweat invading his senses. Sparsely furnished, there were three tables and several crudely made stools in the dim room. A dozen men and several women, dressed in little more than their shifts, gawked as soon as they saw him.
“A mhic Ifrinn,” a man said.O son of hell.
“I smell the blood of a heathen,” another scoffed, raising his drinking vessel to his mouth and swallowing whatever foul liquid they served there.
“What do ye want, stranger?” A bearded man pushed a woman off his lap and stood. “We doona like yer kind here.”
“My kind?’ Kai repeated.
“Aye. Ye wear the MacKay tartan but ye arena one. Unless the devil himself fooked yer mam and she spit ye out nine months later.”
Kai’s flesh prickled with hatred, for no one insulted his mother and stayed on his feet. Without thinking, he rushed the man, landing a brutal punch to his jaw. The man staggered and his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell hard to the earthen floor.
“Captain!” Colin yelled, pointing.
With little time to spare, Kai sidestepped just as a stool came crashing down. It shattered when it hit the floor.
Colin joined the fray, punching another challenger.
“Enough!” A voice boomed, and the men froze.
Colin straightened his shoulders, his sword in hand. “Tell me what to do.”
“Be ready,” Kai said.
“Ye’ve disrupted our celebration,” the obvious leader of the pack of worthless dogs said. “What purpose do ye have here?”
“I seek the company of the elders of this village,” Kai said. “I am Captain Kai MacKay, on official business for Laird Jamie MacKay.”
Laughter rose in the back of the room. “He’s no’ a laird, still in swaddling.”
“If you have anything to say, come forward and speak,” Kai challenged.
“There will be none of that. I am Igor, and these are my men, and this is my village. What do ye want?”
The idea of recruiting anyone from this throng of bastards made Kai’s stomach churn. None of them were worth the air they breathed. Nay, he would not extend a hand of peace in this place. “The storm forced us off course. We are camped a mile outside of the village. I need fresh bread.”
Igor stroked his beard. “What are MacKays doing so close to Sutherland land? Though I am not a vassal of the earl, I know he wouldna appreciate ye being here.”
“His daughter is my mistress.”
The man’s eyes rounded. “Tis that Jamie ye refer to, then.”
