Edna lifted her chin. “Aye, I know, but I have a right tae face mah accuser, and something tells me he’s in there.”
“Ye should run,” the guard said quickly. “I will pretend I never saw ye if ye run right now.”
That was the logical thing to do. She could take to the wild north of Scotland, find herself a place to lay low until Neacal forgot about wanting her as a decorative item in his keep, and perhaps the McGregor and McPearson clans could fight off the army he had put together.
Or she could end this all and hand herself over to him so that he would leave her family alone. Sometimes the need for survival outweighed the fear inside. But other times, she had a duty to protect her family.
“Aye, but I will see him nevertheless.”
The guard looked at her like she had grown two heads but eventually opened the gates, and Edna slipped inside, her eyes on the keep doors as the whispers started in a frenzy around her. Other clansmen moved out of her path as she walked directly into the keep, trembling inside.
Just as she thought, there was a crowd of people standing in the great hall, with what sounded like the McGregor laird and Neacal arguing over something.
“Ye cannae demand mah lairdship and expect me tae just hand it tae ye!” the elder laird stated, banging his fist on the table. “Ye have no right!”
“I have every right!” Neacal argued, his hands braced on the table. “Ye refuse tae pay me, refuse tae give me one of yers, so wot else am I supposed tae have for mah brother’s death?”
“Yer brother was an arsehole,” Erik replied, spitting at the laird’s feet. “We owe ye nothing!”
Neacal’s face mottled as Laird McGregor placed a restraining hand on Erik’s arm. “Surely there is something we can find that will compensate ye, Laird Belshes. I dinnae want bloodshed over something that is easily fixed.”
“Aye, easily fixed,” Neacal muttered. “So ye think mah brother’s blood is any different than yer own, Laird? Ye think that he was someone that could be killed and not be any need tae have him avenged?”
Despite the anger in his voice, Edna heard a touch of sadness and grief in Neacal’s tone. Though she refused to feel sorry for him or his brother, he was a man grieving just like she had been before Malcolm. She could understand what he was feeling.
But she hadn’t demanded any sort of compensation for James’s death, nor would she want to go to battle over it.
Stepping through the crowd, Edna finally found the edge. It was her father that saw her first, stark relief showing on his face as he hurried around the table and embraced her.
“Edna!” he breathed, hugging her tightly. “Lass, good God!”
The tears flowed then, and she buried her face in his shoulder, inhaling the scent she had known all her life. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, wetting his tunic.
“Nay,” he said softly. “’Tis fine. There is nothing for ye tae be sorry aboot. I’m just glad ye’re safe.”
“Edna?”
Edna released her father to see Finlay running through the crowd, nearly knocking Edna off her feet as she embraced her daughter.
“Ye gave us quite the scare!” she said, framing Edna’s face with her hands. “Are ye well? Have ye been hurt? Where have ye come from?”
“I’m fine,” Edna replied with a little laugh, grateful when her father threw his arm over her shoulders and pulled her to his strong side. “I’m fine.”
“Edna.”
The family looked up at Neacal, who had been watching the entire scene, and Edna pulled away from her parents to face him.
“Neacal,” she said in a soft voice, clearing her throat, “I’ve come tae settle this with ye.”
He cocked his head to the side, a slow smirk crossing his face. “Aye, ye are a smart lass then. Have ye heard my conditions?”
Edna nodded. “Mah hand or the funds.”
Neacal tapped one long finger against his chin. “Aye, but the conditions have changed. I want tae be laird after Laird McGregor dies. After all, I will be marrying one of their own.”
Edna glared at him. “Havenae ye done enough already?”
He took a step toward her, and Edna immediately felt her parents at her back, ready to fight the laird if need be. By the sheer number of guards from the Belshes she had seen, they wouldn’t stand a chance if they were to attack the laird. The clan would be decimated before nightfall, and many lives would be lost.
