Fiona agreed with him. Averting her gaze, for she couldn’t bear to look at Ailean now, she hurried on and skirted around where Rowan still stood watching.
He cast her a vindictive smile as she passed.
Picking up her skirts, Fiona fled.
Standing in the chieftain’s solar, back to the window, Ailean felt caged.
His father blocked the route to the door, and to make matters worse, he had called both Kylie and Lyle in to listen to what followed.
Ailean’s pulse thudded in his ears.
His father cared much for propriety. He hadn’t wanted to have it out with him in the barmkin, but now, within the sheltering walls of this chamber, he would.
Anger vibrated off the laird.
It wasn’t just the way his fern-green eyes darkened, or how his jaw bunched. It was the coldness in his gaze that warned Ailean this wasn’t going to be pretty.
His stepmother and brother stood silently by the hearth, rumpled and weary-eyed, dragged from their beds and informed of the situation. Neither had ventured an opinion.
They didn’t need to.
It was written all over their faces.
The disappointment in Kylie’s eyes. The disbelief on his brother’s face, as if he struggled to accept his elder brother would do something so stupid.
Ye don’t know me at all then, do ye?Ailean thought bitterly.
“Ye went too far tonight, Ailean.” Rae folded his muscular arms across his chest. “This is one transgression I won’t suffer.”
Ailean made a sound in the back of his throat. “God’s troth. I didn’t kill anyone. We just—”
“No.” Rae cut him off sharply. “Ye don’t understand, do ye? Sometimes I think ye have nothing of worth between yer ears.”
It was hard not to flinch.
But the laird wasn’t finished.
“It’s not just the fact that ye’ve been with a servant under my roof after ye were expressly forbidden to,” he plowed on. “It’s the final straw. Ever since ye returned from the mainland, it’s as if ye’re too good for us. Too good forthis.” He waved a hand around, encompassing the surrounding castle. “Ye chafe against a fate most men can only dream of. Ye appreciate nothing. How did I spawn someone so ungrateful?”
He ignored the way Kylie lifted a hand to caution him.
“It’s as if everything about the role ye’ll one day inherit bores ye. I can barely hold yer attention when we deal with tenants, when we work the accounts or settle disputes.”
Ailean stared back at him, struck speechless.
His father had never spoken to him like this.
“But enough,” Rae growled, splintering the brittle silence. “From this moment on, ye will no longer inherit the title of chieftain. Instead, that honor will pass to yer brother.”
The words hung there.
Ailean jolted.
“Those are harsh words, Da,” Lyle cut in. “Ye don’t mean them.”
“I do … and I’m not taking them back.” Rae’s gaze locked with Ailean’s. “Tonight, ye forfeited yer birthright. Ye’ve shown me ye’re not worthy of it.”
Kylie rushed forward, grasping her husband’s arm. “Rae … what are ye saying? Ailean is yer son.”
