“Not yet, but he will be,” Murdoch said.
She frowned at him and spoke with venom. “Isthatwhy you left us a year ago? Isthatwhy you and Father became estranged? I thought it was because of a woman.”
He glared at her in silence, and she knew she had her answer.
“Angus wants peace,” Gwendolen tried to explain, “as do I, and most members of our clan. It’s too great a risk to go to war with England. Too many will die. I am begging you, Murdoch. Let this go.”
Color rose to his cheeks. “I’ll never accept their tyranny. We must have our own parliament.”
“Then petition for it!” she shouted. “But do not drag us all into another violent and bloody battle that cannot be won!”
Heavy footsteps sounded in the doorway, and she was seized by the arms.“Get your bluidy hands off me!”she barked.
Onora stood up. “No, Slevyn! This is completely unnecessary. Murdoch, tell him to release her!”
Murdoch glanced uncertainly at Gwendolen, then at Onora. “I cannot,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt you, Gwen, but I need Kinloch. I already have an army assembled. They’re just waiting for me to open the gates.” He pointed at Slevyn, the foul-smelling brute who was dragging her to the door. “Take her to my father’s chamber and lock her in. Keep her quiet until this is over.”
“Untilwhatis over? Murdoch, what are you going to do?”
Slevyn grumbled and squeezed her around the waist. “We’re going to hang the great Lion, lassie, so that your brother can be laird.”
“But he’ll fight you to the death!” she cried. “He’llkillyou!”
“Nay, he will not,” Murdoch replied, “because he’s already been poisoned. All Slevyn has to do is haul him up to the rooftop and finish him off.”
“You poisoned him?” Her whole world seemed to be disintegrating in front of her eyes.
“Nay, lass,youdid.”
She fell weak in Slevyn’s grip, as a terrible realization flooded through her.
Her mother gave her an apologetic look. “It was in the wine, Gwendolen. Some kind of sleeping potion. We got it from Raonaid.”
Gwendolen pleaded with her brother. “Murdoch,please…” But Slevyn was already dragging her through the door. “He is my husband, and I love him.”
Her brother turned his back on her and spoke without feeling. “I am aware of that, Gwendolen, but I’m sure you’ll get over it.”
***
Angus woke to a pounding sensation inside his skull, like a hammer ringing on an anvil, and the foggy awareness that his arms were stretched over his head, and he was being dragged across a cold, hard floor. His wrists were bound—not that it mattered, for his body was unresponsive. He barely felt the scraping of his back across the stones, and he wasn’t quite sure if his heart or lungs were even working.
“Here is good.” It was a man’s voice.
The dragging stopped. Angus’s arms fell to the ground. Slowly becoming conscious of the fact that he had been taken prisoner, his eyes opened instantly.
Gwendolen.
Christ. Where was he?
He was outside. Looking up at the stars.
How long had he been unconscious? He turned his head slightly and discovered he was lying next to a stone wall.
He turned his head the other way. Feet… A man’s legs walking by his head…
The feet stopped moving. “Shite! He’s awake!”
“Relax, Slevyn. His hands are tied, and remember, you’re bigger than he is. Just put the rope around his neck.”
