His father dismissed the clerk and put his hand up for Patrick to be silent until the man closed the door behind him.
“Did ye hear?” Patrick asked him, containing his rage with an effort. “While we were in Edinburgh, the Humes stole two hundred of our cattle.”
“Of course I know,” his father said, giving him an icy stare.
“The Beast stole them from the fields within shouting distance of the castle,” Patrick snapped. “He’s made a laughingstock of us.”
“If he hopes to taunt me into doing something foolish, he’ll not succeed,” his father said in an irritatingly calm tone. “We’ll get the better of him in the end, you’ll see.”
“How long must we wait?” Patrick said leaning across the table. “Surely, you’ll agree that we must exact retribution.”
“Oh, aye, we’ll crush this young Wedderburn,” his father said. “But we cannot do it alone. He’s gained too much strength. We must have either the Douglases or the Crown’s forces on our side.”
“I want him dead now.”
His father came around the table and put his arm around Patrick, making him want to vomit.
“You’re to do nothing, ye hear me?” his father said. “I’m laird, and we’ll do this my way.”
His father’s way led to one humiliation after another. David was so frustrated he wanted to throw his father bodily across the room. Instead, he gritted his teeth and reminded himself that the old man would not live forever.
When his father dismissed him, he stomped up the stairs to his own chamber, where he had a woman waiting for him.
“Come here,” he told the woman.
She had dark hair and blue eyes, as they all did. He shoved her to her knees.
How many times had Alison been forced to submit to Wedderburn already? The thought tormented him. Patrick could forgive her if Wedderburn did force her, but the idea that she might give herself willingly had taken hold of his imagination.
Perhaps the Beast had been her secret lover even before he took the castle. Patrick shook his head. Nay, the Blackadder warriors who had been there all said that Alison refused to surrender even when the food ran out. Wedderburn had to break down the gates to get in.
She was loyal to Patrick.
He fisted his hands in the woman’s dark hair to hold her as she sucked his cock and tried to imagine she was Alison. It made him furious when he could not.
“Not like that, ye fool,” he said and hit her when she released him.
She was a poor substitute. They all were. Alison would know just what he wanted.
“Get out before I slice your throat.”
The woman was weeping and slow to gather her clothes. He could not stand the sight of her another moment and shoved her out his bedchamber naked with his boot at her back. The only lass who could truly satisfy him was Alison.
Patrick would have his vengeance on Wedderburn for stealing what belonged to him—Alison, the castle, and the Blackadder lands. He would be watching for Wedderburn to make a mistake. One day soon, he would make the Beast suffer for what he’d done.
CHAPTER 16
When Alison returned to the Tower Room, she found Will and the girls attempting to teach the puppy Jasper to roll over with comic results. The children’s fits of giggles made her worries recede.
“Time for Beatrix and Margaret to go to sleep,” she told Will.
He sniffed loudly as she kissed his cheek, then reported, “Ye have a good smell.”
“Goodnight, Will,” she said, stifling a laugh. She was quickly growing very fond of both of David’s brothers.
“I’ll send Flora up,” Will said as he left.
“Ask one of the maids to come as well,” Alison called after him. “My fire is nearly out.”
