“Now ye instruct me on how to be laird?” MacKay’s face was red, and veins bulged at his temples.
Stellan began to worry that his father was pushing too hard, and that MacKay would stomp out of Dunrobin, forcibly removing Mariota with him as he went. They could not allow that. The danger to her was too great.
Mariota had been pleasedto see Seamus in the Sutherland great hall, though his back had been to her and he probably had beenunaware of her walking behind him. He was still seated by the hearth with three other MacKays when she descended the stairs from her chamber. Of the three, only he was not drinking. His gaze was on the short hallway to the laird’s solar, as though he wanted to be in there, not out here.
She diverted long enough to go to him. “Seamus, we must talk.”
He stood and nodded while he moved away from the other three men. “We must, but for now, ye are best served by joining yer father. I canna guess what he and the Sutherland might be discussing before ye arrive. Ye dinna want them making decisions for ye without a chance to influence them.”
“Nay, I dinna want that. But I couldna walk by without a word with ye.”
He gave her a tight smile. “I’m glad ye did. Now go defend yerself from the lairds.”
She laughed, more to reassure him than because anything about her situation was amusing. Still, speaking to her friend had made her feel ready to face whatever might happen in the next few minutes. She would talk to Seamus later— privately would be best, if she could manage it.
She passed Brìghde and Nan, both seated near the laird’s solar and gave them a brief smile. Nan grinned back, but Brìghde clenched a fist over her heart. Mariota understood and appreciated their support.
She entered the Sutherland’s solar and noted the tension in the room was already thick. “Da,” she said, but had no chance to say anything more.
Her father rounded on her, fury in his eyes, his face red and his fists clenched. “What were ye thinking? Sneaking out. Running so far away. To Sutherland! Those men could have killed ye or worse.”
So, after all the times she’d tried to make him see sense, they were going to have this out in front of the Sutherland laird. Her father had to be outraged, not to control himself while they were in company. “Really, Da? What is worse than Alber beating and choking me? Oh, and the rest he has threatened to do?” She stood her ground when he took a step toward her, then mirrored his move and took a step toward him. If he only respected strength, she’d show him strength. “How could ye bring him here? Do ye think I’ll be safe on the way home with him nearby? In the dark in the woods?”
Her words seem to give MacKay pause, but not for long.
“My men, any of them I want, go wherever I send them. Or bring them. Ye claim one of my best warriors has tried three times to hurt or kill ye. How are ye still alive?”
Mariota snorted a laugh. “Because he lied about Red Harlaw, Da. He’s a drunk best at currying yer favor, and ye believed him, as ye have believed every tale he ever spun for ye. If yer other men didna fear to tell ye the truth, ye’d ken before now.” MacKay’s fists clenching and unclenching with her every word signaled to her to give it a rest, at least for a few minutes. His face had turned bright red, and he looked close to doing something he would forever regret.
The Sutherland, thankfully, read the same signal. “I will have calm in my own solar, MacKay. I ken she’s yer daughter, but I willna have her harmed in my keep— by ye or anyone else.”
MacKay twisted to face him. “Who said she would be harmed?”
Sutherland continued as if the MacKay had not spoken. “I willna tolerate the presence of the man she accuses of threatening her to the point of running from her home. What was yer purpose in bringing him to collect her?”
MacKay continued to take offense. “’Tis my business and nay yers.”
“Very well, but he will remain outside my gates. Do not think to bring him in, no’ even for meals. If ye didna bring sufficient supplies, my men will take food out to yers.”
“Or we will leave— all of us,” her father added while glaring at her, “right now.”
Sutherland shifted his gaze to her, then back to her father. “Is that truly yer purpose here? Ye have proposed an alliance— twice —with me through a marriage between our clans. Do ye no’ wish to discuss that?”
Sutherland’s ability to keep his tone level and reasonable in the face of her father’s irritation impressed her. She hoped when her time came to lead— if it ever did —she would be able to control her emotional reactions to conflict such as this.
MacKay frowned, then reared back and shook his head. “I— nay. I have changed my mind, Ye are too close. I dinna want my lands annexed by another clan. All too easily done with a Sutherland married to the MacKay laird, and in the discord sown by the Domnhall and Albany.”
“Ye accuse me of plotting to steal MacKay? Ye are the one who proposed the alliance. Twice now, by my count. What value did ye think I would see in it?”
She heard irritation creep into Sutherland’s voice. She had no doubt her father heard it, too.
“Exactly as ye imagine, a stronger front against Domnhall and the Regent’s man Mar.”
“Who fight over Ross, no’ our land. With Gunn and Sinclair to our north, and Norsemen beyond that? They’ll nay interfere with us in our lifetime.” Sutherland snorted.
“Ye are no’ daft enough to believe that."
Mariota could see that Stellan wanted to intervene. He pursed his lips when Mariota met his gaze, trying with her expression to ask for his help. Clearly, he was considering what to do to stop this before the two lairds ruined relations betweentheir clans for generations to come. She thought Anders wanted to intervene, as well, but they had better sense than to interfere in a dispute between clan lairds. She couldn’t think what they could do to diffuse the situation.
