“Because Da saved him? No one told him why?”
“Perhaps. I didna find out anything about that.”
Mariota thought back to what she’d overheard her father mutter in his sleep. “Is there any chance he could be my da’s bastard son?”
“I dinna believe so, but whether he is or nay, perhaps he thought he was, and it shaped him, made him boastful. Even convinced him he would replace ye in yer da’s affections and become his heir. ”
Mariota snorted at that. She tried to summon some sympathy for the young Alber Seamus’ tale made her picture. But she couldn’t. “He was old enough when it all happened, he should remember his parents. And he has had plenty of time and support in MacKay to get over any childish notions he might have imagined.”
Seamus shrugged. “I would say he never did.”
Mariota nodded. “I would, as well.”
Two days later,the MacKay had recovered enough to resume desk work in his solar. After spending time with him going over what she’d done while he was resting, Mariota judged him wellenough to confront him. She wanted to hear his explanation for what he said while injured and under the healer’s sleeping potion. She told Stellan where she was going and let him escort her to the solar, but refused him entry. She needed to have this out with her father in private. No Stellan, no James, no Seamus. No one but the two of them.
Initially, he reacted much as she expected, with his usual denials and demands to keep out of anything to do with Alber. But perhaps he was weaker than she’d judged, because before long, he gave in.
He leaned his elbows on the table where they sat. “Ye want to ken why Alber is still at MacKay? Because I made a promise to his poor mother. His father was a friend. I cared about his family.” At her frown, he added, “Nay, no’ like that. I loved yer mother.” He sighed and sat back. “Alber is nay my son. If he were, I wouldha claimed him years ago.”
Her belly tightened. Of course he would have claimed amaleheir. She pressed her lips together and let him talk.
“His village was burned on a day I was supposed to be there but didna go. His father and most of the men in the village were killed trying to put out the fire. At the time, I thought their deaths were my fault because I was often seen there, and believed someone had tried to kill me— to eliminate the MacKay heir. We never found out who did it. It could have been accidental, but as fast as it spread?” he said and shrugged. “Nay. I’ve carried guilt over those deaths ever since. His mother couldna care for her young son, and begged me to take him with me. To care for him and see that he grew up to be a man. I couldna refuse her and leave the lad to his fate in a ruined village.”
It was a sad story, but it didn’t explain why he allowed the grown-up Alber to threaten her. “Da, some in the clan thinkhe believes that he is yer bastard, and that belief is behind his arrogance, and his resentment of me. Partly, at least.”
“Why partly?”
“Because years ago, he tried to accost me. I did what Cook taught me and disabled him.”
MacKay winced, then gestured for her to continue.
“He’s never forgiven or forgotten that I bested him. Worse, that I have had to do so twice more lately. The first time with Valkyrie’s help.”
Her father shook his head. “’Tis worse than I kenned.”
That made her hackles rise. “Ye did ken. Or ye wouldha had ye listened to what I told ye again and again.” She pushed back from the table and stood. “I canna believe ye continue to honor a promise made to protect a young lad until well past the age when ye shouldha forced that lad to grow up. Or forced him back to where he came from. ’Tis yer fault Alber is the way he is.”
“Hold yer tongue, daughter. Ye may no’ speak to me that way.”
“Nay? Someone must. Ye have ignored the danger to me and excused the source of that danger again and again. Who else will he harm before ye see who he really is? Must I lie before ye, ruined and forced to wed with him so he can take over our clan— or even dead once there’s a son he can act as regent for —before ye believe me?”
“He will do naught. I will see to it.”
She’d heard that before. “Ye owe me yer oath. What will ye do about him?”
His silence lasted long enough that Mariota didn’t know if he was thinking or fighting to control the fury she had aroused in him. He looked away from her and drummed his fingers on the table top. Then his mouth pressed into a thin line. “I dinna ken, but I will deal with him,” he promised.
“Send him away,” she insisted. “He deserves to be banished or worse. I tell ye again, he tried to ruin me. He tried to crush my skull, then flattened his palm on my face to smother me. He nearly killed a valuable hunting hawk. The other lasses avoid him. He’s hazarded more than ye will ever want to hear.”
He closed his eyes as if trying to unsee the images she painted with her words.“I will consider it, lass.” Then he met her gaze and frowned. “Ye have yer friends here. Keep them close by for now. The Sutherlands, too, I suppose. Though I think they’ve overstayed their welcome. They should leave soon. Their presence says MacKay guards are no’ enough to protect ye.”
Mariota’s heart clenched at the thought of Stellan leaving her behind. “They havena been. And later? Ye are right that the Sutherlands canna remain forever. Neither can Alber, Da. If ye canna deal with him, I will have to. He will force me to.”
While Mariota metwith her father, Stellan called his men together in his chamber.
“We dinna have much time. Mariota is with her da, and I dinna expect that discussion to last long. Ye need to ken our time here is no’ unlimited. We may leave soon, either by being asked to depart, or by summons from Sutherland. Either way, be ready to go.”
Their reaction was exactly what he expected. They didn’t want to leave until they knew Mariota would be safe from Alber, and that things at MacKay were stable.
