Kicking away his chair, he began a slow, measured tread around the room, walking behind each of the councilmen. It made them nervous. Shoulders hunched as he passed by, heads ducked down. Several men followed him uneasily with their eyes and fidgeted when he was out of their line of sight.
He kept pacing, feeling the tension in the room rise.
“The treachery comes from this very room, I’m afraid,” he continued, his voice even. “Somebody here has betrayed me. I shall give him a minute to step forward and confess, to die a brave man. So, are ye ready to confess?”
Silence fell again, this time tighter and thicker. The councilmen exchanged horrified looks, their eyes wide.
Evander bared his teeth in a grin. “Nay? Well, I didnae think so. That’s a pity, sure enough. I suppose I have kept ye in suspense long enough, eh?”
The same tense silence greeted him.
He stopped at an empty stretch of table and met the eyes of the councilman opposite.
“Andrew,” he whispered. “Why did ye do it?”
Hushed murmurs rose around the table. The councilmen glanced at each other, wide-eyed, trying to work out if it were true or if their Laird had taken leave of his senses.
Andrew did not flinch.
“I have no idea what ye are talking about, me Laird,” he responded calmly. “Are ye unwell?”
“Am I bloody unwell?” Evander hissed. “It’s no good, I ken what ye have done. Ye were the one who arranged for Lady Bryden to be taken. Ye blackmailed Mason Langton into doing it and tried to force him to keep silent. The only thing is, Andrew here told Mason to kill her. Now that was a step too far.”
Andrew blinked slowly, like a cat. “Me Laird, I must insist on me innocence. I have done nothing wrong.”
“Ye can deny it all ye like. I ken the truth.”
“Ye are taking the word of a treasonous fool over mine?” Andrew laughed, shaking his head. “A mistake, sir. A great mistake.”
Inhaling deeply, Evander leaned forward. “So, ye have never complained about me to anyone? No one else would ever have any suspicions about ye? If I dive deeper into yer life and what ye have been doing, will I find nothing wrong?”
Andrew stiffened, his eyes hardening. He rose to his feet, splaying a hand on the table.
“I wish to leave,” he whispered.
“How long have ye hated me, Andrew? What did I do? I daenae understand it. Ye were so loyal.”
Andrew bared his teeth, his face twisting up. “Aye, I was loyal to yer faither. Yer traitorous faither. I lost every penny I had because of him. He ruined our clan as surely as if he’d plundered us himself. Me family was killed in a MacCrimmon revenge raid since they believed we were a threat. And in the end, he was never punished as he should have been. Nevershamed.His son gave him the luxury of a private death in some filthy inn just north of the English border.”
“I dealt with him,” Evander breathed, anger fluttering inside his ribcage. “For all of us.”
“Ye gave him an out!” Andrew bellowed, his face reddening with rage. “No traitor’s spawn should lead, let alone marry and produce spawn of his own. Ye were always on borrowed time,Laird Bryden, and now it’s just run out. I would never have let ye have an heir. That woman had to go.”
“That woman?” Evander barked out an infuriated laugh. “Ye have got some nerve. What about the rest of ye, then?” He turned to face the rest of the councilmen. “Do ye all feel the same about Lady Bryden, the woman who brought peace to our clan? The treaty with Clan MacCrimmon will save us, and this man tried to endanger it. How do ye feel aboutthat woman?”
“The treaty is important, Andrew,” whispered one of the councilmen, a wide-eyed, balding fellow who looked older than he was. “Ye shouldnae have done this.”
Andrew’s gaze slid over the assembled men. He would see the same thing that Evander did—angry faces, shocked faces, and disgusted faces.
Something hardened in Andrew’s face. Evander saw it.
The older man smoothly turned his gaze back to Evander and raised his eyebrows. Their eyes met, anger and tension crackling between them.
“It looks as though ye are on yer own, Andrew,” Evander murmured. “For what it’s worth, I’ll give ye the same dignity that I gave me faither. A private death. No public execution, no body hanging from the wall. I’ll be fair.”
“Fair,” Andrew hissed. “I have no intention of dying here today, lad.”
In one smooth motion, his hand dropped to his hip, drawing a sword. Thesnickof the blade leaving its sheath echoed through the room.
