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He was rewarded with the exact response he’d expected.

“Do you aim to start a war, then?”

Aidan navigated an overgrowth of fireweed as he considered how to answer the man. As young men, both he and Graeme had been terrified of the clan chief, their father’s closest friend, even though they’d known him since childhood. As a grown man and warrior, Aidan would like to think he was less intimidated by the man, but the truth was, the king had made an excellent choice when he’d chosen Douglas as Lord Warden.

“Nay, not apurpose.”

He did look at Douglas then. “When she appealed to Lawrence and me to help her escape her father—”

“The man who holds full jurisdiction over her—”

“Held. She is now under the protection of Clan Scott.”

Douglas would kill him yet.

“At the time, the annulment had not yet been granted. I planned to leave her at Sutworth, where the lady could appeal to Dunburg Abbey—”

“A nun?” he growled. “She cannot—”

“She has the gold necessary,” he said, but before Douglas could respond, he added, “but Dunburg lost their benefactor. And so she had nowhere to go—”

“With the exception of Theffield Castle?”

Douglas was angry, and Aidan didn’t blame him. The situation was less than ideal for any of them.

“Her father is a traitorous bastard who—”

“Is her father.”

Aidan had no choice now. He took a deep breath, slowed his mount to a stop, and waited for Douglas to do the same. As the men behind them followed suit, Aidan attempted to keep himself as steady as possible so Douglas could look him in the eye and understand his position.

“And I will be her husband.”

The decision was made. Had been made well before today. Clarissa might be willing to sacrifice herself for a perceived greater good, but he refused to let her. He would not abandon the woman he loved. Ever again.

“Goddammit, de Sowlis. Do you understand what you’ve done?”

“Aye, sire. I understand it well. I’ve fallen in love with a woman who has endured shameful mistreatment from not one but two men who put their greed and selfish desires above her well-being. I understand that by doing so, I’ve put my family, my clan, and our allies in jeopardy. And were my father with us now—” he prayed his father was watching, and listening, because God knew Aidan needed every bit of support he could muster, “—he would curse me for a fool. But he would also honor the pledge I’ve made. A pledge my brother, the chief of our clan, has seconded.”

Aidan could not make his position clearer. Clan Scott would not waver in this. She was as good as one of them, if not yet in name.

“Where is she?”

Lawrence, who had ridden back to join them, spoke up. “With my family.”

He could have said she was at Bowden Castle. But he had not. Aidan tried not to smile at his friend’s choice of words, which had effectively declared Clan Karyn’s position on the matter.

Douglas looked between the men, his cheeks red, and then indicated they should keep moving. He didn’t speak for a time. And though doubt attempted to creep into his mind, Aidan stopped it. The decision had been made. Mayhap he’d been foolish, but his father had taught them another lesson, one he’d taken to heart.

Doubt was a poison that would eat away at you until none of your convictions remained.

“Theffield will kill you when he finds out what you’ve done,” Douglas said finally.

“He is welcome to try. As long as he does so after the new English warden has been chosen.”

Either way, the outcome would be decided soon enough.

Chapter 19