Page 18 of Bride takes a Scot (Highland Vows & Vengeance #1)

A s dawn touched the horizon, mist grayed the sky. A new day sent night birds to their slumber, their songs lessening as the sky remained dismal. Declan assembled his men and rode out to meet with Robbie. Anse wasn’t pleased to be left behind, but Declan wanted assurance that his home was protected whilst he was gone. Hard rain pelted them on the trek to Campbell’s holding. It took overlong and they didn’t reach the fief until the next afternoon. The rain continued and had soaked them through, but none of his men complained. They too were impatient to gain answers.

At the gate, Declan told the guard that he was expected. Within moments, several Campbell guards came and lined the lane toward the keep. Declan took their show of force as a display of protection of their clan. If he were in Campbell’s position, he would probably have commanded his men to do the same.

At the castle, Declan dismounted and directed his men to await him there. “I do not need protection but stay vigilant,” he told them and handed the reins of his horse to Slone. Grumbles came from his clansmen, but they dismounted and moved away from the entrance. Declan took the steps to the keep and waited for the door to open.

A manservant nodded to him and opened the door wider. “Ye be welcome here, Laird MacKendrick,” the aged man said. “Laird Campbell is expecting you. He is in the great hall meeting with the commander.”

Declan found his way there and entered. The chamber was cozy, quiet, and dark. Campbell sat in a chair with an overstuffed cushion. He appeared relaxed and held a cup in his hand. As soon as Robbie saw him, he dismissed his commander, Micah.

He nodded to Micah as he passed; he’d known the man for years. Micah was as valuable to Robbie as a commander as Anse was to Declan. Laird Campbell had praised him often when he visited the keep before his marriage to Leona.

“Declan, I expected you sooner and thought you would be banging on my door long before now. Ye never were known for your patience, and I thought it strange ye had not come before now. Come, and we will discuss this troubling matter.”

He approached and stood beside a vacant chair, but then Robbie motioned to him to sit. Declan did so and his former brother-in-law reached for a cask of ale that sat on a table beside him. His dark hair fell over his shoulders as he poured himself a drink. Declan considered how much Robbie resembled his sister, Leona. They had the same color hair and eyes. He recognized the disparaging expression in Robbie’s eyes; it was the same off-putting look Leona’s eyes had held when she was annoyed. Now, Declan wondered if he’d caused Robbie’s annoyance or if it was his typical mien. Probably the latter because the Campbells were of a surly nature.

“Drink?”

Declan nodded. “Aye, I could use a drink.”

Robbie filled a cup and handed it to him. “My wife recently bore our first son. That is why I could not meet with ye sooner. I would not have kept ye waiting but she was having a difficult time delivering the bairn. Thankfully, both survived. It was close.”

Declan raised his cup. “That must have been a difficult time. A toast then, to your wife and son. My congratulations, Robbie.”

Robbie drank down a large gulp of ale from his cup. “Aye, it was a frightening situation there, but all is well now, and my son thrives.” He paused and appeared to be gathering his thoughts before he said, “I want ye to know that I never accused ye of murdering my da. When I heard the rumor of ye being the man who killed him, I disbelieved it right off.”

“I vow I did not kill your father.”

“But someone did. He was found near your border, hanging in a tree with cuts to his body. His blood was drained from him, and his heart torn from him. Who would do such a thing? Why would someone kill my father and then blame ye? It makes no sense. Who the hell have ye made an enemy of?”

Declan was just as perplexed and shrugged. “That he was so brutally murdered…sickens me, Robbie. I cared for your sister, you know that to be true. I tried to be a good husband to her, and father to our son, and I would never harm anyone in your family. Your da beheld a place of honor in my heart. I revered him as if he were my own da.”

“My da revered ye as well and never had a bad word to speak of ye. There has been talk…” Robbie sat forward and kept his gaze direct. “One of my soldiers came to me in private and told me that he overheard talk betwixt two of my men. They were offered prestigious positions by a man if they vacated the clan and joined his army.”

“So, this man is trying to pilfer your soldiers?”

“Aye, so it seems,” Robbie said and nodded. “My soldiers told the man they would think about it and would consider his request. Request, bah. He dangled enough incentives for my men to agree.”

“Who is the man?”

Robbie shrugged. “They had not seen him before or know who he is, or if they did, they would not say. Believe me, my men threatened them, but they kept his name to themselves.”

“Where are your traitors now? Have them brought here. I want to question them myself.” Declan set his cup down and scowled at his comrade.

“Ye cannot question them.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because they no longer exist. I will not have anyone who entertains abandoning my clan be amongst my soldiers. My men will be loyal, or they will answer to me. Och, before I could question them, the sentry who apprehended them was overzealous in their retaliation and dispatched them. The traitors no longer live.”

Declan grunted in agreement. There was no room for disloyalty amongst soldiers. “Damnation, if only we could have found out more information before they killed them.”

“I did find out more from the man who overheard them, and he confessed much before being done in. He was approached by a man who wore the MacKendrick tartan, someone from your clan. He spoke no name but said the man hoped the king had ye hung for murdering my da but that ye thwarted his plans when ye were pardoned.”

“Aye, Alexander released me from the dungeon and bade me to marry a lass from the border region. He gave other incentives too, for which I was grateful because now I can seek the knave who put me there.”

“I would caution ye because Alexander only seeks his gain, not yours.”

Declan grunted. “That is true, but I must profess I gained much by accepting his offer. What else did he say?”

“I heard your foe recently tried to do away with ye, but ye foiled his attack. That must’ve transpired before your knave approached my soldiers.”

Declan’s breath increased as rage heated him. “That had to be when I was attacked in the woods on my way home from when I first came to speak with ye.”

“Whoever the knave is knows ye survived, for he is still intent to overtake your clan. He told my men that when ye were dead, he would align our clans—the MacKendricks and the Campbells. That my clan would be easy to overtake once he had your men-at-arms on his side. He promised them prestigious positions within his army. My soldiers, the ones who were approached by the traitor, went missing without permission. I sent my seasoned sentry after them. The defectors confessed much before they killed them.”

Declan grunted again because Robbie was a force to be reckoned with. He supposed Robbie’s men would rather confess to the higher-ranking soldiers than confess to their laird. Nevertheless, they received their due with their execution.

“What I want to know is, who is your enemy? Ye have no suspicion of who it might be?” Robbie pressed his face as the aggravating conversation continued.

“I cannot think of any man within my clan that would be so traitorous. I have trusted men mingling with my clansmen. If anyone speaks of the deeds, they’ll find out.”

Robbie scoffed. “So that is none then? There are always one or two men who deem themselves better than their laird. Is there not someone whom ye suspect might want to usurp ye?”

Declan sat back and held his chin, thinking. Only one man occurred to him, but it was inconceivable. “There is my stepbrother, Silas. But honestly, I believe him to be too weak or feckless to come up with such a plan. And none of my soldiers would follow him because they are all loyal to me.”

“Ye think they are loyal, but are they? Still, I would not ignore your stepbrother. He could very well be playing ye for a fool and means to deceive ye. Why would your soldiers not follow him?” Robbie belched and reached to pour himself more ale.

“He demeans them. I recently reprimanded Silas for his treatment of my soldiers during training. Nay, it cannot be he who goes against me.”

“Well, comrade, someone means to overtake us. I have placed a few spies amongst my clansmen too in hopes of finding out if any others intend to follow this traitor. They’ll listen for any word of such an uprising.”

“I did the same, but so far, there has been no talk amongst my soldiers. We will not let this interloper try to overtake both our clans. I am certain this miscreant will make a mistake. I should leave ye to your wife and son.” Declan rose and was about to take his leave when Robbie stopped him.

“Do not go. Stay the night and journey in the morn. We will have a good supper and we can talk about Leona. I miss my sister and I was saddened to hear of her passing. Now that ye are here, ye can tell me what really happened.”

Declan retook his seat. “Aye, I will be gladdened to stay.”

“I know it has been years since her passing, but do ye deem this has anything to do with Leona’s death? It is strange that she would die from drowning,” Robbie said, “My sister was not careless.”

“I always thought her death odd but cannot see how this discord is related to her. Our son does well, though he is still affected by what happened that day. Something dreadful happened but nothing has ever come to light about it.”

Robbie poured more ale in his cup. “And tell me of my nephew, Noah. Is he of good health and grows well?”

Declan sighed at the woeful telling about his son. “Noah was a clever lad, but I fear he will not become the man I’d hoped he’d be. He cannot hear and hasn’t spoken a word since the day his mother died. I think something happened to him that day, but he’s been unable to tell me what. For three years, he’s lived in silence.”

“That’s dreadful, Declan, and I’m sorry to hear that. He saw her drown?”

“Aye, he was with her. I suspect he was in shock at what happened. I prayed he’d come out of it and speak, but so far that hasn’t happened.” He lifted his cup and drank down the ale, quenching his thirst and mollifying his thoughts.

Throughout the evening, Declan spoke of his relations with Leona, how she died, and how Noah was affected by what happened at the loch that day. The only person he had ever professed his deep sorrow to was Anse, but he let his emotions show when he spoke to Robbie about his sister. He confessed how pleased he was with the marriage that Alexander had arranged and told Robbie about his wife.

That dark time had passed but lighter days were ahead of him. How could they not be when he was married to such a woman as Isabella?