Page 47

T he council had been summoned hastily, and now Duncan sat in his accustomed place as chieftain at the middle of the long table near the northern end of the great hall.

Kinnon had taken a position to his right, Callum, as clan elder, to his left, with another half dozen men serving to even out the group.

The hall itself was nearly full to the bursting with people from the castle and village, and yet a dead silence had descended over all.

There had been no other reaction possible after Nora had stood up moments ago and called out her accusation.

She’d insisted that Aileana MacDonell had committed blatant treachery against Duncan and the entire MacRae clan that very morning, using her newfound freedom as his betrothed to sneak away and meet with two accomplices before running off with the Ealach amulet.

Nora’s words had fallen like hammer blows on Duncan’s soul.

At first there had been an outburst of voices, with those who were more than ready to believe in a MacDonell’s treachery—even if the MacDonell in question was the chieftain’s chosen bride—arguing with those who felt they knew Aileana better.

But eventually all had fallen silent out of respect for Duncan.

Only he could decide what should be done next, not only as leader of the MacRaes, but as the betrothed of the accused.

And so the stunned silence stretched on, broken only by the crackling of the fire in the massive hearth along the wall.

There was one glaring problem, however: Duncan couldn’t bring himself to speak.

Not if his life depended on it. He felt numb, suffocating.

What Nora had said couldn’t be true. He knew it deep in his bones, but still he struggled with a shadow of doubt.

For as much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn’t pretend that there was no history to her accusations.

Aileana had wanted revenge on him and the MacRaes in the past. She’d considered betraying him only a few weeks ago.

And though he believed with every fiber of his being that they’d gotten past all that, today’s events had called it into question again—and it was that which played havoc with his ability to speak.

There was no overlooking that Aileana had not returned from the forest today.

Nora had offered up additional details as well that had made Duncan’s stomach churn: She claimed to have followed Aileana secretly, compelled by a feeling that the search for mandrake was a ruse to cover something more insidious.

Her suspicions had proven true, she declared, and she’d watched from a safe distance as Aileana had entered a glen somewhere between MacRae and MacDonell land.

There, Aileana had consorted with an unknown man and woman who had conversed with her at length—even seeming to laugh and jest with her—before she left the clearing with them on horseback.

The information had left Duncan feeling sick at heart.

An unknown man and woman had met with Aileana in a glen beyond Eilean Donan…

a man and woman working together for a devious purpose, God help him.

An innate sense of these strangers’ identities, impossible as it would seem, burned in Duncan’s chest, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask anything that would give him the confirmation he dreaded. Not yet.

“Do you believe that Aileana knew the people she met with in the glen, Nora?” Kinnon finally called out, sparing him the need to speak. Duncan threw him a grateful glance.

Nora nodded. “She talked with them and made no effort to run away. She followed them from the glen freely as well, allowing the man to lead her pony behind his.”

“And the Ealach seemed the purpose of their meeting, based on what you witnessed?” he continued.

“Aye.”

“Did you see the amulet with your own eyes, woman?” Kinnon pressed, exasperation clear in his voice. “These are serious charges you bring against the MacRae’s betrothed. Are you sure beyond a glimmer of doubt that what you’re saying is factual truth?”

“I saw the Ealach myself, there’s no mistake,” Nora returned hotly, raising her chin as she faced him.

“I’d never laid eyes on it before this day, having come to Eilean Donan little more than seven years ago, but I know its description as well as any in our clan.

Aileana MacDonell snuck away from here and then ran off with it—for though she didn’t carry the talisman in her own hands, the woman who rode out of the glen alongside her was wearing it around her neck, clear as water. ”

Duncan closed his eyes, then; nausea swelled in him, and he fisted his hand against the scarred surface of the wooden table as the buzz of angry voices rose again in the chamber.

The hum grew rapidly to shouting, with several from the crowd demanding that a raid be planned to make the guilty parties pay, others disputing that no one knew where to lead an attack, unless it were to Dulhmeny, the seat of all the traitorous MacDonells…

and still others urging restraint and calm, until more could be learned.

Kinnon stood up in an appeal to keep the discussion peaceful, and the rest of the council did their best as well to deal with the various arguments and cries of dissension coming at them from the floor.

Through the uproar, Duncan forced himself to open his eyes, look at Nora, and call out in a strong, clear voice, “What did she look like?”

Nora seemed confused for a moment, but the hubbub began to die down as people started to realize that their laird had spoken at long last.

Frowning, she faced him. “Aileana? I’d have thought you’d care little about how she was faring once you heard what I had to say. But if you must know, she looked the same as she always—”

“The second woman,” Duncan broke in, his words clipped and icy in the near silence that had blanketed the hall once more. “Describe her—and the man who was with her.”

“Oh.” Nora’s cheeks reddened and her expression looked more pinched than usual.

“Well, it was obvious that the other woman was of the MacDonells as well, which is one of the reasons I know Aileana played trai tor against us all today. The two women shared a marked likeness, with red hair and fair complexions; they even seemed similar in height, though the other one stood a bit taller than Aileana. The man with them may or may not have been of their clan. He was tall as well, and strong-looking, but his hair was tawny rather than red.”

“Is that all?” Duncan managed to ask past the sudden constriction in his throat and the pounding that had begun in his temples.

“Aye—no wait,” Nora corrected herself, frowning more deeply, and looking away as if to hone her recollection of the morning’s sights.

“The man with them…he had an eye patch and what looked to be a scar below it, though I can’t be sure of that part, since I was a fair distance away.

I was close enough to see the Ealach , though—and to watch Aileana ride off with it and her conspirators! ” she finished with a spiteful glare.

“Nay, not her,” Duncan answered huskily, pushing himself up to stand and face the people of his clan.

“Aileana MacDonell may have been in the glen, but she was not in possession of the Ealach . Her elder sister Morgana was. It was that cursed witch and my half brother, Colin MacRae, who took the amulet again. We thought them long dead, but it seems we were wrong. It can be no other than they, from your description.”

After a moment of stunned silence, chaos bloomed anew in the hall, with many people crossing themselves for fear of the dead returned, and others shouting for the overdue spilling of blood—whether it be Morgana’s and Colin’s, Aileana’s, or the MacDonell clan’s as a whole, it didn’t seem to matter.

The prayers and cries for vengeance blended into a cacophony of sound.

Everyone began to surge forward, many of the men offering themselves for positions on the raiding party while the coun cil rose and prepared to hear Duncan’s plans for retaliation.

As they readied to leave the hall for that purpose, Kinnon paused to glance at Duncan, his face ashen. “Do you really think it is Morgana and Colin, Duncan?” he murmured. “Still alive after all these years?”

“Much as I’d like to deny the possibility, it would seem so. You heard Nora. The two she described can be no others,” Duncan answered, his jaw tight as he turned away. But Kinnon placed a restraining hand on his arm, and Duncan swiveled the look at him again.

“And Aileana? Do you think, then, that she is—?”

Duncan shook his head. “I would wager my life against Aileana being involved in this willingly or betraying me, Kinnon, and yet…” He glanced away, his throat aching. “Well, it appears by Nora’s testimony that it could be otherwise.”

He swallowed, looking out over his people, most of whom were still clamoring with each other for retribution and the return of the Ealach .

“In truth,” Duncan continued hoarsely, “either possibility chills me to the bone. But regardless of which it is, I must ride out within the hour and try to track where they’ve gone, for I’ll not risk Aileana’s safety if Nora is wrong…

or allow Morgana and any who aid her to escape without retribution if she is right. ”

Kinnon nodded, his expression more serious than Duncan could ever remember having seen it. They clasped forearms to show their solidarity, before finally separating to stride from the hall to their individual preparations.

Duncan headed off to gather his war gear and send a message to Dulhmeny.

And as he went, he steeled himself for the upcoming battle.

He knew it would be far greater than any he had fought in his life.

For this would be a conflict undertaken on a field of sharp contrasts, with uncertainty and dark suspicion warring against blind, trusting love…