The Chieftain - By Margaret Mallory Page 0,107

right?"

"Aye," Lachlan said.

"Good," Alex said with a smile that did not reach his cold, green eyes. "Because I'll skin ye alive if you've harmed her."

* * *

With a mix of relief and anguish, Connor watched the MacIain galleys - all six of them - sail toward the bay behind Ian and Duncan's boats. MacIain had arrived in time for the battle and met Connor's condition for the marriage alliance.

"Shame I asked my father-in-law to use his warriors to guard North Uist for me so I could bring more of our own men to this fight," Alex said as they waited on the shore for the galleys to come in. "If I'd known Ilysa wanted to marry him, I would have brought him along instead."

Connor ignored the taunt. He understood why Alex was angry - hell, he was angry with himself.

"Hope you're ready to fight," he greeted Duncan and Ian after their galleys were pulled onto the shore.

"How is my sister?" Duncan asked.

"She's away from the castle caring for a sick child," Connor said. This was not the time to tell Duncan that his sister did not intend to return to the castle - and it would never be a good time to tell him why. Duncan, I took your sister to bed, then condemned her for a traitor and attempted to hold her prisoner. She's a wee bit upset with me. If Alex was right and Ilysa was innocent, he had committed another great wrong against her.

"Have ye found Ilysa a husband yet?" Alex asked.

"Not yet," Connor said keeping his voice even. He wanted to strangle Alex for goading him in front of Duncan.

"Ach, you're slacking in your duty to her," Alex said. "But I suppose ye have been busy."

Ian raised an eyebrow and shot a look between him and Alex - and just like that, Connor could tell that Ian had guessed that something had happened between him and Ilysa. It was one thing to know each other so well that they could read each other's minds on the battlefield; this was quite another. Praise God Duncan had a blind spot when it came to his sister.

"Ach, no, why did MacIain bring a Campbell with him?" Connor asked when he caught sight of the boar-head crest of the Campbell clan on the sail of one of the galleys. Damn it. He had hoped to have the battle with the MacLeods concluded before the Crown's lieutenant learned of it.

"That's John Campbell in that galley," Ian said, referring to the Campbell chieftain's brother, who was also the Thane of Cawdor. "The other galleys are his as well."

"MacIain is no coming?" Connor asked.

"No," Ian said. "He's dead."
Chapter 41
Connor gripped his cup so tightly his knuckles were white as he listened to John Campbell tell how Alexander of Dunivaig had attacked and killed MacIain and MacIain's two oldest sons, who were his own wife's father and brothers. Twenty-some years of marriage and six children of shared blood had only masked, not erased, Alexander's drive for vengeance against his wife's clan. MacIain had finally been held to account for his treachery that resulted in the execution of three generations of Alexander's family - his grandfather, father, and brothers.

How could Alexander face his wife after killing her father and brothers? Connor recalled sitting at their table and observing what he thought was genuine affection between Alexander and his wife. Connor felt sorry for the poor woman. His own efforts to create a reliable alliance through marriage seemed futile. While such marriages sometimes succeeded in forging strong allegiances, just as often they ended in blood feuds.

"Can I call upon the friendship between our clans and ask ye to join our battle?" Connor asked John Campbell, though he knew it was pointless.

"That friendship is what will keep us from fighting on the side of the MacLeods," John said, raising his cup to Connor. "I do hope you're not too aggrieved that I came to retrieve MacIain's granddaughter."

The Campbells had moved with their usual stunning speed to take control of the MacIain's lands. Before the dead chieftain's body was in the grave, the Campbells claimed guardianship over his only surviving son, a boy of nine, whose mother was a Campbell. Connor doubted the son would ever gain control over MacIain lands. Similarly, John Campbell had been dispatched to collect Jane, whose marriage would be arranged to better suit Campbell interests.

"I regret giving up my bride, of course," Connor lied, as there was an advantage to letting the Campbells

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