Shaking his head, Ciaran pinched the bridge of his nose and looked up at Patrick.
Patrick didn’t react one way or another, but Ciaran knew him well enough to know he was marveling over the idiocy too.
Och, but he felt as though he were talking to children. Ciaran shifted his weight and put one hand on his hip and dropped his hand from his face.
“None of us started this war, but we must finish it. The IN will nae stop. They took part of the MacLeans’ land—
“With the MacLeans’ permission,” Frasier cut in.
“Be that as it may, they willnae stop there. They will then start encroaching on our land, then the Campbells’. This will nae stop until we stop it.”
“Ciaran is right.” Patrick spoke for the first time. “They will not stop. This all started because they could not get your king to agree to an alliance. When he refused, they just took what they wanted by force.”
“Who are ye tae speak tae us? Ye are nae even a MacKay,” Gavin groused.
Raising a brow, Patrick released Stuart’s shoulder.
Gavin seemed to shrink in on himself. It would have been funny at any other time. But this squabbling was getting them nowhere.
With a sigh, Ciaran stepped closer. Not to intimidate, but his legs were getting tired. He needed to move. “Patrick is my guest and an honored friend. He kens this enemy better than we do, and his counsel is much appreciated. Ye will show him respect, because I am still ye laird and chieftain.”
No one said anything for several moments. Frasier scratched his chin as if thinking, then said, “Ye just said they wanted land, they got it, so why should they continue tae make war with us?”
Och, but Maggie had it aright. He was a numpty. “Because it isna right. We canna let people come in and take over land. Where does it stop? If they get away with it, then others will come. And are ye forgetting about all of our men that they have killed?”
“Nae, I am nae, but tae what end? We canna stop them. We may have some of their weapons, but they still have more. I canna see this coming tae a guid end. We need tae make an alliance with them like the MacLeans did,” Frasier said.
The whole room started talking at once again, and no surprise, they ended up shouting.
Ciaran had had enough. He glanced at Patrick and saw the same disgust on his mentor’s face. “Shut it!”
When everyone stopped and looked at him, he continued, “This isna up fer debate. I’m still laird, and I’m informing ye that the IN and the MacLeans are our enemies, and I’ll be dealing with them as such.” Walking toward the door, he looked at Patrick and jerked his head toward the door, indicating they should leave.
Behind them Frasier said, “All those in favor of removing our chieftain of his duties say aye.”
Three masculine “ayes” followed, but Ciaran didn’t turn around. He didn’t care. They could vote all they wanted, he wasn’t stepping down. He still had the support of his warriors. He got to the door, flung it open, and found at least half of those very warriors standing there waiting for him.
Angus caught his arm as he tried to pass. “Are we still laying siege tae the base?”
“Aye.” Ciaran started down the stairs, then stopped. “Someone take Stuart intae custody. He is a traitor tae the clan.” He didn’t wait to see if his orders were followed, but the outraged voices of the council told him they were.
By the time he’d made it downstairs, he calmed a bit, but the anger still knotted his chest.
Stopping in the middle of the great hall, he turned to look up at Dìonach Na Sìthe. It mocked him from its place above the laird’s table. Reminding him of his failures. Reminding him of the men’s deaths. Frasier was right about one thing—this was Ciaran’s fault because he never should have pretended to go along with the council. He should have told them from the beginning where to go with their threats. He was the chieftain, and it was time he started acting like it. “I will nae let ye down, Father.”
§ § § §
Ciaran walked up the stairs to his room, feeling as if he were carrying the weight of the entire clan on his shoulders. The castle was quiet in this wing, and most of the torches along the wall had been extinguished, but