Page 37 of The Chieftain
She saw Connor sitting at a table laden with food. On either side of him were two fair-haired, square-faced men—his uncles, Archibald and Hugh Dubh. As she watched, Hugh got up from the table and waved his arm, urging the other two to follow. Archibald went at once to join him at the window, but Connor held back.
Don’t go.Ilysa did not understand why, but she knew Connor must not go to the window.Leave the room. Leave the house. Now!She tried to tell him, but he could not hear her.
“Come take a look at my new galley,” Hugh said, his voice coming to Ilysa as if through a tunnel. “Isn’t she a beauty?”
Tears stung Ilysa’s eyes as Connor joined his uncles. She felt Connor’s aversion when Hugh put a heavy arm around his shoulders and pointed out the window.
In a move so swift Ilysa barely saw it, Hugh drove a blade into Connor’s back. Ilysa screamed soundlessly as Connor fell to the floor. Grief engulfed her. Connor lay unnaturally still, his blood seeping out of him. Archibald’s face was horror-struck as he looked down at Connor. Clearly, he had not been party to this travesty, and he failed to grasp the danger to himself in time. In the next moment Hugh plunged his blade into his brother.
Ilysa had no idea how much time had passed when she found herself lying on her floor, covered in a cold sweat. After pulling herself up, she stumbled to the narrow table against the wall and poured water from the pitcher into the bowl. Her hands shook so badly that most of the water ran through her fingers as she splashed it on her face and neck. Holding the drying cloth to her face, she rocked back and forth.
She had to prevent this from happening. At all costs, she must stop Connor from going to the meeting with his uncles—or Hugh would murder him.
***
Connor stood by the window re-reading the royal summons commanding him to attend the upcoming gathering. He had avoided answering similar summons in the past. When the Crown was nervous, it had a nasty habit of imprisoning Highland chieftains on suspicion of treason or holding them hostage as a preventive measure. Now that the current rebellion was dying down, the Crown was calmer, and failing to obey the summons presented the greater risk.
The gathering was at Mingary Castle, the stronghold of the MacIains, who were steadfast supporters of the Crown in a region where few could make that claim. The gathering and the MacIains naturally led Connor to thoughts about treachery and marriage.
Not long after the Lord of the Isles was forced to submit to the Scottish Crown, the MacIain chieftain turned on his former allies, the MacDonalds of Dunivaig and the Glens. Through treachery, he captured the chieftain, his son, and his two oldest grandsons, who were all executed.
A younger grandson survived because he was in Ireland at the time. That was Alexander, Deirdre and James’s father. After the executions, the Crown forced a peace through Alexander’s marriage to MacIain’s daughter.
At the gathering, Connor must choose which treacherous clan to ally himself with through marriage. But first, he had to spar with his vile uncle Hugh.Please God, just put a sword in my hand.Fighting was so much easier.
“May I speak?”
Connor started at the soft voice behind him and turned from the window to find Ilysa.
“I didn’t see ye come in,” he said. “What is it? Are our stores low, and I need to send the men out hunting? Or is it something far worse? Please tell me the whiskey isn’t gone.”
He was teasing her, glad for the diversion from his troubles. Ilysa, however, did not favor him with a smile. He narrowed his eyes and took a closer look at her. The usually unshakable Ilysa was twisting her hands in the skirt of her gown.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ye mustn’t go to your uncle’s,” she said.
“What did ye say?” Connor thought he must have misheard her.
“Don’t go,” she said, blinking her big brown eyes at him. “You’ll be in grave danger if ye do.”
Connor was aware that Ilysa had stayed in the room to listen when he met with his uncle, as she often did. He had never minded before because he trusted her loyalty absolutely and she never gave away secrets. But, by the saints, now she was trying to tell him what to do.
“I appreciate your concern,” Connor said. “Now I have important matters to attend to.”
He turned back to the window. After a moment, he realized she was still standing there. Did the lass not understand he had dismissed her?
“Leave me now,” he said over his shoulder.
“Ye were angry with me for how ye learned about Deirdre,” she said.
Connor’s temper flared at the memory. When he turned and fixed his gaze on Ilysa, he did not attempt to hide it.
“Ye said I should have simply told ye what I knew,” Ilysa said, her face pinched in an earnest expression.
“I did,” Connor said, though he did not see why she was bringing this up.
“So that’s what I’m doing now.” Ilysa paused to lick her lips. “I’m telling ye that ye must not go to your uncle’s.”
