Page 110 of My Brave Highlander

"How old are you?" Dirk asked for he acted like a spoiled bairn.

"Eighteen summers."

Dirk nodded. "I'm thinking your da will take a horse whip to your sorry hide when he finds out what you've been doing. Opposing the clan chief is the same as treason. You'd best be telling me what I want to know. I can keep you in the dungeon as long as I want. Months. Years. It matters not to me."

"Kiss my arse! You're not our chief."

Fury rushed through Dirk's veins. He wanted to slap the lad to the ground, but given that Dirk outweighed him by ten stone, such a violent action would make him no better than his stepmother.

"You are no longer a member of this clan," Dirk said with cold finality. If Ross wasn't loyal, Dirk didn't want him around causing trouble.

"You can't do that," Ross said in an unsure tone.

"I just did. If I ever decide to release you from the dungeon, you'll have to leave MacKay lands and never come back."

"This is my home!"

"What do you think happens when men are not loyal to their chief?"

The lad merely stared at him wide-eyed.

"I can't trust you. You'll likely stab me in the back."

"Very well," Ross ground out as if someone were forcing the words from his mouth. "Haldane was meeting no one. 'Twas supposed to be an ambush."

To hear his suspicions confirmed sent fury raging through Dirk's veins. "Haldane was planning to kill me here?"

"Aye."

"Why?" Dirk demanded, even though he already knew.

"His mother said he had to do it."

"Of course." That bitch! Dirk had expected nothing less. "Who shot the arrow at me on the roof?"

"Haldane saw you up there when we were heading out here. He said you were acting like king of the castle and should be taken down. He ordered Gil to shoot the arrow while the rest of us hid behind the kirk wall."

"Who's Gil?" Dirk demanded.

"The lad who ran away with Haldane."

Damnation. Dirk would've especially loved to have captured him. "I thank you for telling me."

"I spoke the truth. Will you allow me to stay now? I don't wish to leave the clan."

"That depends on how loyal you are to me. I'll tolerate no empty words. You think on it a while, then decide what kind of man you want to be."

Ross hung his head.

"Let's get these traitors back to the dungeon," Dirk said. "Walk," he ordered Ross.

The lad stumbled forward and glanced back, more fearful now. He well knew a man without a clan was vulnerable indeed, but Dirk could tolerate no disloyalty.

The two men who'd been knocked out were carried and tossed across the horses' backs. The rest were bound and forced to walk forward. The lads were not boasting so much now. Likely, none of them had ever spent time in a dungeon, and mayhap they were a little afraid.

Dirk led his horse and made Ross walk ahead of him while he held the rope binding his wrists.

A few minutes later, they entered Dunnakeil's gates, the guards there surprised to see the prisoners from their own clan, some of them sons of respected clan members. The lads would have to be taught a lesson if they were ever to be loyal and trusted members of the clan. Maybe they never would be. If not, he'd have to send them all away.