Page 12 of Promised to the Forbidden Laird

The captain’s mouth closed. They argued in low, urgent voices. The postern gate might be forced. The eastern wall could be scaled with rope. Men could be sent around the ridge to draw Cormac’s attention while Roy struck from the south. Each proposal ended with the same truth: MacNicol blood would be shed, either by a MacNicol or by MacIver men on Donaldina's behalf.

Roy listened until the voices began to rise. “Nae assault,” he said.

Ewan looked at him sharply. “Then ye mean tae leave the castle in Cormac’s hands?”

“I mean nae man will storm Dun Ard while the people within believe they are defending it.”

“He has stolen the gates.”

“Stone can be reclaimed. Dead clansmen cannae.”

Donaldina observed him closely. He had every reason to order an attack. Cormac publicly accused him of theft and murder, humiliated him before both clans, and claimed the bride that the Crown had promised him. Pride alone might have been enough to push another man against the walls.

Roy seemed concerned only with how many would die. It unsettled her more than ruthlessness would have. Men were simpler when their faults could be clearly named.

“The longer we wait,” Ewan argued, “the stronger his hold becomes.”

Roy looked toward Dun Ard. “Aye.”

“Then what would ye have us dae?”

“Find another way in.”

“There isnae one,” Councilor Beathan assured them. “The sea wall is sheer. The northern gate has been sealed since me grandfaither’s day. Every passage is watched.”

Donaldina looked past them toward the coast. The tide had begun to withdraw. Black rocks broke the white water below, slick with weed and rain. Farther west, the old sea wall descended toward a narrow strip of shore visible only when the tide was low.

Then, a memory stirred: Lachlan’s hand gripping hers, his voice quiet and secretive, with a lantern casting a flickering golden glow over wet stone. She was maybe eight years old, though she claimed she was ten because Lachlan said the passage was not fit for children.

The passage.

“There is another entrance,” she divulged.

The councilors fell silent. Donaldina stepped into their circle.

Beathan frowned. “Where?”

“Beneath the old sea wall.”

“That is solid rock.”

“Nae. It appears tae be.”

She turned toward the western shore. “There is a cleft beyond the black shelf. At low tide, the water withdraws enough tae reach it. The entrance is concealed behind fallen stone.”

Ewan stared at her. “How would ye know this?”

“Lachlan showed me.”

“When?”

“When I was a child.”

Several of the men exchanged uncertain glances. Donaldina's temper flared once more. “It led beneath the wall and opened intae the lower stores. Lachlan said it had been used during a siege generations ago.”

“Or it has collapsed since,” Beathan said.

“It may be flooded,” another added.