Chapter 29
“Unbelievable! He had to be at the root of it!” Keirah punched the air in their chamber as the great hall was being straightened.
“Agreed,” she heard MacCade concur. “The Lord Constable is summoning those to check into the source of the incident.”
She covered her face. “This is cast by my hand.”
Warm palms gripped her shoulders. “Never declare this, Cluaran.”
Looking up at the intense eyes which saw straight to her soul, she murmured, “’Tis. I am the cause; if not for me being in the feast with that vile creature, the wee one would never have been placed at risk.”
“It was cast by his hand – alone,” Aonghus said vehemently. “You stayed the disaster.”
Her gaze dropped toward his hands. “You are kind, MacCade.”
“You are too hard upon yourself, Cluaran.”
His grip tightened a moment. He was touching her – strongly.
“You are still holding me.” Her voice was lined with disbelief.
“The disgusting event Kollungr threw at you regarding my…” Raging hell, she couldn’t even say it.
Breasts! Sex goddess she was not, but had she hoped to possibly fall into a wee bit of the temptress category in her knight’s eyes? Aye.
“Keirah, not a word could be spoken by him” – she raised her eyes, finding his face blurred from her tears – “which would ever make me think less of you, of us, or make me turn from your touch. You are all to me. Never doubt this.”
His lips crashed over hers. Salt and her knight.
As she threw her arms around his neck, he dragged her close and claimed her mouth for his own.
His palm found her backside as a groan took her tongue as much as her knight did.
A feverish want claimed them. The tension of the day’s past, it had to be the cause.
Her fingers feathered his hair as he deepened their kiss while his hand began seeking under her skirt, aye…
What was the tapping sound? Her heart? No, that was pounding her ears. A growl vibrated across her breasts from MacCade before he pulled back. The tapping was a knock. No!
“Sir Aonghus and Lady Keirah, the king summons you both directly to the solar with the Northern delegation!”
Aonghus kept her pressed against the wall; a brisk sea breeze tickled the air and their faces from the arrow slit. “We shall continue this later.”
Her hand cupped his jaw. “Promise?”
He squeezed her backside as she gave a gasp. Delicious! “Cluaran, nothing shall halt me from you.” She lifted up on her toes, caressing her breath and emotion and soul against his lips.
***
Keirah darted her gaze at the waning peat bricks in the hearth.
How many hours had the discussions carried on for?
Discussion – really? Naw, the only item missing in the solar was a raging thumbscrew.
Dark looks with challenging words with tense atmosphere with angry demeanor ran paramount.
Ugh! She looked again toward the hearth; the popping and blazing fire was more at ease than the feeling inside this solar.
Even the air was stifling with fumes from male perspiration and peat smoke.
None of this swayed her lord king; the chaos only seemed to sharpen his determination like a sword’s blade after grinding upon a whetstone.
Look at him rally! Could anyone see Alexander was a master at the art of being the highest sovereign?
Aye. He was stern when needed, giving as required to adhere with the plan to postpone, but he was focused above all else.
Stunning! It was as if her eyes could almost see the weight from his father’s ambitions of reclaiming the isles pressing down upon the young king this moment.
King Alexander leaned forward on his throne. “Nae, King H?konsson must be told of the offer.” Aye, stand the ground, lord king!
“He will not agree, lord king; you have asked before in regards to Bute, Arran, and the Cumbraes. Our lord king will not release these lands unto you, no matter the amount offered in this missive,” Henry of Orkney countered.
The King of Scots leaned farther, his eyes flashing. “You have yet to break the missive’s seal before your lord king; however, you dismiss the offer.” He leaned back to flip his palm in the air. “’Tis an insult!” Aye!
“The friars you sent were told these lands will not fall into Scottish hands,” Gilbert of Hamar chimed in.
“Not fall but return into Scottish hands!” the Lord Constable bellowed, his face plum.
Calm reigned as the king took the North’s delegation in his sights. “You shall give us the solar to converse a moment.” It was an ask in words but tone of an order.
Lord Kollungr turned to leave in the footfalls belonging to the bishops, but he never took his gaze from her till Sir James shut the door from the passageway.
A shiver ran her spine. The ruse had held strong; he didn’t seem to suspect a shadow-glance by the chandelier’s fall.
Yet, how much longer could she place a brave front which didn’t seep her bones completely?
Her attention snapped back toward the present. “Lady Keirah,” the king said, tersely, “your intent and focus shall remain at my side – not Lord Kollungr’s nor the grave test he unleashed upon this proceeding.”
The king raised his hand toward the Lord Constable, who stepped forth and tossed a rope onto the vast table located in the chamber’s center. Her eyes narrowed at the find as she and Aonghus approached.
“Your instincts were keen regarding a trap, Sir Aonghus, and your plan unfolded flawlessly,” the king stated sternly. “If one looks upon the tail of the rope present, it appears to have been partially severed in a fresh cut.”
Aonghus muttered furiously, “The weight and time unleashed the remaining tear.”
There; a blade had cut smoothly then the other thick portion unraveled, as her knight said. It was confirmed; Lord Kollungr would have let the wee lassie die for his own gain. Oh, Fálki, this was a new low even for you!
A bow took her skull. “My lord king, please forgive my moment cast by distraction. It shall not happen once more.”
“Lord Kollungr makes a mockery of these proceedings. My lady, please do not plea for forgiveness; your attention is all I seek,” the king clarified. “You have been at King H?konsson’s side; your grasp in what he will release is deemed of great importance to me.”
“Aye.” She fortified her tone. “My lord king, the Clyde islands belonging to Bute, Arran, and Cumbraes are of fierce merit to Scotland…”
The one with his fingers upon the treasury’s purse strings interrupted: “Aye.” The Lord Chamberlain smoothed a linen over his shiny scalp nervously. “The trade routes are in King H?konsson’s sights.”
“For certain,” she agreed, “’tis these isles King H?konsson will never agree to release.”
“Then there is also the stronghold of Tarbert adjacent,” Aonghus added, his features terse as his knuckles were blanched on the rope in his fist.
The Lord Constable stated gravely at her. “You, my dear lady, have already born witness to the lengths in which King H?konsson will aspire to control Bute, with Rudri and Sturan conquering Rothesay Castle.”
The elder nobleman didn’t know the shame she carried. She lowered her eyes when the faces of those killed before her flashed in her mind, alongside Lord Kollungr’s grotesque grin when the order to execute had been given. “Aye,” was her solemn reply.
The king took the helm, declaring as she raised her eyes, “We do not need him to release these isles – only delay. Or have all present forgotten the purpose for which we are forced to listen to this piss called a discussion?” He thrust his hand toward the shut door where the delegations waited outside.
“Lady Keirah, is there a glimmer you may cast regarding when the storm’s timing shall come to pass? ”
A deep breath filled her chest, fearfully. “When the clouds shadowed over the moon in a force greater than ever witnessed before, the moon, ’twas full,” she answered. Her shoulders lowered more.
“A full moon is two dawns away and will last three eves.” The Lord Constable raised his bushy brows, appearing hopeful.
“Aye,” the Lord Chamberlain concurred and added sourly, “However, forthwith it may very well be a moon in the next cycle, not this to come.” Forever Sir Sunshine of the chamber.
“Hell, William,” Lord Constable cussed the greedy Scot, casting aside formalities in his frustration, “how does youth make one so dreary?”
“Enough,” the king demanded, halting the scrabble. “Sir Aonghus, summon them; we stay the course, hold them at arm’s length, and the rest lies in God’s will.”
The Lord Constable fetched then hid the rope piece beneath his tunic.
Lord Kollungr’s eyes blazed into hers as soon as the door opened.
After barely crossing the threshold, he raised his palm at her, hissing in accusation: “Why, pray tell, is the Lady Keirah present if her talents as a fate-seer now fail her?”
Her breath held. Did he suspect, even with the signal word?
Aonghus seemed to sense her panic and balled his fists at his sides while approaching the Northman, his expression filled by pent-up rage. “You dare address our lord king before he has given consent?!” He re-directed the topic; thank you, love.
King Alexander spoke to her knight first. “Sir Aonghus, your merit is stellar, however our guests seem to have forgotten themselves; allow my hand to guide them.”
Her knight gave a silent nod before locking eyes with her a mere second, but the look spoke: Cluaran, I’ve got you – secret safe.
The King of Scots’ voice was smooth as ice toward the Northman.
“Lady Keirah’s talents continue to be in demand, as a seer in another purpose.
She has seen all your ships, warriors, and many other means you perchance have been less than forthright in disclosing within our discussions.
Her presence is to ensure your words only merit truth. ”
Ahem. Henry’s throat took the chamber’s attention before he inquired, “Lord King, may I offer on the morrow upon Sir Kolbein’s arrival we re-commence this assembly?”
“Perhaps a restful eve will ease the trails on the path unto peace,” the Lord Constable agreed. “After such a dire and unfortunate accident.” The Scotsman was a master in deceit; may she never cross him.
“Aye.” The king grinned. “The longer the path we take in trenching our discussions, hereupon, the greater the outcome shall be for all.”
Keirah lowered her eyes. Lord Kollungr, who stood closer to her than Aonghus, could easily read her thoughts through them, and the king had just given the plan away right in plain sight.
He is so bold! Her gaze locked onto the rushes spewed over the floor while a pair of leather soles she recognized approached; the northern falcon swooped in close with his approach headed for the entryway.
The Northman’s tone was for her ears alone. “When your knight claims you this eve, it shall be my eyes admiring your flesh, not his. My hands upon you, just as our first day upon King H?konsson’s shores, my lady,” he declared, disturbingly.
Her eyes darted toward his. She blinked and was back again upon Bj?rgvin’s shores with his hand gripping her arm in violent possession. His meaning was as rotted as he was to his core. Raging hell, may the devil take him below!