Chapter 38
When Cairren passed under the portcullis, she felt the same fear as she did the first time she entered the bailey.
She looked around as people milled about and watched the riders dismount.
She stayed close to Padraig’s side, and his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder made her feel a little less anxious.
She breathed easier when she noticed the stake and pyre no longer stood in the center of the bailey, and no one ran at her with a flaming torch.
Cairren looked at the steps leading to the keep’s main doors.
She recognized members of the clan council standing at some distance from Micheil and Mary.
She didn’t see Duncan or Father Mitchell, and she had to admit relief when she didn’t see Myrna, who she half-expected to find waiting for Padraig.
Padraig shared on the ride back that neither Duncan nor Myrna knew what Padraig discovered.
Duncan hadn’t been in the bailey when Padraig argued with his parents and the priest. He’d still been with Myrna.
“Lady Cairren,” Arnold called out as he hobbled forward on his walking stick. “On behalf of the clan council, we are relieved to see ye returned to us hale and hearty.”
Cairren didn’t know what to say. There was no possibility they knew what Duncan had attempted. Before she could respond, Mary’s shrewish tones filled her ears.
“You want us to believe she’s a proper Christian when she walks around in naught but a mon’s leine. Disgraceful.”
Padraig stepped forward, but Cairren put a staying hand on his arm. If there was even a remote possibility that she would stay, she needed to discover what would happen if she asserted herself.
“I’m wearing my husband’s leine because I destroyed my gown.
Do you ken where your other son is? Has he returned from his errand to drown me?
” At the stunned gasps from the surrounding people, she suspected her questions were unexpected, but Mary’s face didn’t change.
“Were you the one to suggest he take me to the Cromarty caves and drown me in the Moray Firth? Because that’s where he took me after trying to kill Lachlan Sutherland and his guards.
My husband’s leine was the only thing appropriate I had after having to cut my body free from a standing stone, before I sliced away the bindings at my feet.
I had little choice but to cut the bottom of my skirts so they wouldn’t pull me to the bottom of the firth.
Since neither you nor Duncan bothered to get to know me, you never learned that my father taught me to swim in the Firth of Clyde.
Not so different from Moray, just not quite as bluidy cold. ”
“Explain this,” Arnold demanded, but his eyes were on Micheil and Mary rather than Cairren.
“I left here when you sentenced me to death for a crime I didn’t commit.
I went to the Sutherlands, and the laird offered me escort south.
We were just a little past here when Duncan and a score of men attacked, shooting arrows at us.
I turned myself over to Duncan, praying he would keep his word and allow Lachlan and his men safe passage home.
Duncan had me bound and gagged before throwing me over his saddle.
He forced me to ride from here to the firth on my belly.
” Cairren wasn’t about to speak of the other things Duncan did while they shared a horse.
“He took me to the caves, where he tied me to a standing stone. He removed my gag and ordered me to scream, so he could enjoy hearing my cries, knowing no one would come for me. Daft man didn’t check to see if I had any knives. I cut myself free and swam out.”
“Impossible,” Micheil argued. “If he intended to drown you, then it was when the tide came in. You couldn’t have swum out. You’re lying.”
“And you’re deaf,” Cairren countered. “Did you not hear me say that my father taught me to swim in the Firth of Clyde? It’s not some placid loch.
Do you not ken that Dunure sits on a cliff with caves beneath it?
Where do you think I learned? He taught me how to escape should I ever need to.
I never dreamed it would come in handy, but I’m glad my father thought of it.
I swam out and around the outcropping. I was making my way to the cliffs when Padraig and the other men arrived. Padraig jumped in and pulled me out.”
“The lass hadn’t time to cut her hands free,” Padraig added. “She did all of that just by kicking and determination. I don’t know any mon who’d be that quick-witted and brave.” Padraig pulled her closer to his side and dropped a kiss on her forehead as she looked up at him.
Cairren looked around at the stunned faces, and she witnessed more anger directed at the laird and lady than she did toward her.
She saw sympathy and pity when people looked at her.
She smiled when Catriona stepped forward, holding her son in her arms. She smiled warmly at Cairren before looking around.
“I ken I’m nae a member of the laird’s family or part of the clan council, but I would like to ken what’s to be done aboot the two attempts to murder Lady Cairren.” There was a chorus of agreement as more people stepped forward to demand answers to similar questions.
Adam raised his hands, and the clan fell quiet. “Before that is decided, we need to ken if the laird will accept the council’s judgment as binding.”
Micheil raised his chin, arrogance making him ugly. “I’m still laird here. This is my clan to run as I see fit. I may have been fooled once by the priest, but that doesn’t change who Lady Cairren is, and she is not one of us.”
Padraig lunged at his father, even though he felt Cairren try to pull him back. He noted his father’s personal guards moved to separate them, but they weren’t as quick as they should have been. “Then return her dowry if she’s no use to the clan,” Padraig demanded.
“When the Kennedy returns the bride price,” Micheil countered.
“How soon can you send a messenger?” Cairren infused innocence into her voice, but the steely challenge was written across her face.
Adam once more intervened. “Does this mean we are to understand that ye willna accept the council’s judgment, Micheil?”
“It means that this is my clan to do as I see fit.” Micheil pounded his fist into his hand. “Be glad I changed my mind not to have her burned at the stake.”
“Changed yer mind?” Arnold guffawed. “We threatened to put ye up next since that so-called holy water burned ye too. Ye’re naught but a blathering fool, just like yer father was, and just like yer worthless heir.
We’d do well to be done with this one and his wasted spawn and have Padraig in charge. ”
Padraig and Cairren froze as the murmurs spread through the crowd, and far too many heads nodded for Cairren’s comfort.
She stepped to Padraig’s side, her eyes wide with worry.
He glanced down at her; her uncertainty was as clear to him as his own.
The situation was not going in a direction that either expected.
“And I’ll have my guards imprison anyone fool enough to cross me, you treasonous bastards,” Micheil roared.
“Then what will ye do with Duncan?” Meg asked. “It isnae just Lady Cairren’s word or Padraig’s. Duncan involved the Sutherlands. This willna go over well with Lachlan’s da. Laird Sutherland isnae kenned to forgive those who harm his kin.”
A calculating gleam entered Micheil’s eyes, but it fizzled when Lachlan stepped forward. “We expect my Uncle Liam to visit in a sennight. I’m sure he’d be happy to ride with my father to recover my body should you go through with whatever your scheming mind is conjuring.”
Lachlan’s subtle reminder that the Sutherlands and Sinclairs stood as one force created further dissention among the crowd. “Nay!” “By God!” “Bluidy hell, that’s all we need.” And those people who had turned loyal gazes toward the laird and lady began to look away.
“Let me pose another question,” Adam’s booming voice hushed the clan members. “Does Lady Cairren have a place among our clan? A place where she is safe and welcome?”
The bailey grew deathly quiet as people looked around, but no one spoke.
Cairren glanced over her shoulder at Lachlan, and he nodded his head.
The clan was still frightened to support her against the laird and lady.
As long as that was the case, there was still too much danger for Cairren to remain.
“Natter amongst yourselves,” Padraig grumbled.
“I’m taking my wife to our chamber. She’s had enough of an ordeal this past sennight to last her a month of Sundays.
” Padraig guided Cairren up the stairs, ignoring his parents.
He cocked an eyebrow at a servant who stood staring too long. “Food and a bath.”
Cairren felt chilled, and it had nothing to do with the air temperature.
Being inside Foulis only brought her unhappiness and trepidation.
Other than coupling with Padraig, nothing good had happened since she stepped foot in the castle.
She’d held out hope that the clan might surprise her, and they had.
She’d expected swords drawn and pitchforks pointing at her, but the clan was more welcoming than she imagined.
But their fear of the laird and lady outweighed even their fear of her being different.
She couldn’t blame them when she reminded herself that their entire livelihood depended upon remaining in the laird’s good graces.
Clan members worked in the keep and industries within the bailey wall, but they also farmed the land that belonged to the laird.
The servants, craftsmen, and tenant farmers would have nowhere to go if the laird evicted them from the land they worked or, worse, banished them from the clan.
Micheil held control, not with respect but with fear.
Cairren understood that and pitied the clan, but she wouldn’t jeopardize her babe for them.