“But he isn’t a sister. If they’ll let one lass in, they’ll let two. I’m coming.”
“Ye can walk with us, but when they don’t let ye in, I’m walking ye back to the gate so your father can stop worrying about ye.” Again Finola didn’t respond to Cael, but simply fell into step beside them.
When they reached the keep, Finola had begged the guard to let her stay with her sister. Lady Matheson had been nearby. She intervened, asking that Finola be allowed to stay with Meriel. Now here she stood before Laird MacIan and Laird Matheson and Finola had melted into the crowd. More scared than she had ever been in her life, Meriel couldn’t really blame her.
They led her a small distance away from the other people in the hall, she assumed to gain a bit of privacy. “Meriel, lass, ye’ve nothing to worry about. I just want to ask ye a few questions,” Laird Matheson said kindly.
“Aye, Laird. I’ll answer any questions I can.
“Last night, during the Roodmas celebration, Bryant said ye were chatting with Rowan MacKenzie. Do ye recall that?”
“Aye, Laird.” Her voice sounded weak and reedy. It was just as she suspected, this had something to do with Rafer and Eara’s illicit conversation.
“He said Rowan seemed upset. Can ye tell us what happened?”
“Aye, Laird. I had been outside watching the dancing from the steps of the keep and I—I—I overheard something distressing concerning Rowan, so I found him and told him. That is all.”
“What did ye hear, lass?” asked Laird MacIan.
“I would prefer not to say. Rowan asked me not to speak to anyone else about it. Perhaps ye could ask him?”
Laird Matheson put a hand on her shoulder. “We are asking ye, Meriel. Ye have nothing to fear by telling us the truth.”
Meriel remained still for a few moments before finally saying in a very low voice, “Laird Matheson, I overheard Eara Fraser planning a tryst last night with a Fraser clansman named Rafer.”
Laird Matheson grabbed her arm and pulled her farther away from the crowd. “Exactly what did ye overhear? Tell us everything that happened.”
Quickly and quietly, she told them the full conversation.
“Are ye telling us the truth, lass?” Laird Matheson asked.
“Do ye have a reason to doubt her, Tadhg? If this is a fabrication and we act on it, it would be disastrous. Bryant said she has been known to cause mischief.”
“Meriel, ye have been punished once for your poor judgment. There is no room for error here.”
“I swear, Laird. I am telling ye the truth.”
Her laird considered her for a moment before saying, “I have no reason to doubt her, Niall.”
“Did Rowan say what he was planning to do?” Laird MacIan asked.
“He said he could learn the truth by paying a visit to the chapel. But, Laird, why not just ask him?”
Laird Matheson answered, “Meriel, we can’t ask him. Someone attacked him last night and he is unconscious.”
“Was he in the chapel?”
“Nay, Meriel. He was in the keep. Niall, what are we going to do about this?”
“Well, just because Eara was meeting a lover in the chapel, if in fact she did, it doesn’t mean they had anything to do with the attack on Rowan.” At Laird Matheson’s look of doubt, Laird MacIan added, “Aye, I know it is likely to be related, but we mustn’t jump to conclusions. I will send some men to find this ‘Rafer’ as discreetly as possible. We need to find out everything we can before we act.”
“Laird, can I go back to my da now? He is terribly worried.”
“I will send word to your father, letting him know ye are well and have been very helpful, but I’m afraid ye need to stay here in the keep for a while, Meriel.”
Twenty One
Tadhg hoped any confrontation about Eara Fraser could be delayed, preferably until Rowan regained consciousness. If it came to Meriel's word against the daughter of a powerful laird, things would become difficult. Still, he believed Meriel and would support her. He hoped Niall was as staunchly behind her and drew him away from the crowd to find out. “Niall, ye know this could get very ugly if it comes down to Eara's word against Meriel’s.”
“Ye needn’t tell me that. I hope it doesn’t come to it.”
“But Niall, if it does, I need to be sure that ye believe Meriel. Any doubt on your part—well, Eara is the daughter of a powerful laird.”
“And Meriel isn’t. I know. Still, ye said ye believe her.”
“I do. But ye have rather a well-known reputation of mistrusting women.”
Niall chuckled. “Katherine changed that, but aye, I didn’t have much faith in them before her. As fate would have it, for much the same reason Rowan might not in the future.”
“I remember hearing about a betrothal years ago and the wedding was cancelled at the last minute.”
“Aye, her name was Ceana. I was young and she was a clanswoman whom I had adored for years. Finally, my father agreed to let us marry.”
“He didn’t seek a political match?”
“Oh, aye, he did. Ye needn’t tell your wife this, but he wanted a betrothal with Annag MacKenzie.”
“Annag is lovely. She would have been an excellent wife.”
“She might have been, but I refused. I only had eyes for Ceana and my father finally relented. I was over the moon.”
“Until ye found out she was unfaithful?”
“Aye. It was days before my wedding. Malcolm MacLennan was here, as were a few other clan leaders. It was Malcolm who discovered her with her lover. She admitted to him that she didn’t love me. Apparently, she only wanted to marry me to become Lady MacIan. That is one of the reasons I was so willing to trust him for so long and fully believed he was a staunch ally.”
“I’m sorry, Niall.”
“Don’t be. If it weren’t for Eithne and Malcolm, as despicable as they were, I would never have married Katherine.”
“Still, I can see how it would sour your opinion of women. Rowan is a good lad, but he was only doing his duty by his father in marrying Eara. He has no strong affection for her. He might have come to love her one day, but I think he will emerge from this with his heart intact.”
~ * ~
By late afternoon, Lady MacKenzie brought word of Rowan’s condition to her husband. Cathal sought Tadhg and Mairead out immediately.
“Brigid tells me Rowan has become agitated occasionally and called out several names, including ‘Eara’ and ‘Meriel.’ Weren’t ye talking earlier with one of your clanswomen named Meriel?”
“Aye, Cathal, I was.”
“What does she know about this?”
“She knows nothing about how Rowan was injured.”
“Damn it all, Tadhg, ye wouldn’t have been questioning her if ye thought she knew nothing. I want to talk to her.” Cathal slammed his fist on the table.
Mairead put her hand on his arm. “Da, if Tadhg says Meriel doesn’t know what happened to Rowan, she doesn’t.”
“Then why did he question her?” Cathal demanded.
At the sound of Cathal’s raised voice, Lachlan Fraser interrupted. “Who are ye talking about, Cathal? Who was questioned?”
“A Matheson clanswoman,” answered Cathal.
Lachlan sneered. “Why doesn’t that surprise me? What are ye hiding, Matheson?”
Niall stepped in. “Lairds, the Matheson lass knows nothing about what happened to Rowan, but if ye will all calm down, we do have things to discuss.”
Tadhg motioned to Hamish and whispered to Mairead, “This may get unpleasant. I want ye to stay with Hamish and do as he says.”
She nodded and he gave her a quick kiss. She joined Hamish, who also had an ashen-faced Meriel at his side.
As the room fell silent, Niall said, “Lairds, it would be better if we discussed this privately.”
“Better for whom, MacIan?” asked Lachlan. “Anything ye need to say, ye can say here, in front of my allies.”
“Not here, Lachlan. I am telling ye, ye don’t want this played out in front of an audience.” Niall leaned closer and quietly added, “It concerns your daughter, Lachlan.”
“What about my daughter?” he demanded through gritted teeth.
Tadhg said, “Laird Fraser, please, it would be better to discuss this in privacy.”
“Matheson, I have had enough of ye. Tell me what ye know.
Now
!”
Niall said quietly, “Have it your way, Lachlan, but don’t say ye weren’t warned. Last night, your daughter Eara arranged to meet with one of your clansmen, a man named Rafer. Your man Rafer has been found and we can question him discreetly if ye choose.”
Discretion was clearly not Lachlan’s strength. He roared, “Ye are calling my daughter’s and my clansman’s honor into question? On the basis of what?”
The room practically exploded in shocked chatter. Cathal looked dumbfounded.
“It’s a lie!” screamed Eara.
“Silence!” shouted Lachlan before turning on Niall. “How dare ye make such an accusation against my daughter, MacIan! What proof do ye have?”
“Someone overheard them talking,” said Tadhg.
Lachlan whirled on him. “By God, who? This clanswoman of yours, Matheson? MacIan, I can’t believe ye would risk dishonoring me, my daughter, and my clan on the word of a Matheson wench.”
“She’s lying. I would never do that, Da. She should be whipped for slandering me so.”
“MacIan, if ye don’t have solid proof, this is unforgivable!” said Laird Urquhart, one of Laird Fraser’s strongest allies.
“Is that the lying bitch?” shrieked Eara when she spied Hamish pulling Mairead and Meriel behind him. She lunged toward them and a MacIan guardsman intercepted her.
“Take your hands off my daughter!” Lachlan yelled, throwing a punch at the man.
The hall was on the verge of erupting into a screaming brawl.
~ * ~
Mairead looked on in horror as Eara shrieked and the assembled lairds shouted at each other, depending on their loyalties. Hamish, obviously sensing danger, turned to her. “My lady, Meriel, quickly, up the stairs. Find a chamber and bar the door until I come for ye. I’ll guard your backs.”
As they started toward the tower door a Fraser yelled, “No ye don’t, bitch,” and grabbed Meriel roughly by the arm. Hamish tried to free her when someone grabbed Mairead’s elbow. She turned and jerked away, only to discover Finola beside her.
“My lady, we have to get ye out of here.”
“Aye, Hamish said to lock ourselves in a chamber, get Meriel and come quickly.”
“My lady, it is too dangerous, we will never make it to the tower stairs, but we are close to the kitchen exit. The laird has guardsmen outside—I’ll get ye to them.”
“Nay, I won’t leave, Finola.”
Finola pulled on her arm. “My lady, can’t ye see what’s happening? Ye have to get out of here. If a fight breaks out, ye are a liability to the laird. Ye can be used against him. It isn’t safe for him. He only has Hamish in the hall and he is guarding ye. Cael and Sloan are just outside. We can get to them.”
Mairead hesitated, was she a liability? In that moment of indecision, Finola acted. Putting an arm around Mairead’s shoulders, she urged her through the rear exit from the great hall. “Finola, nay. Let go of me.”
“Hurry, my lady, before it is too late,” Finola insisted. The instant Mairead was out of the hall strong arms grabbed her from behind, but neither Cael nor Sloan nor any other Matheson guard would handle her so roughly. Caught in an iron grip, the man hauled her firmly against his chest as he dragged her away from the keep. Then, a voice she had only heard in her nightmares since that day at the Michaelmas Fair said, “Fancy meeting ye here. After all of these years we can finally finish what we started when the damn interfering priest interrupted us.”
Mairead screamed and a hand clamped over her mouth. She bit the palm of his hand. He swore and momentarily pulled his hand away. She twisted out of his grip, screaming again, but before she had taken more than two steps another man caught her.
Two of them?
He shoved a cloth gag in her mouth. “Did ye forget the bitch bites, Darcy?” She maneuvered to escape his grip, trying to yank the gag from her mouth. “Damnation, she’s slippery as an eel, but even eels can be caught in a trap, and so can wee mice, can’t they?” said the first one as he grabbed her again, holding the gag over her mouth. “Guthrie, see that we aren’t interrupted,” he said, pushing through the door of the deserted kitchen.
He held her so tightly; she could barely breathe, much less move. He threw her to the floor with enough force to knock the wind out of her. He was on top of her before she recovered her breath.
Dear God, it was happening again. Just like last time.
No, not just like last time!
She thrust the heel of her hand toward his nose but he dodged the blow and caught her hand in his fist.
“I had my nose broken once because of ye, it won’t happen again, bitch,” he growled and backhanded her, leaving him momentarily off balance. Ignoring the pain from the blow, she squirmed, trying to free her hips so she could scoot out from under him. He forced her hands to the floor over her head and with the weight of his body held her against the floor. Her struggles were useless. The memory of Tadhg’s words came flooding back to her, “If ye find yourself overpowered, acquiesce. Stop fighting and save your strength.” She stilled.
“Ready to give up now?” She nodded. “I want to taste that mouth of yours. I’m going to take the gag out. There is no one to hear ye scream anyway, everyone is busy with my whore of a sister. But if ye do scream, I will knock your teeth out. Do ye understand?”
She nodded again and he removed the gag. He still held her too firmly for her try again to escape, so against every instinct, she continued to lay still. “That’s better.” He forced his lips over hers, brutally shoving his tongue into her mouth. She couldn’t breathe and in spite of herself, she struggled against him again. “This is going to be fun,” he jeered.
Mairead caught her breath and once more forced herself to calm down. Again Tadhg’s voice sounded in her head,
Tell him ye give up and ye will do whatever he wants. Do whatever it takes to stay alive.
She was terrified but she would do it. “Please don’t hurt me. I’ll do whatever ye want. Please.”