Mermadak grunted angrily. “I be referrin’ to that bastard born illegitimate cur that stands before ye, ye eejit! He’s no allowed here either!”
Findal feigned ignorance and rubbed the top of his head. “Is he no’ allowed here because he be bastard born?”
Mermadak’s eyes widened. “Aye! ’Tis a rule I have, no’ to dine with bastards.” He looked quite pleased with himself. Aggie wished she were brave enough to scratch his eyes out.
Findal gave a quick puff of his cheeks and a nod as if everything now made perfectly good sense. “Well then, I guess we’ll be leavin.” Findal placed a hand on Ailrig’s shoulder and turned the boy around.
Another look of confusion formed on Mermadak’s face. “What are ye goin’ on about?”
Findal paused and turned to face Mermadak. “Well, if it’s a rule ye have that ye do no’ dine with bastards, we’ll be leavin’ ye to yer meal. Ye see, half the men at this table are bastard born, ye ken. I warrant though, that ye’d no’ be able to tell which of them is. So we’ll be leavin’ ye to it.”
All thirty-five of Frederick’s men began grabbing trenchers and platters, talking cheerfully as if nothing were wrong in the world. Ian and Rognall sauntered up to the high table and began gathering up the trays of meat and fish.
“Put that down!” Mermadak ordered.
Ian cocked his head to one side. “Nay, McLaren! If ye canna dine with bastards then ye canna eat the food those bastards brought ye. Ye see, Rognall and I killed the deer ye were ready to feast upon. And wee Ailrig and Ian caught the fish. And Peter and David caught the pheasant. Some be bastards, some no’, but it matters no’. We wouldn’t want ye to sully yer reputation by eatin’ the food they brought to yer table.”
Rose had hurried to stand beside Ian the smile on her face so gleeful as to be bright. Ian gave her two trays then removed two more. With their hands full, they practically skipped out of the room.
“Me lady wife,” Frederick said as he turned to smile at Aggie. “I no longer wish to sup here. Would ye mind if we supped out of doors with me men?”
Aggie felt rather rebellious if not victorious. She smiled brightly at her husband and gave a nod of her head. “I b-believe I would l-like that verra much, husband.” Lifting her skirts, she gave an elegant curtsy to her father. “Enjoy yer leeks and onions.”
Clair stared in wide-eyed disbelief at the scene that just played out before her. Not only were all of Frederick Mackintosh’s men leaving, but a few of the McLaren people were joining then. When she saw her husband stand to join the line, Clair shot to her feet. “Eggar Wardwin! Sit back down this instant!” she ordered.
Eggar, a tall, lean man with brown hair and hazel eyes, turned around to look incredulously at his wife. “I will no’!” he shouted back.
“Ye canna go with them!” she shouted, her hands balled into fists at her side.
Eggar chewed on the inside of his cheek. “I can and I will,” he told her.
“But I be yer wife!”
“Aye,” he said with a nod. “But I much prefer their company to yers.” He turned his back and filed out of the room with the rest of the people.
MERMADAK SHOOK WITH anger as he watched the Mackintoshes escort the bastard Ailrig and the bitch Aggie out of the gathering room. Insolent fools! How dare they treat him in such a disgraceful manner?
“Mackintosh!” Mermadak called out to his son-in-law, his hands shaking with fury. He could not allow these men to leave with their heads held high, filled with self-righteous honor.
Frederick and his crew of men halted and turned to face Mermadak. Frederick returned the auld man’s heated glare with one of his own.
“Ye have yet to declare yer fealty to me or to this clan! I demand here and now that ye make yer declaration! Prove to me, prove to these people, that ye be no’ a coward!” It was meant as a direct insult, one that Mermadak hoped would instigate a battle between his men and the Mackintosh, thereby giving him an opportunity to kill him.
Frederick cocked his head to one side and let go of Aggie’s hand. Without pausing, Frederick walked toward the dais, several of his men falling in on either side of him. Findal remained near the doorway, a protective hand on Aggie’s arm.
Frederick made his way to the dais, standing just a few steps away from Mermadak. While he spoke directly to Mermadak, his message was directed to all who remained in the room.
“Ye asked me once, no’ long ago, to declare me fealty,” Frederick began. His voice was loud and firm. “The answer I give ye now is the same that I gave ye then. My fealty first belongs to me wife, Aggie.”
“Bah!” Mermadak growled. “I do no’ care about yer fealty to her! Ye must declare yer fealty to me!”
Ignoring Mermadak’s remark, Frederick continued. “My fealty belongs to me wife. My loyalty also belongs to the people of Clan McLaren. I swear now, this day, that I will do everything I can to protect me wife and her people. All the people of Clan McLaren will have my allegiance and fealty. And when I become chief, all will have my promise that I will do all that I can to help rebuild Clan McLaren to the glory it once owned.”
Mermadak looked around at the faces of his people. They seemed entirely too pleased with the young man’s oath. This was not what Mermadak wanted, what he needed. He needed these people to hate the young man standing beside him. Needed them to loathe and despise him, not think him worthy of their own loyalty and respect. Damn him!
Mermadak took his hand and swiped it across the top of the table, sending trenchers, tankards and what little food remained, to the floor. He’d spent the better part of the last four years instilling fear in these people, working diligently to see that they would both despise and disrespect Aggie and any future husband she might gain. His plan to destroy her and this clan from the inside out would fail if he could not get Frederick Mackintosh to heel.
“Ye refuse! Ye refuse to declare yer fealty to me!” Mermadak shouted, his chest growing tight, his lungs beginning to grow weak. “Any man who refuses to declare his fealty to me is declared both coward and traitor. Is that how ye wish to be seen, Mackintosh? As a coward? A traitor?”
Frederick threw his head back and laughed for a long moment before he answered. “People will see what they want, McLaren. I have made my declaration to Aggie and her people. I’ll no’ demand more than I give. My actions shall speak louder than me words,” Frederick said before stepping away and returning to Aggie.
Mermadak was enraged! How dare he? How dare this foolish young man disrespect him? How dare he think he could get away with this? Why? Why would the man refuse to declare his fealty to Mermadak? No one, no one had ever refused or defied him like this.
They had turned their back on him, disgraced him, humiliated him in front of his people.
Mermadak had long suspected he had not made the most prudent choice in the man he had chosen for Aggie, had realized it the day after the wedding. With each day that had passed since, the Mackintosh would do or say something to prove his earlier supposition; he had made a tremendous error in judgment.
The Mackintosh was supposed to have been a brutal bastard, for all Mackintoshes were known to be just that. Unforgiving, unyielding and ruthless. There were countless stories depicting them as cold-blooded and brutal on the battlefield. Those stories would lead one to believe they would be the same off the field as well.
But nay, it was quickly proving not to be the case, at least not with this particular Mackintosh. That realization infuriated Mermadak, made his blood boil with hatred.
Frederick Mackintosh hadn’t realized yet, that by not declaring his fealty to Mermadak McLaren, he was both issuing and signing his own death warrant.
CLAIR’S FURY SIMMERED like a pot in the fire, threatening to boil over and spill out onto the rest of the world. Taking deep breaths, she hid the contempt she felt for her husband behind a tight smile. So be it, Eggar Wardwin, she thought as she watched him leave with the rest of the Mackintoshes.
Ye call yer
self a husband? To disgrace me publicly like this? Her hands trembled as she took a sip of her ale. For Eggar to leave with that coward Frederick Mackintosh, well, that was an insult! Eggar was her husband and he should always side with his wife. To leave with the Mackintoshes was the same as if he had slapped her in the face. To treat her with such ignominy was unforgivable! The fool. He’d regret his decision, mayhap not immediately, but soon enough.
She had never wanted to marry the fool in the first place. She’d only married Eggar because Mermadak had insisted. Clair glanced over at Mermadak. His breathing was difficult, labored. She rested a hand on his arm. “What can I do to help ye, Mermadak?” she asked dutifully.
Mermadak shrugged her arm away and grunted. Clair knew he was far too upset at the moment, not himself and it was all Aggie and Frederick’s fault. They didn’t know Mermadak like she did. If they were worthy of his time and attention, if they would simply do as he asked, why, they would see for themselves what a wonderful man he could be.
She was glad that Aggie was too dumb and blind to see what was plain for anyone else. Aggie’s ignorance was Clair’s gain.
MAKESHIFT TABLES WERE set up in the grassy area along the western wall of the keep. ‘Twasn’t just Frederick and his men who gathered out of doors. At least a dozen of the McLaren people joined them.
The men gathered wood to start a fire, a few of the women left only to return a short time later with blankets. Some brought cheese and bread and others their personal stocks of ale. Someone began playing a lute, while another played the pipe. People stood or sat about, eating and chatting. Some remarked how surprised they’d been that Findal had stood up to the McLaren. Aggie wanted to warn Frederick and his men that some of these people might only be acting as though they were their long lost friends. Chances were that they were only here for the meat.
While Aggie and Rose sat on a bench, Frederick sat on the ground near Aggie’s feet. Ailrig sat on the ground next to Ian.
They ate and chatted, the atmosphere cheery and upbeat. Aggie was exceedingly happy to be out of doors instead of in the gathering room. No one here looked at her as if she didn’t belong. They didn’t cast looks of disdain her way. No one tossed hurtful insults or snide remarks at her. They all treated her kindly and with respect. It lifted her spirits and for the first time in ages, she felt like she belonged.
She was so very proud of her husband, as well as Findal. They had stood up to Mermadak without so much as batting an eye! Aggie had never witnessed such a thing before. Everyone cowed to her father. Unfortunately, they cowed out of fear. She doubted anyone truly respected the man anymore and that was a shame. He could have been so much more than what he had become.
“Did ye see how I didna flinch when the McLaren called me a bastard, Aggie?” Ailrig asked as he stuffed his mouth with venison.
“Aye,” Aggie smiled proudly. “I did.”
“Frederick and Ian taught me how to do that,” he informed her as he chewed.
Aggie raised an eyebrow. “Taught ye to do what?”
“How to look intimidatin’,” he explained. “Even if yer insides be shakin’ like a rabbit caught in a trap, ye do no’ let yer opponent ken how afeared ye are.”
Aggie glanced at Frederick and smiled. She ran her fingers through Ailrig’s dark locks. “I b-be verra p-proud of ye, Ailrig. I c-couldna tell ye were afraid. Ye looked angry.”
Ailrig smiled proudly. “That’s what a warrior does, ye ken. Even if he be scared, ye let yer opponent think ye be only angry. Sets them off balance.”
“Ye seem to b-be learnin’ a good d-deal from Frederick and Ian.”
“Aye, I am. Frederick says I’ll make a fine warrior someday. And Ian says as long as I walk with me head held high and act with honor then it matters no’ if I was born a king or a bastard. ’Tis what’s on the inside of a man, what be in his heart that matters.”
Tears of pride and gratitude welled in her eyes as she looked first to Frederick then to Ian. Even if she could speak perfectly she would have been at a loss for words to describe how thankful she was to these two men. All she could think to do was mouth a thank you to the men as she wiped away an errant tear. There was so much she had tried to teach Ailrig and more she wanted him to learn. Every boy, no matter his station in life, deserved to have fine men to set an example. Now, both she and Ailrig had that in these men.
Aggie took note that Rose was looking at Ian out of the corner of her eye and was doing her best to hide her smile.
“Aye, ’tis true, laddie,” Ian said. “And what else have ye learned?”
Ailrig scrunched up his face and looked up at the evening sky for a moment before turning back to Ian. “A man never raises his weapon unless he has to defend his life or the life of those he loves. Ye do no’ go lookin’ to borrow trouble. And a man’s words are a reflection of his heart. If he speaks ill and ugly all the day long, he has a black heart. But if he speaks kindly and with respect, he be a good man with a good heart. Ye want to always be the man with the good heart, no matter what the black hearts say to ye.”
Aggie was on the verge of tears. These were lessons she had tried to teach Ailrig and oft worried that her message would get lost amongst the mire and bog of too many black hearted people that lived here. To have her message confirmed by these men that he looked up to and admired gave her much needed hope in that regard.
“And?” Ian urged the boy on with a smile.
Ailrig giggled. “Never draw yer dirk when yer fists will do!”
Frederick and Ian chuckled and gave nods of approval.
“Och!” Ailrig said, remembering one more lesson. “Ye also taught me that to marry is to halve yer rights but double yer duties. But I am no’ sure I ken what that means.”
Aggie and Rose each raised a brow and looked at Ian like mums about to chastise a petulant child.
Frederick laughed while Ian cleared his throat. “Well, that can be taken any number of ways, laddie.”
Rose pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. “Pray tell us, Ian the wise. What meanin’ do ye give that phrase?”
Ian looked to Frederick for help. Frederick smiled and raised his hands. “Do no’ look to me, brother of mine.”
Aggie gave Frederick’s shoulder a nudge with her hand. “Pray tell me how ye take that phrase, husband o’ mine,” she dared him as she did her best not to smile.
“Well,” he said as he placed his trencher on the ground beside him. “One could say that ye lose yerself when ye marry and only gain more work with little reward,” he said as he looked quite seriously at Ian. “But neither me nor me brother believe that to be true. We believe that when ye marry, aye, ye halve yer rights, but I believe a man is only givin’ up that auld part of him that was selfish. And aye, yer duties double, but they be no’ bad duties. They be the kind of duties that test a man’s heart and integrity. A man’s heart and will and strength is oft tested on the field of battle, ’tis true. But, och! How it’s tested once he marries, ye ken!”
Aggie shook her head. “Nay, I d-dunna ken.”
Frederick smiled thoughtfully at her. “Well, the things ye think most important to ye change. When a man has a good wife, one who tests his mettle and makes his heart sing with joy, ’tis no longer things he holds in high regard, but her. Doin’ what ye can to make her happy, to show her ye’d be nothin’ but a drunken lout without any reason to keep breathin’ ’twere it no’ fer her, that is what changes in him. That be an extra duty,” he paused for a moment and thought on it. “Nay, no’ a duty so much as a blessin’. A man does no’ realize how good, honest and brave he is until he has a wife to show him. And fer that, he should be eternally grateful.”
The way he looked at her when he spoke made her heart flutter like the wings of a hummingbird. Aggie could see the sincerity in his eyes as well as hear it in his voice. He truly believed what he said, but, did he mean those words for her? Or was he merely voicing that which he wished he had?
Deciding now was neither the t
ime nor place to ask, Aggie swallowed the question with a smile. Silently, she prayed that mayhap, someday, he might just think of her as a good wife.
“Be that true, Ian?” Rose asked. “Ye feel the same as yer brother?”
Ian cast her a sideways glance, as well as one of his most brilliant smiles, the kind of smile that made many a lass and grown woman alike swoon in its brilliance. It had no such effect on Rose.
“Aye, I do,” he answered, his smile fading to something reminiscent of a hungry bear about to devour a salmon.
Rose studied him closely as if she were looking for any sign of deception. Finally, she shook her head and looked away. Aggie saw how Rose had turned her lips inward to keep from smiling.
Aggie was about to say something to Rose when Rognall, Findal and a few other men joined them. Each man held at least one flagon of ale in their hands and tankards tucked under their arms. Smiling at Frederick and giving nods to Aggie and Rose, the men plopped on the ground facing them. They poured ale into tankards and began passing them around.
“’Tis a beautiful night, aye?” Findal remarked to none in particular.
Aggie had to agree. A cool breeze coming in from the west gently caressed her skin. Closing her eyes, she inhaled slowly and held her breath for a few moments before letting it out slowly. “I think it smells of r-rain,” she whispered once she finally opened her eyes.
“I hope it waits until after we are abed,” Findal said.
Aggie smiled. “Aye, I l-like to lie abed and listen t-to the rain as it t-taps against the keep.”
The men on the ground stared up at her with wide, surprised eyes. Aggie immediately grew uncomfortable, her shoulders turned inward and she cast her eyes to her feet. This be why I do no’ speak to others, she thought. She sipped at her ale quietly and pretended she was alone, save for Ailrig, Frederick and Rose.
Rognall took note of his mistress’s change in demeanor. “Pardon us, mistress,” he said softly. “We do no’ mean to stare. Ye see, this is the first time since we’ve arrived that we’ve heard yer voice.”
Frederick's Queen: The Clan Graham Series Page 23
