“I have to wonder if he dunnae still see me as such from my father’s disloyalty. I have long wanted to pledge myself to his service, to align myself with him, but he would nae take the pledge.”
Broch nodded. “King David is slow to forgive or forget, and unfortunately, he has put yer father’s disloyalty upon yer shoulders.”
“Ye speak the truth. I need an alliance,” he said bluntly, allowing his pride to fall away. “I was to wed Coira Ainsworth to gain one, but I kinnae wed her.”
Broch cocked his eyebrows. “Marsaili?”
“Aye. I will wed her. Yet my clan still needs an alliance. We have been weakened by constant sieges by the MacDonalds and the Gordons.”
“I ken,” Broch said.
“Tell me,” Callum said, thinking on what Broch had said about making an enemy of the king if Callum killed the Campbell. “Why would the king wish to let the Campbell, who tries to thwart him at every turn, live?”
“Because the king sees many ways to use the Campbell, and as long as the king holds more power than the Campbell and the Steward, then he would rather the man live—for now.”
“Is yer laird nae close with the king?”
“Aye,” Broch answered. “Iain says King David is the best choice as king, though still a flawed man. But if ye repeat Iain’s words, I’ll deny them.”
Callum nodded, and as he did, a darting flash of white caught his attention near the brook. “Rabbit!” he shouted. In a flash, his dagger and Broch’s flew in unison toward the animal, hitting it at the exact same moment. “Ye throw a dagger true,” Callum said, impressed with the man’s skill.
“As do ye,” Broch returned.
Callum retrieved the rabbit and the daggers, and after handing Broch his blade, he said, “Iain sounds like a wise laird.” What he really needed to know was if Iain would be an enemy of Callum’s because of whatever Marsaili had done or if perhaps an alliance could be found there. It would be much a needed reprieve if the MacLeod laird could be considered an ally, but if the man meant to punish Marsaili, to set her out of the clan for whatever deed she had done to him, then Iain MacLeod would be Callum’s enemy, which meant the king may well be his enemy, too. What he would do then, he did not know. But he’d come up with a plan somehow. There was no choice. He would protect Marsaili always, and he would find their son, no matter what it took.
“Why did Iain send ye to find Marsaili?” Callum asked as they started back to Marsaili and Maria.
“She is his half sister,” Broch said. “Therefore, she is his to protect. And when she was ordered taken by her father, who she forsook and broke ties with in favor of living with and accepting Iain’s protection, it was his duty to find her and bring her back to the fold of the family.”
Callum nodded. That all sounded good, but… “In spite of her treachery against Iain and the MacLeod clan?”
Broch glared at him. “What ken ye of what she has done?”
“Nae much,” Callum said. “She simply told me she had done awful things—things she hoped would be forgiven.”
Broch grunted. “She did nae make wise choices, ’tis true. Yet Iain kens she did nae do anything more than what any woman would have done when she discovered the bairn she thought dead was actually alive. Her da told Marsaili that he would only reveal where he had sent her child—”
“My child, as well,” Callum interrupted, his anger at the Campbell roiling in him like a violent wave.
“Aye, yer child, as well. She was ordered to learn which nobles the king intended to take castles from next and get the information to her da. His goal was to make the Steward’s position stronger so that his position under the Steward would grow stronger, too. He meant to use Marsaili to make this happen.”
Callum curled his hands into fists. Marsaili had felt she had no choice but to betray the king, but the king would likely not care about that. “Does the king ken what she did?”
“Nay,” Broch answered quickly. “As I said, Iain is a wise laird. What good would it do to tell the king that which did nae cause him harm?”
“What will Iain do with the information? What punishment must she face for her treachery?”
“He will banish her from Dunvegan—secretly to only her and the few of us that ken—for a period of one year, but he will bring her to him first to tell her he will forget and forgive.”
Callum nodded. “’Tis a fair punishment, but if it were nae for me, where would she have gone?”
Broch smiled. “To the MacLean hold. Alex MacLean already offered.”
Callum smiled, feeling relieved to discover Iain MacLeod was an honorable and good man. He very much hoped they would someday be allies. It could depend, he knew, on the whims of the king. Or perhaps not…
“Does Iain have sway with the king?” Callum asked.
A slow, knowing smile stretched Broch’s lips. “Aye. More than anyone. If ye sway Iain to ye, the king will follow.”
