Seduction of a Highland Lass (McCabe Trilogy #2)(90)

And his marriage could do all that? He shook his head. “Nay. I’ll not set her aside.”

The king’s eyes widened and the hall dissolved into chaos. Voices were raised. Angry statements were thrown. Threats were made and Laird McDonald was nearly apoplectic in his fury.

Alaric roared out an order for calm. When the hall finally quieted, he swept the gathered men with his gaze. “Only a man without honor would set aside the woman he loved to marry another. Only a man without honor would desert his woman when she lay so close to death after saving his life. I cannot be that man. I love her. I owe her my loyalty and my allegiance. I owe her my protection and all the happiness I can bring her for the rest of her life.”

He turned then to face Ewan. “I know this will lower me in the esteem of my family. My brothers. My clan. My king. But I cannot be the man you’ve always known me to be if I do this thing. There has to be another way to make the alliance work. Me being laird of the McDonald clan should not be the hinge that holds us all together.”

The king let out a deep breath, his eyes glittering with anger. “Think what you do. Cameron nearly destroyed your clan. This is your opportunity to finish him once and for all.”

“With or without this alliance, Cameron is a dead man,” Alaric said in a menacing voice. “What you seek is an alliance that will prevent Malcolm from a successful bid to the throne, and you would use our clan to achieve your means.”

The king’s scowl grew darker.

“I won’t do it.” Alaric glanced to Rionna, apology in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Rionna. I would not humiliate you for the world. You are a good lass who deserves a husband who does not love another. I cannot marry you.”

“I’ll marry her.”

The hall went dead silent. Alaric turned, sure that it wasn’t Caelen who’d spoken those words. When he saw that it was indeed his brother who’d stepped forward and made the declaration, he could only stare in astonishment.

Rionna gasped and raised a hand to her mouth as she stared in horror at Caelen.

Ewan rose from his seat, his expression guarded. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

“I said I’d marry her,” Caelen repeated. “ ’Tis the easiest solution. A McCabe still becomes laird of the McDonald clan. Our alliances are sealed. We pledge ourselves to the king against Malcolm and Cameron. Alaric stays married to Keeley. Everyone gets what they want.”

“Except you,” Alaric murmured.

Caelen twisted his lips. “It matters naught. As long as she can give me sons and daughters I’ll be well satisfied with the match.”

Rionna had gone pale and sank back into her seat next to her father. The laird was nearly as pale as he stared in horror at the king.

“This cannot be allowed,” Laird McDonald sputtered. “The agreement was for Alaric McCabe to wed with Rionna and become laird when I stepped down.”

The king rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner. “Ewan, what think you of this mess?”

Ewan stared hard at Caelen but Caelen stared back, his expression stubborn and unyielding.

“I think,” Ewan said slowly, “that ’tis a reasonable solution so long as all parties agree.”

“I don’t agree!” Laird McDonald shouted.

“Father, sit down,” Rionna said in a voice that sounded like the crack of a sword against a shield. She pushed forward and walked toward the center of the room where Alaric and Caelen stood before Ewan and the king.

“Your conditions?” she asked Caelen in a cool voice.

“Smart lass,” Caelen murmured. “Aye, there are conditions. Your father leaves McCabe keep immediately and is never to return so long as Keeley McCabe resides here. When we return to McDonald land after our marriage, your father steps down as laird immediately and cedes power to me.”

“This is an outrage!” Laird McDonald bellowed.

Several other of the McDonalds voiced their displeasure and soon the hall vibrated with angry shouts.

To Alaric’s surprise, Rionna said nothing during the arguing. She stood completely still, studying Caelen.

“Your conditions do seem unreasonable,” the king said.

Caelen shrugged. “They are mine. Unreasonable or not.”

“I am not willing to give up the position of laird yet,” Laird McDonald bellowed. “ ’Twas the plan to cede power to Alaric after the birth of Rionna’s firstborn child.”

Caelen offered a lazy smile. “I can assure you that your daughter will be delivered of a child within nine months of our marriage. What does nine more months buy you?”

Rionna flushed and Laird McDonald nearly exploded with rage.

Caelen then turned to the king. “I gave my word that I would not relate an event that happened some days past. But the reason for not telling is no longer an issue and I would want you and the other clans to know the kind of man Laird McDonald is and why it is my condition that he step down the moment I marry his daughter.”

The king frowned. “Speak then. I give you leave to break this promise.”

“When Keeley was a young girl, she was a McDonald. Cousin to Rionna and niece to Laird McDonald. He caught her in her chamber and tried to rape her. A girl barely on the cusp of womanhood. When his wife found them, she cried Keeley whore and cast her out of the keep. She was forced to live on her own and provide for herself as no young girl should have to do. She was without protection. It’s a wonder she survived.”