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.”
“That’s crazy talk,” Laird McDonald sputtered. “ ’Tis as my lady wife said. The lass tried to seduce me.”
Rionna whirled and pinned her father with a glare that made him pale and take his seat once again.
“That’s not the whole of it,” Caelen said softly. “Upon the laird’s arrival here, when he found out that Keeley was staying here in the McCabe keep, he waited for her to pass his chamber. He pulled her into his room, locked the door, and tried to rape her again.”
Alaric lunged across the table and slammed into Laird McDonald. The force sent them both over the back of the laird’s chair and they hit the floor with a resounding thump that echoed throughout the keep.
“You son of a bitch,” Alaric snarled. “You dared to touch her again? I’ll kill you for this!”
He yanked the laird to his feet and smashed his fist into his face, satisfied when the laird promptly spewed blood and two teeth from his mouth. Alaric reared back to hit him again when Caelen caught his fist.
“ ’Tis enough,” he said quietly. “I let you get in one, but now the laird is my problem, and I’ll deal with him accordingly.”
“You’re the one who found her, weren’t you?” Alaric said hoarsely. “And you didn’t tell me. She was mine to defend. It should have been me to have repaid his insult.”
Caelen smiled. “Your lass did a fine enough job on her own. She busted his nose and fair cracked his cods open. I merely finished the job for her.”
The king rose, his expression dark as he stared at the goings-on. “Is this true, Laird McDonald? Did you try to rape a child under your own care and protection? And you attacked her once again under Laird McCabe’s roof?”
The laird remained silent as he nursed his bloodied mouth.
“Aye, he did,” Rionna said quietly. “I was there.”
“Disloyal bitch!” the laird spat.
Caelen rounded on the laird again. “ ’Tis my future wife you insult. I would suggest you strongly reconsider any words you have to say to her in the future.”
The king rubbed his fingers wearily over the bridge of his nose. “What think you of this, Ewan? Can we still salvage this alliance and will the others join with us in our cause?”
Ewan lifted a brow and then surveyed the occupants of the hall, most of whom had remained silent as they observed what had transpired between the McDonalds and the McCabes.
“Why don’t you ask them?”
The king chuckled. “A sound idea indeed, Ewan.”
He raised his hands for quiet and then addressed the crowded room. “What say you, Lairds? If Caelen McCabe marries Rionna McDonald and seals Neamh Álainn to the McCabe lands here via the alliance with the McDonalds, will you join with us in our fight against Duncan Cameron and Malcolm?”
One by one, the lairds stepped forward, the only sound, their boots scraping against the floor.
“I refuse to ally myself with a coward who preys on children,” one laird called out. “If Caelen McCabe becomes laird upon his marriage to Rionna McDonald, then aye, I’ll join and swear my allegiance to Your Majesty and to the McCabes.”
The other lairds nodded and voiced their agreement.
“There is but one last question to ask,” Caelen spoke up.
All heads turned in his direction, but he turned his gaze on Rionna, who still stood ramrod straight and pale in the center of the room.
“Are you willing to wed with me and not Alaric McCabe, Rionna McDonald?”
Rionna stared at her father and shook her head in a gesture of sorrow. Finally she looked up at Caelen and met his gaze with her captivating golden eyes.
“Aye, Caelen McCabe. You have proven a worthy and loyal friend to Keeley and brother to Alaric.”
“And do you support me becoming laird upon our marriage and for your father to step down?”