Page 61 of The Ruthless Laird's Virgin
Gods help me, but I have to protect her.
Callum shook his head, admiring the gumption that she always seemed to bring to the table. It did not seem to matter whatthe situation at hand was; she always spoke her mind and had to have the last word. He almost smirked to himself before stopping in front of the door and lifting a finger to his lips. “Remember, ye are to listen and nae speak.”
She nodded again, bristling slightly as she pursed her lips.
Callum strode into the council chambers with Eleanor following close behind until she slipped into the shadows of a corner that faced his chair.
Every head turned to look at Callum as a deathly silence fell over the room. Everyone had already gathered with Bran peacefully sleeping beside his chair.
Taking up his place at the head of the table beside Iain, Callum looked around the room. All of the faces seemed tired and weary, and he found himself wondering who the man was who had confronted Eleanor with the truth. Any one of these men could have slipped the information, yet it was just as likely that one of them had started the fire.
The thought sent a chill down his spine. “It was a long and hard evenin’ for us all last night,” he began.
A susurration of agreement filtered around the room as men nodded at one another. Several of them had lost livestock alongside some of their property and farmlands. The only saving grace that Callum could think of was that none of their family members had been lost.
Callum cleared his throat to gain their attention again after the whispers died down. “There were some devastatin’ losses, but men have placed themselves securely around the borders. We shall sleep kennin’ that the incident shall nae occur again. Now, have we found anythin’ of interest in the archives?” he turned toward the treasurer, who seemed to be paling by the second.
Coming to his feet with a stack of documents in his hands, the treasurer coughed, placing his fist against his lips. His balding head reflected the flickering light of the candles, and Callum could not help but think of how frail he looked with his thin frame and gangly limbs.
Was the man who betrayed him young or old? There were several council members that he could think of who were far more capable of accepting a bribe and starting fires.
“We have, me Laird. Some of the documents were difficult to decipher, but the name of the land agent who worked with the documents when ye were missin’ was Donald Stewart. We have nae used him before, but it seems as if the duties were handed over right before ye went missin’.”
“We always used Andrew Whitacker and his father.” Callum stole a glance in Eleanor’s direction, knowing that she would react.
The treasurer nodded, clearing his throat again as she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.
The room fell deathly silent as Callum looked to Eleanor at the other end of the room. Her face was as pale as a ghost when she met his gaze. Had they not thought all along that Donald Stewart was behind the matter from the start? Had she not mentioned to him that her brother had letters confirming correspondence with the man?
She nodded discreetly to him, slipping from the chambers as the rest of the men continued to discuss the matter at hand. It did not bode well for any of them that her brother was still missing. Donald Stewart was a dangerous man, and it seemed as if he would have stopped at nothing to get his way.
Some of the councilmen tapped their fingers impatiently on the table as others discussed what needed to be done.
“We need to find the man!” One older, very angry man named Angus slammed his fist on the table.
“And risk our own lives?” another council member with bright red hair retorted. “We should spend our time fortifyin’ the castle instead of chasin’ a man who is more than likely long gone by now!”
Callum exchanged a look with Iain, who raised his brows. Any one of the men arguing could have been the one who had betrayed him, but Callum still was not sure where to start. He had hoped that closer inspection would give him a clue, but it was becoming increasingly clear to him that the options were vast and numerous.
It could be all of them.
He ran a hand over the stubble on his chin.
Eleanor had only been gone for a few minutes when the sound of a piercing scream sliced through the air.
Bran jumped to his feet and began to snarl, but Callum was already halfway out the door.
Eleanor could not believe what she had heard as she left the council chambers and picked her way back to her own. Her brother’s letters were all that she needed as proof that Donald Stewart was the one who had been behind all of the land theft and deaths.
So much death…
A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of all the deeds she had seen where men had lost their lives. Exactly who was this man, and how had he been able to go undetected for so long? Her mind was a whirl of questions that she could not answer.
Gasping, she stepped to the side of the hall and stopped as a shadow suddenly crossed her path. “Marion?” she called out loud.
Nothing but silence met her ears.
I have to get out of here.
