Page 106 of The Laird's Masked Passion

Colin opened his eyes. “Then she will heal.”

“Aye.”

Several minutes later, Colin entered the lower chamber where the Council had gathered. A few men looked first at the bandage beneath his dark coat. Wiser men looked away before he noticed. He noticed all the same.

“Sit,” Colin ordered.

They sat. Pain made him sharper, or perhaps fear did. He had come into that room with Elspeth asleep behind him, Munro’s arrow wound burning in his shoulder, and the memory of his people screaming in a meadow meant for joy. The table was crowded with councilmen, captains, Breac, Murdoch, and old Tormod, who had no official place in strategy but possessed the useful habit of remembering every feud that had ever drawn blood within fifty miles.

Maps were spread across the table. Stones marked watch posts. A strip of leather marked the ridge from which the attackers had come. Colin studied it in silence while the men waited.

At last, Murdoch spoke. “We could ride before noon.”

Several heads lifted.

“Tae Munro land?” one councilman asked.

“Aye,” Murdoch nodded. “Strike fast. He willnae expect it after failing.”

“He may expect exactly that,” Breac corrected. “Munro wants Colin angry.”

“Iamangry,” Colin spoke.

“Nay one doubted it,” Breac replied. “The question is whether ye intend tae be useful with it.”

A few men shifted, alarmed by such boldness.

Colin did not look up from the map. “Continue.”

Breac leaned forward. “Munro attacked a feast before witnesses. Women, children, villagers. That gives us more than grievance. It gives us a case.”

“Cases dinnae stop arrows,” Murdoch said.

“Nay,” Breac agreed. “But the Crown does.Sometimes. When properly embarrassed.”

Old Tormod snorted. “The Crown moves like winter honey.”

“Then we heat it,” Breac urged. “Send letters at once tae the Crown. Tae Niall. Tae Domhnall. Tae Ruaridh, though he will curse us for it and send men while claiming he shouldnae because Isobel is with child.”

A murmur passed around the table.

One of the captains tapped the ridge on the map. “If we attack now and Munro claims we struck first, the Crown may hesitate.”

“Or punish both clans,” another added.

Murdoch’s jaw flexed. “And if we wait, he strikes again.”

“If we wait foolishly,” Colin told them. “We willnae.”

The room quieted. He placed one hand on the table. The other hung uselessly beneath his coat, with pain pulsing down his arm.

“Double every watch. Roads, burn paths, shepherd tracks, the old pass above the east wood. I willnae have any child go beyond the village without escort and nay woman will be walking between village and castle alone. Harvest work continues only under armed guard. Any stranger is held until I see him.”

One of the older councilmen frowned. “That will frighten the people.”

“The people were attacked at a feast. They are already frightened.”

No one argued.