Page 80 of Conquer the Highlander

“That woman belongs tae me!”

“You have violated my good graces for the last time, Ayr. You do not make demands of me in my own establishment.”

Ambrose was starting to turn red in the face. He wasn’t used to being denied, now twice in one night.

“If ye dunna return that woman tae me, I will go tae the magistrate in Edinburgh and tell him that ye have stolen her,” he hissed. “Then I will go tae the church and tell them that ye refuse tae return my son’s betrothed. Ye canna fight both the church and the law, de Lave. I suggest ye rethink yer stance. This can all go away quietly if ye simply return her tae me.”

Though the Duke of Ayr was quite angry as he spoke, Clegg found that he was actually amused by it. He’d called Ambrose a bully and a buffoon, and he was right on both accounts. But he needed to stall for time until Axel and his guard arrived even though he very much wanted to kick both Ambrose and his son right in their arses and chase them from his solar. It was clear that they were a pair of jackals.

He was coming to pity Titus and Esme a great deal.

“In the first place, there are many women here at the Ludus Caledonia,” he said, forcing himself to calm. “What makes you think this particular woman is here? And why would she even be here? I do not know anyone named Esme de Gracia.”

“I saw her,” Conan blurted. “She was chasing a child and I saw her go intae one of the cottages.”

“And you know this for certain?”

“We can go tae the cottage tae confirm it.”

Clegg shook his head. “I will not go into the warrior’s village and wake up one of my warriors just because you are chasing ghosts,” he said. “As I said, we have many women at the Ludus Caledonia. Mayhap this woman merely looked like the one you are looking for.”

Conan was losing his temper. “It was her,” he insisted. “She ran away more than two weeks ago and we have been searching for her ever since. Now I discover that she has been here all along. She is my betrothed and I want her back, do ye hear?”

Clegg remained calm in the face of a very angry young man. But what he said next was going to make him even angrier.

“Prove it.”

Confusion washed over Conan’s features. “Prove what?”

“That she is your betrothed.”

Conan’s mouth opened in outrage as Ambrose intervened. “Of course we can prove it,” he said. “Bring her tae me. I will tell ye that the woman is Esme de Gracia.”

Clegg looked at the man. “You could say that about any woman I brought to you,” he said. “I will not take your word for it.”

Ambrose was aghast. “Ye would doubt the word of a duke?”

“I would doubt the word of a man who has clearly come to the Ludus Caledonia for something other than entertainment.”

When Ambrose geared up for a nasty retort, Clegg pounded a big fist on his desk, shaking the table.

“Shut your lips and listen well,” he snarled in an uncharacteristic show of nastiness. “When you first came here, it was to purchase The Eagle’s contract and I denied you. Now, you have allegedly found a woman who, you say, has run away from you, a woman you tell me is your son’s betrothed. You’ve done nothing but make demands of me and change your story since your arrival, so I would not believe anything out of your mouth. Bring the woman’s father to tell me that she is, indeed, his daughter and that she is betrothed to your son and I shall believe him. But you, my lord, I do not believe at all. You have all the credibility of a viper in the Garden of Eden, and I want you out of the Ludus Caledonia before I do something you will regret. Is this in any way unclear?”

Both Ambrose and Conan were looking at Clegg as if the man had committed an unforgivable offense. In their minds, he had. He had denied their wants. They looked at each other, sputtering in outrage, wanting to shout at Clegg until their demands were met, but they could both see that it wasn’t going to happen.

Clegg had taken a stand.

It had not gone in their favor.

Conan started to speak, but Ambrose stopped him.

“Very well,” Ambrose said, quivering with anger. “We shall leave. But this isna over, de Lave. I shall return, and when I do, ye will be very sorry ye dinna cooperate. This I vow.”

They were moving for the chamber door, Ambrose dragging Conan, who very much wanted to continue the argument. Just as they reached the door, Axel appeared with several guards. Being that Axel was a very large and very intimidating man, Ambrose passed him a long look as he slid past him, pulling Conan along.

Clegg moved away from his table, going to the chamber door and watching his Praetorian escort Ambrose and Conan out of Caelian Hill and to the area where their carriage was parked. Even when they disappeared into the night, he did not breathe a sigh of relief.

He knew this wasn’t over.