“I didn’t say I trusted him,” Connor said. “I wouldn’t trust any of my da’s brothers.”
“I’ll wager Hugh has already set himself up as chieftain and is living in Dunscaith Castle,” Duncan said.
Ian suspected Duncan was right. By tradition, the clan chose their leader from among the men with chieftain’s blood. With Connor’s father and brother both dead and Connor in France, that left only Connor’s uncles. If half the stories told about them were true, they were a pack of murderers, rapists, and thieves. How a man as honorable as Connor could share blood with them was a mystery. Some would say the faeries had done their mischief switching babies.
They were nearing the shore. Without needing to exchange a word, he and Duncan lowered the sail, then took up the oars with the others. They pulled together in a steady rhythm that came as naturally to Ian as breathing.
“I know you’re no ready to discuss it, Connor,” Ian said between pulls. “But sooner or later you’ll have to fight Hugh for the chieftainship.”
“You’re right,” Connor said. “I’m no ready to discuss it.”
“Ach!” Alex said. “Ye can’t mean to let that horse’s arse be our chieftain.”
“What I don’t mean to do is to cause strife within the clan,” Connor said. “After our losses at Flodden, a fight for the chieftainship would weaken us further and make us vulnerable to our enemies.”
“I agree ye need to lay low at first,” Ian said. After an absence of five years, Connor couldn’t simply walk into Dunscaith Castle and claim the chieftainship—especially if Hugh already had control of the castle. “Let the men know you’re home and see they have an alternative to Hugh. Then, when Hugh shows he puts his own interests above the clan’s—as he surely will—we’ll put ye forward as the better man to lead.”
Alex turned to Duncan, who was on the oar opposite his. “You and I are like innocent babes next to my conniving cousins.”
“All great chieftains are conniving,” Ian said with a grin. “ ’Tis a required trait.”
“Connor will need to be conniving just to stay alive,” Duncan said without a trace of humor. “Hugh has been pirating in the Western Isles for years without being caught. That means he’s clever and ruthless—and lucky as well.”
They were quiet again for a time. Connor may not be ready to admit it aloud yet, but Ian agreed with Duncan —Connor’s life was in danger on Skye.
“If you’re going to the castle, I’m going with ye,” Ian said. “Ye don’t know what awaits ye there.”
“Ye don’t know what awaits you either,” Connor said. “Ye must go home and see how your family fares.”
Ian sent up a prayer that his own father had survived the battle. He regretted that their parting had been angry—and regretted still more that he had ignored his father’s letters ordering him home. He should have fought alongside his father and clansman at Flodden. He would carry the guilt of not being there to his grave.
“And ye need to settle matters with the lass,” Connor added. “Five years is long enough to keep her waiting.”
Ian had managed to forget about the problem of Sileas while they talked of Connor and the chieftainship—and he didn’t want to think about it now. He took another swig from the whiskey jug at his feet while they rested their oars and glided to shore. As soon as the boat scraped bottom, he and the others dropped over the side into the icy water and hauled the boat up onto the shore of Skye.
After five years gone, he was home.
“I’ll wait to go to Dunscaith Castle until I know which way the wind blows,” Connor said, as they dragged the boat above the tide line. “Duncan and I will take Shaggy’s boat to the other side of Sleat and find out the sentiment there.”
“I still think I should go with ye,” Ian said.
Connor shook his head. “We’ll send word or come find ye in two or three days. In the meantime, talk to your father. He’ll know what the men are thinking on this part of the island.”
“I know ye can’t mean to leave your best fighting man out of this,” Alex said. “Should I come with ye or go north to hear what the folks there are saying?”
“Stay with Ian,” Connor said, the white of his teeth bright in the growing darkness. “He faces the greatest danger.”
“Verra funny.” At the thought of Sileas, he took another swig from the jug—and choked when Alex elbowed him hard in the ribs.
“You’d best give Ian a full week,” Alex said. “Ye don’t want him leaving his poor wife wanting after such a long wait.”
The others laughed for the first time since they had heard the news about Connor’s father.
Ian, however, was not amused.
“I have no wife,” he repeated.
“Sileas’s lands are important to the clan, especially Knock Castle,” Connor said, draping an arm across Ian’s shoulders. “It protects our lands on the eastern shore. We can’t have it falling into the hands of the MacKinnons.”
“What are ye saying?” Ian asked between clenched teeth.
“Ye know verra well my father did not force ye to wed Sileas out of concern for the girl’s virtue. He wanted Knock Castle in the hands of his nephew.”
“Ye can’t be trying to tell me to accept Sileas as my wife.”
Connor squeezed Ian’s shoulder. “All I’m asking is that you consider the needs of the clan.”
