come. We are a small family, my lord, and pledged to ye as yer vassals. There is no doubt as to the course we will take. We will follow ye as we always have. We will not pledge ourselves to this Stewart until ye do.' He sat back down.
'Discuss this among yerselves,' the Lord of the Isles said, 'but keep a rein on yer tempers. There will be no fighting or killing in my brother of Nairn's hall. Remember there are women here.'
The chieftains began to discuss the matter in reasonable tones at first, but slowly their voices escalated as their deliberations deepened and views were frankly exchanged. The smaller families were concerned about their ability to defend themselves, not just from James Stewart, but from the larger families who would prey on them no matter the course they chose, as they had always preyed on them. The larger clans considered the wisdom of deserting their alliance with Alexander MacDonald to join with Scotland's king. Yet there was the distinct possibility that the new king would reward those who quickly came to his side rather than waiting for a gathering to be called in Inverness.
Robert Cameron muttered, ' 'Tis like tossing the dice. One canna be certain if they will win.'
'Are ye thinking of deserting our ancient confederacy, then, Robbie Cameron?' said William Maclntyre heatedly.
Those at the high board listened with interest to the exchanges going on about them.
'Duncan Campbell is not to be trusted,' Nairn said to his elder brother. 'The Campbells have always been jealous of our power.'
'But not strong enough to defy us until now,' Alexander MacDonald replied. 'I can see he is considering the advantage of kneeling before James Stewart, but should he do so before I do, he will make an enemy of the MacDonalds for all time. The smaller families I canna blame for attempting to protect their own, for I will acknowledge to ye, and ye alone, brother, that I know in the end I will yield, too.'
'James Stewart said to me when he reconfirmed my title and lands that I should kneel before him immediately after ye, Alex, and so I shall, but not before then, I swear it.'
The Lord of the Isles clapped his younger sibling upon the shoulder and said, 'I love ye, Nairn. I'm glad for the day our father brought ye to Islay to raise up with the rest of us.'
Suddenly all eyes in the hall swung to Ian MacArthur, who said loudly, 'Why do we not kill this Stewart king, my lords? 'Twould save a great deal of trouble for us in the end. He has no heir yet. The queen, I am told, delivered of a daughter. Old Atholl is the nearest male relation to the throne. Kill James Stewart, and the lands south of the Tay would erupt in chaos with the struggle to gain his throne. We might seek for Duke Murdoch's surviving son, the other James, who I am told is in Ireland.' Ian MacArthur looked about him for support.
Alexander MacRurie leapt up, saying, ' 'Tis a fine idea Ian has put forth. If we kill James Stewart, the matter is settled for us. And if we put his nephew to do the deed, who can blame us?'
'Are ye so stupid,' said Fiona, standing up behind the high board, 'that ye think Duke Murdoch's Jamie Stewart would be willing to avenge his father and brothers for naught? And dare ye offer him coin to do the murder? He could not take it for shame, and would be called a Judas. So what would he want, my good lords?' she demanded scathingly of them, and then as quickly answered her own question. 'I will tell ye what he would want, ye fine pair of fools.
'Such an act would surely bring fire and sword to the highlands,' Elizabeth McKay said quietly to those at the high boards. 'Fiona speaks wisdom, and I hope ye will listen well, my brother.' She looked directly at the Lord of the Isles. 'What think ye of Lord MacArthur's suggestion?'
'I think he is a fool, as our bonnie Fiona so wisely observed,' Alexander MacDonald said. ' 'Twould be unworthy of a MacDonald to be part of such a plot. I will espouse no such thing, sister, and ye know it well without asking,' he finished.
'Yet,' his sister said, 'MacArthur's close adherent is The MacRurie, who is a part of the MacDonald family, brother. How will ye keep him under control?'
Alexander MacDonald smiled wolfishly. 'When the day comes that we must go to Inverness, and the king desires a member of our family to make an example of, do ye nae think MacRurie will do, sister?'
'Ah, Alex, our da would be proud of ye,' she said, smiling at him. ' 'Tis a plan worthy of Donald of Harlaw.'
Fiona listened to them as well as to the continued discussions in her hall. This proposed assassination by Ian MacArthur and Alexander MacRurie was something she would pass on, for although it would undoubtedly come to nothing, the king should be warned. She was worried as to how her information could be transmitted, for she was in no condition to go to Inverness to visit the cloth-and-ribbon merchant and none of the other agents had come to Nairns Craig this spring. She turned to her brother-in-law and asked, 'Have ye seen Father Ninian, my lord? I would have him here to baptize the bairn after it is born.'
'I have heard he was somewhere north of Nairns Craig, my bonnie,' the lord answered her, 'but do not fear. He came to Islay earlier this spring, and told me then he planned to be with ye and Nairn come June.'
'June comes in tomorrow, my lord,' Fiona said.
' 'Tis a fine month for a bairn to be born in,' the lord told her with a broad smile.
Fiona laughed. 'Any moment would suit me for this bairn to be born. I am as swollen as an overripe grape.'
'Is my nephew an active wee fellow?' Elizabeth MacKay asked.
'He is never still,' Fiona responded, 'yet in the last day or two he has quieted, it seems.'
Elizabeth MacKay gave Moire Rose an arch look. 'The bairn will be born soon,' she said with certainty.
Nairn did not come to bed that night, and Fiona slept badly. In the morning, however, she was up, dressed in a loose-fitting dark green gown, and in the hall to supervise the servants seeing to the early meal. Oat porridge, fresh bread, two hams, several bowls of hard-boiled eggs, stone crocks of butter, and a new wheel of hard, sharp cheese were set out, along with pitchers of foaming brown ale. The chieftains, most bleary-eyed, were nonetheless awake, and had attended to their personal needs. They sat down at the trestles, eating hungrily as if they had not eaten in a month, swiftly emptying the pitchers of ale.
Then, one by one, they began to take their leave of Nairns Craig. Fiona stood with her husband at the entry to the hall, bidding each man a polite farewell. She knew each man's name and spoke it as he came abreast of her. The chieftains were pleased by her womanly manners, and many complimented Nairn on his good fortune in his wife. When they had all departed but for The MacDonald and his relations, Fiona returned to the hall again to make certain the trestles were cleared off and set to one side of the room. Then the morning meal for the rest of her guests was brought out.
The Lord of the Isles, who had been in the hall earlier to bid his vassals and allies farewell, was already seated at the high board with his sister and his brother-in-law, The MacKay. 'Yer wife is a great asset to us, Nairn,' he said. 'She spoke well, and with much common sense last night. Many commented upon it. I am verra pleased with ye, my bonnie,' he told Fiona, a smile lighting his whole face.
'I don't wish to raise my children amid the din of constant war, my lord,' Fiona told him. 'No woman does, be she of high or low station. 'Tis ye men who cry war and then send our sons into battle. I but sought to keep the peace for as long a time as possible.'
'But if our autonomy is threatened, we must defend ourselves,' the Lord of the Isles said sternly.
'All James Stewart asks of ye is loyalty,' Fiona said. 'He has a mighty task to bring Scotland under control. He wants the towns to become great commercial centers like the English have because that is what makes them
