Ceci Giltenan(81)
“Alastair may have raised ye, Fingal, but I am your father. That is one reason why I spent so much time at Duncurra. I knew I couldn’t claim ye, but I wanted to know my son. When it came time for ye to begin training, I asked Alastair to send ye to me, but Niall had trained under my father and Alastair said he wanted to send ye to Laird Chisholm. Your mother, after all, was a Chisholm. Now Alastair is gone, I can claim ye and name ye as my heir. Not only can all of my holdings be yours, but Duncurra and all of the MacIan’s new wealth can be as well.”
Fingal just stared at Malcolm, marshaling his emotions. He knew this was not a ruse. Why had he never noticed the similarities he bore to Malcolm? They seemed plainly evident now. He asked, “Does anyone else know ye fathered me?”
Fingal noticed how pleased Malcolm looked. Does he think I’m tempted by this offer?
“A few of my clansmen know, and many more suspect it. Son, we can do this together. Ye can explain to Fearghas ye made a mistake and send his army back. Ye and I can walk into Duncurra, unchallenged. It will be yours with neither of us having to shed a drop of blood. Matheson has Niall outmanned, but even if Niall isn’t killed, when he returns, he will not prevail against my army with the remnant he’ll have left. He will have to lay siege to the fortress he so diligently prepared.”
Fingal remained very calm as he heard Malcolm’s plan. “Ye have been working toward this for a long time, have ye not? Ye were responsible for the raids last spring?” Fingal asked blandly.
“Aye, I had hoped to heat up the old feud between the Mathesons and the MacIans. Unfortunately Tadhg Matheson is not as fractious as his father was. He picked an inconvenient time to become a bloody black friar, so I had to keep raiding. Nothing seemed to draw Niall out, not even the destruction my men wrought after Epiphany.”
“So it was ye Tomas heard.” Fingal thought carefully about his next move for a moment. “It was rather clever of ye to arrange for Matheson to kidnap Katherine.”
“I realized she was Niall’s weakness. It is funny, really, he always scoffed at men who professed to love their wives. He said it made them weak, it was one reason he shunned marriage. Well, it might not make them weak, but it certainly does give an enemy a target. I realized nothing short of fear for his little heiress was going to draw Niall into battle, and I needed him to leave Duncurra with the most of his men.”
“I can understand how ye managed to pull off the raids, that wouldn’t have been too difficult. I don’t understand how ye managed to get Matheson’s help with the abduction. I didn’t know ye were particularly close with him.”
“Fingal, my son, Matheson was completely unaware of his role in this.” Malcolm chuckled maliciously.
“So he didn’t kidnap Katherine, ye still have her?”
“Nay, for once Matheson took the bait, but his intention was only to use her as leverage to negotiate a treaty. Good men are predictable and they’re so easy to manipulate, especially when they think the cause is noble. Of course, I would have faked the kidnapping if it had been necessary. However, once under attack, it might not have taken Matheson long to convince Niall he didn’t have her. I really need Matheson to inflict serious damage on Niall’s army, and Niall himself, if that is possible.”
“I see, so Matheson still has her. Do ye know if she is safe?”
Malcolm grinned slyly. “Fingal, are ye concerned for the lass? She is a pretty thing. Do ye want her, son? We can arrange that. She is carrying Niall’s brat, but your mother knows ways to scathe the baby away.”
The statement sickened Fingal as many things suddenly became clear, but he needed one more piece of information. “Niall thinks I’m behind all this. Ye would not have had an heir if he had killed me yesterday as he wanted to.”
“I did want Niall to believe it was ye, but I knew he would never kill ye, he thinks ye are his brother. As I said, good men are predictable, but I also knew he would not take a traitor into battle with him. I wanted ye to be safe at Duncurra when I arrived.” Malcolm chuckled. “Although I didn’t think ye would have raised an army against me.”
“Ye didn’t?” asked Fingal mildly. “I was the one Niall blamed, but I knew I had done nothing. As you predicted, Niall confined me to the keep, so I had plenty of time to think through all that was happening. Did ye think I wasn’t smart enough to figure this out, or did ye think I wouldn’t have the initiative to do anything about it?”
Malcolm looked slightly puzzled.
“Oh, I see, ye thought I was as faithless as the woman who spawned me, and would willingly betray loved ones.” Fingal finally let the rage he felt show. “Ye were wrong, Laird MacLennan. In this case, the apple has fallen far from the tree, both trees it would seem.”