Mairead glanced around the hall. She no longer read condemnation in the faces but rather shock, pity, and even respect. Her glance rested on her mother, who had tears standing in her eyes.
“Have the good Father and Lady Matheson jogged your memories, lads? Do either of ye fine Fraser warriors still want me to believe she willingly went into the forest with ye?” Laird Fraser asked menacingly.
“Da, surely ye don’t believe—”
“Shut your gob. I’ll slice off your cods myself, lad, if ye say another word. Ye have shamed me, yourself, and our whole clan.”
“She’s lying. She wanted it then and she wanted it today. She came looking for it. She said she’d do whatever I wanted,” Darcy sneered.
“Aye, I said that after ye overpowered me and had me pinned to the floor. I didn’t want ye to hurt me anymore. I needed ye to loosen your grip so I could get away. Nay, Darcy, I didn’t want ye to force yourself on me. No lass does.”
The hall was silent. Mairead’s glance fell on her mother and she nearly lost her composure. Lady MacKenzie stood rigidly with her hands clenched into fists at her side and tears streaming freely down her cheeks.
“When a lass kicks and bites, it’s usually a sign she’s not interested. When she breaks your nose for ye, well, I’m not sure how ye could mistake that for desire.” Several people chuckled. “Ye see? I don’t think anyone believes I went looking for ye. I’m not certain how ye managed it, but I have no doubt ye laid a trap for me. Ye told me ye did. Don’t ye remember? ‘Even eels can be caught in a trap, and so can wee mice.’”
“Eels?” asked Tadhg blandly, but Mairead could see his tightly reined anger.
“Aye.” She shrugged and smiled. “He had a wee bit of trouble holding on to me.”
“Well done,” he said, pulling her close to him again.
“Did ye plan all of this, Darcy? Have ye hurt another MacKenzie?” his father asked.
“I charmed a Matheson lass to bring the mouse out, that’s all. But if anyone else was hurt, ye need to look to Eara for those answers.”
Eara cried, “How dare ye, Darcy? I had nothing to do with Rowan being injured!”
Darcy mocked her. “Was Rowan injured? Oh, Eara, I’m so sorry. I know ye were so desperately in love with him, but I’m sorry to tell ye I had nothing to do with that either.”
“Really? Ye had no idea?” asked Mairead.
“I said I didn’t,” he snapped.
“That is odd, because not long ago, as ye held your dirk to my throat, ye said the easiest thing for ye to do would be to simply slit my throat. After all, someone had cracked my brother’s skull and perhaps they had a grudge against the MacKenzies.”
The room erupted yet again in exclamations of shocked outrage. Laird Fraser looked old, tired, and ashamed and Mairead couldn’t help but feel pity for him.
“Enough!” Niall shouted over the din and the room slowly quieted. “Lachlan, your son stands accused of attacking Rowan MacKenzie and he brutally assaulted Lady Matheson, twice. The evidence regarding those attacks at least is clear.”
“It isn’t clear! She wanted it, I tell ye. I don’t care what she says and I had nothing to do with Rowan. If I had wanted to injure Rowan, I wouldn’t have chosen so craven a method.”
“Would ye like trial by combat, Darcy?” Tadhg asked in a deadly calm voice. “I would be more than happy to send your soul to hell.”
“No! He is my son. I promise ye, I will deal with him. He will be punished for harming Lady Matheson. I promise ye.” Lachlan clearly read the menace in Tadhg’s voice and was not willing to risk his son’s life to soothe his pride. “But the issue of Rowan’s attacker remains unclear. Just because Darcy was aware it happened doesn’t mean he did it.”
“Nay, it doesn’t,” agreed Niall.
“Then let us leave,” demanded Lachlan. “There will be no wedding. Eara has admitted her involvement with Rafer. I cannot deny it. Cathal has legitimate grounds to break the betrothal.”
“Lachlan, Cathal’s son, one of my guardsmen, was brutally attacked under my roof. I will not allow that crime to go unanswered. The fact Darcy lied about knowing Rowan was injured, among other things, does not help his cause.”
“Do ye mean to keep us here?” Lachlan asked.
“Until we know what happened, aye, I do. To start with it would help if Darcy would tell us where he was and what he was doing last night.”
“MacIan, it isn’t any of your business what I was doing last night. However, there isn’t a single person here who can honestly say they witnessed me within the keep because I stayed outside.”