‘Look, just take one!’ snapped Hugh. ‘I’m not inclined to any of them in particular, and there are lots to choose from, all shapes and sizes. If Isla is not to your liking, perhaps Geilis here will do just as well,’ he said, beckoning forward a tall lass with dark, stringy hair and an angry scowl. ‘She’s skinny,’ continued Hugh, ‘but she’s stronger than she looks and will give you a lively ride, I am sure.’
Cormac stood up, and Lyall could have sworn he was stifling a grin. ‘Hugh, with great respect, if my brother is not inclined to be wed, that is his choice, and no reflection of the worthiness of your daughters, who are, indeed, most comely.’
‘Oh, so I am to make sacrifices and you Buchanans cannot. Seal this alliance with marriage, and our two clans can be stronger for it. You have enemies Buchanan, I know it well that the Gowan’s still harbour hate for you, despite your marriage. You took a wife you did not want for the sake of the King, why can’t your brother do the same?’
‘Because the King is not ordering him to wed as he did me, you fool. Your daughters are not part of this bargain, Hugh, let the matter go.’
‘You insult me, you Buchanans, in my own hall. I know why your brother doesn’t want my girls. I heard rumours he is hard for an English whore he brought back from his latest campaign. Aye, he favours the English over his own kind, the traitor.’
‘Name me a traitor again, and I will run you through,’ snarled Lyall rising to his feet.
Isla Gordon squeaked in alarm, and all the other girls looked daggers at him.
‘If your brother does not think my daughters worthy, then he can get out, Cormac,’ shouted Hugh. ‘He has shamed my poor girls in their own keep.’
‘You have shamed them, ambushing me like this,’ snarled Lyall. He turned to the young women around him. ‘Forgive me, I meant no slight to your beauty and now, ladies, I must leave.’
‘Aye, run away to your lonely bed, Lyall Buchanan, and rub yourself while you dream of your red wench and her fine, English ways.’
As Lyall headed out of the hall, he heard Cormac bellow, ‘Enough with the polite talk Hugh, let us speak plain, and by God, you’d better start being reasonable, or you will face King Robert’s wrath, and mine.’
***
A good while later, Lyall lay on his pallet before the fire, in a dingy chamber, seething, and unable to rest. A light tap on the door had him alert and on his feet in moments. It swung slowly open, and Isla crept in, shutting the door behind her. She was barely dressed, in just her shift, which left little to the imagination.
‘What are you doing?’ he hissed.
‘Hush, we have to be quiet,’ she said, bringing a finger to her lips. ‘I thought you may be lonely in your cold bed. I thought to warm it for you.’
‘No, you can’t.’ he said, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘If your father finds you here, he’ll have my giblets in a heap on the floor, along with my balls. You’d better go now.’
‘Oh, he’s still in the hall, barking at your brother, and will be ‘til dawn, most likely.’
She sidled up to him and pulled her shift down from her shoulders, revealing pale, pendulous breasts.
‘I know my way around a man, and there’s none as pretty as you around here.’ She pressed her hands to his chest and licked her lips. Lyall was reminded of cat, about to pounce on a mouse.
‘Stop. My heart belongs to another, Isla.’
‘And what about your cock?’ she said, taking hold of him between the legs.
Lyall’s manhood stirred of its own account, but still, he took her by the shoulders and pushed her slowly away. He did so carefully, as she literally had his future in her hands.
‘Isla, no.’
She did not let go, so he reached down and peeled her fingers off of him.
‘Come on, Lyall, don’t be shy. Let us lie down together. You will not be disappointed, and you can handle me as roughly as you like, and do it as many times as you like.’
Lyall lost patience with the girl. He bent low and hoisted her over his shoulder. She was heavier than he expected, but he strode quickly to the door and tore it open, and, after a quick look around to see that no one was watching, he flung her down. Isla lost her balance and staggered back, falling onto her bottom in an ungainly heap.
‘Ow, that hurt!’
‘I thought that’s what you wanted, and it’s the only rough handling you’ll be getting from me tonight or any night.’
‘Why you impotent bastard,’ she shrieked. Isla’s sweet face twisted in anger.
‘If I’m a bastard you won’t want to lie with me, will you? And if you think you can trap me into an unwelcome marriage, you can think again. That was the plan, wasn’t it? Get someone to catch us together in bed, so you could say I took your virtue?’ He stepped closer and loomed over her. ‘But how could I possibly shame you when you have no virtue to speak of?’
Isla was frightened now. She scurried away from him on her backside, and Lyall felt a stab of pity. Perhaps her wretch of a father had put her up to it.
Either way, he was not hanging around to find out.