The hall was on a vast scale compared to Cailleach. Its high ceiling soared above them braced with a web of interlocking wood beams, blackened with age so that to Ailsa they appeared as the ribs cage of some long-dead giant beast. The walls were hung with bright Campbell banners proudly displaying their family crest. They clearly relished displaying their military prowess, a fact underwritten by the numerous armaments laid out on every wall of the hall - shields, pikes, swords, everything it took to kill a man. Two huge fireplaces did little to drive the chill from Ailsa’s bones as she took in the formidable power and ferocity of her husband’s clan.
‘Do not be afraid of them. Play your part, smile and remember you belong here, you belong with me,’ Duncan reassured her in a voice tight with tension.
Ailsa stared up at him, slightly shocked by his tone. She knew he was on edge, could tell by the way his hand sat vice-like on top of hers where it coiled around his arm. There was a moment when the hall hung in its silence then the spell was broken as several guests swept up to them, curiosity burning bright in their avid faces and the hum of conversation broke over the room again. Ailsa was overwhelmed as their words of greeting rushed at her in a blur.
The Campbells were polite on the surface but Ailsa sensed an undercurrent of mistrust and dislike, hidden so as not to offend the laird’s nephew. She was an enemy, not welcome here. Ailsa shivered in her fine gown and hung on to Duncan’s arm for all she was worth as he introduced her as his bride. Some of the ladies were looking daggers at her whilst they fawned over Duncan.
‘Congratulations on your nuptials. What a shock we all had when we heard whom you had married Duncan.’
‘It has been the talk of Dunslair these past months.’
‘I never took you for the marrying kind Duncan.’
On and on it went, subtle insults and some not so subtle.
‘I must say it is good to have you home again Duncan, where you belong,’ purred one woman, thrusting her expansive cleavage towards him and paying absolutely no heed to Ailsa whatsoever. ‘You’ve been sorely missed.’ She was attractive in an overblown kind of way but her face stopped just short of pretty due to the malicious look on it.
‘I’m sure you have found ways to distract yourself from my absence, Agnes,’ he replied casually.
‘Aye to be sure she has, but tell me you do not mean to stay away permanently,’ purred another, with an exaggerated, flirtatious pout and then a sharp sideways glare at Ailsa.
‘Aye but the weaker clans hereabouts have, I hear, proved very troublesome,’ said Agnes to the woman while shooting Ailsa a sly look.
‘I trust you do not include mine in that opinion,’ retorted Ailsa, her hackles rising at such impertinence. ‘If you presume my clan is weak then you are very much mistaken.’
‘Well you are weak enough to be crushed by us, though that is no surprise,’ replied the woman Agnes, openly hostile now she had stirred her foe to anger. ‘We have the best fighters and no one can match Duncan in battle. I am right am I not Duncan?’ she smirked, enlisting his aid in tormenting Ailsa.
‘Agnes the MacLeods fought bravely. They failed because they were poorly led.’
‘Aye, your brother led them did he not? she said turning back to Ailsa.
‘I will not stand here and let you insult my clan…’ Ailsa began.
‘Surely they are no longer your clan since we defeated you and now own everything the MacLeods ever had, including you. You are a Campbell now my dear and as Duncan’s wife that should be where your loyalties lie, surely?’ she retorted spitefully.
‘Were you and I alone now, I would show you full well where my loyalties lie,’ Ailsa retorted, injured pride and temper getting the better of her. ‘I am a MacLeod and always will be.’
Agnes gasped. ‘What impertinence. You would do well to whip some manners into your wife Duncan.’
‘The impertinence is not one-sided Agnes, now enough of politics,’ Duncan said angrily, glowering at the awful woman. ‘It is best we steer clear of such topics and enjoy this reunion, for I fear my stay here is to be short-lived. There is much to occupy me at Cailleach and I can’t tarry here socialising forever. Now if you will excuse us I must seek out my uncle for no doubt he has some task for me to perform.’ Duncan bowed low, grabbed Ailsa a little too firmly by the arm and steered her, still seething, over to his uncle.
Hugh was enjoying his moment in the sun. ‘How do you like Dunslair Ailsa?’
‘Not at all Laird Hugh,’ she said angrily. She saw Duncan roll his eyes.
‘Hah, I thought you had tamed her nephew.’
‘That is beyond my capabilities uncle, or any man’s.’
‘No matter for you look very well this evening my dear. You are an ornament to Clan Campbell to be sure.’
Ailsa opened her mouth to say something insulting but then a servant rushed up bearing a message for Hugh, who walked abruptly away and more people crowded in to greet Duncan and gawp at her.
Ailsa stood in the midst of a hundred conversations buzzing around her like a hive of bees as the volume in the hall rose. She nodded and smiled where necessary but her mind was in turmoil and she felt utterly and completely humiliated. Duncan had become quiet and morose and his appreciation of her beauty in the fine purple dress had disappeared. He was sinking into a black mood and barely seemed to notice her, staring morosely into his glass of whisky as if he could find answers at the bottom of it.
Irritated she turned to him. ‘I told you they would hate me as I hate them.’
‘Has it not occurred to you that Campbell blood has been spilt in this fight too? I lost good men, friends I had known for years. Some of these women lost husbands, sons,’ he snarled at her.