She watched Gideon ride over the bridge with a dozen Sinclairs but no bags of grain. The silence behind her made an itch tickle her nape, and she shrugged her shoulders, turning.

Merida frowned, her gaze meeting Ella’s. “Breadalbane, ye say?”

Ella nodded. “That is what Cain said when I asked him.”

Merida’s lips formed an O before relaxing into a frown. “I did not know.”

Ella pulled Boo up from where she wiped her face with her licked paw. “Let us take you outdoors,” Ella said, following the other two ladies from the room. She carried Boo down the stairs and set her at the bottom. The little ball of fluff leaped after a leaf and tumbled into the great hall to run toward the entryway. Her antics made Ella smile, pushing off some of the weight of her worry.

The vaulted room was silent as Ella walked in, and she stopped, because it was not empty. Gideon stood at the table opposite Joshua, Bàs, and Cain. Merida and Hannah had stopped before Ella, and all the brothers raised their gazes to her. All except for Cain. He leaned forward, his knuckles planted on the table before him, his broad back bent as if he labored.

“Ye have returned,” Merida said, breaking the silence.

Despite the tension, Ella forced her lips into a smile. She nodded to Gideon. He stood covered in dust from his travels, a frown on his face. “Welcome back, Gideon. You have made it home in time for the wedding.”

Cain straightened, turning to look at her. His face had lost the happiness she had seen these past weeks. It was hard again, like when he’d first brought her to Girnigoe.

Gideon spoke. “King James sends his regards, as does his queen, Anne of Denmark. She also sends her love.”

Ella’s chest contracted, her hand going to it as if her heart beseeched protection. Holy Mother Mary. He’d spoken to both James and Anne. “You did not go to ask for grain from the Campbells,” she said. She should be angry about Cain’s lie, but it was paltry compared to her secret.

Gideon’s hard stare held judgment, his jawline tight. “Were ye planning to tell us after the wedding that Dunrobin and Sutherland lands would be defended by thousands of King James’s royal troops in five years, or were ye going to let us find out then?”

Her heart thumped so hard in her chest that Ella wondered if they could hear it. She swallowed, unsure of what to say. Her mouth opened and closed, and her gaze drifted to Cain’s hard eyes.

His brows were lowered. “Leave us.”

Hannah scurried out of the room as if expecting an explosion. No one else moved.

“I said,” Cain’s voice grew, “leave me and Chief Sutherland. Now.” The last word thundered through the hall.