“That is your choice. Ye can either peacefully relinquish control of Dunrobin and unite with Clan Sinclair as I wed Ella Sutherland there, or ye will fight until every Sutherland standing against us is dead.”

Cain pointed one finger toward the sky where Eun circled. “When the sun is high, all four Sinclair armies will return. Bring the Sutherland chief’s sword to surrender. If ye are not on the moor, we will assume ye wish to fight, and we will ride on to Dunrobin.”

By warning them, Cain was giving the Sutherland Clan time to ready for a siege. He knew that and had argued for it with Gideon and Joshua on the way. Dunrobin would still fall, but he wished to give them a chance to think things through instead of just reacting. Surrendering and uniting would be best for them, best for Ella.

The thought of her twisted in his stomach, and he clenched his jaw. They still needed to talk. Kenneth had sworn over and over that she never agreed to carry out his plan to poison Cain and likely his brothers. The crumpled note seemed to support his claim, as well as Ella’s words at Varrich.

He needed to hear it again from her own lips, but there was no time right now. To lose the momentum after securing Varrich would make taking Dunrobin harder, and he intended to conquer it no matter the issues with King James. Gideon would work the diplomacy required to untangle that mess. And the conquering and taking of Sutherland lands would unite them, something he had always pledged to do.

Cain curved his arm, creating a perch, and the massive falcon dove, pulling up enough at the last moment to sink his talons into Cain’s gauntlet. With the pressure of his heels, he turned Seraph from the gathered Sutherlands, and they trotted away from Dunrobin, their shields slid across their backs in case the Sutherlands decided to strike.

Hopefully, they would come to the moor. Otherwise, Ella would see the attack of her childhood home. As terrible as it had been there for her, he would still be taking it violently from her people.

“They will come,” Gideon said beside him.

“They do not even know the lad.” Joshua’s frown was harsh. “Would they go to war for him?”

From the information Cain had gleaned from the maid who’d been living within the Sutherland village, everyone thought Jamie was Florie’s boy, raised within the servants’ quarters of Dunrobin. It wasn’t until a village woman who was dying pleaded to be buried beside her lost bairn in the chief’s plot that the twelve-year-old secret was slowly uncovered.

“The Sutherlands will surrender,” Gideon said. “There is no other choice if they want to survive and their leaders to be spared.” The coldness of Gideon’s words made the ache in the back of Cain’s head throb.