His lips pulled back. “Yet ye stand here, a Sutherland, clean, fed, and armed. Are ye whoring for him then? Him or perhaps all four Sinclair brothers?”

“Cain, wait,” Gideon said. But he didn’t.

Cain surged forward, his fist slamming directly into Hew’s face above her dagger. Crack!

Ella yanked back her blade as Hew dropped to his knees on the floor, blood gushing from his nose. “Shite,” he said, the curse pinched with pain.

“Never,” Cain said, his words snapping with rage, “speak of Ella Sutherland that way again. Or in any way to her again.” He loomed over the arse. “Drag him back to the dungeon.” Cain spun on his heel to stare at Randolph Mackay. “And the price for his release is now the entire betrothal price that Ella Sutherland paid for breaking the contract.”

Randolph Mackay swore, jerking his vest as if it had become crooked.

“I can execute both Mackays now,” Bàs said. His voice matched the lethal promise of the skull helmet, making him look like death incarnate.

“Damn brother,” Joshua said, hefting his sword. “Ye get all the fun.”

Gideon stepped up beside Cain, who still clenched his hands at his side before Randolph and Kenneth. “Bàs can execute Hew Mackay today,” Gideon said to Randolph. “We will consider the Mackay penalty for burning our fields paid with his head.”

On cue, Bàs whipped his scythe through the air, the blade humming, his bare arm bulging under the weight. Randolph glanced around him as if contemplating the suggestion. Would he condemn his chief to death before so many witnesses? Word would get back to the Mackay clan. “Damn,” he said. “Keep him alive. We will gather the payment.”

Randolph pivoted on his heel, pausing to slice his gaze along Ella. His small, dark eyes sent another chill to slither up her spine, but then he strode down the aisle made by the parting Sinclair warriors, leaving Kenneth alone at the front.

Cain’s hard gaze moved to her advisor. “Ye may leave, without your chief.” Could Cain believe Hew’s lies? Hew probably didn’t even realize she’d saved his life by denying it. All Cain had to do to release her from a marriage bond was to kill the groom.

“I will petition the king for her release,” Kenneth said, no fear in his voice or face, just strength and conviction. “James will see it done or send his five thousand troops to strip the Sinclairs of their lands.”

Cain studied Kenneth, seeming to weigh the chances that the man was bluffing. “My instincts, which are always right, tell me that there is more to this refusal than mere stubbornness.” His words were lower but still held fury. Ella met his gaze when he turned. Curiosity warred with anger in his eyes, like when he’d stared up at her in the tree, and she kept her emotionless mask in place.