“I have no desire to look upon him any longer. Return him from whatever hole you dragged him from,” Rionna said in an equally cold voice.

“Well ’tis the matter of his death we need to speak on,” Cameron drawled. “ ’Twould seem war is imminent if this message from Ewan McCabe and the king is to be believed. I did hope they’d be more original in their planning, but ’twould appear they favor the straightforward method. I’ll give you a day, my lady. He dies in the morn, and then I must make my own plans in accordance with Ewan McCabe’s.”

Rionna drew her sword and walked slowly toward Caelen. He refused to meet her gaze, refused to acknowledge her at all. His mind was such a mass of rage and confusion that he couldn’t even process what played out before him.

When she reached him, she pressed the point of her blade to his neck, forcing him to look up or have his neck severed.

“I could kill you now,” she said in a voice devoid of emotion. She wore no expression, no indication of what she was thinking. She could be discussing something as mundane as the weather. Her demeanor chilled him to the bone, for ’twas a side of his wife he’d never seen. “But ’twould be too quick.”

“Why?” he demanded hoarsely. “You betray not only me but also those you called friend. You betray Mairin, who has only been kind to you, and her child, who is innocent. You would send those who have been loyal to you to their deaths, and for what? So a man without honor can reclaim leadership of a clan that was once his?”

She lowered the sword to his groin. “Be silent or I’ll remove your cods and feed them to the hounds.”

She turned then as if she could no longer bear to look upon him. To his everlasting shame, he wanted to call after her. He closed his eyes, for it would seem some lessons were never learned.

“Burn him at the stake at first light,” she said calmly. “ ’Tis a fitting end for one such as he.”

Even Cameron seemed taken aback by her ruthlessness, but there was also a glint of admiration in his eyes. Aye, the man would appreciate the same dishonorable qualities in others he himself possessed.

“Very well, my lady. His sentence will be carried out in the morn.”

He motioned his men to take Caelen away and then he turned back to Rionna. “Would you like refreshment? ’Tis a long way you’ve journeyed and you must be fatigued.”

As Caelen was pulled from the hall, he watched as his wife smiled up at the man he hated most in the world.

Rionna glanced up at the last moment and caught his gaze. A shadow crossed over her eyes and then she looked quickly away.