by Fiona Faris
“Dillon,” Logan said, “tis yer only chance tae explain why ye’ve acted the way ye’ve acted.” He moved his open palm towards Dillon, as if to say, “speak”.
“It is nae fair, ye know!” Dillon began shouting. “Wasnae ‘sposed tae be this way!” He started weeping softly.
Logan was shocked by his display of excessive emotions. “Get on with it, Dillon. No need fer this show!” Logan felt himself getting angry at Dillon.
“I was with her first, ye know!” Dillon shouted. The room went silent. Who was Dillon speaking of?
“Isla was my sweetheart!” Dillon screamed. He pushed himself forward out of the arms of the scouts and collapsed on the floor.
Logan’s face went pale. He started to sweat. What was Dillon saying?
“Isla? My Isla?” was all Logan could manage to say.
“She was nae yer Isla, she was mine. We loved each other, until her father betrothed her tae ye. Ye were from the preferred clan, so I was nae allowed tae be with her. It broke my heart. She was taken from me. And then ye let her die in childbirth! Ye let her die, Logan, and I was nae given the chance tae say my proper goodbyes. Do ye know what it is like? Tae know the woman ye love is being buried in a different land, and ye cannae say goodbye? I hated ye for that, Logan, hated ye!”
Dillon began weeping. It seemed all the emotions had been pent up inside of him for years.
Logan did not know what to say. He had never expected this to be the case.
“Ye and Isla loved one another?” The council members watched Logan, trying to read his expression.
Dillon simply nodded.
“Ye were together after our marriage?” Logan asked finally. Dillon nodded again, more slowly this time. The room was suddenly an explosion of whispers as everyone began talking about the discovery of this news.
“Quiet!” Logan slammed his fist down on the table in front of him. He was shocked. How could Isla have done this to him?
“We were going tae wed,” Dillon added quietly. “I really did love her, Logan.”
Logan then felt a strong, overwhelming sense of pity for the man in front of him, weeping so openly for his lost love in front of a room of near strangers.
Logan felt all eyes in the room were on him. He did not know how to act. He knew, he suddenly understood the grief that might have driven Dillon to act in such a manner, but his actions still needed to be accounted for. The people demanded justice.
“Why then, Dillon? Why hurt so many innocent ones? My daughter—why hurt her?” Dillon looked up from the floor, with tears still rolling down his cheeks. He sat back on his legs and shrugged.
“Logan, we thought ye knew. I thought ye knew. I wanted ye to suffer. I wanted ye to suffer as much as I had suffered, knowing ye took her from me, knowing ye would nae let me say goodbye to my lover. I thought it was yer final punishment. The land, it was all an excuse. All I wanted was my revenge. So I set fires tae the fields. I sent my men with torches, and I told them tae burn it all until nothing was left but the cold memory of Isla.”
He continued, “I sent poison intae yer waters. I thought if yer clan was able tae recover from the fires, yer healer would nae know what tae do with belladonna. Then ye made it through that, tae! I sent men tae damage yer keep, tae burn yer gardens, and steal yer horses, but ye chased them off. I did it all because I wanted yer whole clan tae fall apart. I wanted ye tae see all ye loved stolen from ye the way my Isla was stolen from me! There was no one in yer clan who mattered tae me any longer. Can ye see, Logan, why I did it?” Dillon stared at the floor in front of him. He had nothing else to say.
“I did nae know, Dillon. I loved Isla; I believed she loved me. But now I see t’was all a lie. Had I known, I would have let ye say goodbye. I understand grief, more than I should. But tis nae right what ye did. Ye killed so many innocent ones! Ye could have come tae me in confidence. Ye could have told me! Instead, ye made it about the land. Ye stole lives from us. I can see why ye did it though, Dillon. Sadly, I know how grief can change a man intae someone unrecognizable.”
“Ah’m sorry, Logan! I see now that ye didnae know. I see I have been mistaken in thinkin’ ye were one of the ones who helped take her from me. If only her father had let me wed her. I missed so many years with her,” Dillon said in a low voice.
“Aye, I wish he had let her choose her own love. I would nae be sittin’ here, knowin’ me wife never wished tae be with me.”
“There’s another matter, Logan.” Dillon stood to face Logan for this.
“Aye, on with it then.” Logan wanted to be done with this meeting. To leave the room. His whole history with Isla had just been rewritten.
“Tis the matter of Ava,” Dillon whispered. The people in the council room were silent, tense as they waited to hear more.
“What about Ava?”
Logan knew what Dillon was going to say. He had always wondered where Ava had gotten her dark hair from. Isla had always insisted it was a trait from another family member. Now Logan understood.
“I may be her father.” Dillon hung his head. “I want tae know her, Logan. I want tae see her.”
Logan pounded his fist on the table and brought his knuckles to his mouth. He pursed his lips. He could not deny the man a connection to his daughter. He knew Dillon was her father, especially after all he had found out.
“I will let ye see her, but nae now. Fer now, we need tae establish peace. I ken she is yer daughter, but she cannae know—not yet. We must wait till she is of age. If ye cannae abide by that, then I will have ye killed now.”
Logan knew it was a fierce offer, but he did not think it right to tell a small Ava who her father was yet. She did not need to know about her mother’s lie. In time, she would know, but for now, he wanted to keep her youthful happiness intact.
“I agree—in time.” Dillon managed to choke the words out.
Logan sat back in his chair. His mind lingered, and he felt a wave of guilt for all the ways in which grief made him a harsh leader the last few years. All of the emotions he felt, they drove him to be unkind, unjust, and much too hard on his people—all for a woman who might never have even loved him.
All of the years he wasted on Isla before her death, and all of the years he threw away after. He was going to have to work hard to show his people how much they mattered to him. He felt like a fool for not knowing about his wife’s lover. He could see the pity in the faces of the men around him. But Logan needed to remain strong; he had matters to take care of still.
“There’s the matter of the poison. I must have a traitor in my clan. Ye cannae have done it alone. Who was it? Who was the one who helped ye poison my people?” Logan spat.
Dillon, who had been cowering in his hands, looked up then. “Aye, I had help. It was Gilbert!” Dillon pointed to Gilbert, who sat against the back wall with Fanny as he watched the events unfold.
He moved to run from the room, but the scouts grabbed him and stopped him.
“Bring him forward!” Logan boomed. The men dragged Gilbert next to Dillon and dropped him as he tried to break free from their grasps. Alrick stepped forward and held a knife to his throat, which worked to keep him still.
“Gilbert? It was ye? Ye poisoned yer fellow people? Ye poisoned my wee one?” Logan was in shock. The events of the council meeting were going drastically unlike than he could have ever expected. He knew Gilbert was not the most pleasant lad, but he had never expected him to be so cruel as to do something like this.
“Aye, and I would do it again!” Gilbert spat towards Logan.
“Why! I demand tae know!” Logan pounded on the table again. Everyone in the room was watching them, not knowing what to expect.
“Because of ye. Yer the worst leader fer this clan. I’ve never thought ye were good enough. Ye dinnae know how tae lead with an iron fist, how tae give the people what they need. Yer too soft!”
Logan was shocked to hear that Gilbert thought him soft, when he had long thought he was being too harsh. Clearl
y, Gilbert wanted Dillon to lead instead.
“Ye deserve whatever comes tae ye, Gilbert.”
“I dinnae care. Tis better than watching ye lead the way ye do. I knew ye would never see me as a healer. As soon as Fanny dies, I know ye will be granting the healer role tae Sophia. I see the way ye look at her. Everyone knows how ye feel about her. I worked fer that role. Ah have been apprentice fer years!” Gilbert shouted.
Logan tried to be cautious with his feelings in public for Sophia, but it had been evident likely before he had even known himself. He wanted to be a fair leader, but was Gilbert wrong? If Fanny died anytime soon, even he had to admit to himself that he would have handed over the role to Sophia in an instant. Still, this was not cause for poisoning the entire clan. Thinking of Sophia then made Logan want to be a better person, to serve as a good leader.
“Well, I cannae say that I dinnae want the both of ye dead. If I let my heart decide entirely, I would kill ye both with my bare hands fer all ye’ve done tae these people,” Logan said in a strong and stern voice. The people around him murmured in agreement.
“But I dinnae want tae bring anymore loss tae these lands. There has been enough tragedy tae last us generations. I cannae see any reason fer any more killing.” Logan shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He wanted what was best for the clan, and for his people.
“I ken, Logan. If ye want me dead, kill me now. There is little reason fer me to continue living without my Isla, with such little land.” Dillon collapsed on the floor again.
After a few moments of silence, Logan finally said, “I shall release the both of ye.” The room gasped in unison.
“But I do so with the agreement that we must reach a peace treaty,” Logan added. Everyone around the room seemed to respond positively to this. Logan knew the battles were causing more damage than good. He knew the people needed time to heal and to recover, and a peace treaty was exactly what they needed for all of this to happen.
“A peace treaty? Yer willing?” Dillon asked from the floor. Gilbert looked irritated, glaring at Dillon.
“Aye, if we can agree tae clear terms.”
“Aye, I think we can,” Dillon added. He stood from the floor and made his way over to Logan, who had also stood.
“First, by the looks of it, Gilbert is nae happy here. I want him gone. He can be yer healer, or he can live in yer clan, scooping the cattle’s manure. I dinnae care, but he becomes yer prisoner, yer responsibility.”
Gilbert had nothing to say to this; he merely scowled in response.
“I can agree tae that. We are in need of a healer,” Dillon said softly. At this, Gilbert seemed to light up—only a little bit.
“Second, ye must agree tae helpin’ our clan recover. Ye must lend us supplies this winter if we need it. Ye must send men over tae help us tend the fields; ye must gift us whatever it is we need. Ye created this troubling time fer us—ye must help us out of it.”
Dillon pondered this term for a moment. His estate had little to spare, but it was not entirely undoable. “Aye, I agree.”
“We agree tae ten years’ peace. Regardless of the situation, neither of us will start a battle, ye hear me?” Logan was stern with this rule. “My people need tae heal from the trauma.”
Dillon nodded, the weight of the dead on his shoulders. “Aye, I can do that. I agree,” he said in a low and embarrassed voice.
Logan walked over to him and shook his hand. “I hope we can finally have the peace we have fought tae avoid fer so long.” Dillon nodded and shook Logan’s hand as well. He too wanted peace, even if he had fought so hard against it for so long.
Alrick created the peace treaty and presented it to both Logan and Dillon. Both signed the paper eagerly.
Logan directed the scouts to take Dillon and Gilbert out to the edges of the fields. They were to borrow horses to get to their lands, then return them. Logan was not so sure he could trust Dillon, but after his confession, he felt he finally understood just why Dillon had been the way he was. Logan could not say that had he been in his position, he would have acted any different.
After the room was cleared of the two prisoners, Fanny came up to Logan.
“I’m sorry, Logan. I should have known ‘bout Gilbert. He had been actin’ so different lately, and I thought it was the stress of all the loss.”
“Dinnae apologize, Fanny, ye couldnae have known. None of us knew and we were around him often. Tis what it is. I am happy our clan can finally heal.”
Fanny patted Logan on the arm. “Aye,” she said. “And maybe ye can tae.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Logan left the council room feeling defeated. Sure, he had won the battle, he had finally gotten Dillon to sign a peace treaty, but all at the cost of discovering that his whole marriage had been a lie. Had Isla ever truly loved him?
He walked into the commons room, where his sisters were waiting for him in anticipation of the meeting details.
“Logan! Tell us, right away!” Diana jumped up and down and motioned for Logan to sit. Mildred could see right away that he held a deep frown.
“Have ye decided tae kill him? Who helped him poison the people?” Mildred asked.
“We are letting Dillon return tae his land.”
The sisters looked at each other in shock. “Yer lettin’ him leave?” Diana finally said.
“Aye, tis fer the best. We signed a peace treaty.” Logan added slowly. “It was Gilbert who helped him poison the people, and he will be leavin’ tae Dillon’s clan with him,” he added. He situated himself into the chair next to Mildred and placed his face into his hands. He rubbed his brow, trying to soothe himself.
After some moments of uncomfortable silence, Mildred finally said, “Well, a peace treaty is very good.”
“I dinnae know where tae start. I am very glad we signed the peace treaty, but I discovered a dark truth. Isla was unfaithful our whole marriage.” The sisters exchanged concerned glances. Mildred put her arm around Logan and pulled him in. The wind blew in crisp through the windows. Logan could sense the coming winter.
“With who?” Diana finally asked. Mildred gave her a look, as if to say it was plainly obvious.
“She was with Dillon before and after our marriage. I dinnae know that she ever loved me.”
Diana ran to Logan and hugged him. He was normally not one for affection but he embraced it. He needed comfort at that moment.
The realization hit Logan again, and he shed a few tears. He did not try to withhold them, and instead, embraced them as a way for him to finally empty himself of any emotions he still held towards Isla.
“I cannae believe she would do that tae her family. With Dillon too!” Diana said. She made a shivering motion, as if she could not imagine who might actually be capable of loving Dillon.
“What were the terms of the peace treaty?” Mildred asked. She tended to prefer the business matters to the emotional ones, and she knew Logan would need to focus on something else.
“We are at peace fer ten years. Come winter time, his clan shall help ours in whatever ways we might need it.”
“Ye did a good job, Logan. I’m mighty proud of ye. Nae many men who could take this situation and turn it intae something good fer the clan. But ye did. Ye should feel good about it.” Mildred smiled at Logan.
“I am tryin’ tae see it as good. But tis hard. It feels like I wasted so many years lovin’ a woman who would never truly love me. I cannae imagine what my life would have been like. I spent so much time grieving her, being a terrible leader because of the loss, and fer what? Only tae have her scorned lover try tae kill my people, my land?” Logan shook his head back and forth.
“Ye have wasted nothing!” Mildred stood then and moved to lean in front of Logan. “Ye made yer mistakes, but every good leader has. Yer a fine laird—dinnae let something like this change yer opinion of yerself. Ye have tae know that much. Just look at how well ye handled this.”
Logan nodded. The peace treaty was a spontaneous idea, but
he knew his clan would be very grateful to not have to go to battle for ten years. But still, he wondered if perhaps he would have had a happier life being with someone who truly loved him.
“I wonder, if Ah had been wi’ a better wife, could all of this loss hae been avoided?” Logan said finally.
“Dinnae think like that, Logan. Yer still so young. Unlike me!” She laughed then, and Logan chuckled too.
“I am nae so young,” Logan responded with a small smile.
“Ye can finally heal. The grief can finally leave ye. Ye know the truth about Isla, but now ye can learn tae love again. Ye have so many years left in ye, Logan,” Mildred said, putting her hand on his. Logan flipped his palm over so he could hold her hand.