Ross squinted at the ledger carefully while slowly sipping down a tin mug of bitter coffee, making sure to analyze every number and its contents. He usually didn’t investigate the monthly Clan Tithe, but his close friends in Tioram who worked in the small MacDonald bureaucracy told him to make sure everything was in check for the next couple of months, as Corey was planning something big, according to them. Numbers usually weren’t this high — especially for a MacDonald —, that was for certain. He flipped a couple of pages of the small crest-stamped notebook and glanced down at the military tithes which came with operating the Northern Expeditionary Force… Christ, these numbers were the biggest he’d ever seen on a bill. Ross put down his coffee on the cafe table and swirled in the tall stool to face Laine, who was silently enjoying a latte while smoking a cigarette.

“You’re better at maths than me, Laine. Tell me if this is right.”, Ross handed the ledger to Laine, who took it up into his hands quickly.

Ross was right about education. Laine was one of the only men in the Highlands who had received a formal education abroad, in England. His studies — be they in art and literature — were useful for Ross, who had never made it out of grade school, instead opting to go hunting with his father in the suburbs of Slumbay. Laine studied the notebook for a short while and handed it back to Ross, who waited with bated breath for a response.

“Aye. Seems right to me, Ross.”

Ross stared down inquisitively at the handwritten ledger.

“What’ya ‘spose makes it like that?”

Laine shrugged and turned back to his drink.

“Taxes have always been high for me, Ross. Maybe Corey realized that he can suck as much cash out of his own kin as he can us. Those odd lads I visited down in Croick the other week — the ones with the old cannon —, they told me that Corey was hikin’ the tax for them too, even though they’re all MacDonald and MacDougall and every other Mac under the sun…”

Ross sat up in his chair and pondered.

“...Corey wouldn’t do this for nothin’. He’s plannin’ something big.”

Laine raised his eyebrows sarcastically.

“When is the old man not planning something big?” He mumbled quietly.

[Tax rate upped]