They waited until darkness had fully gripped the land, and all around them was a darkness as thorough and still as the heavens above. And he forced them to wait a little while longer, just out of spite. He would learn these cretins some patience. He was the smithy. They were his tools. And he would use them in any way he saw fit.
He turned to the men, shadows among the shadows, all of them radiating hostility and a desire to fight.
“All right. We go. But we go quietly. Ye watch where ye step and pick yer path carefully,” he said quietly. “If any one of ye so much as snaps a twig under yer boot, I’ll see tae it that Master Pringle has yer balls. Am I clear?”
The men grunted at him, but he could hear the excitement in their tone. He could feel it emanating from them like heat from a fire. They were wild horses just waiting for him to take off the bridle to let them run. He liked the enthusiasm but needed to extinguish some of that fire. Running in headlong like that would only lead to mistakes.
Although they had him outnumbered and outmatched, Robert did not take chances. The man was a capable fighter. He was fantastic with a blade. And he would not risk him somehow getting the upper hand because of the impatience of these idiots. He would not risk his life, nor the destruction of his goals and his ascension to his rightful place in this world because these men just wanted to stab somebody. Their bloodlust would not be his undoing.
“All right. Let’s go. Move slow and move quiet,” he said. “And watch where ye’re putting yer bleedin’ feet.”
Moving slowly and deliberately, the six men with him emerged from the thick pockets of darkness the forest had provided. They had about a hundred paces to the front door of Luke’s dwelling over open ground. At any moment, the lad could stick his head out the door or look out his window and spot them. If he did that, chaos would erupt.
And so, he ordered them to move softly, picking their feet up and looking before they set them down again on the threat of their death. Or a mutilation so grotesque, theydl wish they had been killed instead. Robert’s stomach tightened, and his throat was dry as they approached the house.
As he had instructed, most of the men spread out, surrounding the house to make sure he could not escape. Taking four men with him, they burst into the house. As the men stormed in, Robert pressed himself back against the wall. Luke was already on his feet, a blade in his hand.
“Give yerself up now, Luke,” Robert intoned. “We daenae want tae hurt ye, lad. We want ye tae come with us.”
Luke backed up, doing his best to keep the four men in his sight, but he cut a glance at Robert, his expression hard.
“I’ll nae be goin’ anywhere with ye,” Luke growled.
“Daenae make this any harder than it needs tae be,” Robert replied.
The words had barely left his mouth when Luke launched himself at the first man on the right, his blade lancing out. Steel rang against steel as the battle was joined. Robert had instructed the men that Luke was not to be harmed. His plan hinged on taking Luke alive. It was necessary.
The second man moved in from the left, and Luke was able to parry them both deftly. The size of the room nullified the advantage their numbers gave them, and Luke seemed to know how to take full advantage. He spun to his right, his blade arcing out. A splash of blood splattered onto the wall, and the man dropped his blade, pressing both of his hands to the gash that had blossomed across his stomach. He fell to the ground, a pool of blood spreading out beneath him.
Luke quickly spun back to the left and grunted when the man proved ready for him and sliced his arm. But Luke feinted to the right, and the man fell for it. By the time he’d corrected himself, Luke was already cutting back to the left, his sword sweeping in a murderous arc. The man was dead before he hit the ground. Luke staggered back a step and looked at the wound in his arm. Blood flowed from the wound, turning the sleeve of his tunic crimson.
“This can stop now, Luke,” Robert called. “Nay more blood needs tae be spilled here tonight. Just drop yer blade and come with us.”
“Couldnae murder Aileas, so ye think ye can leverage me against her then, eh?” he snarled back.
Robert hid the surprise that nearly registered on his face. The lad was smarter than he’d given him credit for to have figured out what this was all about. The two remaining men flanked him, one to the right and one to the left. They looked at him nervously, as if he were a wild animal, unpredictable and dangerous, and seemed reluctant to engage. Robert supposed he could not blame them. After all, they’d just watched him cut down two of their men with ease.
His men looked back at him as if seeking instruction. Or perhaps hoping he’d find a way to end this without them needing to engage. He swallowed hard, trying to tamp down the butterflies that swarmed within him. Robert considered himself a man of many extraordinary talents, but even he had to admit, this was not his area of expertise. He was not gifted when it came to the art of negotiation and persuasion.
But he had to try. He thought they’d be able to overwhelm him by the force of numbers. With the size of his house playing to his advantage, though, Robert knew he had miscalculated. He had not foreseen the problems they would encounter by trying to take him inside, rather than outside on the road. Robert had hoped to take him when he’d be most relaxed. When he thought the man’s guard would be down. He hadn’t counted on Luke reacting so quickly or so viciously.
It was an oversight on his part, and Robert knew it was one that could prove costly. Not just costly, it could prove fatal to him if he did not find a way to correct it. He could not go back to Pringle without Luke subdued and in chains. Not after he’d talked up his plan and had tried to impress his wisdom and cunning onto his master as vigorously as he had.
“We’re lookin’ for a way tae bring this tae a peaceful resolution, lad,” Robert said. “A resolution that benefits us all.”
“Aye. Bringin’ a host of armed men certainly sends that signal,” he shot back.
“Me Master wants tae speak with Aileas. He regrets sendin’ those men tae…
“Murder her. Ye can say it. Daenae be a coward. If you can try to murder her, ye should have thae courage tae say it,” Luke growled.
“That wasnae me doin’, lad,” Robert said. “Believe me, I argued against that course of action.”
“I’m sure ye tried real hard.”
“I did, Luke. I want nay harm tae come tae thae lass. Or yerself. Truth be told, I want this whole bleedin’ feud tae end. Tis no sense in it.”
“I daenae think Aileas feels thae same way,” Luke snarled.
“Tis a regrettable situation all around,” Robert admitted. “But me Master wants tae find a way tae make amends. Wants tae find a way tae bury thae past with her and move forward in peace. I daenae think I need tae remind ye that it was Aileas who launched this war. It was she who came back with bad intentions toward me master.”
“I’d come with bad intentions tae if he’d murdered me parents and kin.”
The lies were falling from his lips with such ease, Robert was impressed with himself. He had never believed he had the talent to negotiate, but he was apparently even more remarkable than he’d let himself believe. Robert’s men were holding their position, watching Luke as he watched them. All three men were like tightened coils, ready to spring at a moment’s notice. The air in the house was thick with heat, the stench of the two dead men, and the anticipation of yet more violence.
“Be that as it may, thae past cannae be undone. But if Aileas is willin’, maybe they can find a way tae move forward. Me Master wants tae offer recompense for what happened when she was a lass,” Robert said.
“Then why nae send a messenger instead of assassins?”
“As I said, it was a rash, impulsive decision. It was foolish. And once they failed, I was able tae impress upon him thae need tae act as a civil gentleman would dae.”
“And tryin’ tae kidnap me is what a civil gentleman would dae?” Luke spat. “I think we’ve got very different defin
itions of civility and what it means tae be a gentleman, mister.”
“As I said, I’d like ye tae accompany us only tae offer assurances that Aileas doesnae try tae bury a dagger in me master’s heart,” Robert replied. “I think ye ken how unpredictable and dangerous that woman can be.”
Luke smirked at him. “I find those tae be a couple of her more charmin’ qualities, truth be told.”
Robert leveled his gaze at him. “Will ye come with us peacefully? In thae name of peace in thae land? I daenae fancy thae idea of innocents dyin’ in this conflict. A conflict over somethin’ that happened a very long time ago.”
Luke returned his gaze, his own eyes burning with an anger that bordered on outright hatred.
“I’m nae goin’ anywhere with ye,” he hissed. “I’ll nae be yer master’s pawn. And peace will only be had when Aileas has yer master’s head on a pike.”
Robert sighed. His powers of persuasion and negotiation needed work. But this outcome was not totally unexpected, so he did not berate himself too hard for it.
“I am genuinely sorry it came tae this,” Robert said. “I dinnae want it tae be so.”
He then whistled loudly, and the remaining six men outside poured into the home, their large bodies seeming to fill the entire space around him. Robert knew some of them were going to die, and he did not want to resort to having to make an all-out rush like this, but Luke had left him little choice.
“Daenae kill him,” Robert said. “We need him alive. But take him.”
The men surged forward, quickly engulfing Luke.
Chapter Twenty-One
Aileas sat bolt upright in bed, her heart hammering inside her chest, her face covered in a thin sheen of sweat. She looked around, her eyes wildly roaming the room, relaxing only slightly when she saw that she was alone. The fire in the pit had burned low, only the blackened logs, cracked and glowing red, remained.
Without the heat of the fire, the chill had crept in through the windows. She could see her breath coming out in plumes of steam and pulled the fur around herself tighter to ward it off.
“Are ye all right?”
She looked up to see Dand framed in the doorway of his sleeping chamber, backlit by a candle that burned inside. She nodded.
“Aye. Just had a bad dream, I suppose,” she said.
“A bad dream that had ye cryin’ out.”
She looked at him. “Cryin’ out?”
He nodded. “Aye. So loud, I thought more assassins had come.”
She sat back, leaning against the wall behind her, trying to recall what had made her cry out in her sleep. Dand walked into the room and pulled a waterskin from the larder. He took a long swallow of it before crossing the room and handing it to her. Aileas’s throat was parched, and she accepted it gratefully, taking a long drink. She sighed contentedly and put the stopper back into the skin.
“What were ye dreamin’ about?” he asked.
“It’s late,” she said. “Ye should try tae get some more sleep. I’m sorry I woke ye.”
He shrugged. “Tis almost dawn. Was almost time for me tae get up anyway.”
Aileas looked to the window and saw the sky outside beginning to lighten. A thick blanket of clouds still stretched across the sky, meaning it would be another dim and gloomy day, but it was beginning to lighten behind them.
“I’m sorry I woke ye,” she said.
He waved her off. “’tis all right,” he said. “So what were ye dreamin’ about?”
Aileas searched her memory, trying to access her dreams. But they were as unsubstantial as mist, dissipating and slipping through her fingers as she tried to grab them. Though she could not recall the specifics of the dream, she knew it had to do with Luke, and the remnants that lingered left her with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. As she thought harder about it, trying to grasp the insubstantial wisps of her dream, that sense of disquiet bloomed into something larger. It was fear. It was the knowledge that something wasn’t right. That something terrible had happened.
“Somethin’s gone badly,” she whispered.
“What dae ye mean?”
“I can’t remember me dream exactly. But it had tae dae with Luke,” she said. “I think somethin’s happened tae him.”
Dand pulled a chair over and sat before her, resting his forearms on his thighs, and fixed her with an even gaze. He had a look on his face she remembered well from her childhood. It was the expression he usually wore when he didn’t believe her but was willing to patronize her. And she found that it irritated her just as much today as it had back then.
“Ye cannae ken that, Aileas. It seems more likely that ye’re more worried about everythin’ happenin’ with Pringle,” he said reasonably. “And somehow, it got all mixed up in yer head while ye were sleepin’.”
She loved her cousin, but at that moment, she wanted to slap him as hard as she’d ever slapped anybody in her life.
“I daenae need ye tae tell me somethin’s mixed up in me head when I ken it’s nae,” she growled. “I’m tellin’ ye, somethin’s happened tae him.”
He sighed heavily. “I’m tellin’ ye, Aileas, ye’re lettin’ yer mind get all tangled up in this lad and－”
“Ye’re goin’ tae want tae stop right there, Dand,” she warned him. “I ken ye seem tae think I’m still a wee lass who lets her emotions run away with her, but I’m a woman. And I ken how tae separate me feelin’s from thae reality of a situation. I can balance me feelin’s with me duty. And just because I’m lettin’ meself feel somethin’ for Luke, it doesnae mean I’ve nae got me eye on thae prize too.”
He sat back in his chair, taken aback by the quiet ferocity in her voice. Perhaps it was the stress of the situation bearing down on her. Perhaps it was the disquiet caused by her dream. Maybe it was a combination of both or something else entirely. Whatever it was, it had fueled her with a dark intensity. She had never spoken to Dand in such a manner before, and when he looked at her, it was with an expression like she had just slapped him across the face.
It wasn’t that he didn’t deserve the way she’d just spoken to him. He did. He had been treating her like she was still that child he’d pulled out of the barn that night so long ago. In many ways, it seemed as if he thought she had never grown up. But what she’d said was true. She was a grown woman. She was capable of managing her emotions and doing her duty. And it was time he acknowledged that.
As she looked at him, she watched a slow smile stretch across his lips. She cocked her head at him, her body tensing, thinking she might have to slap the smile off his face after all. He surprised her when he spoke, though.
“Now I see her,” he said.
“See who?”
“La Renarde de la Mer,” he replied. “Now I see thae ferocious pirate. Thae scourge of the seas. Now I see thae Captain who’s earned thae respect of her crew and thae fear of sailing men thae world over.”
She laughed softly and shook her head. “Ye dae ken most of thae stories floatin’ around out there about me are complete shite, daenae ye?”
“What I’ve found is that most stories have at least a grain or two of truth tae ‘em,” he said. “With a wicked temper like yers, I’d wager there’s more than just a grain or two though. I’d go so far as tae say they’re mostly true.”
“Dependin’ on thae story, ye might be disappointed.”
He laughed softly, then they both lapsed into silence for a moment. The light beyond the windows was growing as the sun crept over the distant horizon, unseen behind its screen of dark gray clouds. She wondered if the day would bring rain.
“So what is it that’s got ye feelin’ so antsy then?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’m nae sure. I just ken somethin’s wrong. Somethin’s happened tae Luke.”
“How can ye be sure it’s nae just a bad dream?”
She looked at him. “Because I’ve had bad dreams before, and they dinnae leave me feelin’ like this when I woke. I cannae explain it. I just ken.�
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He looked at her evenly, a grim expression on his face. “Then I guess we better get out tae his house and see what’s happened.”
* * * * *
They slipped out of their saddles and tied their horses to a post just inside the low wall that surrounded his home. All was quiet and perfectly still. It felt to Aileas like the whole world around them was holding its breath. A nervous tension crawled along her skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake.
Every Highland Sin: Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance Page 17
