A few more steps forward brought into view a large black form on the ground. It was his father, lying on his back. Was he dead?
Cormac stumbled forward. His father lay with his eyes closed, blood pooling around him. His sword lay abandoned several feet away. Still clutching it was his arm…an arm no longer attached to his body.
Cormac knelt by his side. “Father?”
The big man’s eyes opened wide. “What was that power?”
“Alchemy,” said Core. “What I was studying in university.”
“They taught ye that in university?”
“They taught the principles. I figured the rest.”
Rex glared at Cormac. “Too smart for yer own good.”
“Too smart for yer own good,” Cormac retorted.
His father snorted in response. “Finish me off, boy. Ye canna do anything right.”
“I will do things the way I choose,” countered Cormac.
“Ye disarmed me, boy, literally. Now finish the job. Kill me quick. ’Tis yer duty.”
“I will choose what is my duty and what is not. This reign of death and misery ends today. Though ye have hated me, Father, I choose no’ to hate ye in return.” Cormac experienced a lightness when he spoke the words, as if he had been shouldering a heavy burden and, finally, it had been removed from his back. He glanced up at Jyne, who gave him a watery smile.
“I dinna hate ye, boy.” Rex spoke in a low, gravelly tone. “I only wanted to make ye tough, for a weakling in this world knows naught but pain.”
“Weak or strong, all men know pain.”
His father searched his face, looking at him as if he’d never truly seen him before. “True. When did my son become so wise?”
“When he went to university,” answered Cormac in a practical tone. He looked up into the misty eyes of Jyne Campbell, who stood by his side. “And when I heeded the counsel o’ those wiser than me.”
“Enough talk. Finish the job.”
“Ye loved her verra much, did ye not? My mother?”
“Ye winna speak o’ her.”
“I have a right to know.”
“Nay, the only thing ye must do is attend to yer business here and finish me off!”
“I want to know o’ my mother. I want to know what turned ye into a demon.”
“This is how ye exact yer revenge? Ye wait till I lay dying and then demand answers? Ye’re a cruel bastard, ye are.”
Coming from his father, Core took it as a compliment. “Aye, tell me o’ my mother.”
Something between a sigh and a gasp escaped the large man’s lips. It was surrender. “She was the most beautiful creature in all the world, and she was more kind than beautiful. When she died, she took my heart wi’ her.”
“And me?”
“Ye were the worst reminder o’ her. When I looked in yer eyes, I saw her. I tried to kill ye many times, but something always stayed my hand. So I sent ye away, hoping ye’d die. When ye dinna die, I determined to be hard on ye so ye could have a heart o’ stone that would ne’er break.”
“Then ye’ve failed me, for my heart belongs to another.”
“Ye’re a fool.”
“True. If someday we are parted and my heart breaks, I would’na trade one moment o’ her love, even if it meant the end o’ pain.”
“Then ye’re a stronger man than I. Hear this, all ye who will listen. I yield to my son!”
Thirty-nine
Jyne put a hand on Core’s shoulder as his father breathed his last. The man closed his eyes and drifted away. Red Rex was dead.
“I killed my father.” Core looked up at her, raw pain in his eyes. Jyne had expected him to be relieved, but all she saw was grief.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Jyne. She was not sorry for the man’s death but for all the circumstances around it.
Core rested his hand over hers and said a prayer for his father. While Core was engaged with saying farewell to his father, everyone in the courtyard was silently staring at him. What would the warriors his father brought with him do now? Would they attack at the death of their leader? The air around them crackled with danger.
“Core,” she whispered, getting his attention.
He looked up at her and recognized her concern. He stood to face his father’s men, who looked like they were considering a fight.
“Men o’ my father,” Cormac called. “I have defeated Red Rex. Ye have a choice before ye. Leave now, or swear yer allegiance to me.”
The men looked around at each other, grumbling and muttering. With sudden inspiration, Jyne ran to where Core had dropped what was left of his “war kettle” and handed it to him. The iron was mangled, but it was a grim reminder of Cormac’s power. He held on to the pole of the war kettle like a staff of power and stared down his father’s men. The men all stepped back and looked at Core with a wary respect.
A few men slipped out the gate, but most shouted, “We swear our allegiance to the Fire Lord!”
Chaos had erupted around her, but all Jyne saw, all she heard, was Cormac.
He gave her a weary smile. “Thank ye, m’lady. I could’na have done this wi’out ye.”
She looked up at him with pride swelling in her heart. Her eyes filled with tears for quite another reason than earlier that day. “I love ye, Cormac MacLean.”
He gaped at her. “Ye do?”
“Aye, I do.” This was the man she loved. He was not perfect, but he was hers.
“I dinna have the right to ask ye, and this is hardly the proper time or place, but my heart demands it o’ me. I have naught to offer, not even a name, and as yer friend, I can only advise against it, but Lady Jyne Campbell, will ye consent to be my wife?”
“Aye!” Joy flashed through her.
“Aye?” His eyes opened wide.
“Aye, ye daft fool. I will marry ye!”
Core dropped his staff and wrapped her up tight in his arms. In another moment, he was kissing her, hot and demanding. She gave back to him in equal measure. It was all over. They had won. They could be together forever! The crowd around them cheered and then grew suddenly quiet.
“Unhand my sister!” commanded a stern voice.
Jyne jumped back from Cormac with a gasp and a small shriek. Her brother, Laird Campbell, stood before her, his hands at his waist, his feet planted for battle. His broadsword was strapped to his back, and Jyne knew how quickly her brother could draw it.
“David! How did…? When did…?” She quickly looked around and realized that her brother’s men and the former men of Red Rex were glaring at each other from opposite sides of the field. She had been so focused on Core that she had not noticed the sudden arrival of her brother.
“I have been tracking Red Rex for the past week. Seems I’ve found him.” David glanced at the unmoving form of Red Rex.
Jyne looked up at Core, but his face had shuttered and was unreadable. Everyone in the outer ward was silent and still, waiting for the fight to begin. It was the calm before the storm, but a battle was inevitable.
“Gracious, Jyne, what happened to ye?” asked David, his face one of concern, and she realized her gown was torn, her veil gone, and she was still covered in dust from her sojourn in the crypt. Before she could answer, David turned to one of his men. “Take her out where it’s safe.”
“Nay!” she cried.
Her brother raised an eyebrow. “What did ye say?”
Jyne grasped Cormac’s hand with her trembling one. She had never stood up to her brother. Never. Why should she? He was a good man, a kind brother, and a powerful laird. He also ruled his clan as an absolute monarch. His word was law.
But no more. If Cormac could stand up to his father, she could stand up to her brother.
“I said, I will no’ go wi’ ye. Kinoch Abbey is my home, and here I will stay!”
David leveled a glare at her that made her mouth go dry and her hands sweat. “Kinoch Abbey is my property, which may or may no’ be given to ye on the day of yer marriage, if I should ever decide ye shall wed.”
“That was not particularly charitable, my dear.” Lady Isabelle, David’s English wife, walked up from behind him and put a staying hand on his shoulder.
David turned to his wife with irritation. “I told ye to remain in the back, where it’s safe.”
Isabelle gave her husband a calm smile. “But I am always safe when I am with you. How are you, my dear?” Isabelle turned her question to Jyne.
“I am well, thank ye,” Jyne responded, appreciating her sister-in-law’s support.
“It looks like you have had quite an adventure,” commented Isabelle with enviable serenity. “And made a new friend.” She gave Cormac an appraising sweep of her eyes.
“Isabelle, take Jyne and get ye back where it is safe,” said David through gritted teeth in a tone that brooked no argument.
Isabelle stretched out a hand to Jyne to escort her away. Core released her hand. Jyne would go back to her people, while David decided what would be done. There was going to be a fight. And Cormac was not even armed. Why had she thought she could make a difference? She was just one person. She was…just Jyne.
She glanced back at Cormac. In his eyes, she saw a reflection of herself that was different. In his eyes, she was formidable, powerful, and resilient. In his eyes, she was never small.
“Nay!” She stood her ground.
“Nay?” David stared at her in shock. Even Isabelle raised her eyebrows, and her hand fell back to her side.
“I winna go wi’ ye. I will stay here. Ye may have bought this land, but I have fought for it, and I shall keep it.” Jyne grasped Cormac’s hand once more. He stared at her with a surprise rivaled only by her brother. Not one person in the outer ward said a word.
“What’s more,” continued Jyne, taking advantage of the moment of silence, “I will marry Cormac MacLean. Son o’ Red Rex though he may be!”
“Nay!” thundered David. “Ye marry the son o’ a warlord? Never!”
“I’m not asking yer permission. I’m telling ye how it will be. I will marry Cormac MacLean, and I will live here wi’ him. And that is the end of it!”
“Impossible!” bellowed David.
“As impossible as an English countess marrying a laird?” Isabelle reminded David of their own unlikely history.
“That…that was different. And ye need to get behind our men,” growled David, taking Isabelle by the arm.
Jyne was about to object, but realized that the Campbell warriors and Cormac’s men were growing hostile. Swords had been drawn. They were going to erupt into battle at any moment.
“Core, yer men. Do something,” she hissed.
His eyebrows shot up in sudden understanding. “Let us welcome our friends,” he called to his men. “Go into the main hall, and tell Cook to prepare a repast to refresh our friends, who have traveled long to arrive at our gates.”
His men stared at him in surprise, then looked about at each other with a low rumble of dissent. Jyne held her breath. Would they follow his commands?
“Ye heard the Fire Lord,” commanded Bran. “Into the keep wi’ ye, look lively. Ye would’na want him to take a kettle to ye.”
The men returned their swords to their scabbards and strode into the main hall with some haste. No one was laughing at the kettle now. Bran marched them in and gave a sharp nod to Core as he passed. Only Luke and Breanna remained in the yard, standing apart from the Campbell warriors.
“Laird Campbell,” began Cormac, “I understand yer reticence, but I tell ye true that I love yer sister. I dinna deserve her but—”
“Aye, ye dinna deserve her. Let’s leave it there,” said David. “Now, I appreciate the welcome, but this is my holding. Ye and yer men must leave.”
“Nay, Brother,” Jyne jumped in. “Cormac has conquered Kinoch Abbey. ’Tis his now.”
David turned a maleficent glare on Cormac.
“But then she conquered my heart, so the scales are even between us,” said Core quickly.
“This man is a warlord, a raider, and a thief!” roared Laird Campbell.
“Cormac has defeated Red Rex,” defended Jyne. “He killed his own father to defend me and others.”
Her words stayed whatever David was going to say next. He took a few steps closer to the monstrous form of the fallen warlord. “Ye went up against this man in single combat?” David raised an eyebrow. Even with Red Rex on the ground, the difference in size was considerable. And everyone knew the notorious reputation of Red Rex.
“Aye,” said Core. “He threatened everything I hold dear, in order to turn me into a warlord like him.”
“Looks like ye did some damage,” said David. He respected courage. More than that, he respected results.
Cormac gave a nod.
“To go against Red Rex and emerge the victor is something few could boast,” admitted David to Jyne. “But that doesna mean he would be a good husband for ye.”
“Ye canna judge the man by the sins o’ his father,” said Jyne, pleading his case. “Besides, he killed the man. What more can ye ask o’ him?”
“Actually,” said Isabelle, calmly interrupting the debate. “The man still lives.”
“He lives?” gasped Cormac, turning to stare at the man on the ground.
“In my experience, dead men do not usually still breathe.” Lady Isabelle glided forward to the body of Red Rex. “He must have lost consciousness due to the shock. His wound will need to be cauterized, or he will soon bleed to death.”
She turned back to David, Jyne, and Cormac, her eyes asking the question. Did they want her to save him?
“I am certain he would rather die here. But if ye can save him, I would show him grace,” said Core. His eyes met Jyne, a smile in the glance.
“He doesna deserve it,” commented Laird Campbell, which was true.
“Nor do any of us,” replied his lady wife, which was also true. “Bring me my smock, boiling oil, a bone saw, a red hot poker, needle and thread, and a priest.” Several Campbell men jumped to heed her request.
“Ye fear he winna make it?” asked Jyne.
“The priest is for you, my dear.”
“For me?”
“Yes. I believe you said you were getting married.”
Jyne smiled at Isabelle. “Thank you.”
“MacLean may have proven his valor, but he’s no’ the groom o’ my choice,” said David with finality.
“Nay, he is the groom o’ my choice,” replied Jyne with defiance.
“There will be no wedding!” hollered David with growing frustration.
“Then we will say our own vows before God,” returned Jyne. “And if ye want Kinoch, ye’re going to have to fight me for it!” Her pulse pounded in her ears. She had never defied her brother, Laird of the Campbells. Behind her brother, several of the Campbell warriors were staring at her with open mouths. No one spoke to Laird Campbell in such a manner.
“What did ye…? How could ye…? Now ye listen here,” sputtered David.
“I’d no’ oppose her,” warned Cormac. “She is a fierce enemy. Defeating Red Rex, I could do. Overcoming Lady Jyne, I could not.”
“Overcoming Lady Jyne?” David repeated in an incredulous tone. “Ye could defeat Red Rex but no’ Jyne?” David stared at Jyne as if seeing her for the first time.
“You Campbells are in the habit of marrying the wrong persons,” commented Isabelle in an offhand manner as she accepted the smock to protect her gown and knelt by her unconscious patient. “Cait married a McNab. Gwyn married an English lord. And I hardly need remind you that I myself am English and entirely unsuitable.”
“I thought I could’na dislike any groom more than a McNab,” Dav
id grumbled to his wife. “I expected something like that from the likes o’ Cait or Gwyn, but no’ my little Jyne. She never caused me a moment’s worry, except when she was sick. What has gotten into her?”
“She’s a Campbell, David,” said Isabelle without looking up from her work.
“True. And Campbell ladies are ferocious creatures. I know that too well. Ye heed me, lad?” He directed the comment at Core.
“Aye, sir.”
“Why do ye want to marry this lout?” David asked Jyne.
“Because I fell in love,” answered Jyne. “’Tis what all Campbells do. ’Tis yer fault if I want a love match, for ye and Isabelle have shown me what it is to be in love. How can I no’ wish that for myself? Would ye truly deny me, Brother?”
David raised an eyebrow at Jyne and turned back to his wife. “I blame ye for being such a loving wife and filling my days wi’ endless joy.”
“If being in love is a crime, then you have been a complicit partner,” returned Isabelle as she tended to her work.
David sighed. “I do wish ye every happiness, Jyne. I suppose if ye truly feel this man is the one ye love—”
“I do!” shouted Jyne.
“Then I shall give ye my blessing.” David smiled at Jyne, then turned to Cormac. “If ye cause my sister a moment’s grief, I shall disembowel ye.” He was deadly serious. “And ye’ll need to join the Campbell clan and swear allegiance to me.”
“Aye, sir,” said Core, putting his arm around Jyne. “It would be my honor to do both.”
“I suppose we should find that priest,” muttered David.
“I may know a priest or two who would be willing,” said Luke, putting his arm around Breanna. “Especially if there was more than one wedding to perform.”
“More than one?” asked Breanna, with expectation in her green eyes.
“I thought I could never feel this way again,” began Luke. “I planned to hide away forever. I have given away everything, but—”
“Aye! I will marry ye!” Breanna sealed her acceptance with a kiss.
“Congratulations!” cried Jyne. “I am so happy for ye both!”
My Highland Rebel Page 30
