Ian (22 page)

“How did ye get loose?” she asked.

“Did ye really think I wouldna be able te break outta knots tied by women?”

He yanked her to her feet and
held the dagger to her throat.

“
But the door was locked,” she said. “And the key was outside.”

“I always carry an extra key. Ye shoulda checked me boot.”

“What are ye goin’ te do?” she asked.

“I’m goin’ te slit yer throat, what do ye think?”

“Tearlach willna like thet,” she said quickly, trying to stall for time.

“When Tearlach finds out what a traitor ye are, he’ll slit yer throat himself.”

“I’m worth more te ye alive than deid,” she said. “After all, I’m part o’ an alliance.”

“A fake one, and we both ken it.”

“But the MacKeefes dinna ken thet,” she told him. “And it’ll keep them from attackin’ ye if they ken I’m alive.”

“Mayhap ye’er right.” He lowered the dagger to her back and pushed her forward. “But let’s jest let Tearlach
decide thet fer himself, shall we?”

* * *

Ian was hiding up in the battlements while he was waiting for Dunmor to return with help when he heard shouting from down below in the courtyard.

“Tearlach,
where are ye? I’ve got yer traitor bride,” he heard and his heart sank as he slowly turned around and peered over the edge of the battlements.

“Damn!” he said aloud, seeing Eigg d
ragging Kyla at blade point from the postern gate and into the courtyard. He ducked back down so he wouldn’t be spotted. “Why couldna she jest listen te me fer once?” He gritted his teeth and leaned back against the wall, ready to punch his fist right through it. Had she done as he’d instructed, she’d be far away from here right now and they’d all have a good chance of coming out of this alive. But now she’d gone and ruined his plans and at the moment he didn’t have a single ally inside the walls to help him. Hell, he had no idea how they were going to get out of this one.

“Eigg, where the hell have ye been?”
Ian watched again as Tearlach limped over the courtyard to meet his head guard.

“The bitch let the
women free. They jumped me and tied me up.”

“They did what?” Ian could almost hear the amusement in Tearlach’s voice. “Ye let a bunch o’ women trap ye?”

“Thet’s no’ the point,” he said. “The point is thet right now yer captives are free.”

“Dinna worry. They are
pregnant women and bairns without horses. They canna have gone far. Men, go after them anon.”

“Excuse me, sir,” said one of
his guards. “But it seems some o’ our horses are missin’.”

“What?” Tearlach turned sharply on his heel.

“Quite a few o’ them,” added another man.

“What’s goin’ on here?
” shouted Tearlach. “Dunmor, get out here anon.”

When Dunmor didn’t show, Ian could see the distraught on Tearlach’s face.

“Dunmor as well as some o’ the MacTavishes seem to be missin’ as well,” one of his men relayed to him. “We think they went out the postern gate as it was open.”

“Aye, and thet’s how I got in with her,” said Eigg. “But I locked it up tight now.”

“And the prisoners are gone from the dungeon too,” said another man running up to give him the report.

“Damn! Find MacKeefe, as he’s te blame fer this. Now!”

Some of his men mounted their horses and headed over the drawbridge to do as ordered.

“
Close the drawbridge,” shouted Tearlach, “and check the postern gate in case MacKeefe is still inside and tryin’ te escape.”

“Shall we go after all the others?” asked one of his guards.

“Nay, it’ll scatter our forces. Stay here and prepare te fight, as ye ken they’ll be back with others.”

“Shall I kill this one?” snarled Eigg, holding the blade to her throat again. Kyla tried to keep a strong composure, but Ian could tell even from atop the battlements that she was scared. And rightfully so, too. If only she had listened to him instead of trying to be one
of the boys like always.

“Ye need me fer the alliance,” he heard her say.

“There is no alliance now thet ye set free me brides and some o’ the MacTavishes have escaped.”

“Then we dinna need her, right?” sai
d Eigg, once again itching to slit her throat. Ian was just waiting for the right moment, but he could no longer take the chance. He had to stop them from even considering killing Kyla, and though it was not the way he wanted this to pan out, he did what needed to be done.

“Nay,” he said, stepping out into plain sight from atop the battlements. “Let her go. It’s me ye really want.”

“It’s MacKeefe,” shouted one of the guards.

He was surr
ounded immediately and lifted his sword to stop them from attacking.

“Get him
down here,” growled Tearlach and waved his hand.

“No need,” said Ian, jumping over the side of the battlements and landing in a pile of hay just outside the stables. “I’m here, now let her go.”

“Throw down yer weapons, MacKeefe,” warned Tearlach.

“No’ until yer lackey takes thet blade away from Kyla’s throat.”

“Do it,” said Tearlach, nodding to Eigg.

“But
. . .” Eigg started to protest.

“Do it!” Tearlach shouted, and the man complied.

“All right, MacKeefe, yer turn.” Tearlach crossed his arms and waited.

Slowly, Ian threw down his sword and then his dagger, keeping his hands in the air.

“The hidden dirk in yer boot too.”

Damn, he was hoping they’d
forget about that. He’d just got his weapons back thanks to Dunmor and now he was losing them all again. He slid the dirk from his boot and threw it down on the pile atop his other weapons. Then with one nod from Tearlach, Ian was surrounded by men with raised weapons, as they held on to him.

“Let me kill him instead then,” said Eigg, pushing Kyla to the ground.

“Nay, I have other plans fer The MacKeefe,” said Tearlach.

“I dinna care what ye do te me, but jest let Kyla go,” Ian tried again.

“I dinna think so,” said Tearlach with a chuckle. “As a matter o’ fact, I have a little entertainment planned thet I think will bring back te ye some memories from the past.”

Chapter 25

Kyla knew now she’d made a grave mistake. In trying to help Ian, she’d instead got them both captured. She knew that if Tearlach didn’t kill her, then Ian probably would as soon as he had the chance. And she couldn’t blame him if he felt like wringing her neck.

The guards pushed both her and Ian forward, pricking their backs with the tips of their swords as they herded them to the
center courtyard like cattle.

“Ian, I’m sorry,” she said, biting her bottom lip a
nd looking up to him with tears in her eyes.

“Aye, so am I,” he growled without looking at her. “If ye’d jest listened te me, this plan woulda worked.”

“I ken thet now. But I wanted te help ye.”

“Dinna worry, lassie, it no longer matters. Becooz no one can help us now.”

“Prepare a pyre,” Tearlach called out to his men.

“What fer?” asked Eigg. “Who’s dead?”

“No one yet, but we’re aboot te witness a wee lassie goin’ up in smoke and MacKeefe is goin’ te watch her die jest like he did his wife.”

“Stop!” Ian pulled at the men holding him, knocking them to the ground. Then when they came at him with their swords, he kicked one out of the hand of a guard, and managed to use it to injure another.

“MacKeefe!” cried out Tearlach, and Ian turned to see the man holding a dagger to Kyla’s throat. “Ye do thet again and I kill the lassie right now and we won’t waste time with a fire.”

“
Why are ye doin’ this?” he growled. “She did nothin’. I’m the one ye want so jest let her go.”

“
She did a lot, MacKeefe, as she ruined all me alliances when she set the women free. And ye are both goin’ te have te die now. So if ye’d rather go first, I can arrange thet. Now are ye goin’ te drop the blade or shall I slit her throat?”

Ian knew he had no choice. He was not going to be able to do anything to get a
cross the courtyard before the man slit Kyla’s throat. If he dropped his sword, at least it would buy him some time while they were building the fire.

He threw down the sword, feeling defeated
, and angrier now than he’d ever been in his life. He would save Kyla no matter what it took, even if he lost his life in the process. Because he wouldn’t sit there and be forced to watch another lassie burn. Especially, since this time, the lassie was one he truly loved.

Aye, he realized that though he didn’t think he was capable of loving anyone, he had fallen in love with Kyla after all. And not just a love that is shared between family or a brother and a sister. Nay, he loved her in a whole different way and knew that he wanted her to be his wife.

But all his soul searching now wasn’t going to make a bit of diffe
rence if he couldn’t find a way to save her. And the way it looked, it wasn’t good. And he knew if they did both die there on this day, he wasn’t going to let it happen before he told her how he felt about her.

“Kyla, I love ye!” he cried out, no longer wanting to keep his feelings to himself. He wanted to tell the world how he felt
, and he wanted her to know before they were both gone from this life forever.

Kyla’s eyes met with Ian’s and her heart swelled when she heard him proclaim his love for her aloud. It was what she’d always wanted to hear from him, but not here and like this. Not when she was about to be burned at the stake and neither of them could do anything to stop it.

“Ian, do ye mean it?” she cried
out, ignoring Tearlach as he pushed her forward toward the pyre they were building. “Ye are no’ jest sayin’ it becooz ye think we’re goin’ te die?”

“I do mean it, Kyla
,” she heard Ian say, as he struggled against the men who were moving him toward the pyre as well, having tied his hands behind him. “I’m sorry I was such a dunderheid thet I ne’er realized how much ye really meant te me til now.”

“I love ye too,” she
called over her shoulder, and this time Tearlach grabbed her hand and turned her around, putting his arm around her shoulder to keep her from turning.

She
looked over her shoulder once more to see Ian pulling against the ropes that the soldiers had used to bind him, knocking several of them down in the process. They threw him to the ground and jumped atop him to keep him from moving. She saw the fury in his eyes and the way his jaw was set firm and then she saw the sadness in his gaze that almost broke her heart.

She couldn’t let it end this way between them. It was her fault they were in this situation and she was
going to have to get them out of it now.

“I’ll kill ye, Tearlach,” screamed Ian. “I swear I will.”

“Nay,” she said shaking her head and looking toward Ian. “Ye willna kill him.”

“Thet’s right,”
said Tearlach with a chuckle.

Sh
e looked down to the hilt of Tearlach’s dagger and in one motion she grabbed it and plunged it into his chest.

“I will!” sh
e said. “Ye deserve te die, ye bastard.”

Nobody moved
at first, as they were all shocked by what she’d just done. She ran toward Ian, but didn’t get far before the guards seized her again.

Tearlach’s eyes bugged out and he bent over, blood flowing from his mouth. He put his hands on the dagger and pulled it out and stumbled backwards, being caught by Eigg.

“Kyla, what did ye do?” she heard Ian shout out.

“Ye tried te kill me,” said Tearlach, leaning on Eigg, his mouth turning up into a half grin. “Ye really thought ye could kill me?” Then he started laughing, and Kyla felt
a chill run up her spine.

“Ye
’re no’ deid,” she said. “Why no’?” She realized she must have missed his heart with the blade.

“Becooz, I’m no’ easy te kill, Kyla. Ye can a
sk Ian if ye dinna believe me. Is thet pyre ready yet?” he called out to his men.

“It is,” Eigg informed him.

“Guid, then tie her on the stake and let’s have a bonfire shall we?”

“Nay!” shouted
Ian, breaking free of the ropes. He grabbed a sword and took down two men.

“I’ll kill him,” said Eigg rushing forward.

“Nay, I want him te watch his lover burn. And then if I canna do it meself, ye are welcome te kill him.”

“Leave her alone!” shouted Ian, as the guards rushed forward and swarmed him, stabbing him in his arm in order to make him release the sword. “I willna let ye touch her, ye bastard.”

“It’ll be hard te stop me since I plan on making ye watch from the stocks.
”