Snow blanketed the ground as the Mackays gathered to celebrate Yule. Elene and her siblings told of Orcadian traditions for Yule and Hogmanay, many of which harkened back to their Norse heritage and were foreign to the Highlanders. They explained about theJul Bok, or Yule goat, that was sacrificed each year. Elene admitted it was a leftover tradition from when the Norse were pagans, but it meant a feast within her village and a time for families to gather and tell the Christ Child’s story.
Elene swirled the mug of warm mead Liam handed her as she gazed at the yule log burning in the Great Hall’s giant hearth. They’d gone ice fishing that morning on the loch, and their catches were served at the evening meal. Katryne and Johan, supervised by Elene, Liam, and his siblings, taught the village children how to fish through a narrow hole with only a string to lure the fish. As she sat before the fire, Elene glanced at Liam, who took her hand while he spoke to Tristan. Mairghread exchanged a knowing look with Elene and lifted her chin in encouragement.
“Liam,” Elene whispered when Tristan shifted his attention to Alec and Hamish. “It’s not too cold. Mayhap we could go out and look at the stars.”
Stargazing became a habit for them once they settled at Varrich. They would walk to the loch and lay near the water, just as they had during the first days they’d known each other. They never ventured beyond the castle walls without guards, but the warriors kept a respectful distance.
As they left the keep, Liam adjusted the Mackay plaid arisaid Elene now wore daily. He pulled the extra wool over her head and drew it together beneath her chin. Their breath created icy clouds between them, but the night air wasn’t unbearable. Holding her skirts high so she wouldn’t trip in the dark, Liam and Elene made their way onto the battlements. They looked out toward the Kyle of Tongue and began pointing out constellations and their own star shapes.
“Liam, I’ve been waiting to tell you something until I was sure. I saw the—” Bells clanging interrupted Elene mid-sentence. They didn’t announce the arrival of a welcome visitor. Liam gathered Elene against his side, grabbing her skirts to help her hold them up as he rushed her toward the steps. “Liam?”
“They’re warning of attack.”
“Where?” Elene craned her neck. It was in a single shaft of moonlight that she saw her nightmare approach. Below the cliffs, she made out the masts of ten Norse longboats. They were just below the keep, having made their stealthy approach unnoticed.
“Hurry, Ellie. I have to get you inside. Mama will know what to do.”
“She has to help the villagers.”
“I know. She’ll tell you what she needs, then she’ll make sure you’re all safely hidden.”
“It’s Gunter, isn’t it?”
“I can’t think of anyone else.”
“This is all my fault.”
“It’s his fault. His stubbornness and ego. He thinks me little more than a boy, so he believes he can attack my clan because he assumes everyone must be as weak as he sees me. He’s seriously underestimated me, my father, and our people.”
“Be careful.” Elene stopped and spun around. She clasped Liam’s jaw. “We’re going to have a bairn, Liam. I need you to come back to me, to us. Don’t be rash.”
Liam pulled Elene in for a passionate kiss, her news ringing in his ears. He understood that she told him in an effort to make him more cautious, but it only made him more determined to protect her and end this threat for good.
“I love you, Ellie. And I already love our bairn. I’ll be damned if some arrogant Norseman arse keeps me from my wife and child.” Liam kissed her again, hard and quick. “Go inside.”
Elene returned his kiss before she turned on her heel and rushed toward the keep doors. Mairghread and Tristan burst through just before she reached them. Tristan bellowed orders, Hamish and Alec following in his footsteps. The four Mackay men made for the battlement stairs, each taking torches from men near the barracks.
“Come with me,” Mairghread ordered. “Ainsley is gathering the women and hiding them beneath the floors in the storerooms. The villagers are already coming in. We need to get them into the storage buildings and the undercroft. You take this first group to the undercroft. Once they’re safe, you go to your chamber and bolt the door. You do not open that door unless it’s Liam. Do you understand?”
“Yes. But I should help more.”
“You should keep my grandbairn safe and yourself alive. He must not see you. The best thing you can do to keep your husband alive is to hide. Go.” Mairghread gave Elene a soft push toward the group of villagers streaming in through the gates. Elene herded the people toward the undercroft, looking over her shoulder as Mairghread fired rapid orders for more villagers to hide in the smaller building around the bailey.
Once Elene was certain she hid all the villagers with her beneath the stone floor in the undercroft, she hurried toward the kitchens. She could hear a voice bellowing and knew it was Liam. Temptation got the better of her, so she changed course and tucked herself against the wall just outside the kitchens.
“Being made a fool of in Orkney wasn’t enough. You’ve sailed a long way to be embarrassed in a foreign land,” Liam called out.
“Give me my woman, and I shall sail home in peace.”
“I can’t give you something that I don’t have. I’ve never had your woman. Inburgh was in Skaill last I saw.”
“That bleating bitch isn’t who I want,” Gunter jeered. “You can try to stall, but we are already on land.”
Elene could only hear Gunter. She had no way of seeing where he was. She wasn’t certain if that was more terrifying than being able to watch him approach. A blood-curdling scream rent the air, followed by several more.
“The only bleating I hear are your people as they die. Mighty hard to see where those arrows come from in the dark,” Liam snarked.
Elene tried to picture the landscape near the kyle. There were trees that grew along the clifftops, so she assumed the archers hid amongst them. She wondered if there were even some in the caves. She knew guards had rotations watching the caves. She guessed that was how they knew to sound the alarm, but the Norse were far closer than Elene imagined the Mackays would intentionally allow them to arrive.
