“Da didna say when,” Alex noted. “We can have a wee more fun before that. Among the five of us, we should be able to throw him clear of the rocks. Let the sharks eat him.”
Alex drew his blade and swept it across the prisoner’s chest from his left shoulder to his right hip. It was deep enough to bleed profusely, but it wasn’t mortal. Callum, Tavish, Mòr, and Óg took their turns.
“Cease! I relent! I’m Caleb Matheson, the laird’s nephew. The captain of the guard sent me. I dinna ken who gave the order, but I dinna think it was the laird.”
“Ye left yer land to kill a tánaiste of one of the largest clans in all of Scotland, and ye did it without yer laird’s directive. The bollocks ye must have,” Callum scoffed.
“How much money were ye paid or who were ye allowed to fuck?” Óg cocked an eyebrow. The man’s quick glance toward Óg answered his question. “Ah, both. Hope the tupping was good because ye willna live to spend the money.”
The five men moved toward the door without giving the man chained to the wall another look.
“Wait. Ye’re leaving me here?”
Callum looked over his shoulder. “Mòr told ye Da was being gentle and patient. Tossing ye would be too gentle for our taste. Ye can bleed and starve to death. Dinna bother screaming. Nay one is coming. Since we arenae keeping ye alive, nay one needs to guard ye.”
The men left the cell, taking the two torches that illuminated it. They all knew Liam waited around the corner. They left the dungeon in complete blackness. They heard the prisoner’s cries, but no one cared.
CHAPTER17
“We send word to Hamish and Lachlan, and to Tristan. I dinna think we need everyone else.” Liam stood behind his desk in his solar. He pulled pieces of parchment from a drawer and set a quill and ink pot on the right side. “Can Seamus spare men?”
“Aye. I canna ride on the Mathesons or anyone else without Seamus’s permission. He willna hesitate to give it, but I dinna want to make things any worse than the shite heap we have.”
“We can send messengers today. It’ll take a day and a half to reach Uncle Hamish, and three and a half days to Tristan’s.” Callum looked at Óg. “It’ll take a sennight for Tristan to get to Eilean Donan, and the same for us. We dinna need to leave before the messenger arrives at Castle Varrich. But we can meet them on the road. We can go to Dunrobin and wait with Uncle Hamish. It gets ye away from here.”
Óg was slow to agree. He didn’t like the idea of leaving Saoirse here. Now that they’d handfasted, she might be a target too. Then he considered it might be safest if he was well away from her until the threat ended. He was torn.
“Lad,” Liam said as he walked to where Óg stood. “Tavish and I will stay here. Ride with Callum and yer da. She’s safe with us staying back.”
Óg nodded. It felt strange to think of Alex so easily as his father, but it flooded him with a sense of assurance. Callum had always felt most like a father to him since Siùsan raised him, and they were married. The greater age difference and the laird’s wisdom always made Magnus wish Liam were his father or even grandfather. Any of the Sinclair men were far better than his own father had ever been.
Liam returned to his desk and scrawled quick missives to his brother-by-marriage and son-by-marriage before sealing them and handing them to Callum.
“I’ll dispatch riders on ma way to find Siùsan. She’ll arrange all the stores we need to travel that far.” Callum, Mòr, and Tavish left, each knowing his tasks as they prepared men to ride out to a potential battle. Liam and Alex remained behind. As soon as the door closed, Magnus looked at Alex.
“Do I still call ye Alex?” Magnus blurted.
“I’d like ye to call me Da, but I ken I am nae that.”
“I’d prefer it,” Magnus confessed. He suddenly felt like the lost child he’d been when he arrived. “Liam always felt like a father of sorts, and Mòr was ma mentor. Ye, Callum, and Tavish were like aulder brothers, and I’ve looked up to all of ye since I met ye. I loathed ma father since ma first memories. There wasna a day during ma fostering that I didna wish at least one of ye was ma real da. Ye dinna think it odd that a mon auld enough to be yer younger brother would call ye that?”
“Nay. I thought it would be when I realized yer interest in Saoirse wasna fleeting. But ye’re ma son, and I dinna think of ye any other way now. Aye, once ye were more like a little brother, but ye married ma daughter. I welcome ye as a son.”
Alex extended his arm for a warrior handshake, and Magnus grasped his forearm. Instead of shaking it, Alex drew him into an embrace. “I’m sorry I didna get ma head out of ma arse sooner. I’m proud to call ye son.”
Magnus nodded, needing a moment to collect himself. He’d never heard those six words strung togetheranddirected at him. As he drew back, Liam rested his hand on Magnus’s shoulder. He hadn’t heard the laird approach.
“I suppose I shall have to move over then. I couldnae ask ye to call me Da when ye were a lad, nae while yer father was alive. Once he died, I thought ye might be too auld to want to, and I didna wish to overstep. But I have always looked upon ye as a son. If ma aching bones are any sign—” he shook the hand that landed the most punches “—I should go by Grandda, anyway.”
“I—” Magnus could only nod. It was bittersweet to have this official recognition after so many years of yearning, and even envy, only to know he would leave once the threat was gone. As he looked at Alex, his dark locks showing flecks of gray and lines bracketing his eyes and mouth, the age difference that had once faded came back. But rather than feeling inadequate, he finally felt like he belonged, that he had the final piece to his family.
Alex grinned and ruffled Magnus’s hair before playfully elbowing him in the ribs. Magnus swatted his arm away.
“Ye’re but skin and bones, Da. Ye have the knobbly elbows of an auld mon.” Magnus returned Alex’s grin.
“Ye’re nae too big for me to skelp.” Alex clapped his hand on Magnus’s shoulder and squeezed before embracing him once more. “If we dinna find our wives and warn them we’re leaving, they’ll skelp our arses.”
Liam, Alex, and Magnus left the laird’s solar. The two younger men went in search of their wives while Liam sought Callum to continue planning.
