“Go and stand with Mama,” Thor whispered to Greer.
“Nay, dinna do it. Please dinna leave me.”
“Wheest, wee one. This must end. Grandda will be the one to fight, but I must be the one to stand beside him. It’s ma right and duty as yer husband and as the second in line to nay only a lairdship but an earldom. I must. I love ye. Now, please, go stand with Mama.” Thor kissed the top of Greer’s head before she stepped back. She knew immediately that the kind arms she stepped into were Siùsan’s.
“Grandda, I will be yer second.” Thor walked to Liam’s right side. Without thinking because it was the Sinclair men’s most natural pose, Thor crossed his arms and stood with his feet hip-width apart.
“I accept, Thor.” Liam clapped his grandson on the shoulder before turning back to look at Sir Richard. “Dawn. Dinna be late. Ye’re dismissed.”
Sir Richard’s mouth flapped like a beached fish before his left eye twitched. Liam and Thor wore matching grins. Thor leaned forward with a conspiratorial whisper.
“I’d leave now while ye can get a good night’s sleep. Ye shall need it. If ye dinna, we can make yer accommodations in the oubliette. I dinna think ye’ll come to the fight in yer best form.” Thor straightened and cocked an eyebrow. Liam stifled his laughter as he thought about the toddler who’d once hung from his arms and stood on his feet while Liam pretended to be a sea monster. That toddler had grown into a man for whom Liam held immense pride. He didn’t doubt that his clan would one day be in good hands.
Liam whispered to Thor, “It’s a good thing I dinna have a bonnie bride to keep me awake all night. Try to get some sleep just in case.” No one had shared a bed with Liam since the day Kyla died. He hadn’t touched another woman since none could ever interest him.
“Aye, Grandda. But are we meeting in yer solar?”
“Gather yer cousins, and I’ll gather ma sons and daughters. It shall be a tight fit.”Good thing ma daughters dinna mind sitting on their husbands’ laps. Nae that ma sons would ever turn them away. As bad as I bluidy well was with ma Kyla.
CHAPTER22
Greer stood in front of Thor with his arms wrapped around her waist. Liam, his sons, and the additional members of the clan council sat around the table. Wives perched on knees, and sons and daughters stood behind their fathers. Blake’s wife, Cerys, stood in front of her husband in the same position as Greer. Tristan had a seat at the table while his sons stood behind him, too. Normally, only the clan council members would be present, and often the wives joined, but this was hardly a typical meeting.
“Our scouts say there are two-score and ten riding with him. We need to encircle them, so none can escape and carry word to Edward.” Magnus rested one arm on the table as he leaned forward to see everyone.
“Aye. Tate and Wiley, ye take a dozen men each and spread out from the coast inland,” Tavish instructed his sons. He looked at his only younger brother. “Blake and Tor, ye ride with yer da and block the road. Ye three are the biggest of all of us. They’ll think a mountain grew overnight.”
“Ric and Kirk can each take a dozen men and ride with me to the south while Tristan and his lads wrap around to the west.” Alex was the only brother to have no sons, but he wouldn’t trade his three daughters for all the money in Christendom. Tristan nodded in silence. The Sinclairs always encouraged his opinions, but he had nothing to add.
Liam shook his head. “We need two of the lads on the wall walks. I say Kirk and Wiley. They’re our best archers.” Liam looked at his grandson and raised his eyebrows.
“If that’s where ye want me, Grandda, then there’s where I go.” Wiley grinned and interlaced his fingers, pushing his palms out as his knuckles cracked.
“Try to be more patient than yer da,” Ceit whispered none too quietly to her younger son.
“I have the patience of a saint,seillean beag.” Little bee. Tavish had called Ceit that since they courted, since he said she liked nothing more than to buzz around him like an angry bee, but there was never a sweeter honey than his wife’s—kisses. Ceit rolled her eyes and shook her head. Tavish whispered something in her ear.
“Promise?” Ceit answered with cocked eyebrow.
“Ahem, little brother.” Alex elbowed Tavish, who loathed the supposed endearment. Not only was he just over a year younger than Alex, he was half a hair’s breadth shorter than his three brothers.
“Uncle Tavish, Uncle Alex.” Thor notched up his chin but glanced down at Greer. He normally enjoyed his family’s banter, and it always eased scary and tense situations. But they were discussing Liam’s life and Greer’s future. He found no humor in either. He could also tell that Greer’s endurance was running out, but neither he nor Greer wanted to leave the meeting.
“All right, lad.” Tavish nodded. “Wiley and Kirk go up to the battlements. I dinna think we have to worry too much aboot nae having enough men along the coast since we havenae seen any hint of ships. They arrived on horseback. Callum and his men will face the British and guard the path to the gates.”
“We allow the eejit in with his second, his standard bearer, and four witnesses. Be prepared for the Sassenachs to either scatter or charge the keep once they discover I’ve killed their leader.” Liam spoke with confidence despite being at least twenty years older than his opponent. It wouldn’t be his first single combat, though he’d thought his last had been over decades ago. “Thor, ye stand at the ready. Dinna watch us, watch his second.”
“Aye, Grandda.”
No one trusted that the English knight’s stand-in wouldn’t break the rules and charge into the fight at first blood.
“There’s naught more to settle until morning. We ride out before dawn. We should all get some sleep.” Callum finally spoke. He’d been silent while he watched his son. Just as with any battle, fear and pride warred within. He had only one son. He couldn’t imagine what Tavish and Magnus went through with their two sons apiece or his brother-by-marriage, Tristan, who had three. He had an appreciation for his father’s sacrifice with four sons who fought toward the end of the War of Scottish Independence. No clan skirmish since had been as violent as those battles, and Liam had ridden into them with all four of his lads, leaving Mairghread alone after Kyla died.
“May I ask something?” Greer swallowed and tried to relax when Thor pressed his chest more firmly against her back.
“Of course, lass.” Liam smiled encouragingly.
“I dinna doubt ye’ll be victorious. I truly dinna ken why he would challenge ye unless he doesnae see well. But what happens afterward? Willna the king send more men to take me? Will the MacDougalls or Macnaughtens send men?”
