“Were those Sinclair arrows?” Greer asked anyone who would answer.
“Aye, and likely some Mackays, too.” Ceit shifted to stand on Greer’s other side. Shona’s arm remained around Greer’s waist, and Ceit wrapped hers around her newest niece’s shoulders. “The plan must have changed once our men spotted them arriving. Da and the others kenned they could instigate the fight by making the Gunns think the English attacked. Now they’re letting them fight each other while our clan stays out of the way.”
“Then why havenae they come back? Do they nae dare open the postern gate?”
“There’s that,” Deirdre answered a few feet away. “But they’ll also widen their circle to now enclose the Gunns and their allies. Neither side will be able to run. They’ll tighten the net until it forces the English to fight our other enemies. The arrows have stopped flying because they’re too close to each other. The Highlanders will unseat the knights, and they’ll have the advantage once both sides are fighting on foot. Look.”
Greer’s gaze followed where Deirdre pointed through the gate. Her brow furrowed as she tried to understand what she saw. There were Highlanders facing in both directions, and it appeared like half of them fought amongst themselves. She didn’t recognize a single blue Sinclair plaid amongst the fray.
“Are those Macnaughtens? Is that who’s attacking the MacDonalds and MacDonnells?” Greer could see the Gunns were too entrenched in their fight against the English to notice what happened behind them. Half of the two southern Highland clans fought alongside the Gunns against the English, but the other half tried to defend themselves against the Macnaughtens.
“Aye. They must still side with the English,” Brighde answered. “Ma guess is they convinced the Gunns they would be allies together for auld time’s sake, or the Gunns asked them to fight alongside them in exchange for giving them back whatever was yer mother’s contribution to yer dowry. The Macnaughtens agreed, but they lied. They believe the English are their better bet in this fight. Now they’ve turned on their fellow Highlanders and defend the Sassenachs. Whatever their reasoning, they’re killing each other and keeping our men’s hands clean.”
Thor watched from the battlements alongside his cousin and their childhood friend. They pointed out the flaws in the English knights’ strategies. While all three had ridden into battle alongside their fathers within the last couple years as the Second War of Scottish Independence continued, none of them had fought nearly as many English knights as they had other Highlanders. However, Kirk’s father, Dedric, had been a young boy when the English stole him from his Lowland clan and forced him to appear before King Edward I.
The English saw Ric’s father as a traitor for marrying a Scotswoman and making his home along the border. They murdered both his parents while they lived among his mother’s people, the MacLellans, before the English kidnapped their young son. Raised at the English royal court, Ric became a knight. But as soon as his tenure ended, he returned to Scotland. Within weeks, he’d fallen in love with Lowlander Lady Isabella Dunbar. It didn’t take the couple long to realize moving to the Highlands was far safer than continuing to live so close to the border. Kirk and his twin, Kiera, along with their younger sister, Sarah, were born at Dunbeath. The Hartleys were really Sinclairs, just with a different surname.
Ric’s training as a knight had been invaluable to the Sinclairs over the past two decades. Now the young men noticed the weaknesses for which Ric taught all the Sinclairs, Mackays, and Sutherlands to watch. They took turns predicting which warrior would win as the Highlanders and knights fought a violent battle at their feet.
“This willna take long at this rate,” Kirk noted. “But what happens after? I dinna want to be the one out there digging graves for the bastards.” Kirk, Keira, and Sarah all sounded like Highlanders. Their mother sounded like the Lowlander she was, and their father sounded like the Englishman King Edward I forced him to become. Listening to the family still amused Thor, and he could tell it confused Greer.
“Nay. Bluidy hell.” Wiley pointed to the south. “Look. Those men are trying to break past Uncle Magnus, Blake, and Tor and their men. Now our family is in the fight.”
They watched in frustration as the Englishmen in the rear tried to escape the battle and ended up engaging part of the Sinclairs’ force. As the men abandoned their goal to flee south, they turned to the west, which drew Tavish and Tristan, along with their sons and men, into the fight. Wiley’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the top of the wall, watching his father and brother fight back-to-back. Alec and Wee Liam partnered, while Tristan and Hamish fought together, keeping their laird and their heir separate.
With the Macnaughtens pushing the Gunns, MacDonnells, and MacDonalds forward as they began firing their arrows into their supposed allies, and the English scattering, the battle descended into chaos. It rapidly forced the Sinclairs and Mackays to press inward to keep the attention away from the castle and to keep most of the fight between the Sinclairs’ adversaries. The ring surrounding the two sides tightened.
“Thormud!”
Thor spun around when he heard Liam call up to him. He hurried back down the steps and dashed across the bailey to where his grandfather stood near the armory. He glanced at Greer as he ran past the keep’s steps. It relieved him to see she remained with his mother and sister. The other women in his family clustered together, too.
“Aye, Grandda.”
“The Macnaughtens are doing a fine job picking off our enemies, but they’ll soon be the only ones left. They’ll try to claim Greer next. If they werenae interested in her for their own purposes, they wouldnae have joined this fight. We need them gone, too. Wiley and Kirk must position their men to cover ye, me, and the warriors who ride out with us. We need to get behind the Macnaughtens and squeeze them into the fight. There are still more Gunns, MacDonnells, and MacDonalds fighting the English than the Macnaughtens. There willna be enough English to finish the duplicitous pricks. Get our horses saddled and organize the men. I’ll speak to Wiley and Kirk. The portcullis only rises high enough for us to ride under. Then it closes again. There’s nay coming back for anyone until this is done. Go kiss yer wife and mother, lad.”
“Aye, Grandda.”
Liam turned toward the battlement steps but paused. He wrapped his massive paw around the back of Thor’s neck and drew their foreheads together. “Lad, ye are the mon we all kenned ye would become. I’m in nay hurry to leave this world, but I’m as confident riding out with ye as I am any of ma lads. If aught happens to me, ken that I dinna greet yer grandmama with any doubts aboot ye becoming our tánaiste.”
“Grandda, ye’ve never said aught like this before. Is something wrong? Should I worry? Should ye stay here?”
“Naught like that. I just dinna want to miss the chance to tell ye. I love ye, Thor.”
“I love ye, Grandda. And dinna frighten me like that again. I still have too much to learn from ye.” Thor grinned as he embraced Liam. They went their separate ways, and Thor took the steps two at a time until he reached the stoop and pulled Greer, Siùsan, and Shona into his arms.
“Are ye riding out?” Greer whispered.
“I must. We’re going to make sure this ends with nay one left to challenge us.” Thor kissed Shona’s and Siùsan’s cheeks before drawing Greer away. “Wee one, I have too much to live for to leave ye. I’m coming back and locking us in our chamber for a sennight. If aught goes wrong before then, listen to Mama. She kens exactly what to do. I love ye.”
“I love ye. I ken ye canna promise me, Thor. But be careful.” Greer wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her off her feet. Just as he’d seen his parents do countless times, he kissed Greer with all the love and passion he possessed. When he placed her back on her feet, they exchanged a peck, then he was leaping down the steps and vaulting into the saddle a moment later.
CHAPTER24
Thor rode alongside Liam as they led their men out of the portcullis and turned right. They skirted the ongoing battle before wrapping around to the left. Liam drew his mount to a stop, but Thor continued on until their men were in line between them. Each had his bow and quiver full of arrows. He’d once asked Callum if there was honor in this tactic, attacking an enemy from the rear and shooting them in the back. Thor would never forget his response.
“It’s nae our duty to watch their backs for them. They should ken better, and that’s why all Sinclairs fight back-to-back with a partner. Together, they see in all directions.”
He knew not every man they rode past could have missed their approach. None sounded the alarm until the first round of arrows soared through the air, picking off the enemies closest to Thor and his warriors. As those men fell, a second wave crested, then imbedded into the unsuspecting enemy. This one came from the men closer to Liam. All of them inched their horses closer as some of the Macnaughtens registered the newest threat. Shouts went up as they tried to fight the encroaching Sinclairs along with the men they’d already betrayed. They were unprepared to be sandwiched instead of remaining on the outside.
