“I know the way to your house, Nairna. I’ll go first and lead them, if you’ll help Laren gather the others. I don’t know them as well as you do.” The young woman’s face was tense with fear, but she seemed determined.
“All right,” Nairna agreed. She went back to the weapons, hoping to find a bow of her own. There was only a crossbow with a single bolt, and she took it. Dougal and Callum would need help, and though she wasn’t experienced at fighting, she would do what she could to protect the women and children.
The smoke grew worse, a smothering odor that stung her eyes and burned her lungs. Some of the children started coughing, and Laren began leading them outside. She held her own daughters, one over each hip, as the women followed.
Nairna joined her in gathering everyone together, and Marguerite walked beside Callum. Though neither spoke, she saw the protective glint in Callum’s eyes.
The two young men took their positions on opposite sides of the ditch, Callum near the keep and Dougal on the other side of the bank.
Nairna climbed down into the water with Marguerite. She gripped her skirts as she sloshed through the muddy ditch water, and they grew saturated, heavy from the soaked weight. Her dog Caen dived into the water, paddling across before he headed up the hill, shaking the water off.
Once Nairna managed to climb up the bank, it was clear that one of them would have to stay at the hillside to help the women get out of the water, particularly if they were holding young children.
“Go and take cover in the trees,” Nairna told Marguerite, setting down her crossbow on the ground. “I’ll stay with Dougal and help the women out of the ditch.”
Although the path leading to their house was toward the front of the fortress, a line of thick fir trees edged the lower part of the hills. If they stayed hidden, they could make their way to the ridge.
Marguerite obeyed and as more women emerged with their children, Nairna assisted them out of the water. Jenny joined them and she directed her maid to hide with the others. Meanwhile, she kept watching both sides for signs of any soldiers.
She worried about Bram, not knowing whether he was alive or dead. Though she understood that he would fight better without her, being apart from him was a physical ache that didn’t diminish. The thought of losing him a second time made her heart go numb. She didn’t think she could bear it.
No longer was he the boy she’d first fallen in love with. He was a man who’d experienced torture and darkness, almost losing himself to it. And though he might never love her in the way she loved him, it didn’t matter. She wanted whatever part of him she could have. She held fast to the hope that one day he would see her with different eyes and learn to love her.
If they survived this day.
Callum took his position on the bank beside the fortress, an arrow already nocked in the bow, but his hands were shaking.
“Can he shoot?” she murmured to Dougal.
“I don’t know.” The boy shook his head. And that wasn’t at all reassuring.
Nairna knelt down in front of the ditch, holding infants while their mothers tried to climb out of the water. Her dog Caen rested at Dougal’s feet.
The first group of soldiers came around the corner, and Nairna’s heart seized with fear. Sweet heaven, she didn’t know what to do. She handed a baby to his mother before reaching for the crossbow. She didn’t know how to aim it, much less release the bolt. And she only had one shot.
Before she could even consider aiming the weapon, Callum released an arrow that struck the soldier’s face. He followed up with a second shot that embedded within the soldier’s heart.
Nairna stared at the man, struck speechless by what she’d seen. How he could have such skill? Especially after being locked away for so many years.
But the look he cast toward Marguerite was a quiet promise that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. And the soft smile Marguerite gave him made Nairna’s heart ache, as the woman disappeared into the trees.
Dougal cried out a warning and more of the enemy emerged from the other side. He tried to fire an arrow, but it struck the ground. Shaking, Nairna lifted her crossbow. She’d never killed a man before, and she prayed she wouldn’t have to.
The soldiers charged closer with their spears, calling out for more men to join him. But just as before, Callum’s arrows took the men down, some of the bodies crashing into the ditch water.
Laren led her own children through the ditch, bringing up the middle group of women. They disappeared into the woods, and Nairna sent up a silent prayer that they would make it to safety.
Only a dozen or so women remained, and the keep’s tower began to crumble, the wood groaning under the weight. Nairna set down her crossbow at Dougal’s feet and climbed back down into the ditch. She helped one of the mothers by picking up a three-year-old boy on her hip, ordering the others to get out.
Bram and Alex came up around the corner at a full run. Blood covered her husband’s hands, but Nairna didn’t know if it was his or another soldier’s.
She was so relieved to see him, she passed the child she was holding up to his mother, who had already climbed up the bank. The remaining women got out of the ditch, and Bram crossed through the water, helping her up. As soon as he emerged, he pulled her into his arms.
Nairna was shivering with cold but feeling his arms around her made it easier to endure. She clung hard, and both of them saw at the same moment when the keep started to fall apart.
“Callum, dive!” Her husband roared out the warning, and his brother threw himself at the ditch. Callum hit the water, while behind him, the wooden structure collapsed.
Marguerite emerged from the forest, but Nairna let go of her husband and shoved the young woman back. “He’ll be all right. Take the women up to the ridge and I’ll send him soon.”
