"Nessa," he said, getting down from his horse and helping her down as well. "Ye will wait here with the horses. Ruadh andWullie will stay here as yer guards. Ye'll obey his commands so long as they are within reason, understood?"
Nessa blinked. "I thought I was tae come closer tae the action today," she said.
"Ye can see perfectly fine from up here. In fact, ye may even have a better view from this angle than ye would close up," Ansel replied firmly.
Nessa bowed her head. Ruadh and Wullie got down from their own horses and got into place while the rest of the men dumped any supplies they had brought and prepared for the battle.
"We're about tae begin," Ansel announced. "And there will nae be a repeat of what happened at Clan McIntyre. That was a waste of land and of life. Ye willfollow me lead, ye understand? We are only tae kill those who fight back against us. Women and bairns are tae be captured, as are any men who lay down their arms. We are here as conquerors, nae executioners."
Many of his men nodded in agreement, but there was a murmur of discontent from several. One of them, a confident young man named Nicol who was a favorite of the king, spoke up. He was something of a chosen leader amongst the soldiers who were most loyal to Edric.
"We're here tae send a message on His Majesty's orders," Nicol argued. "Let's wipe this village from the earth, then when Laird Macrae comes tae beg, slaughter him as well. Our king is too powerful for pity."
Ansel shot him a level look. "It isnae aboutpity, Nicol. It's about strategy. Slaughterin' unarmed men and the innocent isnae the move of a good strategist, it's the move of a brute."
"Then let us be brutes," Nicol snarled. "If that's what it takes tae stamp out the rebel scum for good."
"Eejit," Ansel snapped, his patience already thin. "Dinnae be such a fool. Every drop of unnecessary blood spilled is anotherdrop in the cup of revolution. Dinnae ye understand that? The more we oppress them, the harder they fight."
"They cannae fight back if they're dead!" Nicol insisted, and a few men on his side cheered.
"Dinnae talk tae yer prince that way!" one of Ansel's more loyal men retorted. A few others shouted out in his defense.
The argument started to escalate, shouting on each side getting louder, each insisting, anger flowing around them. Ansel reared up his horse, shouting for them to stop. In the surprised silence that followed, he spoke more firmly than before.
"We attacknow. Ye obey me. And we win. Understood?" he commanded.
"Aye, Yer Highness," many of his men said as one.
Ansel met Nicol's eyes. "Understood?" he repeated softly.
Nicol looked away first. "Aye," he replied. "Yer Highness."
Pretending not to notice the resentment in the man's voice for now, Ansel turned his horse around to face the village. With one last glance back at Nessa, he set off, hearing the thundering of his men as they followed behind him.
They raced down the hill and through the gates of the village, Ansel's mind whirling with what he would do. He would target the leaders; probably he would have to kill a few of them as they would definitely fight back, but he hoped that?—
Something was wrong.
As his men spread out across the village, kicking in the doors of houses and shouting for the residents to come out into the open, Ansel stayed frozen in the middle, watching around him.
His stomach swooped as the reality hit him, and his understanding of the world suddenly got flipped on its head.
There was no screaming. No fighting. No noise or movement at all.
The village was empty.
Nessa sat on the grass, staring bleakly down toward the village, her breath catching in her chest as she waited for the battle to begin. She could feel her two guards watching her.
"Ye dinnae need tae watch," Ruadh said with a fumbling awkwardness to his tone. She turned to look at him—he was young with blazing red hair and freckles and wide blue eyes. He didn't look like he should be involved in such things as warfare. Perhaps that was why Ansel had left him behind. "Ye can look away."
"I'll watch," Nessa replied. "My husband-tae-be will win a great victory this day, and as his future wife, it's me duty tae support it."
"See? The woman has more sense than ye," Wullie replied with a snort. He was a tall, burly man with hooded eyes and a dark smile. "Let's just hope the prince listens tae Nicol and makes it a sight worth watchin'."
Ruadh said something in protest, but Nessa had already stopped listening to them. She expected the first screams to have risen from the village by now, or at least the sound of a raised alarm, but there was nothing but silence.
"What's goin' on?" she whispered to herself. She got to her feet, straining to hear the sounds of battle.
