Alex stepped back, allowing his father the opportunity to take the next man down, but another came at them from the side. Alex turned and cut him down with one swing. The four men were dead.
His father said, “Jeffrey, check the tower chambers and the kitchens.”
Panting from exertion, Alex stared down at the blood on his sword and the man splayed beneath him. The man’s eyes were still open, staring at naught. And Alex couldn’t stop staring at the blood spilling from his body. His dead body.
His father moved closer and set his hand on Alex’s wrists. “Lower your weapon, son. You killed because you had to. Yousaved yourself and your sire. The Lord will forgive you. Clean your blade on the enemy, then sheathe your weapon.”
He did his best to do as his father told him, but his hands shook too much. He hadn’t killed one man but two. His father steadied his hands and helped him to clean his blade. “I’ll forgive your defiance this once because ’twas your first experience in battle.”
Defiance? He stared in confusion. He hadn’t defied his sire, had he?
“You stepped in front of me. I gave you a clear instruction to stand behind me at all times. Howbeit, since you killed a man who was about to cut me down, I’ll say naught this time. But you must listen to your chief’s orders. Had I not guessed you might step in front of me, I may have driven my blade into your back.”
Alex didn’t know what to say. He finished cleaning his blade and held it at his side, the tip striking the floor. “Forgive me, Da.”
His father clasped his shoulder and said, “Go upstairs and check the bedchambers. Keep your weapon at the ready.”
Alex crept up the staircase, gripping his weapon so tightly his fingers were going numb. Sweat dotted his brow, enough that he wished to swipe at it but he didn’t dare lose focus. He checked the first two chambers and they were empty.
The last chamber was not.
Two people were sprawled across the bed, both dead. Blood soaked their clothing and the linens. It appeared the husband had been reaching for his weapon when he’d been stabbed in the belly. The wife had her throat cut.
The stench in the chamber was unbearable. He did his best not to heave in the corner, leaving quickly. He yelled over the balustrade to his sire. “I believe the castle’s chieftain and his wife are in their bedchamber, both dead.”
His father took the stairs two at a time and bolted into the chamber, only to curse vehemently.
“Bastards!” He stormed back out and stood next to Alex.
“Da, how do you know the English did this?” Alex said softly. “You knew before we saw them.”
“Because they have no code of honor. They rape and kill women and bairns. You may not have seen it, but I saw the mountain of bairns dead at the edge of the clearing outside the castle walls. They must have been trying to escape.” He ran a hand through his dark hair peppered with gray strands, tugging on the ends, a movement Alex knew was often used to express his frustration.
“Where are the women?” Alex asked.
“I heard some female cries upon our arrival, yet we found none inside other than the chief’s wife. Clan Gordon is no more. But where are the women?”
“Would they have taken them captive?”
“Lord help them if they did. The English are brutal. Come, we’ll check outside the walls. We’ll speak with the men whom I sent to search the village.”
Alex followed his sire down the stairs and through the hall, keeping his gaze averted from the death and blood everywhere. Once in the courtyard, the buzz of the flies overtook all other sounds.
Blood and gore were everywhere.
Several of their warriors were busy burying the dead, while others were loading injured Gordon warriors into a cart to be taken to a healer. Alex’s sire headed out the castle wall, consulting with men along the way.
“Women? Have you seen any women, young lasses?”
“Aye,” one guard said. “There are many dead inside a few cottages. Most are in their night rails. This must have happened at night.”
“Did you see any lasses you would suspect to be the laird’s daughters?”
“One, aye. She was protected by five others. She wore a noblewoman’s slippers, Chief.”
“Bury the others, but I’ll check the noblewoman,” he said, heading toward the indicated cottage. “Alex, wait here.”
He did as he was told, although he couldn’t stand to be in this courtyard full of death. Thankfully, his father returned quickly. “’Tis one of his daughters, I’m sure of it. Now we must locate the other so we can bury them together. There is one more daughter somewhere.” His gaze scanned the area. “You search that area behind the keep while I check with the others.”
