Across the field, their enemy outnumbered the Sinclairs and the MacLeods three to one. He and Padrig did not expect to win this battle, but they had to try. Each refused to allow their enemy to take what was theirs by birthright.
Behind them, their army was at the ready. Despite the insurmountable odds, they stood their ground with their round shields and their spears or swords in hand. Pride spread through Alexander’s chest, knowing his men had come to fight, determined to keep their own lands out of the hands of the MacDonalds.
At the head of the opposing army, Brodie held aloft his great axe at the ready, and he nudged his destrier into a trot toward the middle of the field. The blade appeared to be glowing, which did nothing to temper the fear skippingthrough Alexander. He had to set aside that fear. Alexander and Padrig exchanged a glance.
“Mayhap he wishes to negotiate,” Padrig said.
“I dinnae believe he came all this way with his army to negotiate, my friend. However, there is only one way to find out.”
The two of them rode to the middle of the field to meet him and halted there. Alexander stared at the square face of Brodie MacDonald. His dark, beady eyes stared back. He continued to hold aloft that glowing great axe with a look of smug defiance.
Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy in the air.
“There’s no need for a battle,” Brodie said. “I am a man of mercy. Get off yer horses and surrender and we can avoid the bloodshed.”
“Ye wish us to surrender to ye?” Alexander shook his head. “Ye want it to be that easy, aye? Ye want us to hand over our lands as if we were handing over nothing more than a piece of bread. I willna submit to ye.”
“Nor I,” Padrig agreed.
Brodie’s eyes flickered between the two men, then paused on Padrig. “So, ye’ve thrown in with the likes of this one, aye? Ye disappoint me, Padrig.”
“After ye betrayed me and my clan, after framing me for deaths that werena my fault, after terrorizing my people…aye. I’ve thrown in with the likes of Alexander MacLeod. A good, decent, honorable man unlike ye. I cannae trust ye, nor will I ever trust ye again.”
“Very well, Padrig, if that’s yer decision, so be it. Ye are outmarched. Ye have no heavy calvary. How do ye think to defeat me?” He shook his head. “I will destroy ye both. Ye have no chance of beating me or my men.” He clutched his great axe tighter, his knuckles leeching of color. “As I said, I am man ofmercy. I will give ye both one last chance to leave the field. And if ye dinnae leave, then ye give me no choice.”
“Ye are no more a man of mercy than I am a man of the cloth.” Alexander drew his claymore. The blade sang with a shing as he unsheathed it. “I willna surrender.”
“Nor will I.” Padrig also drew his sword.
A glower crossed MacDonald’s face as his gaze flickered from one to the other. He turned his destrier and trotted back to his line of men. Alexander cut a glance to Padrig.
“I dinnae think he’d back down,” Alexander said.
“Nor I,” he agreed. “If he wins, then he controls all the lands on the northern part of the isle. Including yer own keep.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened as he stared down at the man on the other end of the field with the great axe. He still held it aloft as it continued to glow.
“He willna win,” Alexander said, sounding sure of himself. “We cannae allow him to win.”
There was a spark of determination in his wild, blue eyes.
As swiftly as the vision began, it ended. It faded from her mind. When she came back to herself, she felt the keystone biting into her palm, her fingers clutched tight around it. Malcolm cradled her against his chest, holding her tightly. Dimly, she realized she was in his lap as he sat on the floor holding her.
“Lass?”
She blinked up at him, her head pounding with a raging headache. “What happened?”
“I dinnae ken. Yer legs gave out.”
“And you caught me again.” The words came out on a breath. She seemed to end up in his arms a lot. Not that she minded.
“I’ll always catch ye when ye fall. What happened?”
Her limbs ached. She had no energy to push out of his arms, nor did she want to. She remained where she was, gazing up at him. His face had a worried expression, his eyes glinting with a bit of anxiety.
“When I picked up the keystone, I had a…a vision.”
“Like before?”
