“But Eithne got away,” Rory said quietly. “Ye and all yer men and ye couldnae take on a wee daughter of a minor Laird.”
“I…I’m sorry, Me Laird,” Reilly stammered.
Rory heaved a great sigh and stood up from his throne. He walked along to stand in front of Reilly. “How is yer wife?” he asked.
Surprised by the change of subject, Reilly said, “Aye, she’s grand, Me Laird. Our daughter just had her first bairn, and our son is about to be wed. It’s a good time for me family.”
“They must have been fairly glad when you came back alive even when some of yer men didnae,” Rory mused.
Reilly dipped his head. “I mourn the loss of all of me men. They were good lads, just trying to follow me orders. I take all responsibility for what happened.”
“Good,” Rory replied. In a flash, his hand moved, and his dagger was buried to the hilt in Reilly’s stomach.
The man’s eyes widened in shock and pain as blood spurted between his fingers. He scrabbled at his stomach as if trying to hold his life in, then fell backward, landing on the ground with a crash.
“A stomach wound willnae kill a man quickly, ye ken,” Rory told him conversationally. He kneeled so that he could wipe the blood from his hands onto the dying man’s trews. “The one I’ve given ye is actually survivable with proper treatment. Otherwise, it’ll be a slow, painful death while yer organs try their best to survive before they finally fail one by one. Do ye think I should get ye some help?”
“Me Laird…” Reilly gasped. His voice was laced with pain, and he struggled to sleep. “Please…”
“Please?Please?”Rory spat. These men were pathetic. Reilly had been one of his father’s most excellent soldiers…but then, Rory’s father had been weak too. That’s why he’d died so young. “Ye dare beg me for yer life? Ye’re disgusting, Reilly.”
“Me wife…me children…me laird, I have been loyal…”
Rory tutted and leaned close, his face inches from Reilly’s contorted expression. “I dinnae tolerate failure, Reilly,” he said, almost gently. “I dinnae allow mistakes. I asked ye one thing – to bring me bride back to me. And ye failed.”
Reilly gasped and whimpered. Rory waited but was very disappointed as the man didn’t beg anymore. He’d have to motivate him. “So, I think I’ll get ye help,” he said. “Ye’ll be out of commission for a while, but ye’ll live.”
“Thank ye…thank ye, Me Laird,” Reilly wheezed. He looked terrible, his face pale, covered in sweat. Rory’s dagger still stuck out from his belly, stopping the blood from flowing fully everywhere. “Ye’re…ye’re gracious and forgiving.”
“I am,” Rory agreed. “But I think, since ye took my bride from me, I should take yers, don’t ye?”
“Wh—what?”
“I’ll take dear Mrs. Reilly, and I’ll have her head. Only then will ye ken the true pain I am going through now,” Rory told him with a pleasant smile.
Reilly’s eyes widened in horror. “Nay…nay, ye cannae. Please.Please.”
Rory tutted. “Begging again, hardly befitting a man of yer stature. Very well then, a choice. Mrs. Reilly can die, and we’ll be even…or she lives, and ye’ll pay the blood price instead.”
“Fine,” Reilly gasped. “Fine, let me die if I must, just let her live on.”
Rory nodded, smiling still. “As ye wish,” he said and turned to leave the room.
“Me Laird! Will ye nae reward me for me years of service…by slitting me throat?” Reilly begged. “Let me die with honor.”
Rory didn’t even turn around. “I cannae,” he said, “Ye dinnae have any left.” And then he walked out of his throne room, leaving the captain to his slow death on the cold stone floor.
* * *
Rory sat around the table with his remaining men, including young Jonah Reilly, who had stepped into his father’s place upon hearing of the older man’s death at the hands of the mercenary. “It’s truly regretful,” Rory told him sadly. “But he’d want ye to take his place.”
A fire had burned in Jonah’s eyes as his mother wept, and he’d accompanied Rory straight here.
Rory couldn’t believe how easy it was to fool these idiots. Jonah was about seventeen, old enough to battle and yet young enough to mold. Rory should have gotten rid of the father long ago; the son was much more useful to him.
“Now,” Rory said, “I think that some of us here are longing for revenge for our fallen friends.”
A few of the men nodded in agreement. Young Jonah looked ready to kill on the spot.
