When she opened her eyes, she knew he would be watching her back. He smiled. So did she.
Outside the walls, danger waited. Inside, they chose one another.
CHAPTER 37
Dawn broke to the sound of hooves and shouted warnings. Baird was already awake when the courtyard erupted. Even through the closed windows of his chamber, he heard his men calling for the laird.
He got up without hesitation.
“What is happening?” Davina asked, sounding still sleepy.
“I dinnae ken yet,” he told her. “But I’m about tae find out.”
He was halfway down the stairs by the time the scouts rode through the gates. He rushed outside to meet them.
“They’re moving,” one of them gasped as he dismounted. “Faster than expected. Sinclair banners, nay attempt at concealment.”
“How far?” Baird demanded.
“Less than a day’s hard march,” the scout replied. “They mean tae strike soon.”
Baird did not swear. He did not hesitate.
“Sound the captains,” he said. “Now.”
Within minutes the war room filled with steel and leather, smelling of damp wool and readiness. The long table was cleared in a breath, maps were unrolled and weighted at the corners.
Baird planted his hands on the table. “They advance from the east,” he said. “That means the low road and the ridge path. They’ll split forces.”
Hands moved at once, fingers tracing routes.
“Archers to the ramparts,” he ordered. “Double on the eastern wall. I want overlapping lines of fire.”
“Aye,” came the immediate reply.
“The main gate gets reinforced,” Baird continued. “Boiling pitch ready, but we hold it unless they force us. Nay wasted fire.”
He pointed to the inner keep. “Fallback points here, here, and here. If they breach the outer wall, we dae nae scatter. We draw them inward and bleed them fer every step.”
A captain frowned. “And the villagers?”
“They stay sheltered,” Baird said flatly. “Nay one leaves the inner halls. I want guards posted at every passage.”
Baird was already turning from the table when a guard stepped forward, hesitating only a fraction. “Me laird, Lady Davina is already taking care of them as we speak. She’s in the lower halls, directing the villagers and servants. Supplies, blankets, food. She has them organized by sections.”
Another guard nodded quickly. “Aye. And she’s… steadying them. The children listen when she speaks. Even the men…” he cleared his throat, looking almost embarrassed, “even the weary ones seem calmer fer hearing her.”
Baird felt overwhelmed. He already knew all of that. Now, his men knew it, too. He looked around the room at his captains and guards, men hardened by years of skirmishes and winters alike.
“We are fortunate,” Baird addressed them all, “tae have her.”
He didn’t speak out of love this time, but he simply spoke the truth.
“She holds the heart of this keep,” he continued. “Which means it is our duty tae hold its walls. Nay Sinclair blade reaches them while we still stand.”
A fierce murmur rolled through the room.
“We are Kincaids,” Baird said. “And we keep every soul within these walls safe, nay matter what the cost.”
