Mhairi refused to let go, pulling back with all her strength.
Behind her, the cellar door stood open, she'd sent the last of the children down with Kenina just moments ago.
At least they were safe.
"Run!" Mhairi shouted toward the cellar, praying Kenina would get them deep enough underground to be protected. "Get tae safety!"
The soldier yanked again, and this time Mhairi's grip slipped. She stumbled forward as a third man appeared from nowhere and grabbed her arm.
"Got ye," he snarled.
Mhairi kicked out, her boot connecting with his knee. He swore but didn't let go. Instead, he twisted her arm behind her back hard enough to make her cry out.
"Stop fightin'," he growled in her ear. "The duke wants ye unharmed, but he didnae say anything about a few bruises."
"Let me go!" She thrashed in his grip, trying to break free.
But another soldier joined the first, and between the two of them, they wrenched the spear from her hands completely.
Mhairi fought like a wildcat, knowing she was alone now—Kenina was underground with the children, the other villagers were scattered, fighting their own battles. There was no one to help her.
She kicked, twisted, bit down hard on one soldier's hand when it came too close to her mouth. He yelped and backhanded her across the face, stars exploding in her vision.
"Behave," he snarled, "or the next one will be harder."
Through the blur of pain and panic, Mhairi's mind raced. At least the children were safe. At least Kenina had gotten them away. That was something. That had to be enough.
In her mind, she saw children's faces pressed together in a cellar, deep below ground. As they dragged her out, she saw villagers trying to help but being cut down by Graham's soldiers. She saw the organized defense crumbling into chaos.
And then she saw Alpin.
He was at the main barricade, his sword a blur as he fought off three attackers at once. But even from that distance, even through the smoke and confusion, Mhairi saw the exact moment he realized she was being taken.
His head whipped toward her. Their eyes met across the chaotic square.
And something in his expression transformed from controlled fury to pure, primal rage.
Alpin saw red.
One moment he was fighting defensively, holding his position at the barricade like he'd ordered his men to do. The next, he saw Mhairi being dragged toward a waiting horse by two of Graham's soldiers, and every strategic thought fled his mind.
"Mhairi!" he roared.
He abandoned his position without hesitation, cutting down the man in front of him with a brutal slash before charging toward her.
Villagers and warriors scattered as he barreled through, his sword swinging in wide arcs that forced everyone, enemy and ally alike, to get out of his way.
"Alpin!" Callum's voice, desperate. "The barricade, we cannae hold without ye!"
"Ye have tae!" Alpin vaulted over a broken cart, his eyes locked on Mhairi's struggling form. "I'm getting’ her back!"
A Graham soldier moved to intercept him. Alpin's sword took the man's legs out from under him without breaking stride. Another tried to block his path, Alpin slammed into him shoulder-first, sending him sprawling.
He was perhaps twenty yards away when one of the soldiers holding Mhairi managed to lift her onto a horse despite her violent resistance. She clawed at the man's arm, her nails leaving bloody furrows, but he held fast.
Alpin grabbed a fallen spear from the ground and threw it with all his strength.
The weapon flew true, slamming into the rider's back with enough force to punch through his leather armor. The man's eyes went wide with shock. His grip on Mhairi loosened, and then he toppled backward off the horse.
