“I should not make this decision alone,” he said heavily. “The other lairds and ladies should be here. But there’s only me, and it’s fair to say that there’s no time to waste. I agree. Ye can run after the battle, for all the good it will do ye.”
Struan gave a tight smile. “There’s more.”
“Let’s hear it. Ye want supplies? Somewhere to live?”
Struan shook his head. His cool gaze raked through the room once more and landed squarely on Una. His eyes did not flicker.
“I want to take her with me.”
There was a brief silence as the implications rushed around the room. Kyla gave a squeak of alarm, while Freya, face impassive, reached for a knife at her belt.
Kai brought his fist down on the table, hard enough to make it rattle.
“How dare ye!” he hissed. “Ye cannot take my sister. Ye would take her straight to yer father.”
“What, the man who’ll want my head by the time he hears about what I’ve done? Nay, I think not.” Struan gave a short, mirthless chuckle, never once taking his eyes off Una.
The hair at the back of her neck prickled, and a shiver rolled down her spine.
“I’ll do it,” she heard herself say, voice cracking. “I’ll go with him.”
Kyla gave a soft, muffled gasp, pressing her hand against her face. Kai made as if to speak, but Una held up a hand to forestall him.
“I’ve decided,” she answered softly, meeting her brother’s eye. “Struan Dickson, in the unlikely event we all live to dawn, I’ll go with ye.”
Something flickered in Struan’s face. What was it? Relief? Hope?
It didn’t matter. Nodding brusquely, he stepped forward, snatching up a map of the Keep and surrounding grounds and unrolling it.
“Let’s get to work, then,” he said, his voice sharp and businesslike. “First things first. I want a sword.”
Chapter 18
The Quickest Siege in the Highlands
The soldiers were arrayed in the courtyard, set out in battle formation facing the only door in the Keep walls. It was heavily barred and had never been broken down. Struan was not afraid about the door or the walls holding. They would hold, he knew it.
The trouble was that Keep Grahame had few soldiers ready to defend it. They’d all been turned out to go to the convent.
But, as he’d told the others, this battle wasn’t about numbers and sheer force. It was about holding on long enough for Brendan, Thomas, and their armies to arrive.
It’s a siege,he thought.With any luck, the shortest siege in the Highlands.
Free of chains and guards, he strode along the top of the Keep wall, peering down at their defenses on one side and the empty fields on the other. There was no moon tonight, and rain hung in the air. Not an ideal night for fighting, but there was no helping that.
“Maybe they’ll wait till morning to attack,” Una remarked. She was scuttling behind him, staying quiet, but he knew that there was nothing she had missed.
Why did she agree to come with me?he thought, not for the first time. He couldn’t have said what demon prompted him to request her to be sent away with him.I didn’t think it through. What will we do, the two of us?
There were many ways to approach a siege as the attacking party. There’d be siege ladders and perhaps hastily constructed contraptions designed to get soldiers to the top of the walls, where they could get into the Keep that way. The land around Keep Grahame was too rocky and uneven for anything on wheels, so siege ladders it would be. They’d try to break down the door, but he was confident that it would hold.
Grahame soldiers moved out of the way as he strode by, eyes wide. Most of them had heard only the basic facts—that Struan Dickson would be roaming free, fighting with themagainstthe Dickson army, and that he should be listened to.
They must be desperate indeed to rely upon me,he thought.
Una caught up to him, jogging alongside him.
“Did ye not hear me?” she snapped. “Perhaps they’ll wait until dawn to attack. I cannot see any approaching army, anyhow.”
