“Nay, they’re here all right,” he muttered, shaking his head. “And they won’t wait till dawn. It would be too much of a risk. They’ll attack now, hoping to catch us sleeping. With the door bolted, however, and the walls tall and strong, we can easily keep them off for days or even weeks. It’s a siege.”
Una bit her lip. “I hope ye are right.”
He glanced down at her, her face pale and worried in the moonlight. “I am right. And see, I was right about the army coming, too. They’re here.”
Una’s eyes widened. She dashed past him, leaning over the wall. Struan followed her, already knowing what he would see.
A dark mass moved in the forest, entirely silent. The only real sign that they were there was the fact that the trees and foliage moved in the wind, but the Dickson soldiers did not.
Three men were striding out in the open, heading for the Keep walls. It was hard to make out their shapes and faces, but Struan knew who they were.
Keir was a tall man, deceptively thin and very strong. He was almost entirely bald, with an exposed scalp that burned in the sun. His head was like the rest of him, long, thin, and pale. He always wore a belted plaid, in Dickson tartan of course, and it hung around him like a blanket. He used to hide various weapons in the folds of the material.
Struan didn’t recognize the two men at his side, both armed and heavy-looking Dickson men. Through breaks in the clouds, moonlight shone down, illuminating their faces. They were grim, thuggish-looking men. Killers.
“Is that ye up there, Struan?” Keir called out, his voice carrying easily. “I’d heard that ye had turned traitor, but I did not want to believe it.”
Struan clenched his jaw. He was aware of the Grahame soldiers shifting around him, eyeing him worriedly. Kai was down in the courtyard with the infantrymen, ready to fight should the walls or doors be breached. If they were breached, of course, it would be a disaster. With their superior numbers, the Dickson soldiers would pour into the Keep, and quickly breach the Keep itself, where Freya and Kyla and those who couldn’t or wouldn’t fight were waiting, breathless.
There was no escape from the Keep. No secret passage, no back entrance. If the Keep fell, they’d all fall with it.
“Go back, Keir,” Struan responded evenly. “My sister, Kyla, is here, and I won’t let her come to harm.”
“Laird Dickson has commanded that she be executed as a traitor,” Keir answered, his voice bright. “He’s heard that shecarries a child. The bairn must die, too, before it can be born. I’m to see to it myself.”
Struan clenched his teeth, rage bubbling up inside him. Spies, traitors in the Kenneth Clan had sold them off. Before he could respond, Una was at his side, all blazing anger.
“Lay a finger on my friend, ye bald-headed fool, and I’ll strangle ye with yer own innards,” she seethed.
Far from being shocked or surprised, Keir only chuckled, shaking his head. Behind him, the dark tide of Dickson men was advancing. They’d left the shelter of the trees and were inching forward, now only ten feet or so away from Keir. Less than thirty feet separated them from the walls. None of them spoke. They were a shapeless mass, barely human.
I know how well-trained and lethal the Dickson army can be,Struan thought grimly.I trained them myself.
It was his father, though, who had insisted on brutality.Take the heart out of men,he’d said.Spit the heads of captives on spikes. Let prisoners die slowly, staked and left to rot in the sun. Kill the women. Kill the children. Make them suffer. All of this made sure that people would not want to fight the Dicksons, because they knew what would happen if they lost.
“Pull yer men back, Keir,” Struan spoke, forcing himself to stay calm. He could order the archers to fire on the Dickson army, but it would do little good. They hadn’t charged yet.
“I know ye, too,” Keir remarked, almost as if they were having a normal conversation. He shook a finger at Una. “The Alcorn slave. Laird Dickson remembers ye. He wants ye brought to him, just to see ye, I suppose. Maybe we’ll peel off yer skin and hang ye from the Keep walls, just so that everybody can see what happens to traitors. Or perhaps we’ll save that punishment for ye, Struan.”
Beside him, Una flinched at the cruelty of it all. Struan, however, had been expecting it. He laid a hand on her shoulder,hoping it would reassure her. Una glanced up at him, eyes glittering in the moonlight, and he felt his chest constrict. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say a word, Keir gave a choking laugh and spoke again.
“Ye certainly gave us the runaround, Struan. Made us chase ye like a pack of dogs. No sooner would ye tell us where ye were than ye would be off again. Here, there, and everywhere.”
Struan’s skin prickled. He felt Una’s eyes on him, shocked and angry.
“The maid,” she whispered, understanding dawning. “Ye sent messages through the maid I saw ye talking to at Keep Kenneth. Ye were communicating with them. That’s how the Dicksons knew of our movements.”
He swallowed thickly. “I had the messages delayed. That’s what I said to the maid. I knew that she would relay the information I’d given her whether I wished it or not, but I asked her to wait. And she did. That extra time?—”
“The maid has been dealt with,” Keir spoke up, chuckling nastily. “There are consequences to pay for offering delays to Laird Dickson.”
Struan found himself at a loss for words. He hadn’t known the girl well. His father had countless spies everywhere, and she was just one of them. Perhaps it had been coin that had tempted her or the promise of a better life. He’d known men and women to spy for his father to get loved ones released from the dungeons.
It didn’t matter now, did it?
Before Struan could respond, twinges of worry shot through his chest. He frowned, glancing around. Why were alarm bells ringing inside him? What were his instincts warning him about?
What is going on? Something is wrong.
