But he seemed to be handling it well, easily slicing his sword through one of the intruders, catching him across the abdomen. The man screamed and fell to the ground, but Malcolm barely had time to breathe as the other two started to advance. Edna eyed the sword that the other Scot had dropped when he fell to the ground, and without another thought, she hurried over, grasping it in her trembling hands. She had to help Malcolm.
When she tried to advance, something grabbed ahold of her ankle and nearly caused her to fall. The attacker had been able to reach out, his hand wrapped around her ankle!
“Nay!” she shouted, bringing the sword down without thinking. The attacker yelped as she stabbed him in the forearm, and suddenly she was free once more.
“Ye bitch!” he screamed as she raced to Malcolm’s side.
“Nay, lass!” Malcolm shouted as Edna attempted to step between him and another attacker who had his sword poised to deliver what would most certainly be a death blow to Malcolm.
Her sword swung up just in time, and she felt the vibration throughout her entire body as his sword struck hers, grasping the hilt tightly so she wouldn’t lose the sword as well. “Ye bitch!” he spat as her shoulders burned with the effort. “Ye’re lucky I have orders tae keep ye alive.” Edna cried out as the attacker knocked her sword away easily, sliding on the stones.
She backed away as the attacker advanced on her, but then Malcolm was standing in front of her, barely winded from his fighting. “Leave with yer friends now,” he growled, holding his sword before him. “Or I will gut ye where ye stand.”
The attacker looked over Malcolm’s shoulder at Edna. “I will be seeing ye, murderer,” he growled, backing away. The other attacker that Edna had stabbed in the arm was already rising unsteadily on his feet, his hand around his waist.
Malcolm jabbed at them with his sword, and they scampered away, disappearing from view a few moments later.
Only then did Malcolm lower his sword and turn to face her. “Are ye hurt, lass?” he asked, wiping his face with his forearm.
“N-Nay,” she stammered. “Why were they calling m-me a murderer?”
“I dinnae know,” he replied, grabbing his tunic from the ground. “But I think it has something tae do with Declan’s death.”
“But I didnae kill him,” she protested as he shrugged on his tunic and methodically strapped on his sword to his back once more.
Malcolm reached out and grasped her hand. “I know, lass,” he said softly. “Dinnae worry. We will sort this out.”
“I dinnae understand,” Edna said again, her heart hammering in her chest. She didn’t kill Declan. To be called a murderer meant that someone, likely Neacal, had called for her head.
Malcolm shoved his feet into his boots before stomping over to their waiting horse. “Come,” he said, mounting. “We need tae leave before we have any more visitors.”
Edna allowed him to help her onto the horse, and they took off from the loch.
“Ye cannae wed me now,” she said after they were a ways away. If she was truly wanted for murder, she didn’t want Malcolm to be caught up in anything that she was being accused of, no matter if it wasn’t true.
“Nay, lass, ’tis the other way around,” he answered, his voice full of regret. “Ye cannae wedme.I killed Declan.”
Edna swallowed hard as they continued on, coming across a village a few moments later. “Stay here,” Malcolm stated as he dismounted near a tavern. “I am going tae get us some fare.”
She didn’t respond, deciding to dismount to stretch her legs. Noting a parchment tacked to the building she was beside, Edna drew near and promptly lost her breath.
It was a declaration stating that she was wanted for the murder of Declan Belshes.
Edna felt the blood drain from her face, and she immediately moved into the shadows of the building, not wanting to be seen. No wonder the guards had been after her, calling her a murderer.
They truly thought she was the one who had killed Declan.
Edna stumbled against the building, forcing herself to draw a few breaths. This was her worst nightmare—not only for her but also for her father. It would take much negotiation to prove that she hadn’t killed Declan, as there were no witnesses save Malcolm.
Malcolm. What had started as a good morning with Malcolm finally agreeing to wed her now had turned into a horrid day, and it wasn’t even close to being over. He had pulled back his proposal of marriage, and once he saw this, it would be final.
He would be taking her place, and though Malcolm had killed Declan, she didn’t wish to see him in the dungeon no more than she wanted to see herself.
Edna hung her head. They would have to find a way to get them both out of what would be certain death. If what she knew about the laird was any indication, he wouldn’t rest until his brother’s death was avenged.
When Malcolm returned, she wasted no time showing him the parchment. “It matters not,” he growled, placing the burlap sack on the saddle. “Ye are not going tae be tried for his murder, Edna.”
“But this puts a target on mah back!” she exclaimed, shaking the parchment in front of him. “I cannae go home! I cannae bring those that are looking for me into mah clan!” She couldn’t put her family in danger like that, not until they were able to straighten it out.
