“It’s him, I know it!” she continued with desperation against his ear. “He looked the same then as now, the dark-bearded man in the middle—och, Gabriel, he saved my life last year, but I’ve had no chance tae tell you! English soldiers attacked the convent and they would have slain us, too, if not for King Robert and his men. Sister Agnes gave them refuge not long after he killed John Comyn—ah, God, will you help him?”
“MacLachlan!”
Seoras’s impatient roar rang from the rafters. Gabriel could do no more than ease his arm from Magdalene’s grasp and hiss, “Shh, Maggie, say no more,” before standing up and leaving the dais…the tears swimming in her eyes cutting him to the quick.
God in heaven, how had this come to be? Had no one else recognized Robert the Bruce? Yet from his unshaven appearance, his ordinary clothing no different than the men with whom he was shackled, it was clear that the unimaginable had happened—the crowned king of Scotland still alive and breathing in spite of his capture!
“Which one shall die first?” Seoras demanded, pulling a jeweled knife from his belt and slashing the nearest bedraggled prisoner across the cheek.
The man’s shriek of pain was echoed by fresh cries of horror from the ladies, some of them lifting their skirts and fleeing the hall. Their frenzied departure only made Seoras roar with laughter as he gestured for the guards to unshackle the last prisoner.
“Aye, that one! God, he stinks after sitting four days in a cell. I’ve left them alone, given them food and water. Why torture the bastards too soon and spoil our amusement? They’ll answer any query now with the hook cutting into their bellies!”
At that pronouncement, the chosen prisoner dropped to his knees and vomited at Seoras’s feet, which made him howl with fury and kick the man in the ribs. “Take him!”
He had screamed the order at Gabriel, who strode now to Seoras’s side, his gaze riveted upon the prisoner in the middle.
Their eyes locking, Gabriel sensing Robert knew he’d been recognized but he didn’t blink. Didn’t move.
Instead the King’s gaze shifted to the dais where Magdalene sat, her face even whiter than before as Cora slowly rose to her feet.
It seemed to Gabriel that everything had slowed around him…the pleading in Magdalene’s eyes reaching into his very soul as rage over Malcolm’s death made him reach for his sword.
“Captains!”
His roar echoed as Gabriel, with one blow, severed Seoras’s head from his body to drop with a thud to the floor, the earl’s sightless green eyes round with surprise.
An instant more and Tavish lay dead, Gabriel next slicing through the chains binding Robert to the other prisoners, Cameron and Conall suddenly there at Gabriel’s side.
“Save the King!”
Their swords gleaming in the torchlight, the two at once flanked Robert the Bruce as Cora’s voice soared above the clamor of women screaming, courtiers scattering, and men shouting.
“Clan Campbell tae arms!”
With a mighty roar that drowned out all else, her clansmen joined what had become a pitched battle in the middle of the great hall, Gabriel at its heart, Alun now beside him.
Both of them slashing, cutting, the other prisoners’ chains falling to the floor as it seemed a phalanx of men had surrounded them—barons and their captains joining in the fight four to onenotagainst Gabriel but against Seoras’s men.
Breathing hard, sweat stinging his eyes, Gabriel glanced at the dais to see that Magdalene stood there with Cora’s arm protectively around her—thank God!
Another fearsome roar went up and he realized that the rest of his warriors had surged into the hall and jumped with fury into the fray that had quickly become a rout.
Those of Seoras’s men that still stood, throwing down their weapons while courtiers’ wives wept in shock at the sight of their slain men lying with limbs askew upon the floor.
Only then did Gabriel lower his sword to wipe his blood-splattered face with his forearm and glance around him for Conall and Cameron. The two had backed up against a wall to shield Robert the Bruce with their bodies, their bloodstained swords still held at the ready.
“Campbells, MacLachlans, and all others who’ve fought beside me this day!” Gabriel shouted, circling in place to look at everyone in the room. “I swear my allegiance tae King Robert as the rightful sovereign of Scotland!”
“As do I!” echoed Alun, holding high his sword.
“Aye, so do we!” roared Cameron and Conall in unison, lowering their swords so Robert could walk out between them while the hall erupted in full-throated affirmation from all sides.
The King didn’t stop until he had reached Gabriel, his gaze filled with fierce gratitude as another voice pierced the din.
“My love!”
Gabriel had barely sheathed his sword before Magdalene flew into his arms, and he lifted her to crush her against him.
