It had happened so quickly none of us had seen it coming.
It scared the hell out of me. There was an uproar as we all got out of the way, but Magnus froze, hands up.
Birk stood perfectly still, unmoved, his sword unwavering. He growled, “Isaid,nowyers.”
Magnus said, “John, ye see, ye hae disarmed us, and now yer man has his blade against m’throat. We were negotiating in good faith and now I see ye brought a nefarious scoundrel tae our family meeting.”
Fraoch said, “Birk, let us discuss, daena do anythin’ stupid.”
Birk looked right in Magnus’s eyes, “Give it tae me,now.”
Magnus stood quietly for a moment, calculating, we all quieted, while the edge of that blade passed against a soft spot.
I was frozen in fear, Hayley gripped my arm so hard it hurt. Finally Magnus put his hand in his bag and pulled out his vessel.
Lady Mairead yelled, “Nae!”
“Mother, he is goin’ tae kill me if I daena.”
He held it in front of Birk’s face.
Birk snatched it from his hand, but kept his sword on Magnus’s throat. “Now, Fraoch, hand over yers.”
Fraoch’s eyes narrowed. “What if I daena hae one?”
“Ye hae one, I want it.” His sword point, pierced into Magnus’s flesh.
Magnus’s breathing was quick and shallow, fear and fury clearly written on his face.
Hayley said, “Give it to him, honey.”
Fraoch groaned, “Nae, I daena want tae.”
The sword pierced a bit more, a small trickle of blood rolled down Magnus’s throat.
“Daena kill him!” Fraoch opened his sporran, dug through it, then placed a vessel on the table.
Birk said, “Put it in m’hand.”
Fraoch smacked it into Birk’s hand, hoping to set him off-balance, or make him lose focus, but Birk didn’t fall for it. He stayed completely still, focused on the point of his blade dangerously pressing into my husband’s throat.
Fraoch said, “Dost ye even ken how tae use them?”
“Aye, I ken, ye twist.”
Lady Mairead said, “Ye ken nothing! They are dangerous! And they belong tae me!”
He stuffed the loot into his sporran, including her pouch. “I daena care. Thank ye, Magnus, for the vessels, I wanted them for m’collection.”
He said, “Henrietta, will ye be a good girl and open the door?”
Henrietta got up and strode to the door, saying, “Remember yer promise.”
Birk kept his focus on Magnus, seeming to be calculating his jump and run, and how fast he would need to be. I was scared he was going to kill Magnus. Fraoch was about to spring, everyone was tense and scared.
Liam had slowly crept around the table, but no one could get to Magnus, only me, I was close enough. I could grab Birk’s big giant tree-trunk of an arm and slow him down.
I would do it. I just had to do it.
