David had returned with Beatrix, the fighting was over, and the bodies of the dead lay on the ground.
“’Tis all right now,” Alison said, holding her daughters in her arms. “You’re safe. You’re safe.” She repeated the words over and over, but her children wept inconsolably.
The Humes herded the four Blackadders who had not been killed or escaped into a circle. Alison prayed they meant to take them captive, but the hard expressions on the faces of the Hume men made her fear the worst. Killing in battle was one thing, but this would be murder. She could not bear for David to incur this black mark on his soul because of her misjudgment.
CHAPTER 36
David stood before the Blackadder prisoners, his body tense with the need to punish them for the affront to his pride, the fear that had shaken him when he thought Alison was lost, and the pain of knowing she had gone willingly.
The Blackadders had come far too close to succeeding. If David had not returned early or had not discovered Beatrix’s message, he never would have seen the trampled meadow along the path to the abbey and found the Blackadders’ trail in time to catch them.
A message must be sent. Every man in Scotland must know that an attack on his family would lead inexorably to death.
“Kneel,” he commanded the prisoners, “and face your death with what courage ye can muster.”
Another chieftain would give the grisly task of execution to another, but David would not burden one of his men with it. The affront had been personal and the responsibility was his.
He unsheathed his sword.
A twinge of guilt broke through his rage when he saw that the first prisoner was not much older than Robbie. In his mind’s eye, he saw the burned village and Leana’s discarded body in the reeds again. He had good reason to believe a different party of Blackadders—a party led by Walter—had attacked the village. But whether these four men had participated in that crime or not, they were Blackadders and guilty.
Killing a man on his knees turned David’s stomach, but it must be done. These men did not merit a warrior’s death. He wiped the blood and sweat from his hands and approached the first prisoner.
Suddenly, Alison was between him and the four Blackadders.
“I beg you,” Alison said, falling to her knees like the prisoners and clasping her hands. “Don’t kill them!”
David looked down at his wife, a woman he would die for. What he would not give to have her defend him. Instead, she judged him. She would fall on her knees to beg for these foul men who meant her harm, but she despised him for the lengths he would go that she might be safe.
He had learned as a boy that life was rarely fair. And still, the injustice of it cut deep.
“Get away from the prisoners,” David hissed.
“I can’t let ye do this,” she said. “When your temper cools, you’ll regret slaughtering men who are already defeated.”
They deserved to die. The consequences of endangering his family must be made clear to all.
“Look at them, David. See how young they are,” she said, flinging her arm out toward the prisoners. “Do ye believe they had a choice about riding with Patrick Blackadder today?”
They were enemy warriors, not lads playing games. And yet, looking down into Alison’s pale face, he hesitated. If he did this, he would be even more of a monster in her eyes than he already was. Why did that still matter to him after what she’d done?
“Please,” she said. “My daughters have seen enough bloodshed today.”
He turned and called to Beatrix and Margaret, who were being guarded by Ian. As soon as Ian released them, they ran to him. When he knelt down to speak to the lassies, they threw their arms around his neck.
“I knew ye would find us,” Beatrix said.
“Me too,” Margaret said close to his ear.
His heart hurt a little less knowing that they trusted him.
“Did any of these men hurt you?” he asked, pointing at the four prisoners. If they had, nothing could save them.
The girls’ black curls bounced as they shook their heads in unison.
“Ye were verra brave, and I’m proud of ye.”
They hugged him again, and he wondered if Alison had been as easy to please when she was a wee girl.
