Duncan did not respond, but he considered Alex’s advice as he helped the next man through the window. The tiny room was soon cramped with MacDonald warriors, so he lifted Ragnall to stand on the bed.
When the last man was up the rope, Alex shook it again to signal to the men remaining in the boat to leave. “I hope to hell they don’t scrape my galley against the cliff.”
“There are half a dozen guards at the gate and another half dozen patrolling the walls,” Duncan said, imparting the critical information quickly. “They don’t sleep, so we must be cautious.”
“All right,” Alex said, and the others nodded.
“These MacLeod warriors are well trained,” Duncan continued. “We’ll wait for Connor and Ian at the gate. If something’s happened and they don’t come, we can escape that way. No sense dying for nothing.”
Duncan, however, would have to return here first for Ragnall.
“I need a moment with the lad,” Duncan said to Alex. “Take the men into the room just below.”
“Be quick,” Alex said as he led the others out.
Duncan put his hands on Ragnall’s narrow shoulders.
“Are you my blood relation as well?” Ragnall asked.
Duncan met his son’s direct gaze and promised himself he would never lie to him. “Sean was not your father,” he said. “I am.”
Ragnall blinked several times, then gave him a slow nod.
“I did not know it myself until a short time ago,” Duncan said, and he hoped that one day both Ragnall and Moira could forgive him for their years with Sean. “I’m very glad to be your father.”
Alex leaned his head in from the next room. “Duncan, we must go!”
What does a man say to his son when he is going into battle? Duncan never had a father to show him.
“I must leave ye now to fight for the good of the clan,” Duncan said. “I do it for you, for your mother, and for all the members of our clan.”
Ach, what a trite and useless thing to say to a six-year-old lad. Duncan felt wholly inadequate, but he did not know what else to say.
“My mother says that is what a man of honor does,” Ragnall said.
“Your mother has taught ye well,” Duncan said, and for the first time thought of how hard it must have been for Moira to raise Ragnall under Sean’s roof. “I’ll return for ye as soon as I can.”
“Be careful,” Ragnall said.
Duncan ruffled his son’s hair. “I’ll make quick work of these MacLeods and be back before ye know it.”
Ragnall surprised him then by throwing his arms around Duncan’s neck. As Duncan held his son, he realized how much he already cared for this child, blood of his blood, begat of a young love. Duncan had put his life in danger for others a thousand times because that was what honor and duty required. But he knew with absolute certainty that there was nothing he would not do to protect this child.
Chapter 38
Duncan and Alex crept through the courtyard to the gate as silent as shadows while the four other MacDonald warriors went up on the wall to take out the guards above. There were more guards at the gate than Duncan had counted before, but they were not expecting an attack from within. Before the men knew they were in danger, Alex and Duncan had them bound and gagged.
Duncan shoved back the bar that braced the wooden doors of the gate. As soon as the MacDonald warriors who had gone up on the wall rejoined them, Duncan motioned for two of them to go inside the gatehouse and crank up the portcullis. The weight of the iron grille, which had spikes at the bottom to impale attackers, made it easy to drop quickly, but slow to raise.
While the iron chain creaked and moaned, making an ungodly noise, Duncan stood next to Alex with his back to the gate, his claymore ready, and every sense alert. With each turn of the crank, he expected to see MacLeods pour out of the keep.
Finally, the portcullis was up. Duncan and the other men kept watch over the courtyard while Alex went out to alert Connor and Ian. If something had gone wrong on their end, Duncan and Alex would learn of it now. Duncan recognized the sound of Alex’s dove call. A short time later, he heard two faint dove calls in the distance.
“Is that them?” the MacDonald warrior next to Duncan whispered.
“Aye,” Duncan said. “Be ready.”
His blood pounded in his veins in anticipation as he heard the muffled footfalls of a hundred MacDonald warriors running up to the gate. The time had finally arrived. This night, the MacDonalds would retake Trotternish Castle from the MacLeods.
