*
It wasn’t acooking fire.
It was a raid.
Nikolaus came to the edge of the village about the same time as a group of riders came charging through one of the smaller avenues, swinging lit torches onto the thatched rooves. Women and children were screaming and running, and men who were trying to defend their homes were summarily cut down. Nikolaus saw evidence of that with his own eyes. He managed to avoid a group of marauding riders by ducking through an alleyway, but as he came out on the other side, there was another, smaller group waiting for him.
Caught off guard, Nikolaus avoided having his head smashed with a pike. As the pike whizzed past him, he reached up in a surprisingly deft move and yanked the man off his horse. As the man hit the ground heavily, Nikolaus kicked him in the stomach and tore off the kerchief he had around his face.
Nikolaus realized, with shock, that he recognized the man.
He was a Lindsay.
“Ye?” he spat. “Ye’re Drostan’s man. What are ye doing? What is happening?”
Even though the man was winded from having been kicked in the belly, he still had the strength to kick out and take Nikolaus’ legs out from underneath him. As Nikolaus went down, the man lumbered to his feet and reclaimed his spike. He was about to bring it down on Nikolaus’ head when a shout stopped him.
“Angus!Nay!”
The man came to a halt in mid-swing, turning to see the approach of several clansmen. They were clad in finer tunics and fabrics, not the lowly woolens that the majority of the raiders seemed to be wearing, something that was indicative of the clans from the hills. In fact, the Clan Keith of Auchnacree wove that very type of fabric. It was well known in the hills. As the finer-dressed raiders approached, Nikolaus had a sneaking suspicion that all was not as it seemed.
He was frightened and confused.
“Ternan?” he said to the man at the head of the group. “What goes on here?”
A man with dark hair and pasty skin watched him emotionlessly from atop his mount. “Nikolaus,” he greeted him. “I will admit I dinna expect tae find ye here. Someone said ye went tae Brechin this morning.”
Nikolaus looked to the host of grim faces around him. “Cam did,” he said. “But I dunna understand what is happening. Are we being attacked? Are ye helping tae defend us?”
Ternan Lindsay sighed heavily, looking to the men around him. “It is most unfortunate that ye’re here,” he finally said. “’Tis most unfortunate that ye’ve seen us.”
Nikolaus had no idea what the man was talking about. “If ye give me a pike, I can help defend the village,” he said, listening to the screams around him. “Whohas attacked us?”
Ternan was kin to the chieftain of Clan Lindsay, Drostan Lindsay. In fact, Ternan was his close cousin, like a brother, though he didn’t have Drostan’s unscrupulous manner. He was more of a follower than a leader, someone who carried out orders rather than questioned them.
There was indecision in his eyes as he looked at Nikolaus.
“Someone has,” Ternan said after a moment, a vague statement. “That’s all ye need know. Get out of here, Nikolaus. Go find yer grandson and leave Netherton this night. Dunna return.”
Nikolaus was growing increasingly upset. “What do ye mean?” he demanded. “Let me help ye defend what is mine. These aremypeople, Ternan. Let me help!”
Before Ternan could open his mouth, another man astride a fine, dappled horse suddenly rounded the corner, nearly running into Ternan. Nikolaus found himself looking at Drostan Lindsay himself.
Drostan seemed quite interested in Nikolaus.
“Where did ye find him?” he asked, indicating the old man.
Ternan appeared both remorseful and resigned. “Here,” he said simply. “He found us, I suppose.”
A tall man with wispy hair and a look about him that suggested madness, Drostan Lindsay appeared older than his forty-odd years. He was one of those men who had been wicked since birth, an evil that had been in his veins the moment he was conceived. His eyes narrowed as he sized up Nikolaus, the leader of the village of Netherton by all accounts.
A man who could cause them trouble.
“He has seen us,” he said to Ternan. “Ye canna leave him.”
Ternan looked at his cousin. “He doesna know, Dros,” he said. “He thinks… there are other raiders. He wishes tae help us defend Netherton.”
Drostan looked at Ternan in surprise. “He wants tae…” he said, trailing off as he realized what Ternan was saying. “We’ve not time for such foolishness. Ye know what needs tae be done. I’ll say no more.”
