Page 59 of Highland Prince of Darkness

“Aye, he is incredibly dangerous,” Iain nodded. He was tired of people not understanding the situation as quickly as he could. “And he has yer daughter.”

Alistair’s lips formed a tight line as he narrowed his eyes and put the note back down on the table.

“I’ll ready my horse and will ride out as soon as I can,” Alistair spoke in a low voice.

Both Bruce and Iain snapped their heads towards the old man. Iain was finding it hard to put his frustration into words due to the anger that he felt.

“Nay, it will be too dangerous for ye to come,” Iain protested, “I have to get to her as fast as I can, and with all respect to ye, my laird, we dinnae want ye injured.”

Iain could see the way that Alistair was now glaring at him, but through his frailty, there wasn’t too much to be intimidated by.

“I will go and rescue my daughter with ye, and aye, I agree, it will be a challenge, but I cannae sit by while she is out there.”

Iain could see the desperation in Alistair’s face, it was as clear as day and reflected that he was in a lot of pain with his daughter missing. Guilt rose up within him as he thought about how this was his fault. Athol wanted to get back at him for the betrayal that he had caused him, that was why May was now in danger’s way.

He knew that he couldn’t argue with the old man, and even though he still didn’t fully forgive him for locking him away six years ago, Iain couldn’t deny him this.

“Fine,” Iain sighed eventually, earning a rather shocked look from Bruce, “I’ll get some men together and we will be on our way as soon as possible.”

Alistair’s expression was tight as he tried not to show any kind of emotion. This was going to be a serious journey and they all knew that there was no time to waste. He gave Iain a curt nod before turning and leaving the room as quickly as he could. Iain could tell that the frail man was still going to slow them down in some way, and so he made a quick mental note to bring along a man that he could spare to wait with Alistair should he need to stop.

“Are ye sure that bringing the laird is a good idea?” Bruce asked, as Iain turned to leave through one of the smaller exits on the other side of the large room.

“Nay, of course not. But he is a stubborn old man, and he will nae let me forget this if I dinnae let him come,” Iain explained as they headed down towards the armory.

“Just be careful out there, the last thing that we want is any more casualties.”

“Aye, I ken,” Iain sighed.

“I still think that we should call for aid.”

“And I still think that we need to leave now,” Iain said back with more force in his voice.

“All right, I see there’s nay arguing with ye,” Bruce sighed eventually.

The castle was suddenly alive with the bustle of urgency that the note had brought in its wake. Iain looked down into the main courtyard to see that a sizable group of men was preparing their horses and arming themselves. He could see that the laird was also being helped up onto his horse while clad in his armor, and the clan’s tartan colors poked out from underneath.

His heart was pounding as he strode quickly down the stone corridor and made his way down to his men. The sky was dark despite the early hour of the afternoon, it threatened to spill over with rain at any given moment.

“I’m assuming that ye have a plan for when we get there?” Alistair asked, as he saw Iain walking toward his horse.

“Aye, something like that.”

Iain wasn’t completely telling the truth with his response; he knew that they would arrive at the abandoned croft and he would have to play into Athol’s hands a little in order to make sure that May was safe.

However, after that, Iain wasn’t sure how he was going to get her out of that situation. All he knew was that he was willing to lay down his life if it meant that May would get to walk out of this unharmed.

“Come back safe, lad?” Bruce had appeared by his side as Iain adjusted his seat.

“Aye,” he muttered in response. He didn’t want to make a promise that he knew he would have a difficult time in keeping.

“I want ye and yer wife back here, not just one of ye,” Bruce warned.

“I will do what I can, but—”

“Ye make nay promises?” Bruce finished his sentence for him with a slow shake of his head and a knowing smile. It was something that Iain had said to him most of the time before riding into battle. Every time that he’d said it so far, he had managed to keep his word and return home to his guardian, however, Iain felt uneasy this time.

“I will see ye soon enough,” Iain nodded to him as Bruce gave him one last look before stepping back.