Chapter 6
T here was no choice. Caroline was not about to allow her sisters to be taken away by bandits. That truly was a fate worse than death, and she would never see them again. She gave Knox a baleful look. Hatred swam across her tongue and filled her words with venom.
“I accept. I’ll be yer wife,” she said through gritted teeth.
Her hands fell away from his hard, muscular body. He was so warm, it was as though a fire burned within him. He was so casually arrogant as well, his smirk widening as he got what he wanted all along. It made a mockery of life, she thought. All she wanted was a better life for her and her sisters, but instead she had to rely on the help of this man.
Why did her father have to die? Why did her uncle have to be a monster? There were so many unanswerable questions, but they had led her to this impossible choice where she was going to become Caroline Knox, wife to this merciless, cruel, arrogant man.
But, despite all of this, he did possess the virtue of being a man of his word. As soon as Caroline uttered her words, Ryan leaped into action. He drew his sword in a smooth motion and barked at the bandits holding Nessa.
“Ye want a fight? I’ll give ye a fight,” he growled.
The bandits snarled at him and momentarily forget about Nessa. She dropped to the ground, clutching her chest and gasping for breath. Her clothes were disheveled where the bandits had manhandled her. Caroline tried to move, but her feet were leaden and all the strength had been sapped from her knees. She sank down, not wanting to be at the mercy of the bandits.
Ryan made powerful strides towards the two bandits. As he did so, he whistled and his guards emerged from the shadows. He ordered them to go and find Tara.
The bandits had swords of their own, and seemed confident of taking him on. They were wary as the guards appeared, but seemed confused when they immediately went in search of Tara, leaving Ryan by himself. Ryan was bigger than either of them, and he moved with surprising swiftness for his size. The first bandit made a testing blow. Ryan easily deflected it with his blade.
“Ye are gaeing tae hae tae dae better than that,” he goaded.
This irritated the bandits, who then attacked at once. The clash of steel on steel rang in the air. It was a horrible sound, scraping in Caroline’s mind. Ryan caught their swords, buckled back, and then roared as he pushed them away. The bandits were clearly stunned at this display of strength and staggered back, which allowed Ryan to go on the offensive. He whirled his sword in the air, slashing it around in an arc. It crashed like thunder, and the two men were driven back.
Ryan continued the offensive, using his sword like a hammer and beating them back. They cowered before him, holding their swords up as the last defense between them and death. Ryan looked like a monster. Wrought in violence and fury, he seemed to glow with a red aura, as though a mist surrounded him.
Violence was a fundamental aspect of the Highlands. It was as much a part of the landscape as the rolling moors, the lush valleys, and the bitter winters. Caroline had been made aware of this from a young age, when she started to venture away from the relative safety of the Keep to the forests surrounding it. She had been warned about the hungry, savage predators that roamed the wilderness, as well as the dangerous men who were desperate enough to leave behind the laws of man and give into the easy temptation of barbarism.
Over the years, Caroline had seen guards leaving the Keep, with fewer men returning, and of those who did, many of them were wounded and maimed. She had heard weapons being forged by blacksmiths, and listened to tales of great battles shared over roaring fires. People extolled the virtues of warriors, lifting them up and exalting them for their efforts, with these efforts usually resulting in death. Caroline had never given herself to these matters, but she was not disgusted by them. It was a way of life and even her father, as noble as he was, had delved into these dark places on more than one occasion.
And now she witnessed a man who was violence personified, who wrapped it around him like a cloak and reveled in it. Ryan’s eyes came alive with vicious delight, just as some men might become enlivened by a dance or a feast, so he thrummed with excitement in the flurry of blows shared with these bandits. His broad chest heaved with heavy breaths, and his thick arms stretched out, displaying all the sinews of his muscles. He roared as his sword clattered upon them, and it seemed inevitable that they would be forced lower and lower until they were ground into dust, and there was nothing left.
But the bandits were nothing if not wily. They had devoted their lives to surviving on the fringes of society, slipping away like a secret whenever things became too dangerous. They spun away from each other and flanked Ryan, hoping to divert his attention and make it impossible for him to fight them both at the same time.
Ryan’s long arms spun around him. His feet moved like a practiced dancer’s, while swords flashed in the air. They were so swift that it became hard to see them. The air whipped with pain. Caroline was enthralled, unable to look away even though it was a horrific sight. The bandit that Ryan had knocked out previously was still face down on the ground, unmoving. Nessa continued to gather her strength.
Ryan deflected one blow, and then turned to deflect another. Just when Caroline thought the bandits finally had an advantage and were about to slash along his back, drawing blood, Ryan shifted his posture and evaded the blow. Soon it became clear that he was toying with them, like a cat with two mice.
The bandits had never stood a chance. They were marked for death from the first moment Ryan had stepped towards them, their blood just waiting to be released from their flesh. They were straining, drawing on all the reserves of strength they possessed. Ryan had yet to break out in a sweat. The fact that this power and viciousness came so easily to him was terrifying.
One of the bandits raised his sword high into the air. Ryan went low, sweeping his leg across the ground, taking the bandit’s legs out from underneath him. The bandit turned horizontal as he was flung into the air. A look of shock came upon his face as he crashed down on his back, screaming in pain as his spine rattled against the unforgiving ground. He reached for his sword, but Ryan stepped on the man’s wrist. The hand spasmed open and Ryan kicked the sword away. He then bent down and grabbed the bandit by the scruff of his neck.
Ryan snarled, but before he could do anything else, the other bandit was rushing to aid his friend. Ryan turned his head, and Caroline assumed that he caught sight of the bandit out of the corner of his eye. Ryan whirled around and blocked the blow with a steady hand, his sword straight and long. He rose, meeting the bandit’s eye. The bandit’s knees buckled, and his body bent back. He held his sword with both hands, but even that wasn’t enough. Ryan snarled. He drew back his sword and then slashed through the air with such force that Caroline was surprised the bandit’s sword did not shatter due to the impact.
What followed was not a duel so much as a battering. Ryan unleashed the full fury of his power. His strokes were blunt and efficient, driving the bandit back. The bandit’s sword was shaking, and his entire body followed. Ryan managed to push the bandit’s sword back and then swiftly cut his sword against the bandit’s chest. The bandit howled in pain as a line of blood formed, and the bandit staggered back.
He wasn’t yet dead, but Nessa had regained her strength and rushed towards him. She grabbed the fallen sword by the hilt and in a practiced swing she drew blood from his arms, and then turned around, cutting through the tendons of the bandit’s legs to bring him to his knees. Nessa grabbed the bandit by the back of his head and bent down, whispering something inaudible in his ear. Her eyes were wild, and her hair was matted to her rosy cheeks.
Caroline shuddered at seeing this raw, naked side of her. It was frightening to see what Nessa was truly capable of being.
While Nessa was dealing with him, the other bandit Ryan had been fighting returned to his feet. He was so enraged at being dumped on his back and then witnessing his friend being cut down like an unwanted weed that he charged directly at Ryan without picking up his sword. Ryan was in the process of turning when the bandit leaped at him, jumping onto his back and wrapping his arms around Ryan’s neck.
Ryan teetered from side to side as he attempted to get used to this new weight that clung to his back. He slashed wildly with his sword, but the bandit used Ryan’s own head to defend himself. Ryan stood as much chance of cutting off his own ear as he did wounding the bandit, and it was a tactic that he swiftly abandoned. The bandit tried clawing at Ryan’s eyes and twisted his arms, straining to wrap his arms around Ryan’s throat like a thick rope, trying to choke the breath from him. His legs were wrapped around Ryan’s waist.
Ryan staggered around as though he were drunk, heading for a tree. He turned his back and threw himself against a thick, gnarled trunk. The bandit gasped and grunted. It took three tries for his grip to eventually be dislodged. As his arms and legs released their grip on Ryan, the bandit’s eyes looked as though they were going to leap from his eyes. He crashed against the tree and there was a great crack, as though the world had been split in two.
Whether this came from the tree, the bandit’s spine, or both, Caroline could not say. But Ryan whirled around and held the man by the throat. His fingers sank into the thick skin, and he glared at the bandit. He sheathed his sword for a moment, apparently thinking that this would have been too swift a punishment for the man. Ryan’s fists crashed into the bandit’s face. His nose was turned into a bloody mess and his eyes lolled groggily. It wasn’t long before he slumped to the ground, his limbs motionless, his head resting against his shoulder.
Ryan turned slowly, his shoulders rising and falling with heavy breaths. His gaze became fixed on Caroline. He strode up to her, but before he could do anything else, Nessa was there.
“Dinnae move a muscle,” she said, wielding the bandit’s sword in trembling hands. The tip was pointed straight at Ryan’s heart. Ryan seemed more amused than frightened. He didn’t make any motion to grab his sword.
“Dae ye think killing me will dae ye any good? My guards will return soon, and if they find ye near my corpse…”
“I’ll say the bandits did it. Ye are nae keeping us prisoner.”
“Ye are nae prisoners. Caroline here has agreed tae become my wife. She will be afforded all the respect that Lady Knox deserves, and as her sisters, ye will be protected as well. Put the sword down. There is nae need for us tae be enemies. We will soon be family,” he punctuated the words with a sly smile.
Something cold crawled down Caroline’s back. Her lips parted, her heart filled with fear. After witnessing what Ryan was capable of, she did not want Nessa to suffer the same fate. If she went ahead with this attack, then Ryan would be forced to defend himself, and that would be the end of Nessa.
“Nessa, nae,” Caroline shook her head.
Nessa frowned, a look of disbelief in her eyes.
“See Nessa, there’s nae need for violence,” Ryan opened his palms and looked every inch a peacemaker. Caroline might even have been able to believe it, had it not been for the bodies lying around.
But soon enough there was one body less. The bandit who had knocked Caroline prone had regained consciousness and was returning to his feet. There was a dark malevolence in his eyes. He picked up the dagger he had dropped, and his gaze was focused on Ryan, whose back made an easy target. The dagger winked as the bandit lunged forward.
Caroline wasn’t sure what possessed her to do what she did next. Perhaps it was her innate goodness, or it was a sense of revenge against this bandit who had promised her something deadly, but she found herself running towards him, flinging herself through the air between him and Laird Knox.
“Stop!” she cried out, which alerted Ryan. He spun around abruptly to see Caroline’s hands wrenching at the bandit. The bandit cursed.
Ryan immediately strode up to them and pushed Caroline away. Then, he thrust his palm into the man’s chest and wrenched the dagger from his hands, slicing the blade across the bandit’s throat in one smooth, flowing motion. The whole matter had taken but a few seconds. That was all the time that was needed for a man’s life to be ended. Ryan watched with a cold stare as the bandit fell to the ground. Death was so swift that he didn’t even have a chance to clutch his throat. Blood dripped from the blade of the dagger.
Caroline and Ryan were locked in an intense stare. She had just saved his life. With him dead, they might have been free. Had she condemned her and her sisters to a dreadful life? Had she just made a sin of virtue?
Ryan tilted his head to the side and had a thoughtful look. He inclined his head in thanks. This man was to be her husband, and she had just saved his life. It should have been a noble act, but she couldn’t help but feel as though she had done something wrong. The way he looked at her made it seem as though her skin was being peeled away, and he was peering at the soul beneath, with all her secrets exposed.
What did he see when he looked at her? Was she just some meek woman to him, an object he could use and control and display, like one of the banners that hung upon his wall? Or was there the beginning of respect, the sense that she was more than what he assumed.
Before she could come to a conclusion, Knox guards returned with a frantic, trembling Tara in two. She was looking around and only calmed down when she saw that Caroline and Nessa were still alive. Nessa was the opposite of relieved. With the return of the guards, even she knew better than to hold a sword, so she threw it down on the ground and huffed.
Tara ran up to Caroline, and they approached Nessa. They hugged tightly and sobbed. It seemed as though they were never going to be free of this tyranny.
“That bandit had him. He was about tae die and ye saved him. What were ye thinking, Caroline?” Nessa said in a derisive tone.
Caroline remained silent for a moment. “It seemed like the right thing tae dae. And even if he hae died, there was nae guarantee we would hae escaped the bandits, or rescued Tara.”
“I hae the sword. I could hae taken the bandit. Ye said ye wanted tae save us, but instead ye hae condemned us. Ye are tae be his wife. What is gaeing tae become of us?”
Tara cringed with fear and the girls nestled together. Caroline had all these thoughts and more swirling about her mind. They were chaotic, senseless, and she simply didn’t know what was going to happen next, other than a joyless wedding.
She lifted her gaze over Tara’s head to the man who was to be her husband. Laird Knox was conferring with his guards, giving them orders. A few of them were already tending to the bodies. Laird Knox didn’t seem perturbed by the violence at all. He had taken it in his stride, as though it was just an everyday occurrence. What kind of life would he promise her? What kind of vile things would she be witness to as his wife?
She closed her eyes in an attempt to stem the flow of tears, but was unsuccessful. Saving his life had been a moment of instinct, a moment where thoughts had not entered her mind. She prayed that it had not been a mistake. She wrapped her arms around Tara and Nessa tightly, reassuring herself by the thought that at least they were together, at least they were alive. Things may not have gone to plan at all, but as long as she kept Nessa and Tara safe, then she considered things to be a success.
She kissed them both on the top of their heads and whispered that she loved them. They were both trembling, Tara with fear, Nessa with frustration, but that would all pass. Caroline would see that they had a prosperous future. They would benefit from her marriage, even if she wouldn’t.