Highlander’s Beautiful Liar Chapter 1
Six Months Later
The afternoon sky was clear as the sun touched everything as far as the eye could see. Alec Sinclair and his warriors waited patiently behind the ridge to the MacKay lands as their scouts rode forward to see if Seth MacKay was wise of their plans.
“Ye look stiff, Connor,” Alec teased with a wry smile. His older brother shot him a cold look.
“This is an important day for ye, Alec,” Connor snapped. “Ye should take it more seriously.”
“Aye, I do. But I also know that Seth MacKay, even when he’s sober, is no match for us. If he’s smart, he’ll step down. If not, he’ll die,” Alec said simply. He patted the pouch around his waist as if to ensure that it was actually there and it wasn’t just a dream.
Connor Sinclair, as the oldest son, had been groomed to be laird of the Sinclair lands since birth.
When their father died, Connor stepped easily into his new position, and Alec took over training the men.
Everything was fine. As the younger brother, he had more freedom.
He was still heir, but Connor would marry soon and produce a son.
Other than his loyalty to the Sinclairs, Alec had no real responsibilities.
He didn’t even realize that he was unhappy until the letter came for him.
It was no secret that Seth MacKay was rapidly ruining his clan. Word had somehow reached King Edward of the real damage Seth was doing, and Edward stepped in. Seth was to step down as laird and Alec Sinclair take his place.
Taking over another clan simply wasn’t done.
Alec knew that the job wouldn’t be easy.
The MacKays would no doubt balk at having a Sinclair as their leader.
He would have to take them in hand, retrain their men, and rebuild their strength all while dealing with a clan that didn’t want him.
This moment, with his brother, might be the last chance he had to feel at ease for a long while.
“Connor, ye should have taken my offer to bed Dolly,” his friend Shane said as he clapped him on his back. “Perhaps ye wouldn’t feel too uptight.”
“Her name is Ginny, and I should have taken you up on it if only to make sure that she had a good time last night,” Connor snorted.
Alec roared with laughter and even his brother finally smiled. It was rare to see Connor so relaxed. Although the Sinclair clan was in good shape, the responsibility weighed heavily on his brother’s shoulders.
Or maybe rearing their little sister, Grace, was taking its toll on them. The girl had been a hellion all her eighteen years, and the loss of their father hadn’t slowed her down in the least.
“Aye, Ginny was the first girl to warm my bed, and Bonnie was the last. I assure you, they both had quite a good time,” Shane retorted with a wink.
Alec was about to join in on the banter when his horse pricked his ears. Straightening in his saddle, he raised his hands to silence the men as Jamie and Stephen returned.
“No sign of any activity,” Jamie said with a frown. “We could see the crops. They’re in poor shape. I shudder to think of what we will find when we breach the keep.”
Alec nodded. “Verra well. We give Seth MacKay a choice.”
All traces of amusement fled the men as they straightened. They knew things could go one of two ways. The MacKays could surrender and there would be no bloodshed. Or they’d be forced to fight.
Spurning his horse forward, he clenched his jaw as he led the men over the ridge.
Every man was different when they faced battle.
Shane relieved his tensions with women the night before and held their pleasure in his mind as a reason to fight.
Stephen was always spoiling for a battle, and Jamie was loyal until his last breath.
He’d ride into the mouth of hell itself for Connor and Alec.
His older brother did everything for duty, but Alec felt almost nothing before battle. A strange sense of peace and calm settled over him. Gone was his pride that his King had chosen him. Gone was the fear that he wouldn’t be good enough. All that was left was the goal.
Take down Seth MacKay.
By the time they made it to the crumbling keep, Seth had been alerted. They were greeted by a sad looking group of men.
Alec swept his eyes over them dispassionately. It was clear that they were loyal to their land, but most were on foot rather than horses, and it was obvious that most of his army were still young and untrained.
“What is the meaning of this, Sinclair?” Seth snarled as he weaved on his horse. It was obvious that the man was drunk but then, from what Alec heard, he stayed in that condition.
“I’m not here of my own volition, MacKay,” Connor said quietly. “Yer poor treatment of yer clan has reached the highest level.”
Connor nodded at Alec, and he stepped forward with the letter. “Seth, I have here a missive from King Edward. Step down as laird, and face the consequences of yer actions in court. The Sinclair warriors are here to see that you comply.”
“Poor treatment?” Seth spat. “Lies! I have done nothing but treat my people fairly. I’ll not be going anywhere with you.”
“Verra well,” Alec said softly as he slid his sword from his sheath. “We have no choice. Let it be known that whoever fights with this man today will do so against the orders of the King.”
He didn’t expect it to make the men back down.
They had been taught since birth to be loyal to their laird no matter what the situation, and it was clear that today they would do just that.
Alec knew his men well, and he knew they would be as compassionate as possible.
Only those that could not be subdued would die today.
“Kill them!” Seth screamed, and his men flew into action. Alec tensed, but he ignored everything around him. He only had eyes for Seth.
By the time Alec got within striking distance, the man fled. Gritting his teeth, Alec raced after him. If there was one thing he hated, it was a coward.
Pulling his horse up short, he slid off the beast and ran up the steps after Seth as the man tried desperately to make it to the tower. Unfortunately for him, he was too drunk to move quickly; Alec grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him around, and slammed him into the stone wall.
“Don’t think I haven’t seen what ye’ve done to these people.
Some of the structures are burnt to the ground, the crops are withered, and while they starve, ye are getting rather fat around the middle.
Ye deserve the hanging that awaits ye,” Alec snarled.
“These people looked to ye, and ye have betrayed them.”
“Ye cannae have my clan!” Seth bellowed. He pulled a dirk from behind him and thrust it forward. Alec moved quickly and had no choice but to bring his sword down.
The man slid to the floor with a low moan and was dead in seconds. Anger washed over Alec. The man had deserved to die in front of hundreds but instead had chosen the coward’s way out.
Reining in his disgust, he strode back out to his horse and rode back to the battlefields. It looked like the Sinclair warriors had everything well in hand.
“Yer laird is dead,” Alec bellowed. “By orders of the King, ye will swear yer fealty to me or ye will find yerself without a clan. Make yer choice wisely.”
The fighting stopped instantly, and there was a mix of emotions on the men’s faces. Most of them looked relieved, but some just stared at him in disbelief, as though he were mad to think they would ever declare their loyalties to him.
One by one, they dropped their swords. It was enough for now. “Who takes responsibility for these men now?”
A hulking man with dark hair and an angry scowl stepped forward. “I’m Kane.”
“Kane. Come with me. I want a tour of these lands. Everyone else, gather the people. I’ll address everyone when I am ready.”
He didn’t look pleased, but Kane did as Alec asked. Silently, they rode side by side through the lands with Shane, Jamie, and Stephen behind them.
“I donnae want this transition to be difficult,” Alec said quietly.
“I want ye to know that this has nothing to do with transgressions in the past. I mean to strengthen this clan, and I’ll need yer help to do that.
So tell me, Kane. Will ye be fighting me every step of the way, or do ye care enough about yer clan to help me? ”
“Seth was no prince, but ye have no right to step in. A MacKay should rule. To abide another is unthinkable,” Kane said shortly.
“’Tis not my choice to be here. I have been summoned by the King, and ye will step aside for the verra same reason. Be the bridge that I need, Kane. Help me.”
Before the man could respond, they were quickly joined by a dozen warriors who didn’t wear the MacKay colors. Alec recognized their leader and immediately curled his lip in disgust. “Innes Campbell. What might ye be doing here?”
“The MacKays are our allies. If ye have slain Seth MacKay, it will be the last thing ye ever do,” Innes growled. He was the younger brother of Mac Campbell, laird, but Alec knew his kind well. When he spoke on behalf of the laird, he was most likely interjecting his own wishes in the decree.
“I’m here by order of King Edward. We gave Seth MacKay a chance to ride peacefully to court.
He rather violently declined the offer. I would not make a move against us if I were ye,” Alec said coldly.
While Innes’s older brother Mac was a respectable laird, Innes was just as much of a weasel as his friend Seth.
King Edward made it clear that if Alec could not take the clan in hand, the job would be given to Innes.
It was just as clear that King Edward didn’t want that, so Alec could only imagine the King’s anger if he failed.
Innes held out his hand expectantly, and Alec reluctantly gave him the letter. He didn’t want Innes to get his grubby hands on the paper much less on the clan itself. Although they were MacKay allies, the people deserved better.