Chapter 33
CHAPTER 33
Noah stepped back, pulling the blade free of the man’s body, watching as Lucas’s thin frame collapsed to the earth.
He felt no pleasure or glory at the man’s death, only relief.
Callum appeared at Noah’s side, breathing heavily and covered in ash, his own sword held loosely in his grip, the blade stained with blood.
Callum laid a hand gently on Noah’s shoulder. They both looked down at the priest until a low moan came from behind them. Noah turned to see Scott lying on the ground, his chest soaked in blood.
“Nay!” he whispered, running forward.
“Noah, please! Cut me free!” Keira begged as she squirmed to get to her feet with her hands still bound behind her.
Noah sprang to her side, slicing through her bonds, and Keira was kneeling by her brother in moments.
She lifted his shirt frantically, the fabric sticking to his flesh as blood oozed from the long cut that stretched right across his torso. Keira was utterly silent as she assessed the damage. Scott’s quiet moans were the only sound as Noah and Callum stared down at them both, praying that it was not as it seemed.
Finally, after an agonizing wait, Keira sat back on her heels. Her fingers were stained with blood but looked relieved.
“It isnae deep,” she said to Scott, running her fingers through his hair, staining the copper strands with streaks of deep red. “Ye will be alright.”
Keira’s eyes then took in the body of the priest beside her.
Noah stood silently watching, wondering what thoughts were going through her mind. Would she blame him? Would she regret that he was dead?
Slowly, Keira’s tear-stained face turned to him, and her expression was certain and calm.
“Thank ye,” she whispered.
Noah opened his mouth to speak but was stayed by a hand on his arm.
“Me laird. Look.”
Callum’s voice cut through his relief and Noah turned around as he finally noticed a sudden silence had descended over the battlefield.
The whole crowd had stilled, all eyes on the body of the priest.
Many bodies littered the ground, some bloody and bruised, others utterly still.
“He has killed him,” said a man at the front of the crowd in disbelief. “Laird MacAllen has killed Father MacPhee!”
An ominous shouting began in the crowd, and many of the men still holding weapons and torches began to bunch together threateningly.
Callum instantly stepped forward, his sword drawn. Noah unsheathed his own sword, wishing he could reason with the crowds, but there were too many. They were too angry. At least now their ire was directed at him instead of Kiera.
“Murderer!” someone shouted, and then the whole crowd appeared to merge into one hostile force.
“Murderer! He killed the priest!” came incoherent shouts from all sides as they began to advance on them, one slow step at a time.
“Me laird?” Callum muttered. “We cannae fight them all, not without a bloodbath.”
“I ken,” Noah replied, thinking feverishly as to how he could prevent all-out war. The anger in the crowd was growing. “Keira,” he said quickly as he looked back at her. “Take Scott inside.”
To his relief, this time, she did not argue and helped her injured brother to his feet.
Noah glanced back at her as she turned to head into the keep. Without conscious thought his hand shot out. She met it quickly with her own, squeezing his fingers as their eyes met for a charged moment.
“Be careful,” she said softly.
I will die for ye if I have to. Noah thought. I would risk everythin’ to see ye safe.
He nodded, letting her hand fall and looked back at the crowd.
Although the overall numbers had diminished considerably—many having fled at the first signs of a real battle—a huge group still remained.
He looked back at the castle, and Callum did the same. His man-at-arms glanced at him, waiting for the order. With a heavy heart, Noah nodded his head.
At Callum’s signal, dozens of guards spilled from the castle gates and took up position behind them.
Noah looked back at the faces of the farmers and village folk that had come here today, all for the sake of a lie. Och, how I wish that things could be different.
“I am the laird of this land,” he shouted. “I will defend what is mine, but I dinnae wish to harm any of ye. Leave, and I shall allow it. No one will be hurt if ye return to yer homes.”
A few stragglers at the back melted away into the trees behind them, but his heart sank as the majority remained.
He knew that killing the priest had aggravated an already volatile situation. He did not regret it, but he wished it did not have to be this way.
“Leave now, or we shall be forced to defend this castle,” Noah shouted.
The men in the crowd bunched together — many with swords, dirks, and torches held high, others with simple farming tools.
Noah looked at Callum.
“Tell the men to disperse them. No loss of life that can be prevented.”
“Subdue to defend.”
“Aye.”
Callum gave the order, and as it was passed along the line, Noah stood his ground, looking out at the determined faces of his people.
“Good luck,” Callum said as he raised his sword aloft.
“God help us all,” Noah sighed.
He raised his arm over his head and, with a heavy heart, gave the order to attack.
Keira heard Noah’s voice ring out, followed by shouts and battle cries from the villagers as she helped Scott climb the last of the stairs to her chambers.
Her hands were still shaking from the shock of seeing him injured. She knew that he would be alright, but the fear that had filled her heart when Lucas had attacked him would not leave her.
As they staggered through the door to her rooms, she tried not to think about what was happening outside. She could hear the faint clashing of swords and the war cries of village men. They should never have been fighting trained soldiers. Many would lose their lives tonight.
She lowered Scott to the bed, ripping away the léine from his body and trying not to dwell on the amount of blood covering his torso.
She turned sharply as Fenella and Daisy burst into the room.
Daisy gave a cry of pain as she saw Scott on the bed and Fenella’s eyes brimmed with tears.
“He is safe, flower,” Keira said hurriedly, “but ye cannae be in here; I must work. He will be alright. Go back to yer room. Fenella, stay with her.”
The maid put her arm around Daisy’s shoulders and nodded, though she looked very pale, her wide eyes locked on Scott.
“He is bleedin’,” Daisy sobbed.
Keira walked across the room and took hold of her sister’s arm, waiting until she looked up at her.
“Have I ever lied to ye?”
“Nay,” Daisy whispered.
“He is goin’ to be fine. I will care for him, and he will live. Understand?”
Daisy nodded, and finally, with one last terrified glance at her brother, allowed Fenella to lead her from the room.
Keira returned to Scott and pushed him down as he tried to sit up.
“I am alright.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Dinnae move, I need to stitch this,” she said, going to her cabinet for a needle and thread.
“It sounds like a real battle now,” Scott said quietly, and Kiera stopped. She listened to the sound of the fighting below her swallowing down her concern and focusing on what she needed to do.
“All this because Noah chose to protect me,” she muttered, guilt riding high in her chest as she imagined what might have happened if she had just given herself up.
As she returned to her brother’s bedside, he gripped her hand.
“This is nae yer doin’ Keira,” he said fervently. “It never was. This is MacPhee. Dinnae blame yerself for what has happened.”
Keira nodded, bending over her brother's chest and pushing thoughts of Noah in the midst of battle from her mind.
Noah and Callum were back to back in the center of a small circle of men, fighting off five or six who gracelessly attempted to get the better of them. They might have been unskilled, but they were strong and angry.
Noah sliced one through his leg, and the man went down shrieking as Callum felled another with a hard punch to his face.
There were bodies everywhere, screams everywhere, and Noah knew that there would have been many lives lost tonight despite his orders to the contrary.
If men did not die in battle, many died later from their wounds, and he was running out of ideas as to how to stop more bloodshed.
He parried a blow from a heavy blade to his left and fought back against a brawny, bearded man who advanced on him menacingly. They sliced at one another for a few rounds before the man backed away. Noah put up his hands and try to reason with him.
“I daenae wish to kill ye, man. Get back to yer family. Nothin’ is worth yer life.”
To Noah’s surprise, the man stopped, his bushy head looking around him at the chaos in every direction.
Behind him, Noah noticed that one of the burning carts had come to a halt, the flames now extinguished as it lay crookedly on its side.
Before he could think it through too carefully, he leaped onto the top of the cart. It allowed him to gain enough height to see the whole battlefield, burnt grass and bloodied corpses littered at his feet.
“Hold!” he bellowed.
His voice echoed against the stone walls of the castle. Every guard in the place paused in their fighting at his command. They were trained men and knew their orders. It took the farmers and laborers a moment before they realized everything had stopped. Suddenly, a multitude of faces were turned to Noah, looking up at him expectantly.
“Look around ye!” he cried as Callum came to stand in front of the cart, his sword held out defensively. “Look at the people who have been hurt or killed tonight.”
Many of the men in the crowds — some covered in blood, others standing awkwardly with minor injuries — looked down at the bodies at their feet.
“The MacAllen clan is nae yer enemy,” Noah cried. “I dinnae wish to fight ye, but I will defend me people and me castle until me dying breath. I dinnae wish to see any more bloodshed. I have ruled ye all as best I can for years. I have given ye peace. Do ye even ken what ye are fightin’ for?”
Several people looked at one another in confusion, and Noah was certain that many of them were not even sure of themselves anymore.
“Ye are fightin’ for a phantom. For a lie. Keira Young is nae more a witch than I am, and her only crime is to care for others. If she were here now, despite everythin’ she has been through; she would tend to all of ye without hesitation. She is a good woman, hounded by a bad man, and this must end before any more lives are needlessly lost for his misguided beliefs.”
After a few tense seconds, the burly man to Noah’s left, who was by far the biggest person there, slowly lowered his knife.
At that signal, others seemed to follow suit. After a few minutes, many of them dropped their weapons on the ground at their feet. Noah nodded to his guards to sheathe their swords.
As soon as the castle guards retreated, the crowd looked far less eager to fight. Many were in pain or injured, their shoulders slumped and tired as they looked about them.
In the silence that followed, cries and sobs rose from those who had been hurt. Noah’s heart lurched as he saw some of his own guards lying dead on the ground ahead of him.
“Ye must leave,” he said finally. “All of ye. Return to yer homes and forget this folly. Ye are better men than this, and I will serve ye just as I always have, in the name of the MacAllen clan and what we hold dear. The righteous honor of our people.”
As the crowd began to shuffle away, Callum turned back to him and nodded, and Noah jumped down from the cart.
“Will ye see to the wounded?” Noah asked. “Bring any of our men back inside the castle and anyone who needs immediate help, as well.”
“Aye me laird.”
Noah made his way back inside, his chest aching damnably and his heart heavy with sadness and regret.
As he walked through the gates, greeting a few of his men who had survived the battle and were tending to their injured friends, his heart soared at the sight of Keira emerging at the top of the steps of the keep.
As she saw him, she ran down the stairs and into his arms. He wrapped her up in his embrace and wished he could never let her go.
“Are ye safe? Are ye hurt?” she asked, pulling back from him, her eyes searching over his body for any injuries.
His own gaze fell on the deep red cuts on her wrists, and the ache in his chest multiplied to an almost unbearable level. He sucked in a breath, trying to hide it.
“I am well,” he said stiffly, but she frowned at him and shook her head.
“It’s yer chest, is it nae? Come.” She pulled him over to a low bench beside the stables where things were a little quieter and lowered him down onto it. “Breathe deeply for me,” she said, her hand holding his. “In and out, nice and slow.”
Noah tried to do as she said, but his eyes kept wandering to the bodies that were being carried in and his ears kept bringing him the shouts and curses of men nearby. He could not clear his mind of anything except what might have happened if he had not found her in time.
“Focus on me, shut everythin’ else out,” Keira said, and Noah closed his eyes, breathing deeply as he felt the strong grip of her cool fingers against his own.
Keira is alive; that is what matters.
After a few minutes, he felt the pain ebb a little and he opened his eyes to see her watching him.
“Is it over?” she asked quietly. “Did we win?”
Noah nodded. “If it can be called a victory. Aye.”
He winced, clutching at his chest as a great wave of pain swept through him.
“Keep breathin’,” she said softly. Their eyes never left each other, and their hands remained clasped together. On the edge of a battle, in the midst of such chaos, she brought with her a sense of calm that seemed to penetrate the deepest part of him.
He moved his hands to her wrists, rubbing gently at the marks that had been left there. He hoped that for the remainder of her life, she never had to experience such misery again.
Noah felt the ache dissipate slowly, and he saw her smile as she recognized the signs.
“Do ye believe me now?” she asked.
“Believe ye?” he asked, curling a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“That it is yer mind playin’ tricks on ye. The pain ebbs and flows as ye become calmer.”
Noah frowned. “I daenae like the idea that me head makes me body incapable.”
“But ye have methods to help now,” she said. “Ye can fight it better now ye ken what ye are dealin’ with.”
But as he felt the pain recede and he gazed into those dark blue eyes, a feeling of deep sadness replaced the ache in his chest. Keira frowned at his expression as he looked at her gravely.
“Ye are safe,” he said quietly, trying to memorize her face as best he could, knowing that today might be the last time he ever saw it. “Nae need to stay the whole month now, lass,” he said with a small smile. “He is gone. Ye are free.”
Keira stared at him for a long time before she slowly pulled her hand away from his, looking at him as though he had lost his mind.
“We both ken we were nae destined to marry,” he said slowly, trying to bury the betrayal he felt in his chest. “We could nae have been happy lass, nae with what ye wanted from me. A separate life wouldnae have worked, ye said it yerself. But now the threat is gone. The bastard is dead. Ye can live yer life as it should be lived, nae tied to me, nae trapped by me.”
Keira’s eyes were banked by tears, and he looked away, hating to see it and desperate to wipe away the pain in her expression.
“Ye are sendin’ me away?” she asked, her voice small and barely above a whisper.
“Aye lass, it is for the best and is what ye planned all along after all. Unless ye can lower yer expectations of me, I willnae take a wife. Nae like that. Ye can be here and tend to the people, and yer braither and sister can be safe, or ye can go to the New World, and start a new life somewhere else. It is yer choice, but we shouldnae wed, it is better for ye that way.”
She shook her head. “But what if I want more than that?” she asked, leaning forward as he tried not to breathe in her scent. “What if I want ye for a husband, with a real marriage?” She swallowed. “What if we could be happy together?”
Noah’s chest throbbed and he shook his head. But his resolve did not waver.
“I told ye I cannae give ye more, and I wouldnae make ye happy lass, ye’d end up resentin’ me. I might end up hurtin’ ye.” He brushed his fingers against her cheek. “I have to keep ye safe. Ye ken I’ll give ye anything else ye ask for.”
Keira sighed, as her tears started falling. “Except the only thing I need.”
Noah struggled to draw in a full breath as he saw Callum approaching them. His man-at-arms was covered in dust, the sleeves of his léine charred and stained with ash, but otherwise unharmed.
“The people have left, Me laird.”
Keira stood up, looked at Callum, and nodded. “I shall see to those who need me help,” she muttered. "And once they are all taken care of, I shall take me leave, too.”
Callum’s eyes widened, and he looked at Noah in disbelief.
“It is time for me, Daisy and Scott to leave now that the threat is gone. Thank ye Callum, for all ye have done for us.”
Callum gave a shallow bow. “Of course, Miss Keira, ye have only to ask.”
Keira gave him a faint smile and walked back into the castle.
She did not look at Noah, and he could not bring himself to watch her walk away from him for the last time.