“Do not lie,” Teague spat. “You realized exactly what would happen to Eveline. You bargained with the devil. ’Tis time to pay the price. Tell him all or I swear I’ll make you sorry.”
She looked away, tears shining on her cheeks. “I had help from three Montgomery warriors. They were angry, as was I, that we were being forced to accept an Armstrong into our clan. One of them brought word of a bargain he’d struck with Ian McHugh. I met with Ian and told him that Eveline had played the simpleton to avoid marriage to him. He wanted to take her away so that you would be blamed by Eveline’s kin. He intends to start war between you and the Armstrongs.”
Fear and rage knotted Graeme’s gut until he wanted to lay waste to an entire garrison of warriors. In that moment he had the strength and fury to be an unstoppable force.
Eveline, his precious, loving wife, was now in the hands of her worst tormentor. A man who’d described in exacting detail all that he’d make her suffer. His very blood froze in his veins, and suffocating dread made rational thought impossible for the space of several moments. All he could think was that he had to go to her. He had to save her.
“Laird! Laird! The Armstrongs approach!”
Graeme swiveled and looked up to the guard tower where his watchman was yelling out over the courtyard.
“They bear the entire might of their army!”
Graeme swore long and hard. Not now. Not when Eveline needed his complete attention. He turned the entire force of his rage on Kierstan.
“See what you have wrought? You’ll be the death of us all.”
Kierstan swayed unsteadily, her face completely devoid of blood.
“Don’t you dare faint,” Bowen hissed. “You’ll tell us what is left and I’ll have the names of the warriors who betrayed us.”
“Ian took her,” she blurted hastily. “I led her around the side of the keep where Ian waited. Shamus, Gregory, and Paul assisted Ian in leaving undetected.”
Graeme swore. Gregory and Paul were two of the men responsible for border patrol. It explained why Ian McHugh could have come and gone on Montgomery land without being apprehended.
“Have them imprisoned immediately,” Graeme said to Silas, who stood next to Graeme.
“ ’Tis my fault, Laird,” Silas said, his head bowed. “I should have known what was happening. They are under my command.”
“ ’Tis no one’s fault save their own,” Graeme snarled. “Find them. Imprison them. And her,” he said, gesturing toward Kierstan.
“Nay!” she cried out. “I told you all!”
“And think you that speaking freely of your betrayal pardons you from responsibility for your actions? You’ve betrayed us all, Kierstan. Not just Eveline. Not just me. You’ve betrayed all of your kin. If so much as one man, woman, or child loses their life in battle with the Armstrongs, it will be a mark on your soul.”
Kierstan burst into tears. “I did not know! I swear it, I did not know what would happen.”
“Save the tears,” Teague growled as he herded her toward one of the soldiers standing by Silas.
Graeme shouted up to the watchman. “How close?”
“They’re coming over the rise!”
“Come,” Graeme directed his brothers. “We’ll ride out to meet them.”
“Are you mad?” Bowen demanded. “We cannot ride alone to meet the might of their entire army.”
“I cannot ride with the whole of my army,” Graeme ground out. “It will be seen as an act of war. I can only hope I’m granted enough time to explain. Alert the others. Have them standing by to defend the keep. Let’s hope that Armstrong is a reasonable man and will listen to all we have to say.”
CHAPTER 43
Graeme rode out of the courtyard with his brothers at his sides and as directed, the gate was shut behind them while Silas rallied the men inside the keep. Tension was thick, and there was a sense of expectancy that permeated the air.
Everyone expected war. Most even wanted it. It was the chance to avenge the Montgomery losses to the Armstrong clan.
Graeme knew that if the slightest thing went wrong, his clan would swarm in like avenging angels and the entire valley would drip with blood.
He rode slightly ahead of his brothers, carrying a wide, white bedsheet as a sign of truce and that he planned no attack on the approaching army.
They swooped over the hill and down the other side to meet the Armstrong laird at the bottom.
Looking ahead, Graeme saw Tavis pause, then hold up his arm to halt the mass of soldiers behind him. ’Twas an impressive sight that forced Graeme to respect the might of the Armstrong fighting force.
Helmets and armor glistened in the sun. Shields reflected the light, sending blinding reflections from the well-honed metal. Crossbows and swords were held at the ready. It was an army that had come prepared to fight.
Tavis rode slightly ahead of his troops with his two sons at his sides. As he neared where Graeme and his brothers had stopped, he pulled away his helmet and pierced Graeme with the full weight of his stare.
“Where is my daughter?” he demanded.
“Ian McHugh has her,” Graeme returned.
Tavis reared back in surprise and then frowned. Brodie and Aiden scowled, and then Brodie spit out, “Liar.”
Graeme forced himself to keep his temper in check. It would be so easy to give the order to fight. His men were ready. They were itching to shed Armstrong blood. Everything Graeme had dreamed about was here, right in front of him. The chance to avenge his father’s death and end the decades of strife caused by the blood feud between the two clans.