“Go!” Flynn barked. “I’ll hold them!”
Ian did not hesitate. He pushed forward through the camp with ruthless determination, striking down any man foolish enough to block his path. Raiders were falling now as his warriors overwhelmed the camp.
The fight had turned. One last raider stepped between Ian and Arianna.
“If ye want her, ye will have to pay for her,” the man said.
“What is yer name?” Ian sneered.
“Walter, but what matter does that make?” Walter said.
“I like to ken the name of the man I am about to strike,” Ian growled.
Walter swung wildly with a sword, desperation blazing in his eyes. Ian met the strike with brutal force and twisted the blade aside. Their swords clashed again. Then Ian drove his blade straight through Walter's shoulder and shoved him aside.
Walter collapsed with a cry. Ian reached Arianna at last.
She stared at him in stunned disbelief as he dropped to his knees beside her. For a moment, neither of them spoke, the chaos of battle roaring around them. Ian’s chest rose and fell as he quickly cut through the rope binding her wrists.
The fibers snapped beneath his blade.
“Are ye hurt?” he demanded, his voice tight with fear.
Arianna rubbed her freed wrists slowly, her eyes still fixed on his face.
“I thought…” she said quietly. “I kent that ye would come.”
Something deep inside Ian twisted painfully at those words. His expression softened in a way few had ever seen.
“I would cross the world for ye,” he said hoarsely.
The truth of the words hung heavy between them. For the first time since the bitter argument that had driven her away, the wall of tension between them cracked. Ian studied her face carefully in the firelight. He saw the faint bruising on her cheek. The exhaustion in her eyes.
But he also saw something else. Fear. Relief. And something deeper that made his heart ache… joy at seeing him.
Without another word, Ian pulled her into his arms. The embrace was fierce and desperate, as though he feared she might vanish if he released her. Arianna hesitated for only the briefest moment before wrapping her arms tightly around him in return.
Her fingers clutched the back of his tunic. Ian closed his eyes. For a moment, the battle, the raiders, the entire world seemed to fade away. Holding her there in his arms, the truth he had been fighting for days finally settled deep within his heart.
She is everything. Everything that matters. Everything worth fighting for.
Around them, the clash of steel began to fade as Ian’s warriors secured the camp. Raiders fled into the forest or lay defeated upon the ground.
Arianna stiffened in his arms. Her eyes widened as she looked past his shoulder.
“Ian, behind ye!” she shouted.
The warning struck him like a spark against steel. Ian released her instantly and spun around just as Walter burst through the smoke of the dying fire. His shoulder was soaked in blood where Flynn’s blade had struck him earlier, yet fury burned in his eyes as he charged forward with a sword raised high.
“McGuire!” Walter roared.
Ian brought up his own blade just in time to catch the strike. Steel clashed with a sharp crack that rang across the clearing. Walter snarled and drove forward despite the wound in his shoulder, his strength fueled by rage and stubborn pride.
“So ye are the Laird,” Walter spat.
Ian pushed the blade aside and stepped back, studying the man carefully. “And ye must be the fool who thought stealing me wife was wise,” Ian replied coldly.
Walter barked out a harsh laugh. “Aye, that would be me.”
