He whirled as the first man charged. Cailin slashed his blade across the assailant’s throat; the attacker collapsed.
Screaming Lord Dalkirk’s name, the last two men charged.
Cailin swung hard, deflecting the first aggressor’s strike, then rammed his blade against the other man. The second knight stumbled back as the first managain charged.
From the corner of her eye, Elspet caught sight of a new assailant behind the others, his knife raised, aimed straight toward Cailin, threw; the dagger sliced through the night towardCailin’s heart.
Merciful saints! As Cailin’s sword shoved deep into the second attacker, he didn’t see the threat, nor was there time to warn him.
Terrified for his life, refusing to allow the man she loved to die, she shoved Cailin out of the way. Hot, burning pain sliced through her side and her world faded away.
Chapter 18
Cailin knelt beside Elspet as she lay near one of the fires at the Romani camp. Eyes closed, sweat beaded her brow and her face was deathly pale. Opposite him, the healer secured a new bandage over the dagger thrust she’d taken in her abdomen thenight before.
His gut wrenched at memories of their struggle to stop the bleeding. In the end, they’d cauterized the wound. Thankfully, Elspet had fainted, only to develop a fever hours later.
God’s teeth, he couldna lose her. He lifted his eyes to the heavens, where a soft tinge of purple smeared the sky.Please God, let her live.She is my life.
The healer secured the last knot and sat back, her face haggard. “She has lost much blood, and the fever has me worried. God help her if the wound begins to fester.”
Cailin strangled on the words lodged in his throat, too aware that she barely clung to life but needing a wisp of hope. “Do you thinkshe will live?”
Eyes dark with anguish were lifted to his. The woman sighed.“I am unsure.”
Like a wounded animal, a deep cry built within against the soul-tearing fear. Breath trembling, Cailin brushed his thumb against her pale cheek. “I love you, Elspet, come back to me.”
Instead, she lay still, a large bruise peeking from the bandage at her side.
A hand settled on Cailin’s shoulder.He glanced up.
Rónán’s somber gaze held his. “You have been with Elspet all night. Go and rest; I will sit with her. If there is any change, Iwill wake you.”
As if a dam collapsed, the frustration and rage boiling within him was unleashed. Cailin shoved to his feet. “Wake me? As if I give a damn if I am tired when Elspeth may…” He stalked off, whirled and stormed back. “God’s teeth, if I had attacked Tiran Castle yesterday, as Lord Odhran suggested, she wouldna have taken a daggermeant for me!”
“Blast it,” Rónán snarled. “You thought to spare those within the stronghold innocent of your uncle’s treachery, a noble decision.”
“A fact that, in the end, with the number of his guard we killed, matters little.” Cailin looked toward the ravine, where Taog’s men had moved the deceased knights from last night’s assault, the ground too frozen to give them a proper burial. “They all died in an effortto get to me.”
“A command given byLord Dalkirk.”
He grunted. “Now I understand why my uncle laughed as I departed. He had built a secret tunnel to set up an attack that nay one, including Father Lamond, knew of.”
“And he failed,” Taog said as he stalked over.
Anger built in Cailin’s chest as he gazed upon Elspet. She hadn’t roused for hours and looked lifeless on her pallet. “If she dies,” he rasped, “my uncle will have won. Naught matters without her.”
Expression hard, the Earl of Odhran stepped up beside the Romani leader. “We can attack Tiran Castle now. Though we followed their tracks and found the secret tunnel caved in to forbid us entry, nor is it critical. After the loss of Dalkirk’s troops last night, his ranks are decimated and the stronghold can be taken with ease.”
Taog and Rónán nodded.
Cailin dragged his gaze away from Elspet. “And if we do, because of Gaufrid’s greed, more people will die.”
“Then we must wait until their supplies run out,” Rónán said.
Blood pounding hot, Cailin struggled against the rage pouring through him, fury so vile that ’twas as if it blackened his soul. He damned his uncle, whose greed had driven him to kill Cailin’s mother and father. But destroying the lives of his brother and sister-in-law wasn’t enough. He’d arranged for his only nephew who held the title of Earl of Dalkirk, to die.
Gaufrid had ruled with a brutal hand, spreading fear among those within his control, torturing and murdering any he considered a threat, including Elspet’s mother and stepfather. Under his hand, no one was safe.
