She didn’t seem to have any injuries. Maybe a few scratches he couldn’t account for, but other than that, she’d been spared.
“Aye. Now, where’s Amber?” Theo asked as the bushes nearby rustled violently.
He pushed Maisie behind him, keeping a keen eye on the shadows, waiting for whatever it was to spring out.
“She’s ours,” a midget of a man sneered, charging with an axe over his head.
Theo jumped back, missing the axe’s blade by inches. Maisie squealed as she darted to the stall.
“Ye’ll have to get through me first,” he growled, his muscles twitching with anticipation.
If they wanted a fight, he wasn’t going to disappoint.
“Look out,” Maisie warned as the attacker came back around.
Theo was ready. With a quick feint to the left and a flick of his wrist, the man dropped dead to the ground.
“We need to find Amber,” Theo said.
“Where do ye think she is?” Maisie asked, her voice trembling as she reached for him.
“I thought she was with ye,” he answered.
Maisie’s eyes widened. “I thought she was right behind me… Oh God, where’s Amber?” She raked her fingers through her hair.
Theo could see the panic and terror overwhelming her. It was ripping through her like a wildfire leveling the crops.
“We’ll find her.”
“How can ye be so sure?”
“I found ye, did I nae?” Theo grabbed her by the wrist. “I need ye to tell me the last place ye saw her.”
Maisie shrugged as she glanced around the stalls. “Before we got here, I think I saw the guard taking her south.”
“That means they went to the garden.”
Suddenly, a pail dropped at the back of the stables.
Immediately, Theo clapped his hand over Maisie’s mouth, cutting off whatever sound was about to escape. He glared at her, silently warning her not to speak.
Her eyes went wide as saucers. She bobbed her head as he pushed her into the corner and stepped over the headless attacker.
“Ye had better be ready to meet yer maker, ye heathens,” Marcus bellowed as he charged out of the last stall with a pitchfork.
“Maisie stay back,” Theo ordered as he jumped over the nearest stall door and dropped next to a foal and mare to let him pass.
“Theo?” Marcus asked as he slowed down and dropped the pitchfork. Theo exhaled as he glanced to Maisie with relief.
“Marcus! Good, ye’re alive. I need ye to get Maisie to the council chambers,” Theo said, pushing Maisie into Marcus’s unsuspecting arms. “Make sure that Stephen takes care of them both. I’ve got to find Amber.”
“Theo, ye’ve got to find another way to get the people out. Those tunnels willnae last under heavy bombardment, and I saw the artillery comin’ our way,” Marcus said as he glanced at Maisie.
Theo paused as he glanced at Maisie. The unspoken question lingered in the air between them.
Was she truly more important than his clan? She was innocent, yes, but was her life more valuable than the men he was losing at that very moment?
“Micah willnae stop until he gets what he wants, and we all ken he wants me,” Maisie said. Her voice broke from the stress, but Theo could hear exactly what she was saying. Yet there was no way he was going to allow her to sacrifice herself for the sake of his clan. He wouldn’t allow it. She was more important than the men who were dying for her in the field. Maisie was family, and that was enough for Theo.
