Bernard didn’t move or speak until he heard the slow creaking of leather, telling him that William was putting his arse back into the saddle.
“Look, lad,” Bernard said slowly with a thin smile as if talking to a child.“I am Bernard MacDougal, and I've a message from the king.Ye will turn around and open that gate and escort us to ye chieftain.Dinna waste my time.”
“I'll no’ take ye past this door until ye dismount and hand over ye weapons,” the short guard said in a mocking tone.
“Father?”Bernard heard William’s voice ask the unspoken question from behind him.Bernard held up his right hand, letting William know to stay where he was.
“We’ll no’ hand over our weapons,” Bernard answered.“And if we dismount these beasts, it’ll be to teach ye some manners.Now honor the request of the king, open that gate, and lead us to ye chieftain.”
“Ye’re no’ on MacDougal lands, old man,” the guard replied, his mocking tone gone.“Best ye mind your tongue.I dinna see any request from the king, and I'll no’ open no gate for the likes of ye MacDougals.Turn these nags around and ride back to MacDougal lands.”
Bernard sighed heavily and rubbed his gloved fingertips against his forehead.They had ridden much of the day, and he was tired and wanted a meal and a tankard of mead.He was not in the mood to deal with this guard who believed himself larger than his lot in life.
“Ye are a petty man.I can forgive ye for trying to impress your chieftain by bringing us in unarmed, but I can’t abide ye insulting good MacDougal horseflesh.”
The short guard flapped his hand at the MacDougals.“Ride away, old man, before I teach ye what it means to stand before ye betters, making demands like ye think ye’re still on your own lands.”
Bernard’s hand came down to rest on his horse’s neck.He was done with these fools.
“William,” Bernard called out.
The creak of leather came again, but slower this time, and from all three horses behind him as William, Robb, and Iain dismounted.Bernard watched as the guard’s eyes shifted to William, the tallest of the three dismounted men.As William walked forward and reached for his sword, Bernard pulled on his mount's reins, bringing the beast to the right, blocking William.
“None of that,” Bernard commanded.“We’re here to deliver a message, not to draw blood.Just get his attention and teach him some manners.Nothing more if ye please.Robb and Iain will hold back.”
Bernard waited until William nodded and shoved his sword back into its sheath.
“Aye, Father,” William said in a tone of disappointment.
Bernard tugged on the reins to the left, and his horse moved out of William’s way.William pulled the skin of water off his saddle horn.He uncorked the skin and took a sip, then pushed the cork back in place.Swinging the water bag by the thin rope, he walked up to the guard.
“Apologize to my father for your words,” William instructed.“Do as he asks or stand ready to answer for your poorly contrived insults.”
The guard hesitated at the look in William’s eyes, but when he heard the laughter of his three comrades, his face tensed.Backing down now was not a choice, and William saw it as much as sensed it with their laughter.Unfortunately, the guard would pay the price of the dark cloud of expectation that hung over him.
“A game of picks then,” William said brightly.
The guard’s brow furrowed.“Game of what?”
William rolled his wrist, wrapping the thin rope once around his hand as he swung the water bag and struck the guard across the left side of his face.The guard stumbled to his right and backward but managed to hang onto his sword.
The guard’s three companions rushed forward, as did Robb and Iain, who drew their swords.They blocked the guard on the left as Bernard kicked his mount into action, running into the other two and knocking them to the ground.
The remaining guard decided he did not care to face two MacDougal swords and stopped in his tracks, raising his hands.The other two men rolled on the ground, dazed, and did not hurry to their feet as Bernard, Robb, and Iain held them away from the fight.
William did not give the guard in front of him a chance to recover and swung the water bag against the right side of his face, knocking him the other way.The man floundered before catching himself on the stone wall.In desperation, he swung his sword blindly in William’s direction, forcing William to jump back to avoid the blade tip.
The guard shoved off the wall, moving towards William and extending his right arm fully in a sword thrust.William raised the water bag to block the tip of the sword, and it ripped through the water bag, spilling its contents onto the ground between the two men as the blade tip stopped a foot away from William’s chest.
William jerked the water bag and yanked the sword out of the guard’s hands, flinging it several feet behind William.The guard scrambled to grab his knife and lunged forward, knife blade first.
With a sidestep, William grabbed the man’s tunic and shoved him to the ground.The guard slashed out with the knife at William’s leg, but William raised his right leg, and the blade swung under his foot.He snapped his foot forward, kicking the man in the nose.
The guard rolled onto his knees and tried to stand when William moved forward again.The man kicked out like a mule.The guard’s foot struck the side of William’s right knee, hard in a lucky hit.William grimaced and crumpled to his side.Then the guard charged.William had put all his weight on his left leg, and when the guard ran into him, he took them both down into the patchy, damp earth.
William twisted and rolled the smaller man onto his back with William on top.He swung a hard right hand, but the guard lifted his arms, and the strike glanced off his left forearm.William swung again, putting all his strength into another punch for the man’s left jaw.
This time, the unprotected area took the full force as William threw his whole body into the punch.The man’s head snapped to the right as William’s body lurched over the unconscious man.
