“You are willing to declare war for him?” Henry asked indignantly.
She didn’t hesitate with her response. “I am. Are you?”
Sin closed his eyes as he heard the most precious words of his life. She who believed in nothing but peace was willing to fight for him. He could die happily knowing that.
Still, he couldn’t let her do this. Henry would not rest until he buried her and her clan. A king’s reputation was all he had and if Henry lost face...
“Callie,” Sin said, waiting until her gaze met his. “Thank you, but you can’t do this. You can’t start a war over me. I’m not worth the cost.”
“You are worth everything to me.”
He couldn’t breathe as he heard those precious words. Dear saints, how he wanted to hold her and kiss those ripe lips that tasted of heaven. “For those feelings you hold, I thank God. But you must think through this. Look at the faces around you. They are your family.”
“As are you.”
Sin turned to see Fraser standing with his sword ready a few feet away from him. When the man spoke, Sin was stunned by his words. “You are a MacNeely and no one takes one of us without taking us all.”
“Aye!” the roar of the clan was deafening.
“And you’re a MacAllister,” Lochlan added. “Born, bred and raised.”
Tears welled in Sin’s eyes. He’d never expected anything like this. Never.
“We will not be held hostage,” Henry roared, then called for his men to stand ready.
The tenseness of the moment stretched out.
All of a sudden, Ewan shoved Dermot forward.
The boy stumbled, then regained his feet. He glared at Ewan who was looking about innocently as if trying to find whoever had pushed him.
Straightening his clothes, Dermot walked slowly toward Henry.
“Dermot,” Callie shouted, “get back here.”
“Nay, sister,” he said without looking back. He kept his gaze locked on Henry as if afraid to look anywhere else lest he lose his courage. “‘Tis time I quit hiding behind others and took responsibility for myself.”
Dermot stopped before Henry. “I am The Raider you seek. It was I who led my men against you.”
By the look on Henry’s face, Sin knew his thoughts. It was quite a blow to learn he had been thwarted all this time by a half-grown child. “You’re just a boy.”
Dermot nodded. “And a foolish one at that. Still, I can’t allow an innocent man to die for me.”
Henry was flabbergasted. “Are we to honestly believe a child led an army?”
Sin loudly cleared his throat.
Henry shifted in his saddle as he recalled all the battles Sin had fought and won in his name while less than two years older than Dermot.
Henry glanced at Sin, then returned his attention to Dermot. “Well, that explains why Sin wouldn’t name you. He never could stand for a boy to suffer.” Henry gestured toward Sin’s direction. “Release the earl.”
“Sire,” Sin said as one of the guards cut the ropes on his wrists. “You know I can’t let you kill him.”
Henry bristled as if greatly offended by those words. “We are not so callous a king nor man that we would stoop to slay a child. Dear God, imagine the embarrassment if word ever got out that a mere child perpetrated such?” Henry glanced around to his score of guards. “If any of you breathe a word of this, we shall have your tongues.”
The guards gulped audibly.
Henry drew himself up and looked back at Dermot. “But he cannot be left to roam the countryside freely.”
