Heart racing, Elise sped up the steps to the battlements and peered out. Dark shapes were swarming through the brush and scrub below. Men—dozens of them—racing towards the keep. Then something else on the road caught her eye and her breath caught.
A small group of Cailean’s guards were racing towards the castle—being chased by attackers.
They were vastly outnumbered. If they were overtaken, she had no doubt what the outcome would be. She reached inside and grasped her power. It bucked and fought her like a snarling beast. She tried to focus it, weave it into something,anythingthat might help those fleeing men. But she couldn’t concentrate and her power slipped through her fingers like running water.
Uttering a string of curses, she scrambled down the steps and sprinted for the gate.
“Elise!” Rose shouted. “What are you doing?”
“What I’m here for!” Elise snapped, not slowing. “If I can’t protect people, then what use am I?”
“Then we’re coming with you!”
“No!” she shouted as Rose and Jenna began to follow. “Stay here and protect the castle!”
She reached the gate, the guards eyeing her warily. “Open it!”
They glanced at each other but did as she instructed. As soon as the gap was wide enough, Elise slipped through. Cailean’s men were racing towards her as fast as their legs would carry them but those chasing were quickly closing. They carried bared weapons and even from this distance, Elise saw murder in their eyes.
Okay, she told herself, trying to calm the wild thumping of her heart.You can do this. You can. You have to.
She planted her feet in the dirt, closed her eyes.I don’t care what you do, she told the magic.Just protect them. That’s all. Protect those men.
She lifted her hands and the world shifted. A shimmering arc of light erupted between Cailean’s men and their pursuers, a translucent shield that curved like glass. The attackers slammed into it and were thrown back, allowing Cailean’s men to open a gap.
The men skidded to a halt by Elise’s side. They drew their weapons, moving to encircle her.
“Well, would ye look at that?” one of them drawled. “MacClelland was right. She actually fell for it.”
Elise caught a glimpse of the clothing that lay beneath the MacNeil plaids. Red and gold. The colors of King James.
As horrified realization dawned, she heard the gate opening behind her, heard Rose and Jenna desperately calling her name.Then something smacked into her head and the world went black.
*
The smell ofsmoke hit him before the shouts did.
Jamie braced himself against the rail as Cailean’s ship cut through the swell, the prow knifing towards the little fishing port crouched at the foot of Barra’s cliffs. Late afternoon light slanted across the water, turning the smoke that drifted across the waves into a copper haze. Figures moved along the shoreline—many figures.
“The village is straight ahead!” one of the sailors shouted. “Look! They’ve got barricades up!”
Jamie squinted against the drifting smoke. A line of carts had been dragged across the mouth of the quay—fishmongers’ barrows, broken wagons, crates, even a mast that must’ve been ripped off some poor fisherman’s boat. Behind it all, the people of the village held their ground with harpoons, fish-knives, and a handful of bows. They stood their ground with a fierceness that made Jamie proud.
And in front of them, trying to break through the barricade, was a line of raiders.
There were dozens of leather-armored men carrying spears, short-swords, and round shields. In their mismatched armor, they looked like opportunistic pirates, but Jamie wasn’t fooled. These men moved in formation, with purpose, as though they’d been rigorously trained.
King’s men.
Jamie’s stomach tightened with anger, his grip on the railing going white with tension. One of the villagers spotted Cailean’s ship moving into the bay, recognized the colors flying from themast, and let out a triumphant cry. Others took it up, a ragged chorus of relief. A horn blared—long, wavering, determined.
Cailean stepped up beside Jamie. “At least they’re still alive,” he muttered.
“Aye,” Jamie said. “But for how long?”
As they watched, one of the raiders broke from the line and swung at the makeshift barricade. A spear jabbed out from behind it—catching the man in the shoulder.
Cailean raised an eyebrow. “A little while yet if the courage of my villagers is anything to go by. Archers to the rail!”
