Page 61 of Highland Steel

“They were dead,” the man protested. “I dinna ken where she came from, Chieftain.”

“Who exactly are ye?” asked Drummond, causing Logan to cringe because he knew Rhoswen was going to tell him exactly who she was and that was only going to get her killed.

“She’s no one important,” Logan interrupted. “She’s only a Sassenach and means ye no harm. Let her and the merchant go, Drummond. Ye ken it’s really me ye want. And I’ll fight ye to the death to get the Sword of Triumph returned.”

“Really?” Drummond chuckled. “Well, then, mayhap I’ll have to take ye up on yer challenge since we both ken that whoever wields the Sword of Triumph is undefeated. So we both ken that I will win and ye will die. Ye were a fool to enter into my courtyard by yerself MacKeefe. Ye’re goin’ to pay for that with yer life.”

Rhoswen couldn’t let Logan die for trying to help her. She had to do something to distract Drummond. “I am Rhoswen Asquith of Yorkshire,” she told him. “You were once married to my sister, Ailsa.”

“Ye are?” Drummond’s head snapped around but he still held his sword high. “Ye ken yer faither tricked me into marryin’ that whore! He kent she was pregnant with another man’s bairn when we made the alliance. That’s why I had to kill yer sister, just like I am goin’ to do to ye.”

“Nay!” cried Logan.

“Marry me instead,” said Rhoswen. “Take me in place of my sister, and let me raise her baby as my own.”

“How do I even ken ye’re no’ already carryin’ another man’s bairn just like that traitorous sister of yers?”

“Because I’m no’,” she told him. “I’m a virgin.” Her eyes flashed over to Logan when she said it, and she saw his eyes close slightly and the doomed look upon his face.

“Let her go,” Logan said again. “She’s a Sassenach. Ye dinna want her. She will only bring ye trouble.”

“If that’s so, then ye willna mind if I kill her right here, right now, will ye, MacKeefe?”

“Ye touch her and I’ll have yer head,” warned Logan.

Rhoswen’s heart about beat out of her chest. This wasn’t good for her or for Logan.

“Is that my sister’s baby?” she asked, trying to distract Drummond. The woman holding the crying baby came closer, cocking her head to look at Rhoswen.

“Ye look a lot like yer sister,” she said, barely able to be heard above the baby’s crying now.

“Please. Can I at least hold him once before I die?” she begged.

“Rhoswen, step aside because I’m’ goin’ to kill Drummond,” Logan said under his breath. She shot him a glance to be quiet and shook her head, telling him not to do it.

“May she at least hold her nephew once?” the woman asked Drummond.

“Fine, go ahead,” said Drummond, acting like it didn’t matter to him. “And then when she’s done, I’ll kill both her and the boy since I am tired of the whelp’s cryin’ since the day I killed his mathair.”

The woman handed the boy over to Rhoswen and she hugged the baby to her chest, kissing him on the top of his head. All the love she’d had for her poor departed sister and mother flowed forth from her and into the baby, making him stop his crying. He snuggled up against her chest, putting his thumb in his mouth and closed his eyes. Rhoswen cradled the boy and protected him, ready to hold him safely in her arms as they both went to their deaths. Her only hope was that Drummond would kill them before Logan because she could not bear seeing Logan killed right in front of her. She loved Logan so much that the thought of losing him was more than she could take.

“Well, look at that,” said Bug, walking over to Rhoswen. “She must be a lucky charm, just like that sword,” he told Drummond. “All she did was hold the bairn and he stopped cryin’. Mayhap marryin’ her would bring yer clan luck as well.”

“Aye,” said Drummond in thought. “The only reason I kept the boy was because I always wanted a son. If she can control it and keep it from cryin’ then mayhap I’ll keep them both.”

“Nay, she’s no’ yers,” shouted Logan. “She’s mine and ye willna steal her from me the way ye already stole my sword. I love Rhoswen, and ye canna have her.”

Rhoswen cringed when Logan professed his love for her right in front of Drummond. While her heart swelled to know how he really felt about her, this wasn’t the time or the place to tell her. All he did was make things worse because she knew Drummond would never give her up now if he knew that Logan wanted her.

“So I see she does mean somethin’ to ye after all, MacKeefe,” said Drummond, pulling Rhoswen in front of him and holding the Sword of Triumph to her throat. The motion woke little Lockie and he once again started crying.

“Drop yer sword, MacKeefe, or the girl dies,” spat Drummond.

“Do it, Logan,” Rhoswen urged him, hugging the baby to her to try to calm the boy. “Do what he says, I beg you. I don’t want to die.” Suddenly, Rhoswen wondered if this is how her poor sister felt when Drummond killed her. It fanned the flames of vengeance within her and all the hatred her father possessed for this man flowed through her veins now. If she lived through this, she swore she would kill Drummond, because now she realized why her father said this man had to die.

“Dinna hurt her or the bairn,” Logan said softly, slowly lowering his sword and dropping it at his feet. The metal clanged against the cobblestones, sealing his fate as well as Rhoswen’s. “I will die for Rhoswen if I have to, but I swear I will never let ye lay a hand on her.”

“Throw MacKeefe in the dungeon, and someone fetch the priest,” ordered Drummond.