Page 55 of How to Woo a Highlander

"Alastair is alive…" she whispered tearfully, to which William only nodded, smiling.

"There are a lot of things that none of us expected." The sudden voice sent chills of fear up her spine as William's expression hardened, and she whirled around to find Lain stepping out from behind the bushes, a bow in his hand, and an arrow pointing at them.

"Lain!" she exclaimed in horror. The last thing she had expected was to be facing him again so soon. He gave her a devilish smile.

"Jane, I must say, of all the surprises, ye still shock me the most."

"How did you get here so quickly?" she asked, even as William moved her to stand behind him.

"Oh, I was followin' ye ever since ye came out of that tree," Lain laughed, releasing a quick shot at William's feet when he moved to unsheathe his sword. "The next one goes in yer throat if ye dinnae behave."

"Ye bastard." William spat, but Lain ignored him, continuing his conversation with Jane.

"Did ye think that I wouldnae find ye? Immediately, I heard shouts that the prisoner had escaped, I ken that those fools wouldnae be able to find ye. They are young, inexperienced, and naywhere near patient enough. I was better at finding ye because I was trackin' yer footprints. I ken ye were hidin' somewhere, so I just waited until ye thought ye were safe," he added.

Jane shook her head, no wonder she thought someone was behind her; sensed the danger.

"Why did you not just catch me and bring me back?" She asked incredulously. Lain shrugged, his aim still on them.

"Ye were quite the interestin' prey to hunt. I like to see how things play out, and I must admit that ye shocked me. Ye didnae stop even once. Yer strength surprises me at each turn. I was curious how long ye would last. Imagine me surprise when ye just happened to make it to safety after all. And now I heard that me plans have already been thwarted," he clicked his tongue, obviously displeased.

"It seems that now, all I can do is to escape," he added, before facing William again.

"I want ye to tell me where yer horses are, and I want to ken where all the gold is in the castle," he demanded.

William gave him a scathing look. "Ye plan to rob me and me castle now?" he asked, to which Lain shrugged with a grin.

"Aye, I might as well. I mean, I’m sure that ye havenae had time to send word of me betrayal back to the castle. If ye comply, then perhaps I shall think of all our good days together and nae kill ye where ye stand. I need as much money as possible to escape far from here. Maybe go to France like someone else we ken did," he added with a laugh.

William looked furious and hissed, "Ye despicable bastard!"

Lain gave him a crooked grin and clicked his tongue. "Now, ye only say what I ask ye to. Or Jane dies, and our dear injured Alastair follows."

The words had just left his mouth when in a blur of movement, something jumped out from the side and crashed heavily into Lain, throwing his bow from his hands, which accidentally released the arrow straight into a tree.

Jane's jaw dropped as she realized it was Alastair. He was on the ground as Lain struggled to get out from under him while William reached for the sword at his side.

Her heart thudded as Lain pushed Alastair off him and scrambled to his feet, his eyes wild as he cursed and pulled out his sword just in time to parry William's strike.

Chapter Twenty-Five

It was a reflex action for Alastair, attacking Lain the way he did. He had been making his way back to William when he spotted Lain with the bow aimed at William - holding Jane behind him. The two most important people in his life were in danger, and his body moved of its own accord.

Just seconds ago, he had been in pain, his body protesting as he made his way into the forest, but all of the discomfort vanished at the sight of an arrow pointed at William and Jane.

Now he lay on the ground, the pain suddenly returning tenfold. He glanced down at his bandaged body, noting from the patches of blood that he had begun to bleed again. Lain had already risen to his feet and drawn his sword, but luckily, William’s sword was ready to meet him.

The two circled each other even as Jane ran over to where he lay, tears pouring from her eyes as she fell to her knees beside him, reaching out to touch him with shaky hands afraid that he would disappear.

“Jane…” he mumbled, painstakingly raising a hand to her cheek. “I was so worried… we were going to rescue ye.”

She let out a tearful laugh. “I know it’s alright - I escaped. I thought I lost you.”. Lain must have told her that he was dead. He was nearly right; it had been a very close call. He struggled to sit up, and she hurried to help him. William was fighting fiercely with Lain, their swords clashing as they pushed against each other.

William was attacking like an angry beast, lashing out with vicious strikes that Lain just barely parried. He was bearing down on the traitor, giving him no room to do anything but defend. Although he often sparred with William, even Alastair was surprised at the way that William was fighting, keeping up with Lain, who was incredibly quick on his feet and not allowing him to move more than two steps away from him. He struck, and Lain parried, neither of them giving way.

“How can ye live with yerself, ye traitor?” William gritted out through his teeth as he leaned in against the stalemate with Lain. His usual calm behavior was gone, and he looked furious.

“Ye tried to kill Alastair!” he shouted, pushing Lain back in a burst of strength. Alastair wished that he could get in on the action. He wanted a piece of Lain himself, but his body had suffered enough from his initial attack. He hated that he was forced to sit on the sidelines, bleeding instead of punishing the traitor himself.