AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But even drunk, reality pushes in and with reality comes fear. I know how bad this is going to get. I’ve spent most of my life studying Scotland and now that I remember what happens to the MacGregor Clan, I can’t ignore it. The dark times coming for Clan MacGregor are going to be so much worse than he can possibly understand.
“Duncan, what are you going to do?”
His eyes twinkle with starlight and his grin turns mischievous.
“Nothing more than you willingly invite.”
I shake my head and push him back to stand on my own. I cross my arms over my chest.
“No, Duncan. Not that. Not now. About the King’s writ.”
“Bah, we’ll fight,” he says, making a dismissive gesture.
“You can’t,” I say.
“Ach, I can. We can. We’ll win too. God hisself is on the sides of the MacGregors. Those Colquhouns won’t know what hit them.”
“No,” I say, raising my voice. Fear makes my tone sharper than I want but I can’t help it. “You can’t. I mean it. Trust me, Duncan. You can’t win. It won’t go the way you expect. It will be bad.”
“What are you on about, lass?” he asks, shaking his head.
“Don’t fight them,” I say. “Please.”
God, he has to listen to me. How do I get him to understand? I know what’s coming and I can’t spell it out because he’d never believe it.
“You’ve nothing to worry about,” Duncan says with confident swagger. “We’ll win and I’ll be fine. Do nae doubt my skill with a sword.”
I shake my head violently, trying to clear the alcohol and fear so I can come up with a rational argument he’ll listen to. “It’s not that. It’s that you will win. I’m telling you, it will not come out the way you expect. It will be so much worse.”
“What are you trying to say? What, can you tell the future?”
“You have to trust me,” I plead. “Please.”
“Ach,” Duncan says, throwing his hands up and stepping back. Then he breaks my heart when he makes the sign of the cross. “You can’t know the future and if’n you do, then maybe I should have listened to Agnes.”
He turns his back and strides away to the village. As a raven cries, despair deeper than anything I’ve ever experienced washes over. These people who’ve taken me in, who’ve cared for me, and this man I have feelings for is going to die. And there’s nothing I can do about it.
Chapter Nineteen
The mid-morning sun streams over the assembled villagers. The youngest children clutch at their mothers’ skirts while the older ones cheer and jeer with the adults. Chief Johnne stands tall, surrounded by the group, huge arms crossed over his chest, silently listening as the men of the village voice their thoughts.
“We cannae stand by and let them arm against us,” Patrick yells, and the voices of the crowd rise in assent.
I sit in the shadows of one of the houses, working the butter churn for Alesoun. I’m not part of the village and I can’t face their looks. I especially can’t face Duncan, not after last night, but I have to see how this plays out.
Maybe inspiration will come, and I’ll see a way to stop this. Get them to… what? Not join the rest of their clan? It won’t stop the King’s next action. I have no idea how to stop this now that it’s in motion. If they don’t go and fight, the rest of the clan will still go and it’s the next battle that pushes it all over the edge.
“He’s nae my king!”
“What right does he have? Ordering them to arm against us?”
“Listen,” Duncan says, stepping over to stand next to Chief Johnne who has remained silent so far. “Of course we are nae going to stand by and let them attack us. But we cannae fight their entire clan alone.”
“What are we going to do?”
I watch the folks of the village argue while slowly working the butter churn. The sound of the milk splashing inside of it mimics the way my stomach feels, filled with churning acid. They’ve been debating and arguing since the sun rose.
Duncan hasn’t looked in my direction. Not once. Not so much as a glance.
