Warriors: The Rose and The Warrior Part 26

She smiled, taking grim satisfaction in the spark of apprehension she saw kindled in his eyes.

"We've got him!" shouted excited voices from outside. "Make way-we've got the Falcon!"

It was Laird MacTier's turn to smile. "Now, this is a fascinating turn of events, don't you think?"

Abruptly he released her.

Alarm streaked up Melantha's spine. Affecting only a modic.u.m of interest, she watched as several MacTier warriors stormed into the hall, roughly hauling not one but two captives.

When she saw that they were Colin and Daniel, her alarm turned to terror.

Laird MacTier walked slowly over to Colin, who was being restrained by two men. One of them she recognized as the fair-haired warrior who had led the recent attack on her holding. The other was Neill, who had been so chivalrous in his attentions when she first arrived.

"I have been waiting a long time for this moment, my outlaw friend," Laird MacTier murmured.

He drew back his fist and rammed it hard into Colin's face.

Somehow Melantha stifled the cry in her throat. Anything she did to reveal her feelings for either Colin or Daniel could only put them at further risk. And so she forced herself to watch with rigid calm as Colin spat a scarlet stream upon the floor, spattering red droplets upon the finely st.i.tched leather of Laird MacTier's shoes. Then Colin raised his head to regard Laird MacTier once again.

"Is that how you welcome all your guests?" he enquired mildly. "I must say, it isn't very gracious."

"Oh, but you are not just any guest," Laird MacTier said, enjoying his position of power over him. "You are the man who has managed to vex me constantly by making a sport of stealing that which is mine. And now that you have been caught, I'm afraid you must be made to pay."

He struck him hard in the face again, causing blood to spurt from Colin's nose.

"Stop it!" cried Daniel, fighting to escape the grip of the warriors who were holding him. "Leave him alone!"

Colin shook his head, which had the effect of spreading the blood leaking from him across his cheeks, making his face look as if it had been beaten to a pulp.

Melantha clenched her fists, feeling her deliberately constructed calm begin to crumble.

"It seems your young friend does not relish the sight of you in pain," remarked Laird MacTier archly as he unsheathed Derek's sword. "That is a pity-I'm sure he is not going to enjoy what I am about to do to you now."

"Kill me if it pleases you," snarled Colin tautly, "but at least have the decency to let the lad and the la.s.s leave."

"I'm not going to kill you," Laird MacTier informed him, testing the weight and balance of the heavy claymore in his hands. "Not when we still have so much to talk about. You, my Falcon friend, have taken a great many things from me over the past few months, and I mean to find out exactly what you have done with them. All I'm doing at this moment is making it eminently clear to everyone in this hall that I do not take the crime of stealing lightly. After all," he continued, moving behind Colin, "stealing is a sin."

He swung the heavy blade down with all his might, striking Colin on the back with the flat of it. It was a blow that would have felled any man, but with the severed muscles of Colin's back still in the painful stages of healing, the effect was devastating. He groaned in agony and fell to his knees, his head bent so that neither Daniel nor Melantha could see the depths of his suffering.

"Stop it!" cried Daniel, tears streaming down his face. "Stop it-you b.l.o.o.d.y b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

Outraged by his insolence, Laird MacTier moved to strike him.

"Leave him alone," commanded Melantha, her voice like the lash of a whip. "Or I swear to you, you'll never see any of your precious possessions again."

Laird MacTier hesitated, disconcerted by the steely confidence with which she spoke. "What are you talking about?"

"The man you have there is not the Falcon."

"Is that so?" He skeptically c.o.c.ked one eyebrow. "Then I suppose this sniveling lad is the one who has been plaguing me all these months?"

"No," returned Melantha. Her expression was deadly serious. "I am."

Stunned surprise rippled through the great hall.

"Don't listen to her!" yelled Colin, staggering to his feet. "I'm the Falcon!"

"No, he isn't," Melantha countered, her gaze intent upon Laird MacTier. "You may trust me, MacTier. I am the outlaw you seek."

"She's mad!" protested Colin furiously. "How could that thin slip of a la.s.s be the Falcon? For G.o.d's sake, just look at her! She could scarcely lift a bairn, never mind wield a sword! She's just saying this to try to save me-you mustn't listen to her!"

"No one has ever been able to describe the Falcon because he always wears a helmet," continued Melantha calmly, ignoring Colin's outburst. "That was because I had to keep the fact that I was a woman a secret."

"I wear a b.l.o.o.d.y helmet because I want to keep my skull intact," interjected Colin, growing even more adamant. "Don't listen to her childish fantasies!"

"As you have already noticed, my hands bear the marks of years of swordplay," she continued, lifting her callused palms for Laird MacTier's perusal. "I have been trained in the use of a sword from the time I was six."

"Every country wife has work-worn hands," scoffed Colin, desperately trying to discredit her confession. "It doesn't make them a dangerous outlaw, for G.o.d's sake!"

"But not every country wife bears the marks of an enemy's sword." She jerked down the sleeve of her gown, revealing the jagged pink scar that snaked from her shoulder to her elbow. "Surely one of your men returned to boast of managing to wound the elusive Falcon, MacTier?" she asked scornfully. " 'Twas in the late spring and we had attacked a coach bearing a king's supply of silver goods and one overly fed priest. The guards a.s.sured us that the entire lot was on its way to you-"

Laird MacTier crossed to her within three strides. "Where is it?" he demanded fiercely.

Melantha regarded him in confusion. "Where is what?"

He slapped her with such force she was knocked to the floor.

"Don't give me a reason to finish off your gallant friend over there," he warned, his eyes narrowed into dark slits of fury. "If you truly are the Falcon, then you know exactly of what I am speaking." He leaned down and whispered harshly, "Where is the amulet?"

Melantha fought to clear her head from the dizziness his blow had caused. What was he talking about?

"Don't pretend you don't have it," he snarled. "That fool of a priest told me how you and your men threatened to disembowel him if he didn't turn it over to you. You knew he carried a sacred relic of great power-that was why you attacked the coach in the first place-wasn't it?" He kept his voice low, guarding his purpose from the rest of his clan.

He was speaking of the silver-and-emerald pendant, Melantha realized. The pendant Magnus had insisted she take for herself, instead of selling it or trading it in exchange for something useful like food or weapons. She had worn it constantly around her neck from that day forward. But the gown she had donned for her journey here had left the pendant exposed, and she had feared that either Laird MacTier or someone else within the clan might recognize it.

And so she had given it to Gillian to wear for safekeeping.

"It is hidden in a safe place some three days' journey from here," she said evasively, realizing that producing it was the only way of appeasing Laird MacTier's anger and securing Colin and Daniel's freedom. "Release these two, and they will retrieve it and bring it to you in exchange for our lives."

Laird MacTier studied her a moment, debating whether or not to believe her. "If you try to trick me, I swear to you, you will suffer beyond your worst imaginings," he warned softly. He plunged his hand into her hair, painfully jerking her head up by its roots. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," said Melantha, wincing beneath his cruel grip.

He released his hold, leaving her crumpled at his feet as he rose to face his clan.

"The Falcon and I have come to an agreement," he announced pleasantly. "I have decided to release you tonight," he said, speaking to Colin, "so that you may go and retrieve a few items of mine that your leader was foolish enough to take. She will tell you exactly what it is I seek, and where you may find them. Bring them to me within six days, and then you and this angry young lad will be released unharmed."

He paused for a moment, studying Daniel as if he were looking upon him for the first time. Then he turned to Melantha, his expression oddly triumphant.

"He is your brother, isn't he?"

"No."

Even as she said it, she knew her denial was futile. No one in that moment could mistake the striking resemblance between the two of them, especially given the cold hatred that glittered so fiercely in Daniel's green-and-amber eyes.

"A pity." Laird MacTier sighed. "A lad who burns with such loathing must be taught the consequences of defying those in power. It is only by teaching these lessons to the young that we can avoid having to punish them even more harshly in the future."

"If you dare so much as touch him," Melantha warned, her voice ice cold, "you will never see it again."

Laird MacTier arched his brows with mock surprise. "Do you really believe me to be such a monster, that you think I would harm a mere lad? Your brother cannot be held responsible for your actions. Therefore once your bleeding friend here returns with the items I seek, both he and the lad will be free to go-"

Relief poured through Melantha. Her own life did not matter so long as Colin and Daniel would be spared.

"-right after they have witnessed your execution."

The hall froze in shocked silence. It was clear even the MacTiers were appalled by the cruelty of their laird's gesture.

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" screamed Daniel, flailing wildly within the strong grip of his captors. "I'll kill you, do you hear! I'll kill you!"

"Lock him up," commanded Laird MacTier.

Melantha felt her heart break as the warriors dragged her screaming, weeping brother away.

"Sometimes a leader must make difficult decisions," reflected Laird MacTier philosophically. "Your brother must be shown what fate awaits him should he ever decide to follow in your path, my pretty Falcon. It will be a hard lesson, but one that he will not forget easily. And neither will anyone else who dares to contemplate the idea of stealing from me." He frowned. "Why are you smiling?"

"I was just thinking, MacTier, about the day when someone will teach you the consequences of stealing from others."

"If that day ever comes, you will not be alive to see it."

"Whether I see it or not is of no consequence," she told him calmly. "All that matters is that it is inevitable."

"Go and tell your friend where to find what I seek," he snapped. "And do not try to trick me, or I shall be forced to execute your precious brother along with you."

Melantha went over and whispered in Colin's ear. When she was finished, she studied him a moment, the corners of her mouth lifted in the barest hint of a smile. It was little more than a brief, quick gesture of rea.s.surance that revealed nothing of the incredible devotion she felt toward this fine man who had been a lifelong friend. There was much she wanted to say, but she dared not, for fear Laird MacTier would use her feelings toward Colin against her. And so she simply held his gaze, feeling a profound tenderness fill her soul.

"Enough!" snapped Laird MacTier impatiently. "I give you six days," he said to Colin. "If you do not return within that time with what I have asked for, I will execute her."

"You will have it," Colin replied tersely.

"Take him outside and give him his horse," ordered Laird MacTier. "And take her to the dungeon where her brother is. I see no reason why they should be denied the pleasure of each other's company."

Melantha held her head high as she was surrounded by a ring of warriors, each no doubt anxious to prove to their laird that they were of some use this evening after all. The MacTiers regarded her with a mixture of awe and pity as she walked past them. She kept her gaze frozen steadfastly in front of her, refusing to even glance at the faces of those who had brought her and her clan so much suffering and misery.

Whatever happened, Colin would not fail her. He would retrieve the pendant and return here within six days.

Beyond that, she could not bear to contemplate.

CHAPTER 12.

"This place is a tomb," complained Donald, moodily filling his cup once more. "I swear I've been in battles that have been more amusing."

Myles gazed in bewilderment at the empty tables surrounding them. "Why does everyone leave the hall the minute they're finished eating? Don't they like to stay and talk?"

"They only dine with us because Roarke ordered them to," replied Eric irritably. "Once they have obeyed his command, they hurry away to be amongst themselves."

"Well, I wish you would command them to stop cowering every time one of us walks by," Donald grumbled to Roarke. "When I try to talk to someone they spend the entire conversation memorizing the details of the floor. Then they look like the devil himself has just delivered them from death when I finally give up and tell them they can go."

Roarke traced his thumb along the intricately worked stem of his silver goblet. How many MacKillon children would this feed? he wondered, feeling guilty for having such a costly object in his possession. "They're afraid of you."

Donald looked at him in astonishment. "Why should they be afraid of me? I can understand that they might be afraid of Eric-just look at him. He looks miserable enough to frighten a goblin."

"What do you mean by that?" growled Eric.

"I don't mean to insult you, my friend, but ever since you bid farewell to fair Gillian your mood has been insufferably black. You prowl around this place looking like you're just waiting for someone to give you an excuse to vent your rage."

"That's a b.l.o.o.d.y lie!" Eric roared, banging down his cup with such force the entire table shook.

"You see?" said Donald, looking at Roarke in exasperation. "I think he's got them all terrified of us."

"Eric has always been like that," remarked Myles. "The MacKillons didn't seem to be bothered by it."

"That's right," Eric said, pleased to have Myles come to his defense. "The MacKillons weren't bothered by it-even the very quiet ones." His chest tightened as he thought of Gillian. " 'Tis just this groveling lot that scurries away like frightened mice every time they see one of us coming."

"But that doesn't make any sense," argued Donald. "After all, we haven't done anything to them."

"No, we haven't," Roarke agreed quietly. "But the MacTiers who came before us and forced these people to give up their freedom did."

"But now we'll make them stronger," pointed out Myles. "They have the whole MacTier army to come to their defense if they need it."

"Or to crush them if they dare to defy me." Roarke drained his cup and filled it once again, feeling weary and incomprehensibly melancholy.

Laird MacTier's gift to him had been generous. The lands were green and fertile, and were ringed by a dense growth of woods and several clear, fast-flowing streams. There was a deep, cold loch that was almost silver with fish. The people here were traditionally industrious, as was evident by the neatly planted fields of grains and vegetables. And he could not find any particular fault with the castle itself, although he would make some improvements to better fortify it. Inside it had been tastefully furnished with exquisitely st.i.tched tapestries and painstakingly carved furniture. Because Laird MacTier had decided to add this holding to his collection, he had chosen not to strip it or cause it any undue damage, the way he had the MacKillon castle. And so Roarke finally had the pleasure of sleeping in a handsome, comfortable bed, and eating his meals at a solid, polished table, and stretching out before the fire in a wide, elegantly carved chair. It was a fine holding of beauty and abundance, and the people who inhabited it were unfailingly dutiful and obeisant. Neither he nor any of his men were permitted to want for anything.

Why then, was he so b.l.o.o.d.y miserable?

It had been different at the MacKillon holding, he reflected. That decrepit, barren pile of pink rocks had always bustled with cheerful activity. The chambers were invariably drafty, yet he had never felt cold; the meals were simple and spare, yet he had never gone hungry. He and his men had been prisoners, but none of them had felt as isolated as they did here. The MacKillons had laughed with them and drunk ale with them, had even dared to make them the object of raucous jokes. How many times had Magnus goaded him about that arrow in his a.r.s.e? he wondered, the corners of his mouth twitching at the memory. The MacKillons had not treated them like prisoners. And they had not treated them like enemies, except for their absurd propensity for locking them up at night. They had simply treated them as equals.

Until coming here, Roarke had not realized what an honor that had been.

Melantha had tried to warn him, he realized bleakly. She had told him the people here would have been terrorized into submission, and so they had. Whatever happened here had either shattered their spirit or beaten it into a badly broken resignation, which they only dared free on occasion, when they were certain no MacTier could witness it. That was why they all hurried away the instant they felt he would tolerate their absence. That was why they spoke to him with their eyes downcast, their shoulders hunched with the heavy burden of their fear and oppression. Nothing he could say or do would ever eradicate how he had come to rule them. Although he did not think anyone here would ever dare defy him, neither would they ever come to like him.

He drank deeply from his silver cup, wondering why the prospect was so completely dispiriting.