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.The child would have her love.And she would undo the suffering she had brought upon its father.He only need escape from William and his men…Isabella was already in the saddle when the guards brought Colyne.Her lips parted and she nearly cried out at the sight of him.A guard stood on either side of him, each clasping one of his arms.His shoulders were slumped, his head hung in utter defeat, his wrists already bound with rough rope.Her eyes never left him and she willed him to look at her.If he did, surely he would see the love she had for him, her determination to set him free.Colyne did not even raise his head.The guards pushed him on toward the waiting carriage.William had forbidden him to ride and meant to put him instead in the carriage that had carried himself and Kat to Castle MacKimzie those months ago.They pushed him inside.Colyne looked blankly ahead of him.Isabella gritted her teeth at the humiliation they were visiting upon him, already urging Cobweb forward to intervene when William shot her a sharp, warning look.She hesitated, Cobweb shifting uneasily beneath her.Isabella’s glance went to the men around them, their curious looks turning toward her.Her hands tightened on the reins as one of the king’s men bound Colyne by the ankles as well.William yanked the curtains of the carriage closed and tied them shut.The ropes bit into the flesh of his wrists and ankles and Colyne was glad of the pain.His shoulder ached too from being jolted around in the carriage.She had been right those months ago; riding in this freezing thing could make anyone ill.He closed his eyes briefly at the thought of her, letting the unmerciful rocking of the carriage bruise his shoulder.I should have made them kill me.He had run toward the castle, toward home.He could scarce keep his feet under him for the snow and ice.The uneven ground made the run an agony of slowness, the sword in his hand seemed to have tripled its weight.The aftermath of Jargeau, Meung-sur-Loire, a dozen other battles in France, haunted his memory.Men caught up in battle would slaughter the innocent, even women, even children.What have ye done, Isabella?He ran faster.His breathing was ragged, his breath visible and moist on his cheeks as his footfalls pounded along the bridge.No sounds of fighting, of struggle? No war cries or clanging of swords?Caitrina, Jamie, Angus, dozens of beloved faces flashed through his mind.The cousins he had grown up with, children he knew before they could walk.They were there, all of them, left defenseless at his order.Four of the king’s men surrounded him the moment he entered the courtyard.Many of his clan were here, surrounded by guards, forced to cower on the ground.They looked back at him, his friends, his family, frightened, defeated.Some were wounded.One of the MacLaulachs lay dead, the snow red beneath him, his wife weeping beside him.The children huddled against their mothers.Caitrina and her new husband knelt in the snow under the swords of the king’s men…Colyne hefted his sword in defiance as the king’s men leveled their weapons.He had ordered the gate kept open for her sake.He had failed them all.They would have the satisfaction of watching him die for it.“Hold, my lord!” William cried from horseback behind him.Colyne turned to face him and the knight dismounted.The king’s men, more confident than ever they could cut him down quickly, moved closer.“Stand you by! Leave him to me!” William ordered, holding his gloved palm to them.The men were confused, glancing at each other.“Obey me!”Colyne stood ready as the men backed away.“Come now, English!” Colyne taunted.“Kill me if ye can, old man!”He took a step toward William and then another, the snow crunching beneath his boots, but the knight did not draw his own sword.“Defend yerself!”William held his arms wide and walked toward him.“My lord, I beg you, surrender to the king’s justice.”“The king’s justice? Aye, and may James be called back to rule in hell where he belongs!” Colyne took another step toward him.“Fight, man! I’ll slay ye where ye stand if ye dinna!”“Then you would fall far from my measure of you, my lord.” William stepped forward, his hands held out, palms up.“MacKimzie, the day is lost.”“Then I’ll die here on me own land!”William nodded.“Perhaps the king will be satisfied with that.But His Majesty was ever one to see his justice done himself.”Colyne bared his teeth.The wind picked up, the ice stinging his eyes.The MacLaulach’s woman sobbed and some of the little ones did too.His nose stung with the smell of terror and blood they had brought into his home.“If ye won’t fight, die and be damned!” Colyne spat and took another step forward.His blade was at William’s throat now.“I give my word, in all faith, MacKimzie,” William said, his voice low and urgent.“That if you will yield to the king’s justice, if you accept the judgment of law, I will do all I can to protect those left here from his vengeance.”“The king is a demon born! He lives on blood as he does cruelty!” Colyne shook his head.“Do ye nae know, man? At the least of it James will seize these lands and turn them all out to starve!”So easy.A turn of his wrist and William’s throat would be cut [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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