Highland Vengeance (18 page)

The lone woman in the combat had never
yelled a battle cry before but when she did, it was definitely
effective. Everyman turned to look at Olivia and just as she
pointed up to the castle walls, a hail of arrows came flying
through the air towards the vulnerable men. Most were able to use
their targe to shield them from the oncoming arrows but some were
struck clean through. Broderick was amazed at Olivia’s perception
and had she not warned them, many more would have been hit,
including the older two lairds.

Liam, Keith and Calum followed Olivia
as she jumped from her stallion and raced into the fortress. The
warriors outside were suddenly attacked by a second group of men
that had been waiting in the bailey and more that were standing by
in the blockhouse. Broderick was sickened at the thought that he
and the others had not been prepared for this. Of course, it was
hard for him to believe that the MacKay clan would stand by
watching their fellow men die without trying to help them at
all.

“
Liam, lead me through the
holding. I don’t know which way to go,” she cried out.

“
This way m’lady,” he
replied.

Olivia and the others followed Liam
through the hall and up a steep set of stone stairs. They went
through a maze of corridors and more stairs before they reached the
wall walk where the men were shooting arrows through the loops down
at the battling men.

Olivia reached for her bow and began
letting off arrows of her own, hitting each target she aimed
for.

Liam and Keith dueled men with their
swords and it only took seconds for them to kill their enemies.
Within moments of reaching those that were shooting the arrows,
Olivia and her guards had ended the rain of arrows. Broderick was
on the ground and he knew that the warrior woman on the castle wall
had been the leader of the brave assault.

From the corner of her eye, Olivia saw
a woman in a MacKay plaid, head down a staircase at the end of the
aisle where they had fought the archers.

“
Find Camden’s people!” She
yelled to her men as she rushed off chasing the woman down the
steps.

Olivia made her way through the keep
and down many winding hallways searching for the MacKay woman she
had seen. The countess moved quickly and then followed her up the
turret and into a large solar room above the main keep. The room
was round and void of any furniture but it had several windows that
were covered with animal skin to keep out the cold.

Olivia stood in the arched doorframe
and thought to herself, she has to be behind the door. There was no
other place to hide. She slowly stepped into the room with Camden’s
large sword drawn from its sheath. Olivia wanted to know who this
woman was that wore the MacKay plaid. Maybe she was innocent in
this evil plan and Olivia surely did not want to kill an innocent
woman.

“
You, behind the door, who
are you?” Olivia demanded.

Lorna pushed the heavy wooden door away
from herself and drew a small dagger pointing it at Olivia. She was
panting heavily and seemed to have a wild look in her
eyes.

“
I am the widow of Donal
Sinclair,” the crazed woman yelled.

“
Why aren’t you wearing the
Sinclair plaid then?” Olivia asked calmly.

Lorna laughed. “I would never wear a
wretched plaid like that. The MacKay clan rules here and I will
always don their colors.”

“
I had hoped maybe you were
blameless in this devious attack on the Sinclairs because I didn’t
want to have to kill a woman but I can see that you are a traitor
too. Did you kill Camden’s father?”

“
Aye, and it was a lovely
sight. My only flaw in this plan was not killing Camden himself,”
Lorna smiled.

“
You are a fool if you
thought to kill the most powerful Highland warrior,” Olivia
replied.

Lorna’s laugh was wicked and cold.
Olivia was grateful that this woman seemed to be a bit delirious
for it would make killing her much easier.

“
Well, it is safe to say
then that the most powerful Highland warrior is rotting in a cell
deep below the earth right now. Personally I think that is rather
weak, don’t you?” Lorna taunted.

“
Weak is someone that would
watch their own men die before their eyes without doing anything to
help. You and your second assembly of men waited by while the
others in your army were being killed. You cowardly hid out of
sight to save yourself. My husband would never be so gutless,”
Olivia declared with anger.

“
I assumed you were the
English bride that was rumored to be a female warrior. I must say I
am a bit jealous that you were able to gain the power that you have
gotten from his men. You must have used your womanly shape to
seduce them all,” Lorna said as she started to move slowly towards
Olivia with her hands shaking.

“
I used my strength, power
and wisdom to gain their trust. I did have a difficult time though
because they are accustomed to useless and feeble Highland women
like you,” Olivia threw at her.

“
Have I not already proved
my power by taking over this clan?” Lorna asked
incredulously.

“
Aye,” Olivia said mimicking
the thick brogue, “you have shown me your power. You think to
battle me with that little dagger while I have this beautiful sword
in my hands, Laird Camden Sinclair’s sword. You have shown no mercy
for the Sinclairs and I will show you no mercy now.” Olivia said
harshly.

Within moments of finishing her
sentence, Camden’s beautiful English wife ran her blade clean
through Lorna’s belly. The traitorous woman fell forward to the
floor as Olivia pulled her husband’s sword back. She watched with
no sympathy as the woman that deceived her husband and his father,
slowly bleed to death before her.

Olivia ran from the room and into the
turret stairwell. She suddenly felt dizzy and the steps began to
blur together in front of her. The countess heard her men coming up
the stairs, calling her name and Olivia was grateful they were
close for her legs started to quiver. She had never killed a woman
before and Olivia had just done so without any remorse.

Broderick reached her first and he
could see that Olivia was trembling and dazed. He saw Camden’s
large sword covered in blood and he searched her body over to make
sure she was unharmed.

“
M’lady, are you all right?”
He asked frantically.

“
I killed her. She admitted
that she killed Camden’s father and then I did not even try to
fight her. I just stuck my blade straight through her,” Olivia
replied with no emotion.

With all the protesting about her being
a warrior, Broderick realized Olivia had probably never harmed a
woman before. This was this first time since he had met her that
she seemed more like the usual fragile woman. Her face was pale
except for the large bruises from Ian’s fist and she looked
weary.

“
M’lady, are you not harmed?
That is all the matters now.” Liam asked.

“
I am fine. How goes the
battle outside? Broderick are your men hurt? How are the
Sutherlands and the other clans? How many men were lost?” She
rattled on as they helped her down the winding
staircase.

“
We haven’t lost any men as
of yet. There are many wounded but with God’s mercy they will
survive,” Liam answered.

“
Have they found the women
and children? My God, what if we are too late?” She
worried.

“
They are still searching
m’lady,” Liam answered.

Olivia, Broderick and Liam made their
way outside the main castle doors to survey the damage among the
men. Olivia was grateful to God that good had won over evil in this
battle. She had worried most about the newly trained men but Lady
Sinclair could see that they had fared well. From her right side,
she could see Calum running towards her.

“
We have found them m’lady.
They are tired and weak but they are unharmed. They had been held
in the cells below the castle,” Calum yelled with a
smile.

Olivia could not help but smile in
return at the good news.

“
Where are they now Calum? I
would like to speak with them,” she replied.

The group followed Calum to where the
members of Camden’s clan had been held captive and Olivia sighed
deeply as she watched them pour out of the stone building. Those
that were not tending to the injured warriors began to care for the
Sinclair clan. Olivia could hear inquiries as to where Laird
Sinclair was and she wondered if his people were angry with him as
he thought maybe they would be.

Broderick yelled to command everyone’s
attention.

“
Your laird planned and
prepared for this retaliation but he himself was taken captive and
is now being held prisoner at the MacKay holding. I want you all to
show your respect to your laird’s new wife. This is Lady Sinclair
and you have her to thank as well for this rescue. We will take
another battle group early in the morning to the MacKay holding to
find your laird,” Broderick announced.

Olivia was a bit embarrassed as
everyone inspected her thoroughly and she quickly felt at ease as
the Sinclair clan cheered. A few small little girls that were
covered in filth came running up to her and curtsied to their
laird’s new wife. Olivia was feeling accepted and she desperately
wanted to help these people further.

It was late in the afternoon and
everything was already gaining order with the help of the other
clans. The soldiers were dumping the MacKay bodies at sea and the
women were preparing food to eat for the men. Olivia was frustrated
that Broderick was making her wait until morning to help Camden.
She wanted to go to her husband now and if they did not make it in
time, Olivia would never forgive herself.

Amid all the commotion of the hundreds
of people trying to work together, Olivia heard shouting outside in
the courtyard. The laird’s wife ran quickly to see what was
happening and before she could get too far, Liam stopped
her.

“
What is going on out there?
Why are there woman crying?” Olivia asked urgently.

“
It’s Stephan m’lady. He has
returned with Maggie’s body.”

Chapter Nine

“
Bring her body inside and I
will tend to it. Have someone ready a grave by Camden’s mother, for
that is where he wanted her buried,” Olivia said softly.

“
Yes m’lady,” Liam
answered.

Olivia paced back and forth waiting for
Camden’s sister to be brought inside the holding. She had a few
women with her to help wash and dress the body but Olivia was still
extremely nervous to do so. As the door to the chamber opened,
Olivia could see Stephan cradling a frail looking woman in his arms
and she seemed to be clinging to his plaid. Olivia was confused at
the sight and then she saw Stephan break into a large
grin.

“
It is Maggie, she is
alive!” Stephan whispered to Olivia.

“
Bring her to the bed
quickly,” Olivia ordered.

Stephan gently laid the thin, pale
woman on top of the beautiful coverlet on the bed. Olivia hurried
to her side and ran her fingers through the woman’s hair. Maggie
opened her eyes and smiled weakly.

“
You must be Olivia,” Maggie
said hoarsely.

“
I am and I cannot tell you
how grateful I am that you are alive. Do you know what has happened
to you? I need to know in order to help you heal.”

“
I am well, just tired and
weak. I lost the babe that I carried and a lot of blood but I
survived when they thought I would not. The midwife said I just
need time to regain my strength,” Maggie said softly.

“
I will do everything I can
to help you. I am married to your brother and that makes us
sisters. Although I must confess, I have committed a sin against
you and pray for your forgiveness,” Olivia said
nervously.

“
What would that
be?”

“
I killed your husband,”
Olivia said with no feeling.

Maggie smiled. “You do not need my
forgiveness. You deserve my gratitude for killing the bastard. He
pushed me down a flight of stairs and caused me to lose the baby. I
am finally out of his evil hands.”

The two exchanged smiles and Olivia
immediately saw her husband’s grin in Maggie. The desperate urge
she felt to save him had not left her and now Olivia needed him
more than ever.

“
I will find Camden and we
will return to help nurse you back to health,” Olivia
promised.

“
You love him. I can see it
in your eyes Olivia. Besides, I do not think an English woman would
climb the Highland mountains through the snow if she did not love
the man she looked for,” Maggie said with a grin.

“
I do love him and I need to
tell him. Broderick wants to leave in the morning to reach Camden
but I fear that we will be too late.”

“
Trust Broderick, for he
knows what is best,” Maggie replied.

“
Of course, I am so grateful
that you are well. Camden will be more than joyful when he learns
you are alive. These women are here to help you, please let them do
whatever they can for you. I must see to the warriors outside but I
will check on you in a while.”