Page 53 of Highlander’s Beautiful Liar

For a moment, Alec thought the young man would issue a challenge until Kane stepped forward. With a grin, the young man lowered his sword and dropped to his knee. One by one, the new men did the same. “I am Daniel MacKay. We are all MacKay blood, and fiercely proud of it until Seth took over for his father. When we refused to swear fealty to a man who would let his own people starve, we fled lest we be murdered in our sleep. Kane and my sister speak highly of ye. We arrived at yer keep just as ye left, and we rode to yer aid when we heard that Duncan’s daughter was in trouble.”

These were the men that Seth had run off. Strong, strapping lads, and skillful with a sword. “Rise,” he told the boy. “Today, I am thankful for yer aid, and when I have earned yer trust and respect, then ye may kneel before me.”

He turned to Kane. “Thank ye,” he said softly.

The man just shrugged. “We need Mackay blood. Yer lot is looking a little haggard.”

Bleeding from his arm, Jamie reached out and decked him half-heartedly, and the men laughed. “The cowards that ran will be telling Innes of our arrival. This isnae over yet.”

After ensuring that all wounds were superficial, they regrouped and made their way to the keep. There were no other interruptions, but Alec was no fool. Seeing no guards standing at the gate or at the doors, he knew that Innes was waiting for him inside.

They all filed in and found Innes waiting for him inside. His men lined the walls, each with a weapon in their hand. From the looks of things, they outnumbered Alec and his men three to one.

And yet his men didn’t waiver.

“I heard ye were spouting lies that I kidnapped yer sweet little wife,” Innes said casually. “For yer head alone, I could have that.”

“Are ye claiming that she isnae here?”

A vile smile spread over the man’s face. “Oh, she is here, chained to the bed of my chambers and guarded. I hear she likes it that way.”

“For that alone, ye will die, but yer men here doona have to die with ye. When the King hears word that ye killed yer brother, ye will not have this clan for long, Innes.”

“The King!” Innes spat and jumped to his feet, drawing his sword. “For years, we have heard of the Sinclair heroes. First yer father, and then the beloved sons. It must be nice to be the King’s favorite, but ye couldnae even keep yer wife by yer side. I cannae wait to kill ye.”

Alec liked the murderous look in the man’s eye. He wanted Innes’s men to see him for his crazed and depraved obsession. “What are ye waiting for?”

Glancing behind Alec, Innes hesitated. Even outnumbered, he was worried. A coward. “Ye and me,” he declared finally. “Strike me down, and the lovely Cora is yers.”

“Yer word is no good, Innes. We all know that, but believe me when I tell ye that will not leave her alive. For all yer bluster of having a clan, ye havnae the strength for it.”

With furious bellow, Innes attacked. Alec deflected the blow, but he hadn’t realized how much the previous fight had taken out of him, and Innes managed to push him back just a little. Behind him, his men watched, tensed, but they didn’t intervene.

“Ye were there when Seth killed Duncan MacKay,” Alec goaded him. “Cora heard every word out of yer mouth, but then, ye didnae care what she heard, did ye? Ye never expected her to survive that night. Tell me, Innes, are all of the Campbell women so ugly that ye had to chain an English lass up for six months in hopes of getting a woman?”

Around him, he heard some of the MacKay guards inhale sharply. So they didn’t know.

Interesting.

“Lies,” Innes growled as he struck again, but he moved too slow, and Alec deflected it easily and returned with a blow to the stomach, but Innes danced away.

“Then ye had to threaten her sister to keep Cora in line. Threaten a wee lass of fourteen years. Tell me, Innes, do ye have any idea what it is to actually face a man in combat or must ye always threaten those weaker than ye to get what ye want?”

Clank. Their swords met again, and then Innes’s fury drove him harder and powered his hits. He was more skilled than Alec anticipated, and neither man had managed to get a slice of the other.

“Ye threatened the life of my wife under the roof of the King,” Alec grunted. “Ye have no loyalty, and the men and women here should look to what happened under Seth’s rule because that is what awaits them. Cut from the same cloth.”

“Seth was nothing like me,” Innes hissed as he pushed Alec back and swung. The sword whistled through the air and just barely missed Alec’s chest. “He was cruel but he didnae want power. He just didnae want to do his father’s bidding anymore. He wanted to languish in the keep all day while women dropped to their knees in front of him. In time, I planned to have my clan and Seth’s too, and then I would wield the most power in the Highlands.”

“Power to rival the King. Ye are a treasonous bastard.”

He deflected and spun, digging his elbow into Innes’s stomach. As the man doubled over, he spun again and brought his sword down, slicing the man’s shoulder, but while his shirt swelled with blood, Innes didn’t even seem to feel the pain. He was too far gone to his own insanity, and Alec couldn’t block the sword fast enough. It sliced through his thigh, and he fell to his knees.

Cackling like a madman, Innes raised his sword and charged.

“No!” a female voice screamed, and Innes looked up, just for a second to see Cora on the balcony looking over.

It was all that Alec needed. Swinging his sword up, he buried it in Innes’s belly.