Page 48 of How to Woo a Highlander

Alastair moved in front of Jane to shield her, getting to his feet. He could see no escape, but for some reason, none of them were shooting. They only stood ready to fire as though waiting for a command. Alastair looked among them but could not find anyone who seemed to be a leader. Fear coursed through his veins.

They were not supposed to arrive so quickly; he should have had time to send Jane away and prepare to infiltrate with his men. Jane could not die with him, no matter what, even if he had to beg. He had not changed his clothes, so they could tell he was a Mackenzie soldier. His men, however, should have changed their clothes already. Maybe they would be able to attack the enemy from behind and create enough of a distraction for Jane to escape.

“I beg ye! Dinnae shoot! The woman isnae one of us, she is English! If ye spill English blood, it will only cause problems for ye! Let her go first!” He yelled as loud as he could, raising his hands in front of him. The soldiers around him did not move, simply standing as though they were statues. His voice should have been loud enough to alert his men, however. Jane was gripping his cloth tightly from behind.

“Alastair, I am so frightened,” she whispered, her voice shaky. He had never felt so helpless in his life. Sudden laughter drew his attention to a nearby tree as a strangely familiar figure stepped forward. His jaw dropped as he realized who it was, but Jane was the one who spoke.

“Lain!” She exclaimed in shock.

What in the name of God was Lain doing there? If he was the one, then did that mean that the soldiers were Mackenzie soldiers posing as Grant clan? It made sense that the one time Lain decided to be active in a war he would play such a stupid prank. However, if that was the case, why had the soldiers not put down their arrows?

Lain stepped into the light, laughing as he approached them.

“Oh gods, Alastair, I didnae think that ye could beg,” he mocked. Alastair’s heart sped up. Something was very wrong.

“I beg ye, dinnae shoot! This woman is English, oh dinnae shoot!” he said, mimicking Alastair’s earlier words and flailing his hands in a show of helplessness.

Jane stepped out from behind Alastair before he could stop her and marched forwards angrily.

“This is not funny, Lain! We were so terrified, call off your men and stop the joke, this is no time to play,” she scolded.

“Jane, come back here right now!” Alastair shouted, his voice shaking with fear.

Lain chuckled, ignoring him and lightly poking Jane’s forehead. “Oh, but it is nae a joke me sweet Jane.”

It was only then that Jane realized that Lain was an enemy, and she turned, trying to run back into Alastair’s arms only for Lain to grab her by the waist and lift her, legs kicking and flailing in the air as she screamed.

“Let her go, ye traitor!” Alastair yelled, moving towards Lain only to be stopped by an arrow flying straight into his thigh. He groaned and fell to his knees as the archer calmly reached behind him and retrieved another arrow, knocking it and holding his aim once again.

He gritted his teeth against the stinging pain. If he moved, he would be killed. He could only watch as Jane screamed and fought against Lain’s grip, kicking and biting. His former friend looked quite surprised at the fight she was putting up and appeared to be overwhelmed.

“Jane, if ye dinnae calm down right now, I will give the order for them to kill Alastair!” he thundered, struggling to keep her in his grasp. At those words, she fell silent, and Lain bashed her over the head.

Ruffled, he let the unconscious Jane slip to the floor, breathing heavily as he straightened up and caught Alastair’s eye. All Alastair could do was clench his fists and glare. He could not understand how Lain would betray them, but he was too furious to care. Lain laughed, the familiar sound, once-friendly, now disgusting to his ears.

“She had a lot more fight in her than I thought,” he admitted glancing down at Jane and putting both hands on his hips. “She always seemed so delicate, ye ken. I had expected that to be easy.”

Alastair glared into him. Even at a time like this, he was still not serious, talking as though they were friends when he had enemy arrows aimed at him and an arrow in his thigh. It suddenly made sense why the Grant clan had launched their attack so soon. Lain had warned them that William was bringing in help from the allied clans. His plan was never going to work because Lain would have pointed him and his men out to the enemy regardless of what uniform they were wearing. His eyes widened as he remembered.

“Lain, where are me men?”

His former friend raised his head to look at him from where he was crouched, trying to lift Jane onto his shoulder.

“Ah, ye mean the twenty who came here with ye? Dinnae worry about them. Ye will be joinin’ them soon,” he added, hefting Jane’s body up. Horror washed over Alastair as he realized that he had brought his men to die for nothing. He would cry if not for the fact that he did not want to give his enemies the satisfaction.

“Where are ye takin’ Jane?” he cried desperately, as Lain began to walk away. Lain turned to face him with a thoughtful expression.

“Ye ken, this is another thing that I didnae expect. I would have never thought that ye would betray William too. Sleepin’ with his bride? How exactly are ye any better than me? Poor William, havin’ such dishonest friends,” he added mockingly before turning and continuing to walk away, giving his order to the soldiers around him.

“Kill him.”

“Ye willnae get away with this, Lain!” Alastair yelled. Lain turned, giving his signature smirk.

“Oh, but me friend, I already have. Let’s see. Ten arrows should be enough to kill ye, nay?”

Raising his hands - the arrows were released.

Alastair could only turn and try to duck behind the tree to protect himself, but he was not quick enough, and three arrows lodged into his back. He gasped as blood spurted into the ground, and darkness clouded his vision. He stumbled to the ground behind the tree, vaguely noting the two arrows in the arm used to shield his head.