Page 88 of Promised to the Cursed Laird

The sword entered beneath his ribs and he folded. For three heartbeats, there was silence. Then the castle erupted.

"Intruders!"

The cry tore through the lower passage.

Men came running from the guardroom, half-armored, some still fastening belts, others reaching for weapons as they ran. Someone rang the alarm bell.

The bell rung twice. A third strike never came. One of Cailleach's men reached the bell rope and hacked through it.

"Secure the lower hall!"

"Take the west corridor!"

"Keep them away from the stairs!"

The orders collided over one another as the castle woke around them. MacKinnon guards poured into the corridor only to find themselves surrounded. They had not expected the enemy to be standing right inside their walls.

Within minutes, Cailleach's men had taken the lower hall, the guardroom and the western passage.

Then Cailleach stepped into the great hall. He looked around slowly. It was the same stone walls, the same beams and the same land beneath his feet. Only the banners had changed.

"Find her."

His commander turned.

"The Chisholm?"

"Neilina."

Cailleach's voice was quiet.

"Bring her to me alive."

The commander hesitated.

"And MacKinnon?"

Cailleach's eyes hardened.

"Keep him far away from her."

He pointed towards the eastern passage.

"Send men to the courtyard. Cut off the Chisholm warriors before they reach the inner hall. I want every route to her blocked."

"And if MacKinnon gets there first?"

Cailleach looked towards the stairs.

"He won't."

He had come too far for that. He had watched his plans fail more than once. He had lost Neilina once already to MacKinnon and watched the Accord tighten around the very land his family believed belonged to them.

He would not lose her a third time.

"Search every room," he ordered. "Every chamber. Every passage."

Women screamed from the upper floors as soldiers burst into rooms. Servants fled through corridors with children clinging to their hands. Somewhere below, the MacKinnon men were finally beginning to regroup, and the sound of fighting was growing louder.