Claimed by a Laird (29 page)

“And I do not want that black magic around my daughter and
grandchild,” Alec persisted. “I do not care if Anna wants to go back to her own
time. You make her stay here where we can protect her. You hear me, son?”

“Do not call me ‘son’,” Galen tersely replied.

“Ass,” Alec muttered. “You are about as bad as your father.”

Several moments passed before Alec spoke again. “I did not
want to kill Malcolm, you know. We were friends once.”

Galen allowed his eyes to meet the Campbell’s. A lifetime of
struggle and pain flickered through the old man’s eyes. “I know,” Galen
answered as his own hatred for the man before him and the man his father had
become slipped away.

The two men regarded one another, a wordless understanding
passing between them. The rhythmic clatter of galloping horses broke the uneasy
silence and both turned as the men before them parted to allow Adam, Geoffrey
and the Campbell boys to meet them.

Adam’s horse reared as he pulled on the reins several feet
away. “The fighting has not yet begun,” he breathlessly reported.

“The Gowries are only now making their way toward the keep,”
Sionn added. “They are close, though, and the MacPhearsons are ready.”

“Only now?” Galen asked in surprise. The Gowrie holding was
not too far from the MacPhearsons. What had taken them so long?

Alec nodded. “Good. Our plan worked.”

“Why have the MacPhearsons not engaged the Gowrie closer to
the border?” Galen’s eyes darted back to Adam in concern. “Why wait until they
are this close to the keep?”

“To surround the Gowrie forces,” Alec answered in a clipped
tone. “My warriors are coming around behind them while the MacPhearsons
confront them. Their keep is about as impenetrable as they come. Besides, I
needed more time.”

“Time to get the MacAirths,” Rathe answered for him.

Alec nodded. “That and to ensure every Campbell man, woman
and child had time to leave our lands.”

Galen exchanged bewildered glances with the other men around
him before returning his attention to Alec. Alec straightened his shoulders,
lifting his head high.

After several long, tense moments, Collum was the first to
speak. “You mean to say you evacuated your entire clan?”

“Yes,” Alec replied, strength filling his features and
turning them hard as if to challenge anyone for thinking him daft. “My keep is
most likely smoldering as we speak.”

Galen pressed his lips together grimly, awed by the
sacrifice the Campbell had made for Anna and his clan in order to get out from
under the power of the Gowrie. The man had risked everything, knowing the
Gowrie would come after him first. And now, on MacPhearson land, he was going
to make his stand.

“All right.” Galen, grasped his reins as he attempted to
keep his mind from reeling over how he was about to fight side-by-side with his
father’s killer. “Let us finish this once and for all. Remember, the Gowrie is
mine.”

The men around him nodded and war cries went up, chasing
shrieking birds out of the trees. Moving en masse toward the MacPhearson keep,
the warriors of the various clans marched faster than before, almost as if
driven by an unseen force propelling them toward the battlefield.

It was not long before the clamorous din of battle reached
their ears. As the men approached the castle, the MacPhearson forces confronted
the Gowrie and his allies in the valley down the hill. In the distance, the
Campbells closed in, but the number of men under the command of the Gowrie
outnumbered both clans by at least two to one. If Galen had not brought his men
and his allies, the Campbells and MacPhearsons would not have held out for very
long.

Galen dared a quick look at the keep, his heart tugging him
in a direction he was not used to when confronted with battle. He had never
been one to pray, let alone beg anyone for anything, including God. But now he
sent up a silent plea for Anna’s safety and health, entreating for mercy on her
behalf.

Rathe’s never-ending eagerness for a good fight broke
through Galen’s thoughts. “We will take the east, boys!” he shouted, swinging
his sword high in the air for his men to follow him as he let out a loud whoop
and galloped down the hill.

Collum grinned at his friend charging into the fray as he
drew his sword and led the MacBains in the opposite direction.

Galen’s horse pranced in anticipation as he threw orders at
Adam, Geoffrey and the rest of the MacAirth warriors. He was about to allow his
stallion to begin the run it so desperately wanted just as Daniel’s face paled
in fright before him.

“Son, look at me,” Alec commanded, staring at Daniel. “You
can do this. For the clan and your sister, remember?”

Daniel nodded and Sionn gave him a swift smack on the back,
nearly throwing the teenager out of his saddle before nudging his horse into a
gallop down the hill after Adam and the MacAirths.

Galen took pity on the Campbell lad, remembering all too
well how frightening it was to charge into one’s first battle. He nodded to
Geoffrey and then looked at Daniel, hoping his brother would take the boy under
his wing. Geoffrey nodded his understanding.

“Come, Danny.” Geoffrey, who was not much older than Daniel,
drew his sword and pointed at the horizon with the tip. “You see your clan back
there? And there are the Camerons just coming over the hill to the west. This
will be over in no time.”

Geoffrey smacked Daniel’s horse on the rear and then nudged
his own after them.

Galen cracked a small smile, but it was quickly replaced by
the grim determination of his set jaw as he surveyed the scene before him. “You
ready, old man?” He raised his eyebrows at Alec.

“Watch it, lad.” Alec grabbed his reins and held his sword
out in front of him. “It will not be long now before the gray will start taking
over your head too.”

One corner of Galen’s mouth turned up in a smirk. “The
MacPhearsons make a good whisky.”

The corners of Alec’s blue eyes crinkled as the old man
smiled at Galen for the first time. “I could certainly use a wee draft after
all this.”

They nodded to one another and goaded their horses down the
hill and into the fray. As Galen fought alongside his men and allies, he kept
as close a watch as he dared on the MacPhearson keep behind him. Something in
his gut told him if he were going to find the Gowrie anywhere, it would be
heading toward Anna.

The Gowrie allies ultimately breached the Camerons’ defense
and were drawn farther south by the Gowrie’s forces. At that point, a group of
Gowrie men broke away and headed north toward the castle, virtually unopposed.

Fury pumped hard through Galen’s veins and he withdrew a
section of his men to give chase, shouting to Adam to take over command of the
remaining MacAirths. The clash of steel rang in his ears and was followed by
the dying gurgle of a man behind him. He glanced over his shoulder just as Alec
withdrew his sword from the man’s body.

The old man glanced up and waved Galen toward the castle. “I
am right behind you, son!” he shouted.

Galen muttered an explicative under his breath over Alec’s
choice of words and dispatched the warrior running toward him, slashing like a
madman.

In the distance, the Camerons closed in around a group of
Gowries and the Sinclair shouted for his warriors to back up the MacAirth
position. Satisfied that his friends had the main battle under control, Galen
turned and followed his warriors who were running or galloping on their horses
to beat the Gowries to the castle walls.

Pressing his stallion faster, Galen rode around his men to
the front of the pack, sensing the Campbell close behind. Hurling orders to his
warriors to take various defensive positions, he reined his horse in front of
his men and waited for the Gowrie assault.

Alec pulled up next to him and extended a leathery finger.
“There is the bastard. Right there hiding in the middle of his men.”

It had been awhile since Galen had the misfortune of being
in the presence of James Gowrie, but he had no problem recognizing him once the
Gowrie forces moved closer. The man barely seemed winded, let alone had a drop
of blood on him. Whereas Galen felt the weight of sweat and other men’s blood
encrusting his clothing.

Galen’s pulse pounded in his ears and he dismounted from his
horse, giving it a swift pat to encourage it to fall behind his line of men.
Feet braced shoulder-width apart, he tensed, ready to attack when the moment
presented itself.

The Gowrie men slowed and parted, allowing James to take the
lead. As his features came into focus, Galen couldn’t help but fantasize about
the various ways he could cut the triumphant smirk off the man’s face.

“Good day to you!” James cheerfully commented as though a
battle of his own doing was not raging in the valley just behind him. “It is a
fine day to settle our differences once and for all, is it not?”

An arrogant smile spread across James’ face. His hand
twitched against the reins of his horse as a thread of fear revealed itself
from behind the animosity glowing in his eyes.

“This is between you and me, Gowrie,” Galen called. “Get off
your horse and let us finish this!”

James shook his head and chuckled. “The world does not
revolve around you, MacAirth. I am here for the Campbell.”

“I couldn’t care less about what you are here for,” Galen
growled. “You kidnapped my wife!”

“Your wife?” James rolled his eyes. “Did she neglect to tell
you I had her first? That I contracted a marriage with her under the authority
of God nearly ten years ago?”

“A marriage she had annulled. She has chosen me over you,”
Galen taunted, determined to drive his opponent into such a fury he would
dismount.

“Chosen you? I say, from the look of her, you gave her
little choice. But, then again, she always was a little too easily persuaded by
a man’s touch.” James snorted and turned his attention to Alec, just behind
Galen. “Did you see what this man did to your daughter?”

Alec’s face glowed with defiance as he squarely met the
Gowrie’s stare. “Better him than you.”

James shook his head, chuckling as he regarded Alec with
obvious pity. “You surprised me, Campbell, I will give you that. I did not know
you had such duplicity in you. Too bad your clan had to pay the price for this
mere daughter no one knew you had.”

“No land or castle is worth the price of a clan’s honor,”
Alec remarked. “We all see that now.”

“And you, MacAirth?” James turned toward Galen. “Your clan
has a nasty habit of stealing Gowrie women. Are you willing to die and risk
your own clan for one woman? A woman who is too easily governed by the
pleasures of the flesh to be faithful? Tell me, do you enjoy that sweet little
mole on her right hip as much as I do? I had almost forgotten all about it.”

Galen’s nostrils flared and he growled his breath. His Anna
would never willingly give herself to anyone other than him. The mere thought
of the Gowrie’s hands on her nearly drove him into a blind fury. Had he
actually touched her? Did she fight back?

“Easy, son,” the Campbell cautioned in a low voice. “He is
only trying to get the better of you.”

“Off your horse!” Galen demanded. “Let us end this once and
for all!”

James rolled his eyes again and sighed dramatically. “I am
growing weary of this. Men, take care of them. I must see to my wife.”

“Just try it and see how far you get,” the Sinclair warned
in a gravelly voice from behind the Gowrie.

Galen dared a glance toward Rathe just as the Gowrie’s men
were surrounded by Sinclair warriors. He caught Rathe’s eyes, which glowed in
the sunlight peeking through the clouds overhead. His menacing, determined
glare softened somewhat as he stared back at Galen, but a battle mentality was
still clearly etched on Rathe’s face.

Rathe gave him a slow, confident nod. “Finish him, MacAirth.
We will see to his men.”

James’ face glowed red, the veins in his neck bulging. “I
told you to fight, you cowards!”

The Gowrie’s men drew their swords, faces dim with the
certainty of their doom. But, before the Gowries had the chance to move toward
the MacAirths, Sinclair swords were pressed into their backs and the Gowries’
hands stilled. A dreadful silence fell upon them as the battle raged in the
valley behind the Sinclairs.

James growled in fury, frantically glancing to either side.
His men dropped their gazes to the ground, unable to meet their leader’s
confused stare.

Galen could barely believe it. It was unheard of in the
Highlands for a warrior to not back up his laird, even in the face of certain
death. If anything, this was evidence of James’ selfishness and lack of honor.

“You want to finish this?” James screamed at Galen. “Then
let us do so!” He kicked his heels into his horse’s side. The stallion reared,
wild-eyed, and then bolted toward Galen.

Eyes wide in derangement, James lifted his sword in the air,
ready to plunge it into Galen’s chest. Galen dove to the side, but not before
the Gowrie’s blade sliced his arm.

Pain shot through him as he landed on his shoulder and
rolled to his feet in time to watch James turn his horse and barrel toward him
once again. This time, however, Galen dodged the sword and grabbed a hold of
the Gowrie’s belt to drag him off the horse.

James grunted in frustration as he hit the ground, his knee
twisting as his foot tangled in the stirrup. Breathing heavily, Galen smacked
the horse on the rump to get it out of the way and slowly circled James as the
man pushed himself onto his feet.

“Your father taught you poorly,” Galen muttered, his lips
curling into a snarl. “That was far too easy.”

James laughed and held his arms out wide in a
mock-apologetic stance. “I am a far better lover. Just ask your wife.”

Galen lunged toward him, the air ringing with the clash of
their swords.