Page 32 of Forge of the Highlander’s Destiny

C ohen almost let his sword fall to the floor. He felt spent, tired, and now he was shocked. “What do ye mean, Sienna?”

He stood tall, but he felt like the tiniest person in the world while the sounds of war surrounded him as his sister, her assistant, and Laird Muir approached him, swords in hand.

“I mean that ye have had yer time as Laird, and it is now me chance.” Sienna pointed to herself, and Cohen frowned, unable to truly believe what he was hearing.

“Ye want me position? But ye have yer own position. Ye are practically laird of yer own castle.” He was biding his time. He needed time to figure out what to do.

“But I am nae seen for it. It is all in secret.”

“And Laird Muir?” Cohen asked, looking to his new father-in-law, feeling the hatred burning in his bones. His grip increased on his blade. He could fight the man and beat him, but he had no desire to fight against his sister.

“I wanted to join her army, Lad,” Laird Muir said with a smirk. “She was goin’ to give me power and influence, and so it would dae well to have ye dead, but now it is even more imperative. Ye have taken both me daughters from me.”

Cohen swallowed. Muir’s daughters. Just upstairs and out of harm’s way for now, but who knew how long that would be? The man had claimed he would take Arya’s head, and Cohen knew that he had to fight with everything in him to keep that from happening.

“Ye daenae deserve them,” he said, and he saw the three of them take a step forward toward him. There was no one else about who could help him. He was on his own, for they were already fiercely locked in battle with Sienna’s and Laird Muir’s men.

It was Laird Muir who took the first swing at him, and Cohen had to react swiftly, shocked that such an old man could pack such a powerful sword swing. But the man was a seasoned warrior. And after he pushed against Laird Muir’s blade, it was now Calvin who swung at him with a grin on his face.

Sienna watched from the side, smirking as she held her sword.

Cohen started to sweat as he fought the two men.

His arm ached, and he could tell that the stitches were broken as soon as he lifted his arm a second time to swing against the men.

But there was determination in him. He wouldn’t be stopped.

“Keep goin’, Lad,” Sienna called, “but ye willnae win. The castle is mine. I have more men, more power, and I have the determination that ye daenae have. I am willin’ to kill to get what I want.”

Cohen tried to ignore her words, not wanting to think about what would come next, either her death or his. Would he accept his own death if it meant sparing him from having to end the life of his sister?

He could only keep silent and focus on what he was meant to do as his sister stood by and watched. He would have to make a decision and soon, if he couldn’t kill Laird Muir and Calvin first, and they were proving to be good matches. Cohen’s injured arm didn’t help.

He started to weaken, and he cried out when he missed a swing and Laird Muir hit against his hurt arm.

He wobbled a bit, nearly falling to his knees, cursing under his breath.

This was not the end. He had only now just found happiness.

He was not going to lose it all in a few moments.

He saw Laird Muir and Calvin raise their swords at him again, and he wondered if it truly was the end.

But then, he heard the sing of saving arrows through the air, and Calvin and Laird Muir cried out in pain as arrows burrowed in their arms, and they fell to their knees. Cohen felt triumphant, but then he fell to his knees as well when he felt the cold slice of a blade in his side.

Arya couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t spend the whole of the battle on the battlements hidden away.

It was not that her job wasn’t important, but she had a feeling of what lay below in the castle, and the thought of Cohen falling to his death without her at least seeing him again and trying to help was too much to bear.

There were hardly any men left below, and after some time, she grabbed Olivia and left through the door to the stairs below, even though some of the soldiers were calling out her name.

She didn’t care. She had to help Cohen, and when she approached the hall despite the blood and chaos, she was glad she did.

There was Cohen wobbling on his feet, looking bloodied and pale, and his arm looked like it was in great pain.

Her father, Sienna, and Sienna’s assistant, Calvin, were all standing around him, and the two men had their swords raised.

Her mind struggled to understand what was happening, but as soon as she saw her father raise his sword, she knew she had to do something. “Come, Olivia,” she said, and quickly, she shot an arrow into her father’s arm, and Olivia, catching on, shot an arrow into Calvin’s.

Just as she hoped, the men fell to their knees, and Calvin was safe. But she screamed when she saw his sister take a thin blade and stab it into her brother’s side.

“What are ye doin’?” Arya asked, raising her bow and arrow to point at Sienna. Her eyes darted to Cohen quickly, and he was grimacing with his hand on his side. Blood spouted through his fingers.

“I am takin’ back what I am owed. The Lairdship,” Sienna said archly, smiling at Arya. “Surely ye can understand that, Lass. Ye want power for yerself. I can see it in yer eyes. Ye can understand me.”

“I cannae. Nae when ye want to take the life of yer own brother. Me husband.”

“Och aye, I was told of that nonsense. Too bad me brother was too ashamed to send me word of it himself.”

Cohen groaned. “It wasnae like that.”

Sienna turned to face him again, her bloodied blade in her hand, and Arya couldn’t wait any longer.

She let her arrow fly, catching Sienna in the side.

She couldn’t think about what Cohen might want in this scenario.

His sister was going to kill him otherwise.

She couldn’t afford to lose him. Not the man who held her heart and who had given her new life.

Sienna grasped her arm and turned a scowl to Arya. “How dare ye? I willnae be defied by a woman whose father controlled her every move!”

“Are we nae the same, Sienna?” Arya said, feeling even more confident. She raised her arrow again while Olivia pointed hers at Calvin and her father.

“Nay, for I have the courage that ye daenae!” Sienna leaned over to try to get to her brother again, when Olivia’s piercing scream rang through the hall.

One of her father’s men had grabbed her and was pulling her back while she struggled. “Nay!” she called, and she watched as her father struggled to get up.

Her gaze moved between him and Sienna. One was trying to kill her husband, and the other was trying to take back her sister from her.

She let the arrow fly toward her father and another toward Sienna.

She hit them both, and when she turned around, Olivia was kicking away the guard, plunging an arrow into his throat.

They were breathless as they clasped hands. Their father was writhing on the ground in pain, the arrow having struck his thigh. Sienna’s face was red with fury and pain as she knelt beside Cohen.

“What are ye goin’ to dae, Sienna?” Calvin said, and Arya looked around to see that all the other men had been struck down. It was only Cohen’s men who remained, and there were only a couple of them. But all of them were injured and bleeding, breathing heavily.

“I daenae think of ye, Calvin,” Sienna spat as she ripped out the arrow in her leg and tried to stand.

Arya didn’t have many arrows left. Her father was struggling to his feet, and Cohen was as well, lifting his sword along with him. They would have to fight with their last breath.

Olivia raised her bow toward her father, and he grinned. “Daenae think that ye will kill me, Lass. Ye willnae have a father if ye dae, and then what will happen to ye. Ye have nowhere to go, nothin’ to be.”

Olivia stiffened. “I will be here,” she breathed, blood on her face. “I will be here, and that is enough.”

“Aye,” Arya raised her bow, watching the three enemies as she stepped back a little. Her father took a tentative step forward, and Sienna was far too close to Cohen.

“Are ye nay goin’ to fight, Sienna?” her father growled. “Ye are the least injured of all of us, and yer blade is in yer hand.”

Sienna lifted a brow. “If ye die, however, Laird Muir, then I will be able to take over yer Lairdship as well. It is all in the contract ye signed so blindly, when ye were hopin’ for land and power.” She spat out a little blood and wiped her face. “So, I would greatly benefit from yer death.”

“Ye bitch!” Arya’s father called, and he lunged toward Sienna, forgetting that the others surrounded him. But Sienna was ready for him. She pulled back and plunged her blade into his belly. Arya stepped back and gripped Olivia to her.

It was difficult to watch, but it was a good thing. Her father fell to the floor with a groan, clutching at his wound. He said nothing as his eyes stared up. There was no goodbye, no words of love, no begging for forgiveness. Arya could finally breathe easy, when she saw the light leave his eyes.

“Now,” Sienna said, “I will finish what I started. The land will be mine, once ye are finished Cohen. Yer men willnae be able to dispute that.”

She lunged at him with her blade, and Cohen stepped out of the way. Arya strung an arrow and fired. But her fingers were trembling, and Sienna ducked as it sang by her ear.

Cohen matched her swing, and the sound of metal against metal filled the hall. “Olivia!” Arya cried, but Olivia was trying to extricate herself from Calvin’s grip on her ankle.

Arya reached for another arrow, but there were none left. Heart racing, watching as her husband and his sister fought, both injured, Arya took one of the arrows from her father’s leg, and she pulled it out, strung it up and fired, straight into Sienna’s neck just as Cohen was about to swing.

Sienna fell to the ground with a quiet cry, and Arya raced to Cohen’s side as he knelt down, his limbs shuddering. “I am sorry, Cohen. I am sorry. I didnae want ye to have to dae it yerself.”

She burrowed her face in his neck, and he held her tight. From behind them, Calvin groaned as Olivia defeated him, and Sienna took her last breath. Everything was silent for a few minutes.

“Nay, ye did well, Lass.” He pulled her head away from his neck and put his hands on her face. “Ye have saved me once again,” he said and kissed her.

“I will always dae so, Cohen,” she said, tears in her eyes, afraid to look back at Sienna’s dead body.

“And I ye, Lass.” He kissed her head. “I love ye. Welcome home.”