Page 37 of Seduction in a Kilt (Temptation in Tartan #7)
CHAPTER 36
W hen the guards came to collect her, they looked at her askance but said nothing. As she thought, their orders did not extend to policing what she wore. Two of them took hold of her upper arms and marched her between them down the stairs and into the great hall.
It was brightly lit with candles, and Carson was waiting there in front of a makeshift altar, along with a frightened looking minister clutching his bible. A small, silent congregation was seated on the benches set out in rows. As her captors dragged her up the aisle, Ivy glimpsed some familiar faces. None of them looked happy. To know others disapproved of what was happening gave her heart that she was doing the right thing by trying to make take a stance.
Carson’s face creased in fury when he caught sight of her. “What’s this? I told ye tae put on the dress!” he spluttered, his face reddening.
Ivy tilted her chin proudly. “I’m nae wearing that rag,” she replied in as steady a voice as she could muster. “I’m here tae finish this between us, Carson. I’m here tae cross swords with ye, fer the sake of our clan.”
“Ach, ye’re pathetic! Ye’re like a wee child, a story book heroine. Ye have nae power, none! Ye’ll get back up those stairs and get out of that ridiculous costume and try tae act like woman fer once in yer miserable life,” he yelled at her.
“I will nae!”
He bared his teeth at her and growled, “Very well, if that’s the way ye want it.” He took a menacing step towards her.
Suddenly, the air was shattered by the frantic, metallic clamor of alarm bells ringing all over the stronghold and echoing deafeningly from the walls. Though startled, she recognized the signal immediately. An enemy attack was underway! Oh, please, Lord, let it be Liam!
“What the bloody hell is this?” Carson bellowed, unsheathing his sword and staring at the doors. The guards in her escort hurriedly gathered around him, also unsheathing their weapons. That left only two men holding her, who were also distracted by the din coming from outside.
Ivy saw her opportunity to escape. While the men holding her were distracted, she twisted in their grip and kicked one of them hard in the balls. He screamed and doubled over in pain, releasing her arm. In a flash, she grabbed the hilt of his blade from its scabbard and stabbed her other captor in the belly, leaping away as soon as he let her go.
She ran towards the door, drawn by the shouting and crash of metal on metal coming from the other side, praying it was Liam and Knox and their men out there. But before she could reach them, the doors imploded inward with a loud bang.
There stood Liam, his bloody sword in one fist and his dirk in the other. He was panting, spattered with blood from head to toe, his bloody sword in his fist. His eyes scanned the room, while behind him, Ivy saw a phalanx of heavily armed Stewart soldiers.
“Liam!” she cried and raced towards him as the soldiers filled the room and engaged with Carson’s body-guard.
“Ivy, are ye all right?!” he exclaimed, opening his arms. She ran into them, and they embraced tightly amid the fighting.
“Aye, but all the better fer seein’ ye!” She kissed him on the lips joyously. “Ye got here just in time. Luckily, Gael is late to his own weddin’.” She kissed him again, tears straining down her cheeks. “I prayed ye’d come, but I wasnae sure if ye’d work out what had happened tae me.”
“The groom at the stable told us ye’d gone with Evander, and then I found yer ring on the track in the woods. We guessed the rest,” he told her with a smile.
“It was all I could dae after Evander attacked me and tied me up,” she explained. “I’m so sorry fer causin’ all this. Ye were right, I should never have trusted him.”
“Ye did what ye thought was right,” he said, itching to catch up with Evander and get his revenge.
“But now, I have a score tae settle with me braither,” Ivy continued. She looked across to where Carson was hanging back from the fighting. Liam followed her eyes. He saw her brother for the first time, a tall, powerful looking man in his early thirties, with the same dark hair and dark-blue eyes as Ivy.
But that was where the resemblance ended. Carson’s face was hard and marked by his evil deeds. He had a thick scar that ran from the corner of one eye to his hair line. He stood with his sword out, making a formidable figure as he taunted Ivy from across the room.
He waved at her and shouted, “Come on, then, little sister where’s yer fightin’ spirit? Come and show me what a brave wee warrior ye are! And bring yer friend too. I’ll tell ye what, if ye give up now and marry Gael, I’ll let him live. How about that?”
At that moment, a figure appeared next to him, also with his sword out. This man was shorter than Carson, with a barrel chest and bulging arm muscles that made him seem a fearsome foe. He had straggly, reddish hair and pale eyes, and his face had a sneering expression caused by a badly bent nose. It had clearly been broken and never reset.
“That’s Gael,” Ivy said.
“I thought it might be,” Liam murmured, dying to engage with the man who had helped terrorize his love for so long. He’ll nae make it out of here alive , he swore to himself. The pair started to advance on them, pushing through the fighting going on all around them.
“I’ll take Carson, and ye take Gael, and we’ll fight side by side,” Ivy said, looking up at Liam. She snatched a sword from a fallen soldier and wielded it to test its weight. “This’ll do nicely,” she added.
“Are ye gonnae fight or nae?” Carson taunted Ivy again as he drew within striking distance, while Gael grinned at Liam.
“Aye, ye murderin’ bastard, I’m gonnae fight, and I’m gonnae bring ye down! This will be justice fer Ma and Da,” she yelled and sprang at him, launching her attack.
Meanwhile, Gael squared up to Liam, who wasted no time but, with a wrathful roar, attacked him hard. Gael fell back a little but parried his strikes expertly as their blades clashed in what Liam intended to be a fight to the death—Gael’s death.
“Ye filthy, cowardly dog, ye’re gonnae die fer what ye’ve done tae Ivy,” he spat through gritted teeth, his hatred for the man fueling his blood-lust.
“Ye think ye can beat me, is that it?” Gael taunted him, laughing cruelly. “Ye’ll be the one dyin’ here today, and yer precious Ivy will be me wife, as she was always meant tae be, the wee slut! I’ll teach her nae tae run out on Gael Hamilton.”
“Ye’re goin’ straight tae hell, Hamilton, where ye belong,” Liam bellowed in fury, lunging forward and ramming his blade into Gael’s neck.
Gael’s sword fell from his hands, hands which now flailed uselessly at the blade protruding from his neck. Horrible gurgling sounds came from his mouth as blood gushed from within and ran down his front. With a deep sense of satisfaction, Liam put his boot against the man’s belly and shoved him back, pulling his weapon free.
“That’s fer Ivy,” he said, “And this is fer me.” Raising his blade in both fists, he stabbed it down into Gael’s chest with a satisfying wet crunch. With his features frozen into a distorted mask of surprise, Gael’s body crumpled heavily to the ground with a dull thud. A crimson pool spread out around his head like a bloody halo.
Liam leaned on his sword as he stood panting over the dying man, taking pleasure in the feel of the warm blood of his foe spattering his face. Certain that Gael was dead, Liam turned, bloody sword in hand, to assist Ivy in her fight against Carson, which was taking place just a few yards away.
As he rushed towards them, he suddenly saw Knox streaking past, in hot pursuit of Evander. But he had no chance to see what happened as he arrived at a critical point in Ivy’s battle against her brother. As he got nearer, he could hear Carson’s jibes as he crossed swords with his own flesh and blood.
“Ye’re weak, Ivy, ye’ve always been weak. Ye think ye’re a warrior, but ye’re just a feeble lassie who thinks she’s some sort of heroine. Come on and fight me properly, ye weakling!” the monster mocked her as he hacked and struck at her with his weapon.
Ivy did not bother wasting her breath on him, putting all her energy into defeating him. Liam was proud of the ferociously determined fight she was putting up against her much larger brother. She used her smaller size to her advantage, light-footedly dodging the downswings of Carson’s blade as they whizzed past her harmlessly.
But Liam was still afraid for her. He was forced to watch in tense expectation as she fought on, slowly driving Carson back. Liam thought he could see her plan, and when Carson stumbled over a body lying on the ground behind him and fell, he knew he was right. She was on him, standing over him, the point of her sword at his throat.
“Go on then, kill me, yer own braither,” Carson spat at her mockingly as she seemed to hesitate. “Ye cannae dae it, can ye? I kent it! Ye’re weak, ye dinnae have the guts,” he was leaning up on his elbows, pushing his throat against the point of her blade. Still, she hesitated, breathing heavily, staring down at him.
“Let’s find out who has the guts,” she said and raised her blade vertically with both hands.
“Nay, Ivy, ye cannae kill ye’re own flesh and blood!” Carson pleaded fearfully, seeing she did indeed mean to kill him. That was when Liam stepped in. He knocked Ivy aside and rammed his own blade into her brother’s chest.
“I ken ye, Ivy and ye wouldnae be able tae live with the guilt of killin’ yer own braither, monster or nae,” he told her, opening his arms and seeing her shaking, silently staring at her brother’s still body. She went into them, nodding her head. They stood panting against each other.
“Aye, ye’re probably right. Thank ye fer endin’ him fer me, Liam.”
“Ivy, ye’re one of the bravest fighters I’ve ever had the pleasure of fightin’ next tae. Lovers in arms, eh?” He hugged her to his side.
“Aye,” she said, smiling up at him, her cheeks spattered with blood. “Lovers in arms, always.”
As they walked away, she said bitterly, “I’m glad he’s dead. He can never make anybody else suffer now.”
“Gael’s dead too. They’re both gone, never tae trouble us anymore.”
“What about Evander?” she asked as they walked through the thinning battle as the soldiers had seen their masters find their deaths.
“I saw Knox goin’ after him a while back,” Liam said. They walked out of the hall and into the vestibule where the sounds of clashing metal could still be heard.
They stopped when they saw Knox fighting with Evander. As at the ruined chapel, Evander was putting up a good fight, dodging and ducking, getting in a few strikes where he could. But it was clear that Knox, the more seasoned, stronger man, was slowly exhausting the betrayer. They watched as Knox drove Evander steadily backwards under a relentless onslaught of blows, until Evander’s grip on his blade slipped in his own blood.
With a deft movement, Knox used the flat of his sword to flick Evander’s weapon out of his hand and, seeing his opening, thrust his blade into Evander’s belly. Evander clutched at the hilt, groaned, and fell to his knees. “This is what happens when ye cross me, ye cowardly, lyin’ bastard,” Knox spat, placing his foot against Evander’s chest, pulling out the blade, and then stabbing the schemer again in the neck.
Evander rolled on his side, into a ball, choking, blood pouring from between his lips. Knox pulled out his blade for the final time and stood looking down on the man. After a few moments, Evander stopped twitching and lay still. Knox saw them. “He had that comin’,” he told them as they came up to him.
“Ye can say that again,” Ivy agreed staring at Evander’s body with her brow looking sad. “He’s taught me a lesson I’ll never forget.”
“What about MacAlister?” Knox asked, slowly getting his breath back. He leaned over and cleaned the blood form his sword on Evander’s coat and then sheathed it.
“I killed him, and Gael’s dead as well,” Liam replied.
Knox’s face brightened. “So, we’ve won? That’s the end of it?”
“Aye, that’s the end of it,” Liam assured his friend as he and Ivy also cleaned their swords and put them away.
“Well, thank the Wee man fer that. Or the bloody moon, I’m nae sure which. Seems like missin’ that stag in the hunt this year was a blessin’ and nae a curse after all,” Knox mused as they turned to survey the field. “Och, well, would ye look at that,” he murmured, looking around with obvious surprise.
“Look, Ivy,” Liam pointed to the remaining defenders, many of whom were now kneeling and offering Ivy the hilts of their swords. “They’re showin’ ye their fealty, as the rightful leader of Clan MacAlister.”
“Och, Lord, so they are!” she cried happily, seeing what he said was true. “We’ve done it, Liam. Carson and Gael are gone, and now naethin’ can threaten us anymore!”
“Nay, lass, naethin’ at all,” he agreed, grinning as he kissed her on the lips.