Page 49

Just Due

The group whispered amongst themselves for a few moments while Logan waited. When he was ready, he asked, “Who’s first?”

Kyla stepped up, her husband behind her. “He held me captive.”

“Just due. Next?” Logan announced.

Meg stepped over, Lennox following her. “He had me held captive to take care of four bairns.”

Logan nodded. “Just due. Next?”

And so it continued.

Sloan. “He stole my nephew away, wanted to sell him.”

Thane. “He took my parents captive and tried to sell me and my siblings to another family in Europe.”

Magni. “He kidnapped me.” Then he looked at Thane who nodded to him. “He did it too many times. I don’t like him.”

Logan nodded to him and said, “Just due to my grandson.” Then he tugged on the rope to pull him closer so he could slap Kelvan on the back of his head. “He’s a lad, you cruel bastard.”

Magni smirked.

“Next?”

Maitland. “Kidnapped my son and my wife.”

Dyna. “He kidnapped my bairns. Multiple times, you bloody rotten bastard. Just due, Uncle.”

Connor and Logan smirked and nodded in unison.

Logan leaned toward Kelvan and said, “Big mistake. Poor bastard when she comes at you.”

Kelvan frowned but said nothing.

A woman arrived on her horse, coming in behind the others. Gwyneth. “Bastard dared to touch the bairns I adore. Let me at him, husband.”

“Just due, Gwynie.”

Logan asked, “Connor? You want just due?”

Connor declared, “Just due for kidnapping my grandbairns. However, I give my just due to my daughter.”

“That’s a powerful one. Dyna now has four counts against you, K. Did I mention that Dyna was trained by my wife? Know you my wife’s reputation?”

Kelvan was now crying but shook his head.

“She likes to strike a man in his bollocks. Killed a couple of men that way.”

Kelvan held his bound hands in front of his private parts.

“Anyone else want just due?” Logan asked.

Broc squeezed Merryn’s hand and nodded to her. “I’ll go with you.”

Merryn strode over, her bow hooked on her shoulder, and stood in front of Logan, Broc behind her with his hands on her shoulders for support. She needed this so much.

“State your case, lass,” Logan said. “All of it.” Then he nodded to Merryn.

“Merryn MacClane. He led the raid that butchered my village…”

Kelvan stopped crying to glare at her. “Aye, I did. Send me to my king, and I’ll get my just due. I hated your sister.”

“Hell, nay,” Logan said. “If you survive our just due, I’ll take you to our king, Robert. But chances are I’ll send your dead body to Edward. Continue, lass. He interrupted you.”

“I watched him kill my sister, his wife, from behind. Thrust his sword through her back while she tried to escape him.” Merryn’s tears started, but she wasn’t going to stop without listing all his crimes.

“I heard him kill both of my parents. He deserted his daughter and then went on to another village to kill more. Just due, if you please.”

“You lying bitch!” K said. “I didn’t kill your parents.”

“I heard you from where I was hiding!”

Alaric’s elbow came up and hit Kelvan so hard in the face that everyone heard the crack of the bone in his nose.

Logan said, “What, K? Did you have something else to say?”

The man cupped his face with his bound hands, blood covering his fingers.

“Anyone else just due?”

No one spoke. So, Logan said, “Here’s how this will go. I’m going to ask you a few questions, K. After each, if you lie or refuse to answer, I will give just due to someone to strike you in whatever way they choose. They are not to use a killing blow until I give them the right to do so.”

“What the hell does that mean? You’re going to kill me? Just kill me now. Have some compassion.”

Connor drawled. “Here’s your compassion.” Connor’s elbow came up and smashed K’s jaw. “Just due, Logan.”

“Connor’s is done. Now Kelvan, a while ago, you stole a lad’s parents away and then sent him to Ulva. I want to know where his parents are.”

“How the hell would I know?”

“Just due, Magni.”

Magni ran over and kicked him in both shins, grinned, then ran back to his spot. Kelvan made the mistake of trying to touch the boy, but Connor grabbed him to hold him in place.

“I’ll ask again. Where is that couple, K?”

“I don’t know who you are talking about.” The arrogance on his face was so glaring that he was making everything easy. Everyone hated the man who’d caused so much heartbreak on Mull.

“Sloan?”

“I give mine to Dyna.”

“I do the same,” Meg said.

Thane said, “I also give my just due to Dyna or Merryn.”

An arrow flew out and caught Kelvan in his upper thigh. He screamed, hopping on his other foot.

“Gwynie, I didn’t give you just due yet.”

“I couldn’t help myself, Logan. He’s such a dark soul.” Then she moved her horse back. “Dyna and Merryn.”

“Maitland?”

“I give just due to Dyna.”

“Magni,” Logan said, waving to his grandson. “Please stand right over there. Do you see that boy in front of you? Where are his parents?”

“I don’t know, I tell you!”

“Dyna?”

The arrow flew so fast, K never saw it coming, but it went over his head because he ducked. Then Dyna ran forward and knocked him down, yanking the other arrow out of his thigh, tossing it aside, and punching him with her fist until Connor lifted her. “Enough, lass.”

Dyna burst into tears. “My bairns. You tried to hurt my bairns.” She gave one last kick to his belly before she walked away.

Alaric and Connor lifted him to his feet, but he continued to complain. “I cannot walk!” He spit a tooth off to the side.

Logan asked again, “Where are they? The lad’s parents.”

Kelvan hung his head, his knees buckling while he struggled to stand. “In the tunnel to the left.”

Logan pointed to the men closest. “Alaric and Broc, take Magni with you.”

Lia said, “I’ll go too!” Now they understood why Lia stood by the staircase. She’d been waiting patiently for this.

“Go with them, Lia.”

Broc waited for Magni to join him, surprised when Magni reached up to take his hand. He whispered, “Promise not to leave me in there? It looks dark.”

“I promise. Alaric and I will protect you.”

“And I will always protect you, Magni,” Lia added, taking his other hand.

The four headed into the tunnel, taking the passageway to the left, opening one door, then another, and finally the last one.

Magni said, “You go in. I’m scared, Broc.”

“I’ll go for you, lad.” Broc opened the door and there, sitting on two stools, were a man with gray hair and a woman with her hair tied back in a loose plait. Their eyes lit up when they saw the door open, though they cringed at first. A boy of around ten lay on a pallet in front of them, asleep.

Broc said, “I’m not here to hurt you. Do you know a boy named Magni?”

The man nodded but said nothing, his eyes hopeful. Broc turned around, “Come on in, Magni.”

Magni walked in, holding on to Lia’s hand, and shouted, “Mama? Papa?” Then he ran to them, throwing himself at his mother, hugging her and burying his face in her lap. After a moment, he got up and hugged his father.

Broc moved over and knelt in front of the two. “Kelvan will no longer bother you. We’ve ended his entire operation. You are free to go. Who is the sleeping lad?”

Magni’s mother said, “They stole him from a place in Aoineadh Mò r , tried to send him away, but he was violently ill on the ships, so they brought him back. He’s to be sold in a sennight.”

The man looked at his wife and said, “We’ll not leave the poor lad here. He must go with us, but where will we go? They burned our village to the ground. Everything we had is gone.”

Alaric came in behind Broc with Lia. Broc explained, “Magni has been living on the Isle of Mull with Clan MacQuarie. I’m sure you can join their clan. If not, you are welcome to join us at Clan Grantham.”

Alaric motioned to them. “Can you both walk enough to follow us out? We have horses to take you back to Mull. There is no reason to stay here any longer.”

“I’ll help you, Mama,” Magni said, reaching for his mother’s hand.

The group headed down the passage, and all along the way, Magni babbled on, his joy contagious.

“You should see everything at Clan MacQuarie, Da. Thane is the chieftain, and he just got married. They’re going to have a bairn, and his wife makes the best fruit tarts and meat pies, and I help Thane with the horses, and you can live there with us, Da. You can help with the horses too …”

They stopped at the end and Magni looked up at Broc and said, “Please don’t tell anyone I cried.”

“Promise.”

They stepped outside, and Magni shouted for all to hear, “I found them!” Dyna and Eli came over to help the couple understand what was happening, getting them away from the main event in the center.

The boy who’d been sleeping trudged along behind them, confused by everything taking place. All three had been in the holding so long that they had trouble adjusting to the light of day.

Meg stared at the three strangers, then squeezed her husband’s hand. “Lennox, look. Remember the cook at Aoineadh Mòr? Do you suppose that could be their son?”

Lennox said, “Heavens above us, I hope so.” He approached the lad and asked, “Is your mother a cook in an inn at Aoineadh Mòr?”

“Aye,” he nodded, rubbing his eyes as he tried to look up at Lennox. “My name is Errol. Can I go home now?”

Meg teared up and said, “Aye, we’ll take you there.” They ushered the lad off to the side and found him something to eat.

Logan still sat atop his horse in the center of the clearing, Kelvan barely able to stand on his own, but Connor insisted. Logan whistled for everyone’s attention again. “The last just due goes to Merryn. Do as you wish, lass. I don’t need him for anything.”

Broc came over and nodded to her. She picked up her bow and nocked an arrow, then let it back down. “Broc, I want to, but I don’t know if I can hold it tight any longer.”

Broc said, “You aim, and I’ll help you.”

“I told you she was nothing but a liar and a weakling,” Kelvan shouted, his voice sounding quite odd.

Another horse came close and someone hopped down. “My thanks to you, Broc, but I’m going to claim just due for my family. Merryn, nock your arrow, and we’ll do it together.”

Tristan came over to stand behind his sister, watched her set herself, then stood behind her and reached over her shoulders to steady her arm. “Kelvan Mortimer, this is for our parents and our dear sister Nara.”

He pulled the bow with Merryn, and they let it go.

Kelvan would never steal another bairn.