Page 74 of Fallen
“Where is everyone?” Craeg breathed, looking around.
“They’ve fled,” Coira replied. “For fear of getting sick.” She met Craeg’s eye then. “Ye may find that only ghosts now inhabit Dunan.”
A lone guard met them before the archway leading into the broch’s bailey. He was a broad, brawny warrior with short blond hair and a face that might have been handsome, if it hadn’t been set in such a severe expression.
A heavy claidheamh-mor hung from the man’s waist, but he hadn’t yet drawn it.
Craeg, who’d led the way up the cobbled street from the North Gate, halted a few feet from the guard.
The men’s gazes fused for a few instants, before Craeg spoke. “Do ye know me?”
The guard’s mouth thinned. “The family resemblance is uncanny … Craeg MacKinnon I take it?”
The note of grudging respect in the man’s voice surprised Coira. He’d not addressed him as ‘Craeg the Bastard’ as they’d all expected.
Another heavy silence stretched between the two men, before the guard spoke once more. “MacKinnon is dead, then?”
“Aye,” Craeg answered, his voice flat. “As are his men, save the survivors we bring with us. If ye’d like confirmation that he’s gone … ye can ask them if ye wish?”
The guard swallowed, the only sign that this news moved him at all.
“And ye are?” Craeg asked, when the man didn’t answer.
“Carr Broderick,” the man replied gruffly, “Captain of what’s left of the Dunan Guard.”
Craeg inclined his head, taking the man’s measure. “So, what will ye do now, captain? Deny me access?”
Broderick’s mouth twisted into a humorless smile. “I could … but we both know how that would end.”
“How many of ye are left?”
“Twenty … three of whom are sick.”
Craeg glanced over at Coira, and they shared a long look. They both knew surrender when they saw it. However, it was also clear that this was costing Carr Broderick dearly.
“Ye were loyal to my brother?” Craeg asked, his attention swinging back to Captain Broderick.
To Coira’s surprise, the man’s mouth pursed, as if Craeg had just said something distasteful.
“Aye,” he replied after a pause, bitterness lacing his voice. “Like a hound.”
“And can a man change loyalties?”
Broderick frowned, his jaw tensing as he sensed a trap. Tension rippled between them, and when the warrior finally replied, his voice was rough with suppressed anger. “I didn’t like yer brother,” he admitted. “But I still served him … not like Ross Campbell, who took a stand.”
Craeg’s gaze narrowed. “Ye knew Campbell well?”
“Aye … and I was sent to track him down. I caught up with him too, just before he and Lady Leanna escaped from Skye … yer brother never learned about that meeting though. I’d have swung for it, if he had.”
Craeg raised an eyebrow. “Ye let Campbell and Lady Leanna go?”
Broderick nodded, his features tightening.
“Then ye weren’t MacKinnon’s hound after all,” Craeg replied. “Ye are glad he’s dead. I see it in yer eyes.”
The captain dropped his gaze, his hands, which hung by his sides, clenching into fists. He then shifted to one side, making it clear that Craeg and his men could pass.
Craeg moved forward, drawing parallel with Broderick. “Is Lady MacKinnon at home?” he asked coolly.
