Page 56 of When the Laird Claims
“Say the word and I move, lass,” Arran muttered, meant in a voice that was only for her to hear.
But the Earl was so far away. Charles would have plenty of time to hurt her father or worse before Arran crossed the room, and though other soldiers would move at Arran’s command, no one was quite near enough for her comfort. If Charles thought his end was coming, he might use his last breath to kill her father.
“Very well,” Charles hummed. “You have until the count of three, and I shall have your father’s throat slit, and just have to marry your sister instead.”
Her father gasped at the same time as Victoria, the older man shooting a startled stare at Charles. Evidently, this wasn’t part of what they had agreed on.
But Victoria’s gasp was as much for the fate of her father as for the fate of her sister. Did Charles have Melody, too? She stared at the entrance until her eyes began to blur, raw panic filling her entire body with ice as she waited for the dreadful sight of her sister being dragged along by paid brutes.
She could not move, could not speak, could not do anything to help anyone, or so it seemed… but someone else had decided that they could.
Kristin stepped out of the crowd of interrupted revelers, Ruby on her hip, sucking on her small fist. “I see that ye’re nae afraid to let everyone here finally see yer true colors, ye pathetic bastard.”
Charles laughed then, full and hearty. It was the only sound that echoed around the hall, somehow each reverberation growing more sinister. His gaze was not fixed upon Victoria or Kristin,but on the child in her arms: Ruby, who should not have been down there in the Great Hall at all.
If he had not known he was a father before, he almost certainly did now.
No, Kristin! You should run. You should leave this room.Yet, it appeared that the woman had changed her mind about facing the man who had broken her heart and abandoned her. Maybe, she was just that confident that he would never leave this hall alive.
“And I see thatyoustill have no shame,” he replied with a wicked grin. “As for pathetic, is that not a little rich, coming from you?”
If looks could kill, Kristin would have caused the Earl to wither on the very spot. When she spoke again, her voice was a snarl. “Me only shame is that I didnae smother ye with a pillow while I had the chance. Ye’re a disgrace, and if ye come a little closer, I’ll do what I should have done back then.”
Charles clearly did not feel threatened by her in the slightest. “You sound a little sore, Miss—goodness, I cannot quite remember your name. Might you remind me?” He smirked. “And who is that in your arms? Your bastard? Poor thing, having such a desperate woman for a mother.”
Arran bristled, the vibration of his fury trembling into Victoria’s palm as she continued to grip his arm. He would explode soon if Charles said another word, and when he did, there was no telling what might happen… or who might be lost in the detonation.
He was not the only one bursting with rage.
Across the room, Kristin had turned a livid shade of red. “There’s nae a speck of honor in ye! I curse ye, Charles Rowley!” she spat, the hiss of her voice making it sound like a true hex. “I curse ye and yer tiny bollocks! And the only bastard here is ye!”
Charles’ eye twitched, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the pommel of his sword. To have his pride and his manhood brought into question in front of so many people; that was not something he would tolerate well, not at all.
“My bairn and I will be just fine without ye. There’ll be nothin’ of ye in her, nae a bit of yer wickedness or yer weakness. Indeed, I pray she never has to hear yer name spoken, for when she asks me who her faither is, I’ll tell her she doesnae have one,” Kristin roared on. “Ye deserve everythin’ that is comin’ to ye, and when my brother is finished pickin’ ye piece from piece, I will spit on yer unmarked grave.”
Charles’ brow arched, though the rasp of his tone belied inner outrage. “Are you quite finished? I can barely understand you with that barbaric brogue of yours, but then I was never interested in hearing you speak.”
As Victoria had feared he would, Arran snapped.
He tore his arm from Victoria’s grip, and his sword was drawn with such fluidity that she barely saw the man move before he was halfway across the room. She could not even imagine what it must be like to face him on a battlefield. It happened so fast thatshe could not conjure a single word to prevent him, though her heart feared the worst.
The Earl, too, seemed to be struggling to catch up with what was happening. He floundered in his attempt to draw his own weapon, awkwardly pulling his sword from the scabbard in jerking tugs while yelling for reinforcements. Although even Victoria knew that was a bluff, from what Neil had said about the small party approaching the castle.
Arran’s bannermen all drew their weapons as the sound of stomping boots and clanging metal filled the room almost instantly, the supposed reinforcements spilling into the Great Hall. No more than a dozen, just as Neil had said.
But how did they get inside in the first place?Victoria knew that would be a question for afterward, when this was all over.
Charles might not have brought many men with him, but they certainly seemed to know what they were doing. He had probably paid an extortionate sum for mercenaries that did, rather than those who would take less and run off with it.
An organized sort of chaos broke out around the room, the maids, servants, elderly, and unseasoned fighters withdrawing to the sides or out through the two narrow doorways that the servants used. Meanwhile, the soldiers clashed in the center, steel sparking against steel, creating such a mess of bodies that Victoria could not see Charles anymore.
Suddenly, Kristin was grabbing the sleeve of her dress and pulling her into a recess carved out of the closest wall. Ruby was crying, and Kristin was doing her best to hug her child into her chest, shielding her head and attempting to muffle the noise. But Victoria knew that they were both far more focused on the entrance of the room and where the Earl had gone.
“You should get Ruby out,” Victoria whispered.
Kristin shook her head. “I have to see this. I have to ken he’s been dealt with. And when I have, I’ll box that maid’s ears for bringin’ me daughter down here.”
At that moment, Victoria spotted the wretched cretin. The coward had half retreated into the hallway outside the doors… and he had her father clutched against him like some sort of human shield as Arran descended upon him. There was something oddly satisfying about the way that Charles’ eyes widened in true fear before Arran’s dirk was pulled, and he hurled it the rest of the distance between himself and the Earl.
