Page 81
He walked left!
“Oh, yes!” Kate exclaimed.
She released her pull and her leg when Thor turned and faced the way they had come from. She squeezed his sides with her legs, and made a “tsk, tsk” sound, something she’d seen and heard Ian do. Thor was a good horse—he obeyed her signal and sped up a little.
“Oh, Thor, well done!” Kate kept saying under her breath, amazed she had any control over him.
They strode for a while, Kate shivering from the images of Ian being hurt that flashed through her mind from time to time, blinding her. She tried to concentrate on the road, on not falling from Thor’s back. Thankfully, he didn’t need much direction and followed the path.
What felt like an eternity later, she heard them. Screams, groans of pain, and iron clashing against iron. Her pulse accelerated. He was still fighting. He was still alive!
She stopped Thor, who obeyed her at once, luckily, and jumped down rather awkwardly, twisting her ankle a little. Pain stabbed her, but she could still walk, and she limped as silently as she could towards the sounds of a fight.
She removed the dagger from her belt and held it like Ian had taught her—easily but securely. She breathed. There was no doubt in her mind that she’d use the dagger if she had to protect Ian or herself.
There he was, Ian. He waved his sword before just one opponent. Five men lay on the ground, not moving.
Ian had his sword in his hands and danced a slow circle with his opponent. It was the archer, Kate thought, who also had an ax. Ian had a big gash on his shoulder and a slice on his side, with his tunic torn and hanging. He dragged one leg—his thigh was cut, too. One eye was swollen completely shut. Cuts darkened on his face, and blood covered one of his ears. He moved slowly, clearly tired. He swung the sword with an effort.
His opponent was in much better shape. His quiver was empty, and the bow lay on the ground, useless. But his ax gleamed in the daylight.
Kate’s hands shook. How was Ian still alive?
How was she going to help him?
The dagger… But she had to approach so that the man didn’t notice. He had his back to her now. He lunged at Ian, who jumped back, luckily.
She needed to hurry. Still holding the dagger, she walked towards the warrior, slowly advancing, making sure she stepped quietly and didn’t alert the man.
She was about five feet away when Ian’s eyes locked with hers for just a split second before returning to the man in front of him. But in that split second, his eyes widened for a barely noticeable moment and a fear like she’d never seen in him before flashed through them. His gaze on his opponent again, his shoulders tensed, his eyes filling with determination.
“Come here, ye Sassenach bastart,” he growled.
Step forward, one more.
“Burn in hell, dirty Scotsman,” the man answered.
Three more steps.
The man swung his ax high in the air above his head for the last, deadly blow. Kate launched forward. Whack. Just like Ian taught her, she pierced him in the side of his neck. The dagger went in, meeting the resistance of flesh. Kate let go, nausea rising in her stomach.
The man froze, the ax fell from his hands and hit him on the head, then landed on the ground. The man followed, collapsing like a sack of wheat.
Kate and Ian stared at each other for a moment. Relief and pain on his face, he sank to his knees on the ground. Kate rushed to him and hugged him, supporting him so he didn’t fall.
“Ye shouldna have come back,” he croaked.
“I should have never left. We must hurry. You’re injured. And don’t you dare say it’s just a scratch.”
She helped him up, her heart leaping, triumphant. He was alive. At least for now, he was alive.
Chapter 30
“Open the gates!” Kate cried.
Up on the massive walls, warriors moved. Kate tightened her arms around Ian and prayed they’d be let in quickly.
After the last warrior had died, they’d gone down to the loch and cleaned and bandaged Ian’s wounds as best they could with cloth torn from Kate’s dress. Kate had been astonished at how strong Ian had seemed despite the number of wounds on his body and of how much blood he must have lost. Afterward, Ian had managed to climb onto the horse, but a short time later, he’d almost slipped off. Kate had found a rope in his travel pack and tied it around him and then herself, so that he was strapped to her and sat between her arms. She’d managed to keep him on Thor’s back in this way, though it had been extremely difficult.
