AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Flynn was immediately intrigued to know the contents of the letter once Murray mentioned it was from Myles. As far as he knew, no such letter had come for him before he had left his castle, although he was not sure if something of such nature had arrived now.
“I have nae received a letter. I came for somethin’ else,” Flynn explained. “But the letter seems important. Ye should read it first. It might be him finally informing us that he is returning our villages.”
Flynn did not know what it was about the letter that did not sit right with him. He suddenly felt restless, as if something terrible had happened. He needed to know what the letter said as soon as possible in order to know for certain, or else he would never be able to have the conversation with Murray.
“Yer right. Let me read it,” Murray replied and tore open the seal.
Flynn waited with bated breath as he watched Murray read line after line of the letter, the old man’s face paling in color with every passing word. It was clear the letter was delivering bad news, and Flynn was certain of it when Murray suddenly dropped the letter to the ground and turned to look at up him, his gaze turning emotionless as tears pooled in his eyes.
“I cannae believe this,” Murray whispered, and Flynn, who was already worried, rushed forward and picked the letter up.
He began to read.
Laird O’Donnely,
The purpose of this letter is simple. I need to tell ye something. Yer son, Aiden Wright, is safe and alive, and with me. I was the one who kidnapped him ten years ago, and I have held him with me all this time. Moreover, I want both ye and Flynn to ken that yer daughter and his betrothed, Astrid Wright, has also been kidnapped by me and is being kept with her brother.
I never expected for ye and Flynn to find out about the lands I was stealing from yer clans, but now that ye have, I have to resort to such methods to save meself and me clan. I willnae be returning the lands I already have, and if both of ye wish to see Astrid and Aiden alive and healthy and back with ye again, I want half of the lands of both of yer clans under my possession, which would effectively turn me into the most powerful laird in Scotland.
If ye fail to do so, both or at least one of them will die. If I see any of yer soldiers on my lands or near my castle, Aiden and Astrid will die. If ye try to be cunning about it rather than simply doing as I am asking ye to do, Aiden and Astrid will die. Hence the choice is simple. Do as I say, or lose yer son and daughter. I am not writing a separate letter to Flynn and am hoping that ye will convey my message. Yer lands in exchange for these two lives is all I ask for.
Moreover, although I couldnae care less, I think I must apologize for being the reason behind the misunderstandings between the MacKie and O’Donnely clans. I simply framed the MacKies after kidnapping Aiden meself.
I will wait for an affirmative response from yer end.
Myles.
Aiden’s hand shook as he finished reading the letter, anger coursing through him in waves. Myles had dared to kidnap Astrid, the love of his life. Just before coming to meet Murray, Flynn had promised her that nothing could separate them, and this sorry excuse of a man had gone and kidnapped her. Flynn had never been angrier before.
“I will kill him,” he whispered and finally realized that Murray was still there. The old man was seated in his chair now, clearly still absorbing the shock of the letter.
“He had Aiden for the last ten years, and now, he has Astrid. He will kill both my children,” Murray whispered.
“I will kill him before he even touches either of them. How dare he kidnap me wife!” Flynn thundered, belatedly realizing what he had said.
Murray stared at him quizzically, wondering what he meant, but Flynn was glad when the man chose not to comment on it. Flynn had bigger problems to worry about now. He needed to figure out a way to save Astrid.
“We cannae save them. Ye read what he said. He will kill both of them if he sees any of our soldiers on his lands,” Murray reminded him, and Flynn nodded knowingly. He already knew everything Myles had written, and he already knew how to save Astrid and Aiden.
“There is nay way I will give my lands and people to that man or let ye do it. I dinnae require soldiers to save Astrid and Aiden. Billy and I can easily sneak inside the castle and get them out alone. Once Aiden and Astrid are out and safe, I will make sure Myles suffers the most painful death ever known to man.”
“Flynn, yer thinking too brashly about all of this. Please dinnae forget that Myles is a smart man and cannae be fooled too easily,” Murray reminded.
Flynn knew Murray was right, but he knew that they had no other choice. They would either need to save Astrid and Aiden by sneaking into the castle or allow their deaths at the hands of Myles.
“We have nay other choice, Murray,” he replied as Murray stood up and began to pace the length of his study. The old Laird was clearly exasperated, and so was Flynn.
“We will have both our soldiers wait in the nearby forests on our lands while yer there,” Murray suggested. “Will that be all right?”
“Yes,” Flynn agreed. “As soon as Astrid and Aiden are out of there, we will attack Myles and his castle immediately before he has the chance to run away.”
“The plan runs on huge risk, Flynn. Think again,” Murray warned.
Flynn nodded knowingly. He already had calculated every risk in his head, but he turned to look at Billy, who was equally adept at such things.
“The plan indeed is risky, Laird O’Donnely,” Billy said, “but I can assure ye that both Laird MacKie and I are skilled enough to pull it off. Moreover, we would never let a coward like Myles win in this situation by holding ye to ransom. Our lands and people deserve better.”
“I had already lost all hope of finding Aiden ever,” Murray began, his words sounding extremely sorrowful. “I cannae afford to have this hope back again then once again lose me son and me daughter too this time. I would never be able to live with meself knowing that I could have saved them, and yet I chose to nae do it.”
