Black Richard's Heart (The MacCulloughs #1) - Suzan Tisdale Page 0,159

was undeniably happy.

“Aye, MacCullough, it appears yer wife was quite serious. They have built gallows just for ye and yer lovely wife awaits ye inside.”

Aeschene looked just as regal and resplendent as the day she had married her. She wore the same soft blue dress, the same silver belt dangled from her waist. But this morning, her hair was plated intricately around her scalp, instead of cascading down her back. The only few differences was the fact she wasn’t wearing her grandmother’s necklace, and instead of witnesses for a wedding, there were witnesses for a hanging. Richard’s hanging.

She was standing between Marisse and Lachlan, not far from the gate, on a recently erected platform. It faced the gallows that were in the center of the courtyard.

Now would be a most excellent time to do something, he mused.

Randall Chisolm took the short steps up to the platform, smiling gleefully as if he’d just been made king of Scotia. He nudged Marisse out of the way so that he could stand directly beside Aeschene.

His pretty wife smiled up at the man, nodded once, then turned away.

Richard saw it all as he slowly walked by heading to his fate.

The procession stopped so that Colyne could be freed from his shackles. As soon as the shackles fell away, one of the scullery maids was escorting the frightened boy away. They were soon swallowed up in the crowd. Murmurs of excitement began to build. The Chisolm warriors were all looking quite pleased with themselves.

He and Rory were less than thirty yards from the gallows. Only moments away from death it seemed. Something had better happen, and soon, elst he was going to be a dead man.

Two of the guards started pushing Richard and Rory forward. Their chains jangled and their feet shuffled against the cobblestones. He looked up and saw that his wife was still standing next to the Chisolm, not the most comforting of images. Lachlan was still right beside her, but now Daniel was on the platform.

Two very large men wearing black hoods took the steps up to the gallows, each one standing near the thick ropes that were undoubtedly going to be draped around his neck in a matter of a few short moments.

‘Twasn’t necessarily fear that fell over him, but something rather close to it. Blended with that was his abject confusion that made a light sheen of sweat break across his upper lip. Rory stumbled, falling against Richard, but both men kept their feet.

Seven steps lead up to the gallows and they were now taking each one slowly, cautiously. The heavy nooses swayed ever so gently in the morning breeze.

At the top, their shackles were unlocked, but their freedom was only temporary. Their hands were tied behind their backs with rope. Soon, the hangmen were dragging them to stand in front of those menacing nooses.

“Do ye have any final words, Black Richard MacCullough?” ’Twas Randall Chisolm’s voice booming over the crowd.

“Aye,” Richard called back. “I will see ye in hell ye bloody bastard!”

Randall threw back his head and had a hearty laugh, still believing he had the upper hand, that he had one. Oh, how he was in for a very rude awakening.

Randall Chisolm was still laughing when Lachlan grabbed him from behind and held the long blade of his dirk against his throat. “Move and ye die,” Lachlan seethed.

At the same time Lachlan was subduing Randall Chisolm, the two hangmen on the gallows pulled their hoods off and withdrew their swords in one fluid motion. A frantic heartbeat later, they were each slicing through Richard and Rory’s bindings.

Richard was stunned to see the hangmen were Angus McKenna and Duncan McEwan. “God’s teeth!” Richard exclaimed.

“Ye did nae think we’d let ye hang,” Duncan said with a smile. A moment later, he was thrusting his sword into the gullet of a Chisolm warrior.

Relief washed over Richard as all hell broke loose from down below and up above. Someone from the crowd tossed Richard and Rory swords and the fight was soon on. Caught off guard, the Chisolm warriors were not as well prepared as they should have been. They’d been too busy watching the gallows, waiting to see the two men hanged. They hadn’t seen the McDunnah and MacDougall warriors take to the upper walls or the other warriors who had infiltrated the crowd.

With a renewed sense of energy, Richard was soon fending off one warrior after another. Metal crashed against metal as arrows flew from the upper wall. Men were