Highland Warlord - Amy Jarecki Page 0,68

dark stare.

Thrice he tapped the hilt of his sword while giving a nod.

She returned the gesture and resumed her forward-facing posture. But now, gooseflesh rose across her skin. Of course, James had a plan. And she must be ready for anything.

Ailish flexed her foot in the stirrup. Her dagger was still lashed to her leg, though it would be difficult to reach the blade with her hands bound with only a length of chain between them. But not impossible.

As time wore on, she watched the hills for any flicker of movement, any sign of what was to come.

Chapter Twenty-Three

James shoved his heels downward, taking in everything through his squint. He assessed the soldiers in front of him and the weapons they bore, calculating which to target first. Every man was hand-picked, deadly, and must not be underestimated.

By the saints, he was dog tired. He’d barely fallen asleep when he’d been awakened early this morn and he was bone weary. Nonetheless, they’d traveled far enough away from the city for Davy to have set up an ambush. If they didn’t attack soon, the retinue would be stopping for the night and, if he knew the Lord Warden, he would ensure his prisoner was safely behind the barbican walls of an English fortress.

And there were plenty within a day’s ride from which to choose.

The hair on the back of James’ neck stood on end as they approached what appeared to be a Roman ruin, consisting of a crumbling tower, crenellated at the top. At least the top third. The rest of the building was all but destroyed.

James sat straighter as he searched the tower for movement. With his next blink, Caelan appeared in a crenel, his bow loaded and aimed at the lead man. Without hesitation, he fired his arrow. Two more archers sprang into view, joining the siege. As the arrows hit their marks, three soldiers shrieked, falling from their mounts with mortal wounds.

“We’re under attack!” bellowed the man-at-arms.

’Tis about bloody time!

As his sword hissed through its scabbard, the thunder of horses came from around a bend, announcing Davy’s approach with a calvary of James’ men.

Acting with haste, he cued his horse to move between the pair of guards he’d been flanking as they grappled for their weapons. Taking advantage of their confusion, James ruthlessly dispatched them with two swings of his blade.

“Retreat!” Bellowed the Lord Warden, his horse spinning on its haunches as he kicked his heels and fled.

Deflecting a strike, James let His Lordship escape before he slammed the pommel of his sword in his attacker’s temple. The sentry grunted as he toppled to the ground with a sickly thud.

Ahead, a guard grabbed Ailish’s reins and jerked the horse around. She shrieked as she tottered in her saddle. The horse reared in the man’s panic to chase after His Lordship.

With a kick of his heels, James skidded beside the cur. “Not so bloody fast,” he growled, aiming for a kill to the throat.

Ailish slipped sideways, dipping low and grunting.

“Are you hurt?” James asked, cuing his horse for a sideways approach to help calm her terrified mount.

She straightened, holding up a dagger. “Just reaching for this.”

He grinned, giving her a wink just as a blade sliced into his shoulder. James countered in time to deflect the next strike. Thrusting his dirk, he went for the kill, but Davy felled the bastard first.

Thank God, the rest of the Lord Warden’s men were either killed or fleeing. The Douglas man grinned, his face splattered with blood. “What took ye so long?”

“Ye ken, we were at the mercy of the bloody English.” James smirked and glanced at the others as the archers from the ruins rode alongside them. “Is anyone injured?”

“Not here,” said Caelan.

James arched against the sting of his shoulder. “Then we ride east.”

“East?” asked Ailish. “But Harris is north.”

“The only thing we’ve learned about your brother is he’s not in Carlisle. I’ve sent Torquil to Caerlaverock with orders to find out exactly where they’ve taken him.”

“But Caerlaverock is even farther north. Why would we ride east?”

“Because the Lord Warden just headed for home. Now that he’s been attacked, he’ll pull together his entire army and I do not want to be anywhere near Carlisle when he does.”

“Do you think he’ll ride after us?” Ailish asked.

“’Tis a certainty.” James inclined his head toward her manacles. “I’ll knock those off once we stop to rest the horses.”

Ailish gave a nod before she gasped. “You’ve been wounded.”

He sheathed his sword. “’Tis but a battle