The Highlander

Chapter Thirty One

"Ye won't touch Rose!" Graham was taller, scarier and meaner than I had ever seen him before. He stood near seven feet tall, his back arches as he looked down with scorn and hatred and the furious, yet shaking, cluster of warriors.

There were at lest five, seven at the most, but I couldn't see exactly how many as they were currently battling the other warriors and seemed to meld together until the enemy couldn't be told apart from the ally.

The man Graham was shouting at lunged for him and fists went flying in all directions but it wasn't long till I realised Graham had the upper hand and the other smaller, stockier warrior was tiring.

But just as Graham was going to land the final blow he was attacked from behind. Another warrior had launched himself on Graham's back, pressing a dagger hard against Graham's throat.

"One more move and ye die." He hissed in Graham's ear. Graham went rigid but the look of pure anger was still evident on his face. He dropped his own sword and less than a second later it was caught by Finn who swung it at the assailant and cut him down, a thin line of red on his back indicating where he had been hit.

The man fell to the ground unmoving. Blood seeped from the wound and his eyes were open, dead but open. No one moved to stop Finn as he attacked the other men fighting. He struck down two more men before the fighting stopped and those against my life and those for it retreated to opposite sides.

"Rose needs to die!" One of the men shouted to the crowd around us like a preacher to the villagers. Some nodded and joined his small group while the other's looked warily around or shouted back, telling them to shut up.

The three dead men lay on the ground in between the two groups at at the centre of the circle of observers surrounding us. No one moved them, no one mourned them. We were all silent for a moment.

"No one else dies. Especially Rose." Finlay barked at the group of men. One surged forwards but their leader held him back and replied, "She came back from the dead! What part of that doesn't scream trouble and danger to ye?"

"I don't care," Finn bit back, "and neither should you. Yer mission is to take down McKenzie and that's it."

"How can we do that when we have a witch in our ranks? She's meant to be dead not alive! We just have to kill her, put her in the ground where she's meant to be." The man shouted back, his face was red and puffy with anger and his fist was enclosed around the hilt of his sword.

"I'll put ye on the ground before ye even lay a finger on her." Finn growled taking a threatening step forwards. "I don't want to kill anymore men. If ye even have the slightest feeling or thoughts of killing Rose then ye leave now. If ye try to kill her then I kill ye."

The group of men hesitated for a moment, surprised that their Laird and leader was picking a woman over them but they picked up their fallen swords and bags before storming out of the camp and deep into the forest. A few others from the crowd surrounding us left but most stood rigid, watching the others leave.

Calum stepped forwards and Finn turned to him, "What about ye?"

"She is my cousin's betrothed. I wouldn't touch her. I swear it." Calum replied with a curt no before stepping back into the crowd. His change in behaviour and attitude was surprising as when we first met he called me a whore multiple times and tried to get Finn to sell me to slave traders.

"Pack up men. We leave now." Finn said and turned from them, grabbing my upper arm to haul me behind him as he left the circle of warriors and dead men behind.

My feet dragged and I had to jog or risk losing my arm. Trying to pull from him I shouted at him to let me go, the warriors around us looking at Finn as he hauled me back to the tent. They didn't interfere. I was angry at Finn, at him pulling and tugging me around like he dictated where I went, where my life went. I may only be young but I was still in control of my won life, or at least I thought I was.