As David rode into Blackadder Castle as the laird and a free man for the last time, the memory of entering Holyrood Palace with his father and uncle on that fateful day made him break in a cold sweat. It was not that he feared death, but that he wanted to die with a sword in his hand, not chained and beaten.
This was not the death he would choose, but he would give his life a hundred times over to save Beatrix and Margaret—and to spare Alison the pain of losing them.
His time with her had been far too short. He wanted to have half a dozen children with her and to grow old together. Still, he counted himself a lucky man. He had been truly loved for a time by a dark-haired angel.
He dismounted and patted his father’s horse. One of his brothers could have the stallion now.
In short order, he called his men into the hall and told them about Patrick’s message and the exchange that would take place. The hall filled with raised voices as the men made their objections known. David raised his hand to silence the uproar.
“’Tis been an honor to lead you,” he said when they quieted. “But I’ve made my decision, and you’ll all follow it.”
He took Brian and Robbie aside. Time was growing short.
“Brian, I’m counting on ye to take Alison’s daughters to safety at Hume Castle after the exchange,” he said. “Ride fast. The Blackadders may try to follow.”
“I’ll get them and your brothers to Hume Castle,” Brian said. “But can we not rescue the lassies some other way?”
David remembered Patrick’s threat and shook his head.Alas, the health of children can be so precarious.He turned to Robbie.
“I may not return from this,” he said, putting hand on Robbie’s shoulder. “You’re young to take up this burden of leading the clan.”
“Lead the clan?”
“Brian will make the decisions and train ye for the next two years,” David said. “Listen well to him and Alison. With their guidance, you’ll be a wiser laird than I.”
“No one could match you,” Robbie said, blinking back tears. “Ye must come back to us.”
“I’ll certainly try,” he said, and put his arm around his brother’s shoulders.
“Don’t do this,” Robbie said.
“Patrick Blackadder wants my blood,” David said. “I can see no other way to persuade him to release Beatrix and Margaret.”
“Then put him off until we can think of one.”
“If we delay, he’ll murder them.” David thought of what happened to Alison’s aunts. With the right poison, it would be impossible to prove the wee lasses did not simply fall ill.
He called Will to him next. Ach, this was hard. He felt he already knew the man Robbie would become, but Will was still a half-written page. Though David could not divine precisely how this brother would turn out, Will was special and was sure to become a man worth knowing.
“I want ye to keep my sword for me,” he said, then he picked his brother up and gave him a bear hug like he used to when Will was a wee bairn. “Look after your mother.”
“They’re coming!” someone shouted.
David went up on the wall to watch his enemy’s arrival. Relief swept over him when he saw the small figures of Beatrix and Margaret riding with two of the Blackadder men. Until this moment, he had not been certain they were still alive.
“David!” The girls shouted and waved when they saw him.
They looked bedraggled but unharmed.Praise God. When the Blackadders halted, the girls were taken off the horses and held by a familiar, black-haired warrior.
“Ye cannot act on it now,” David said in Brian’s ear, “but that is Walter.”
Brian stared at Walter, as if memorizing his image. “I will kill him one day verra soon.”
“Good,” David said.
“What is your decision, Wedderburn?” Patrick shouted from below.
“I accept your terms,” David called back. “All of them.”