Page 85 of Taken By the Heartless Highlander
It sailed through the air like a falling star, all eyes tracking its trajectory as it bounced off the grass and landed squarely in the back of an old cart that had sat in the sun all day.
It only takes one spark to light a fire.
The cart burst into flames.Noah cursed as more torches followed. Several hay bales and a couple of small barrows flared in the darkness.
“Take a few guards and put out the fires,” he instructed. “No one is to attack any of me villagers. Subdue but do not harm,” he said to Callum.
“Aye, me laird. Ye men, with me,” Callum called as he ran forward through the gates with a small group of armed guards. He directed the men to fetch water from the fountain, and they quickly followed him with buckets filled to the brim.
Noah didn’t move.
He had learned in any battle that rushing in was the worst possible course of action. It was better to watch how the bodies moved and what their strategy was and act accordingly.
This crowd was a rabble. It might not have been leaderless, but it was not coordinated. Some people who had set fire to the outer reaches of the castle walls were old men, battered and bruised by life. They had probably never met anyone like Keira and only vaguely understood the concept of what Lucas called a witch.
Noah waited, wondering what would happen next. Small factions broke off from the main bulk of the throng and started hurling rocks at the castle walls. They were small missiles, but their aim was good. Many stones fell within inches of his boots.
He did not move.
He kept an eye on Callum, who stood back from the perpetrators, watching but not intervening. The crowd seemed riled up but not stupid—they could see the weapons the guards held—they had to know they did not stand a chance if they began fighting.
Noah walked slowly toward the gate, keeping his pace steady and certain. Multiple pairs of eyes latched onto his approach as the groups began to notice him. Many of them still held torches in their hands and all seemed to be waiting to see what the he might do.
Then, as Noah reached them and prepared to speak, a figure dashed in front of him.
Keira.
He threw out a hand to call her back as she leaped in front of him, her hands outstretched as though to protect him from the entire crowd herself.
“I am nay witch!”
CHAPTER32
Noah’s handsclosed around her shoulders, trying to drag her back inside. “What are ye doin’?” he demanded, his voice hoarse with anger.
She refused to move.
I will not allow him to risk his life like this.
From her vantage point at the window, she had watched as the crowd moved inexorably forward. The rage they emitted had been like a feverish pulse, throbbing up toward her through the air—a terrible pounding rhythm.
She kept her eyes on Noah until he started speaking with Lucas, and she knew that things were about to fall apart. The crowd was too wild, too angry to be subdued.
She had run from the room, convinced she would be able to reason some of them. She knew that she would not be able to win over the entire crowd. But if she could convince some of the people who knew her, the truth had to win out. She had to believe that they could not all have turned against her.
But as she stood before them, her eyes flitting wildly from face to face, she realized that she did not recognize anyone.
Who are these people? Where are the villagers from me clan?
“Keira, get back inside!” Noah’s voice was commanding. She felt the same stirring to obey that she always did in his presence, but she would not abandon him to fight alone.
“I cannae leave ye to deal with this alone. This is me burden too.”
“They will kill ye!” Noah growled, trying to drag her back inside, but in the same instant, she finally recognized someone in the crowd and broke from his hold, running forward as those closest to her fell quiet.
She stepped to the edge of the castle walls, looking about her at the flames leaping up on all sides. A few feet to her right, she saw Callum watching her, his sword in his hand, ready to protect her.
“Agnes!” she called above the hollering and shouting all about her.
