Five
“I hope he goes down as fast as his brother did,” Marsaili muttered under her breath as she stared at Callum, who was striding to the center of the field.
“Ye dunnae mean that,” Maria replied. “Ye may detest the man, but from what I’ve overheard from the people talking around us, he and his brother are considered verra honorable and Cedric is reviled. I’ve a bit of hope that Laird Grant will set ye free if he wins ye, but I’ve nary hope Cedric will free me.”
“I’ll free ye somehow,” Marsaili assured Maria. “We can tell him of yer ties to yer sister, who is now part of his clan.”
“Nay,” Maria said. “I will nae bring trouble to my sister and her new husband. Dunnae say a word.”
“Ye’re certain?” Marsaili asked, staring at Callum.
“Aye,” Maria replied.
Marsaili nodded as she continued to watch Callum. She told herself it was because she wanted to see him felled, but the weight of the lie pressed on her chest. She rubbed it absently as she gawked.
Damn the Scot, he was even more handsome than she had remembered, and with every piece of his clothing removed but his braies, which clung to his hips, she didn’t even have to rummage around in her memory to pull up a mental picture of how Callum’s body had looked as if it were made of stone.
“God’s teeth, that Scot is a sight to behold,” Maria murmured. “Are ye certain ye dunnae wish to tell him of the son the two of ye share?”
Marsaili nodded. “I’m certain. I dunnae trust him. I kinnae be sure he’d nae take our bairn from me, and I’ll nae chance it. The woman he is to marry is barren; our son will likely be his only heir. I fear he might take him from me and give him to his new wife to raise.”
“Ye have good reason to fear and keep yer secret, then,” Maria agreed.
Marsaili heated simply watching Callum circle his massive shoulders to loosen them before the fight. With each roll, his muscles rippled. It disgusted her that she still felt such desire for a man who had used and betrayed her. Suddenly, his gaze locked on her, sharp and assessing.
She boldly returned his stare, refusing to be cowed. Was he trying to ascertain how she had ended up here, as the possession of a man like Cedric? What story would she tell Callum if he won her in this fight? Did he think himself so compelling that she would lie with him again like a fool?
She vowed never to allow him to touch her again. But as she considered Cedric and Callum, she had to admit, she preferred for Callum win her. He, at least, seemed to possess the barest hint of honor—but only the barest. Mayhap he’d not force himself upon her as Cedric would undoubtedly do. The thought of being ravaged made her skin crawl.
Callum broke eye contact with her as Cedric approached him, and she keenly felt the loss of his gaze on her—too keenly. She could not fall under his spell again. The horn blasted, marking the beginning of the fight, and she sucked in a sharp breath as Cedric swung first, his fists almost connecting with Callum’s chin. But Callum ducked down at the last possible second and came up fast with a jab to Cedric’s stomach. She could see the man gasp, but he recovered quickly, swinging out with his left hand. This time, his fist slammed into Callum’s jaw. His head jerked to the left, but with a quick shake, he rebounded, delivering two jabs to Cedric’s face. Blood immediately gushed from the man’s nose and leaked from his lip.
He swiped the blood away and kicked out at Callum’s knee. Callum jumped back, evading the move. With a roar, Cedric lunged at Callum, and the two men went down in a tangle of arms and legs. Suddenly, Marsaili saw a flash of steel, and as she realized that Cedric intended to win the fight by cheating and using a dagger, she cried out to Callum, “Careful! He has a weapon in his right hand!”
A shocked murmur rose from the crowd as Callum rolled away from Cedric just as the man brought his dagger down very near Callum’s neck.
“Coward!” someone from the crowd yelled, and shouts of Cedric being treacherous started all around her.
“Why is nae anyone intervening to stop the fight?” she cried out as she turned to Maria.
Marsaili winced at the sight of Callum’s brother, Brice, beside Maria. When had the man come to stand there?
He studied Marsaili for a moment, as if he was trying to decide if he was going to answer her. “We dunnae stop the fight because to do so would make it appear as if Callum needs us to help him.”
“But the fight is nae fair!” she shouted.
Callum jumped backward when Cedric swiped the dagger out at him, and Marsaili’s breath hitched.
“Much in life is nae fair,” Brice replied, an odd tension in his voice. “Dunnae fash yerself for Callum. He has nae ever lost a one-on-one battle.”
“I’m nae fashed,” she snapped, though her heart was racing and her breath was ragged.
“Ye appear to care for him still,” Brice said in low tones, shocking her.
“He told ye about me?”
Brice gave her an uneasy look but nodded.
She could only imagine how Callum must have boasted of the conquest. She ground her teeth, then glared at Brice. “Just because I dunnae wish to see a man killed dunnae mean I care for him,” she whispered furiously. Yet, a breath later, when Callum knocked the dagger out of Cedric’s hand, then brought the man to his knees, there was no repressing the relieved exhalation that escaped her. “He won,” she said, both glad and fearful at once. Yes, she had rid herself of Cedric, but she still needed to escape Callum, and she’d prefer not to have a conversation with the man at all if she could help it.
