Keira's Fire

Chapter 17

With every mile we covered, the group's collective excitement increased. By the time we were roughly three days journey from the northern kingdom, the men were practically giddy. Being able to conduct a few spontaneous raids along the way, fueled the emotional climate even more.

I was chomping at the bit to get to it, like everyone else, but the hike was daunting. We began traveling several hours before sundown every day and waked through the night so as not to risk attracting attention in unknown areas with the glare and smoke of campfires.

The shift in waking and sleeping schedules was hard enough to put up with without the rigorous travel required to make it north in time. I despised the constant reminder that I didn't possess as much stamina as the men did. They seemed fine while I felt drained and clumsy much of the time. My only consolation was the prospect of having a few days rest before the battle would begin.

Trailing behind as usual, I attempted to step over a small fallen tree. Poor sleep must have skewed my perception because I misjudged the distance and my foot caught before I could clear the obstruction. Just before my face had the chance to be planted on the ground, strong hands grasped my waist, steadying me. When I regained my balance, I turned to see that those hands belonged to William.

Things had been strange with William ever since Owen and I had gotten closer. With the exception of my brothers, everyone was comforted when we started getting along so well. I didn't want to admit it at the time, but my initial discrimination of Owen had driven a wedge of unease into our camp. Despite my previous mistake, the men still looked to me as a leader and took the cue from my distrust. They all breathed a sigh of relief when my attitude changed.

All but William anyway. He was clearly more comfortable when I openly despised Owen. Once that changed, he became sullen and withdrawn. At least around me.

I didn't miss the teasing and flirting, per se, but that had always been our relationship. Without it, I wasn't sure how to act around him. Which only really bothered me because we still fought side by side many times, and the tension never let up. Tension was a liability in our particular existence and I didn't know how to alleviate it. I felt badly that William's ego was apparently bruised. Even more so because I knew his feelings for me ran pretty deep. However I wasn't about to apologize when I told him all along that I didn't share his feelings and never would. Still, awkward was becoming a massive understatement in reference to my interaction with him.

Before I could mumble a thank-you, William released me, almost roughly, and breezed by.

"Watch yourself, Keira," he threw over his shoulder. "I don't have time to babysit you."

Using my name was another change to our relationship. Before this, I could only remember a handful of times when he actually used my name, basically the entire time I'd known him. It was just odd.

Of course, his comment had my temper rising, but I had no rebuttal. I was lagging behind, and I hated it.

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I was relieved when the signal came for yet another impromptu raid. It meant a nice break and a chance to vent my irritation over being the one least physically capable of our journey. I despised it when I wasn't the best at a particular task. Being the absolute worst, was a new kind of humiliating irritation.

Quietly following the others for about half a mile, I took my place to peer at the soldiers who were to be our newest targets. I couldn't help thinking that their deaths were well deserved.

In what seemed to be no time at all, the attack signal came and the soldiers quickly fell. It was a tad disappointing since there hadn't been very many of them. I was only able to shoot one. But I suppose I could kill plenty of them in a week when we launched our attack.

Sighing, I headed into the campsite, which was now devoid of life. As I was the first to reach it, I did a quick assessment to make sure no one was left alive. When we began the raids, we hadn't thought to check that the soldiers were actually all dead. As a result, some of our men sustained a few injuries, which were thankfully, not fatal, and a few of the soldiers escaped. Which is probably where the rumors about me originated.

My eyes zeroed in on one man who didn't have an arrow stuck in him. Quickly drawing my sword, I stalked over to the man, pushing him face-up with my foot. Normally I wouldn't hesitate to end the man's life, but the joyous, almost manic look on his face gave me pause.

"Kill me and you're all dead, Sweetheart." His tone was oddly confident for an unarmed man with a sword pointed at him.

Reading my confusion and disbelief, he laughed. "Look around."

I pressed the edge of my sword to his throat and decided to indulge his inane request before killing him.

All the blood drained from my face and my eyes widened in fear when I understood the man's glee. We were literally surrounded by soldiers, vastly outnumbered, and painfully unprepared to fight. The men had already stowed their weapons and were rifling through the things left on the ground. Most hadn't noticed the danger they were in yet.

My alarmed gaze found Jeremy. He must have sensed something because at that precise moment he glanced up to meet my eyes before looking around, paling quickly.

I couldn't even find my voice to alert everyone that it was a trap. I was completely frozen with shock.

"Halt!" The command came, making me jump. The man at my feet laughed again.

Watching the shock and fear register across the faces of my allies, made me realize how young we all were. Jeremy was the oldest and he was only twenty-four. And now we would all be slaughtered.

Meeting Stephen's eyes and then Jeremy's, I tried to communicate that I loved them before we died. I was extremely grateful that Aaron, James, and Michael were safely tucked away in the woods. Finding William's gaze, I sent him a look of apology for hurting him, even unintentionally. Whether I should have to apologize or not was irrelevant now.

Soldiers closed in on us with swords drawn, while a wave of them stood at a distance with arrows ready to fire. Our men all looked around, unsure of whether they should attempt to fight or not. Resistance would mean instant death, and if they wanted us dead, we would be by now. But what if whatever they had planned was worse than a simple arrow to the heart?

I gripped my sword tighter, paralyzed with the same indecision the men displayed.

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice met my ears, making me wish they'd killed us all already. Hearing that voice meant that this was my worst fear realized. I was helpless and at the mercy of the one man I hated and feared more than any other. The one man who most assuredly would have plans for me.

The captain finally caught me.