determined to set him straight.
'Show me the companions you keep and I'll tell you who you are. My mother taught me that valuable lesson, but I doubt either one of you will understand the meaning behind it. I happen to keep very good companions. My clan's my family, and each one of us would die to keep the others safe. They're all proud and honorable men and women.'
She shook her head at the two barons. Disgust echoed in her voice when she continued. 'Nay, you can't understand. How could you? You don't know what honor is. Look at your companions. You cannot turn your back on each other for fear of getting a knife between your shoulders. You would both kill your own fathers if it meant you would gain more power. You, Raulf, have broken every commandment, and so has your overlord. You and Williams both conspired with your king to commit one heinous crime after another. You will pay for your sins one day in the future, and very soon now you will pay for forcing me to leave my sanctuary. You're demented if you believe you can get away with this atrocity. If my husband has any faults at all, it is that he is a terribly possessive man. Oh, Gabriel will come after me all right. You have dared to take away the woman he loves. He won't show you any mercy; and when you're dead, I doubt God will show you much mercy either. You are a demon, Raulf, and Gabriel is my very own archangel. He will crush you.'
Raulf's fury became uncontrollable. His roar echoed throughout the hall. Johanna braced herself for his attack and reached for her dagger.
Raulf ran toward her. He was just a few feet away when he raised his fist in preparation for the first blow he would deliver.
An arrow stopped his advance. It went completely through his closed fist. Raulf's bellow of rage turned into a scream of agony. He staggered backward and looked up to find the man who had attacked him.
They were everywhere.
The balcony was filled with warriors wearing the MacBain plaid. They surrounded the great hall on all sides. All but one soldier had arrows knotched to their bows. Baron Raulf was in their sights.
There was but a second or two of awareness in Raulf's eyes before he died, recognition, too, perhaps, as he stared at the giant warrior standing directly above Johanna. Gabriel's gaze was locked on the baron. He slowly reached back to take a second arrow from his carrier.
Death captured Raulf's expression of terror. The next arrow ended his life. It penetrated the center of his forehead. And then another arrow and another and another sliced through the stillness to cut into the target. The force of so many arrows striking at the same time propelled Raulf backward and upward; and when he finally collapsed to the floor, there were over fifty arrows lodged in his body.
Lucifer had his soul.
Johanna turned around and looked up. Gabriel stood above her. Nicholas was at his side. Both warriors handed their bows and carriers to the soldiers standing behind them, then turned to come downstairs. All of the other clansmen had fresh arrows knotched in preparation. Their target was Baron Williams who was now cowering in the corner of the hall.
She didn't wait for Gabriel to come to her. As soon as he reached the entrance of the hall, she dropped her dagger and ran to him.
He wouldn't let her hug him. He wouldn't even look at her. His gaze was fully directed on Baron Williams. 'This isn't finished yet,' he announced in a gruff tone of voice. He gently pushed her behind his back. 'You may show me your affection later, wife.'
Her next remark surely saved Williams's life. Gabriel started forward but stopped when he caught her whispered reply. 'And you may explain your reason for being so tardy, m'lord.'
A slow smile eased his frown. He continued on across the hall; grabbed Williams by his shoulders, forcing him to stand up; and then slammed his fist into his face.
'You're going to live for one purpose only,' Gabriel announced. 'You're going to take a message to your king and save me the journey. I've been separated from my wife long enough, and I cannot stomach the notion of having to look upon King John.'
Blood was pouring down from Baron Williams's broken nose. 'Yes, yes,' he stammered out. 'I'll take any message you wish to give me.'
Gabriel dragged the baron over to the table and shoved him into a chair.
Her husband's voice was too low for Johanna to hear what he was saying to Williams. She tried to walk closer but suddenly found herself surrounded by soldiers who deliberately blocked her path.
Nicholas also wanted to find out what Gabriel was telling the baron. The soldiers wouldn't let him get any closer. He turned to his sister, noticed she was staring at Raulf, and immediately walked over to put himself in front of her.
'Do not look at him,' Nicholas ordered. 'He can't hurt you anymore. He's dead.'
It was a ridiculous thing to say, given the fact that arrows covered Raulf's body from head to feet. She was about to point out that fact to her brother when he spoke again. He gave her his boast, not his confession.
'I killed him.'
Keith stepped forward. 'Nay, Nicholas. I killed him,' he announced in a near shout.
Calum came forward next. 'Nicholas, you didn't even have your arrow at the ready when I killed him.'
Suddenly every soldier in the hall was shouting his boast that he'd been the one to end Baron Raulf's life. Johanna didn't understand what was happening or why it seemed so important for each man to claim he'd been the one responsible for killing the baron.
Then Nicholas smiled. He noticed her confusion and hastened to explain. 'Your husband is protecting me from my own king, Johanna. Gabriel won't ever admit it, of course, but he's making damned certain I can't be blamed for killing another baron. Each one of his men will continue to boast the kill. However,' he added when Keith nodded, 'it is a fact that I really did kill him.'
'Nay, boy, I killed him,' Laird MacKay shouted from the balcony.
And then it started all over again. The hall was echoing with shouts when Gabriel finished with Baron Williams. He hauled him to his feet, looked around him, and nodded with satisfaction. He waited until the shouting had died down, then said to Williams, 'You will tell your king at least sixty men took credit for killing his favored baron.'
'Yes,' Williams said. 'I'll tell him.'
'And after you've given him my other important message, I suggest you do one last thing to please me.'
'Anything,' Williams promised. 'I'll do anything.'
Gabriel stared at the man a long minute before giving him his final instruction.
'Hide.'
He didn't need to say more. Williams fully understood his message. He nodded and ran out of the hall.
Gabriel watched him leave and then turned around. He ordered two soldiers to remove the dead body from the hall. Lindsay and Michael hurried forward to take care of the chore.
Nicholas and Johanna stood side by side across the room with Keith and Calum.
'It's finished, little sister,' Nicholas whispered. He put his arm around Johanna's shoulders and pulled her up against him. 'He can't ever hurt you again.'
'Yes,' she replied. 'It's finished, and now you will let go of your guilt. You were never responsible for what happened to me in the past. I was in charge of my own destiny, even in those most difficult times.'
Her brother shook his head. 'I should have known,' he said. 'I should have protected you.'
She tilted her head to look up at him. 'That's why you married Clare, isn't it? You were protecting her.'
'Someone had to,' he admitted.
Johanna smiled. She decided the reasons why her brother married Clare weren't important. What mattered was their future together. Clare, Johanna believed, would eventually fall in love with Nicholas. He was such a good, kind-hearted man. Clare would realize her good fortune in time. And Nicholas would also grow to love her. Clare was a sweet woman. Aye, Johanna decided. It was going to be a sound marriage.
Gabriel was staring at her. Laird MacKay was standing by his side and waving his hands in agitation as he talked to Johanna's husband. Every now and then Gabriel would shake his head.
'I wonder what has Laird MacKay upset,' Johanna remarked.
'He's probably wanting to raid the castle before they let the Gillevrey laird out of the cellar,' Nicholas
