Page 92 of Conquer the Highlander

Titus took a defensive stance, the sword leveled. “Ye’ve seen me fight in the arena,” he said. “Are ye sure ye want tae tangle with me? Because the first man I’m going tae cut down is Conan.”

“Not if I get tae ye first.”

“Ye’ll never make it,” Titus said. “Yer son will die right before yer eyes if ye make another move.”

Ambrose’s jaw was ticking furiously, his anger having reached the tipping point from control to chaos. He yelled a command to his men, who started to move, and Titus prepared for the onslaught, his sword arcing in the morning light.

But then, a strange thing happened.

Suddenly, men were bolting out of the trees, pouncing on Ambrose’s armed men. Startled, Titus realized that he was seeing Axel, Wendell, and Milo, heavily armed. His shock grew when he watched as a large figure in heavy armor moved out of the trees and took down Conan, cutting through the man’s neck and sending his head spinning to the cold, wet earth.

Clegg made the first kill.

Men were rushing past Titus from behind. Cam, Brody, Christos, Aurelius, and Galan charged headlong into the remaining armed soldiers, including Ambrose, who started to scream when he realized they were being overrun by armed men.

It was so very strange, as if everything was moving in slow motion, yet everything was moving with lightning speed. Life and death were being played out before Titus’ eyes as his friends descended on Ambrose’s men. But hearing Ambrose scream at the sight of his headless son propelled Titus into action.

The Eagle attacked.

His target was, in fact, Ambrose, who was trying to run. Titus ran past Cam, who was wrestling with a particularly large soldier, and Titus went airborne as he rushed by, using a tree as leverage. He kicked off the tree trunk, propelled himself through the air, and kicked Cam’s opponent in the head so hard that he broke the man’s neck.

As the soldier went down, Titus landed on the ground, but his feet were still moving. They never stopped. He closed in on Ambrose as the man scrambled to get away, but Clegg was suddenly between them. Titus had to sidestep Clegg or risk running into the man as Clegg used Et Victor to slice through Ambrose’s chest.

In a heartbeat, Ambrose Stewart was dead.

It was over before it barely began.

In the sudden stillness, Titus stood over Ambrose and watched the man bleed out all over the sweet Scottish earth. When he turned to look at Clegg questioningly, to ask him why he had killed Ambrose, Clegg removed his helm and looked Titus in the eyes.

“You’ll not have this on your conscience, Titus,” he said quietly, knowing what the man was thinking. “This way, your path to Heaven will be easier for not having killed a member of your own family.”

Titus looked at the man in shock and perhaps some gratitude. “But ye killed him.”

Clegg pondered that statement, looking over to the son he’d also killed. As Axel and Cam and Brody and the others made sure everyone else was dead, Clegg considered his response.

“This is not something you need to be burdened with on your wedding day,” he said. “Let this be the first day of the rest of your life with your new bride, Titus. Do not let it be the day you killed a cousin because he threatened you. Let that be my privilege – let it be the privilege for all of us. Titus, this man has been making your life hell since you were a child. You have finally found happiness and he was intent to ruin it. I am an old warrior; my path to hell is already set. One or two more dead men on my soul will not matter, but you… you deserved better than what you received. This is our gift to you, lad – the gift of peace.”

Titus was stunned. He looked around at the men of the Ludus Caledonia: Axel, the stern manager, Wendell and Milo who were long-time trainers, Aurelius and Christos and Galan who were his dear friends. And finally, Cam and Brody, the best friends a man could ever have. Titus had wondered where they’d gone to that morning, and now he knew.

They had gone to protect him.

There was a lump in his throat at the realization.

“I should have known,” he said, looking to the men who had just saved his life. “I should have known that I was not alone, but it is the first time in my life when I can say that with confidence. As a man who never had friends until I came tae The Cal… nay, as a man who never had brothers until I came tae The Cal, we are indeed a clan of brothers. Ye just proved it.”

Clegg put a meaty hand on Titus’ shoulder. “In my case, it was purely selfish,” he said, handing his sword over to Axel because he was already exhausted having swung the thing. “Now, I will not have to send you to Berwick. You can remain here as my top warrior and continue to make me money. But for the rest of these men… aye, they are your brothers. You are most fortunate, Titus.”

As Titus came to grips with what had happened, Axel approached Clegg. “And the bodies, my lord?” he asked. “What will you have me do with them?”

Clegg’s silver eyes surveyed the carnage. As a man of numerous battles, of negotiations, contracts, sieges, and surrenders, he knew better than anyone else what had to be done in a case like this.

It was a cold-hearted, but necessary, command.

“Burn them,” he said quietly. “Burn everything and sink the ashes in the lake to the north. Find the carriage, for it must be nearby, and burn that, too. No trace, Axel.”

Axel understood. “No trace, my lord.”

With that, Axel, Wendell, and Milo headed off to summon some soldiers to help him as Titus went over to Cam, Brody, Galan, Christos, and Aurelius. They were all standing in a semi-circle, surveying the ruins of their short-lived fight.