Chapter Twenty-Two

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

A listair didn't understand anything. And he hated being confused.

He noticed that Hannah obviously wished to run to Olivia's side, to protect her, but the man stood by Olivia, shaking his head.

"Nobody move," he warned, extracting a pistol from behind his back, and aiming it straight at Olivia. The sight was terrifying even to Alistair, let alone to Hannah, who was now witnessing her sister in mortal danger.

"Olivia!" Hannah shrieked helplessly, but she didn't move. She understood the gravity of the situation.

Time seemed to slow down, and Alistair knew that one wrong move could end in things turning for the worse. Much worse. He had to keep the situation under control. He was grateful to see that Hannah wasn't reacting on impulse, rather deciding to try and keep herself grounded, for the sake of her sister.

"Everybody just calm down," Alistair spoke, gesturing with his open palms. He then addressed Colby. "There is no need to hurt nae one. I daenae ken what yer intentions were or are now, but I assure ye that– "

"You don't even know who I am, do you?" Colby shook his head. There was incredulity in his voice, but also amusement that he would be able to tell his story again, that same story that had them all gathered here, in the most unlikely of places.

Alistair looked at the man. He had the same notion as before. Colby seemed familiar, but Alistair could not quite remember why. After all, he had shaken the hand of many a man in his lifetime. It would be impossible to expect him to remember them all.

"I am Colby Johnstone, the captain of the English guard," Colby explained slowly, accentuating every word. It was evident to everyone that he had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and now that this moment had finally arrived, he would use it to the best of his advantage.

"I had a friend once," Colby continued melancholically. "A friend, a mentor, a man I could turn to for anything. His name was William Livingstone."

Alistair vaguely remembered the name. During the war with the English, there were many casualties on both ends. Alistair himself had been responsible for many of them. At the time, the captain of the English guard was a man named Livingstone. Could it have been the same man?

"I watched you kill him in cold blood," Colby mustered through clenched teeth. Alistair could see his hand, the one that was holding the pistol, shaking. He knew that the man was unstable. He had to be, planning all of this in such a way so that no one would ever suspect him.

"I couldn't do anything about it then," Colby scoffed. "I was just a boy of eighteen, and you… you were the Laird McCann . I wanted to avenge my friend, but I knew that killing you in times of peace would be a sure guarantee of another war between the English and the Scots. I had to be more clever than that. Besides, I was a nobody, just another nameless soldier. Who in their right mind would believe a soldier over a laird?"

This time, Colby laughed. There was something maniacal in that laughter, which made Alistair's blood turn cold. He had seen many men lose their minds on the battlefield, in the grip of fear. But this was different. This man was different.

"You see, I had to find a way to kill you outside my uniform," Colby explained. "Only, you've always been such a private person. There was no chance of me, someone unknown to you, ever getting that close to you. So, I waited. I waited for such a long time that I almost thought I missed my chance. Then… it came in the guise of your wife."

Alistair locked his eyes with Hannah. There was bewilderment etched on her beautiful face. He couldn't imagine her having anything to do with this man.

"I learned of your upcoming wedding, and I knew I had to make myself one of the invited guests somehow," Colby persisted. "Once I managed to do that, I was in a predicament regarding how to get closer to you, now that I was in your home, but the solution presented itself."

He turned to Olivia, petting her on the cheek. She shuddered at his touch. It was obvious that she did not feel the same way about him as she did when she embarked on this journey.

"You were so eager to find love, my dear Olivia, that you jumped into my trap without even thinking," Colby seemed to be having fun, and Alistair's rage only grew. However, he knew that he had to bide his time and wait for the right moment to strike.

"Women are so easy to seduce," Colby scoffed when Olivia pulled away from his touch, disgusted by his superficial show of affection. "You simply tell them what they want to hear and they're eating out of your hand soon enough."

"Ye scoundrel!" Hannah shouted at the man. She was ready to attack him right that very moment, but Alistair managed to grab her by the elbow and keep her in place. He didn't have to say anything. She understood him but that didn't make her rage any less tangible.

"Call me what you wish," Colby's eyebrows knitted together in displeasure. "But it is your husband who is the real scoundrel here. He killed my friend, and ever since then, I have wanted nothing else but revenge. Finally, that moment has come."

"I killed Livingstone in a battle," Alistair reminded him, although he doubted it would make much of a difference. "That was the war. It wasn't personal. He was simply on the enemy's side, just like I was his enemy. It was him or me. And honestly, making that choice was easy. If ye want me to say I'm sorry… ye won't get an apology." Alistair snarled at the man angrily.

He knew that this wasn't a good approach, to antagonize an already deranged man. But he'd be damned if he would crawl before him and apologize. Not in a million years.

"I didn't bring you here for an apology," Colby's response was cold and calculated. "I brought you here to kill you."

"In that case, let the women go," Alistair demanded. "Me brother will remain here, as a witness to what happened, so whoever gets out of this room alive will have proof that he acted in self-defense."

"Bah!" Colby laughed again with that same maniacal laughter. "Let my leverage go and have you and your brother attack me at the same time? I don't think so."

"I give ye me word that I will fight ye honorably," Alistair said.

"Your word means nothing to me," Colby growled.

Things were heating up. Alistair could see that much. But he couldn't attack the man yet. Not with him so close to Olivia, and with that pistol pointed at her. It might go off by accident and… he dared not even think about it. He had to wait, which was the most difficult thing of all.

"Then, what do ye want from me?" Alistair was about to shout at him, but he was still keeping himself under control.

"I want you to die."

At that moment, Colby calmly pointed the pistol at Alistair and fired.

Hannah wasn't even thinking. She just saw the pistol pointed at Alistair, and she knew that she had to do something.

She lunged at Colby, pushing him to the side. The pistol still went off, but the bullet ended up in the wall, right behind Alistair. She saw his bewildered gaze, the realization of what could have happened, and finally the knowledge that he had her to thank for standing where he was, still alive.

She didn't have time to smile at him, or any such thing, because Colby seized the moment and jumped at Alistair, still holding his gun. The two men ended up rolling down on the floor, one of top of the other, changing places every couple of seconds.

"Hannah!" Olivia screamed for her sister, and Hannah rushed to her aid, wrapping her arms around her.

"It'll be all right," Hannah whispered, keeping her sister's body sheltered with her own.

Felix rushed over to their side. Hannah turned to him. "Ye have to help Alistair!" she pleaded desperately, noticing that Alistair was on the ground, holding Colby's hand, the one gripping the pistol. It could go off any moment.

"I cannae help him," Felix shook his head. "It wouldnae be accordin' to our code of honor. He needs to fight him off himself."

"What if he dies!?" Hannah exclaimed, her heart pounding like mad inside her chest.

"I need to keep ye two safe," Felix explained, in a voice that feared for his brother's safety, but with that same painful knowledge that if the roles were reversed, his brother would do the same.

The three of them watched Alistair and Colby rumble on the ground heavily, punching each other. Droplets of blood flew everywhere about. At one point, Colby dropped the pistol. Hannah thought this could be her chance to even out the chances.

She released Olivia from her grip and rushed towards the two men. Alistair was once again with his back on the ground, and Colby punched him in the face. The pistol was lying to Colby's right. She tried to seize a moment when he wasn't looking. She approached him, bent down, but before she could reach the pistol, he noticed her.

"You wench!" he shouted, punching her in the side so hard that she stumbled backwards and fell down.

Felix and Olivia rushed to her aid, pulling her towards the bed, where they seated her. Hannah could barely breathe from the onslaught of pain, which made her entire body tremble uncontrollably. She looked over at Alistair. He still had that bewildered look on his face, now even more so than before.

"Daenae ye ever hurt me wife again!" Alistair shouted as loudly as he could, getting up and pushing the man off of him.

He grabbed the man by the throat and started to choke him. Heavy, gurgling noises exploded all around the room. Olivia pressed her hands to her ears, so she wouldn't have to listen to them. Hannah couldn't take her eyes off the scene that was taking place right before her eyes.

Colby fell to the floor, and Alistair kept him pinned down with the entire weight of his body, his fingers curled around Colby's neck, gripping tighter and tighter.

Then, she saw the pistol. It was still where she last saw it. Colby noticed it, too. With the last morsels of energy, he reached for the pistol. His fingers blindly patted against the wooden floor, making even more noise than his throat.

Finally, he gripped the handle. He pulled the pistol towards him and aimed at Alistair.

"Nay!" Hannah shouted, a piercing cry ripping right out of the very depths of her soul.

Alistair looked down, seeing the pistol pointed at him. He released Colby's throat and gripped his hands instead. But it was too late. The gun went off. All Alistair managed to do was to move slightly to the side, so the bullet wouldn't go through his chest cavity, but rather through his side.

"Alistair!" Hannah shouted again, expecting him to fall down immediately.

Only, he didn't. Through sheer force of will, he used superhuman strength and smacked the gun out of Colby's hand. It fell too far out of reach. His hands then gripped Colby's throat again and squeezed for only a few seconds, until a snap was heard. Then, everything went quiet.

He started to sway, pulling his hands slowly back to himself, as if they weren't his own any longer, but someone else's, and he wasn't even sure if he wanted them back. Then, his entire body fell to the side, onto the ground, with a loud thumping noise.

"Alistair!" Hannah screamed, rushing over to his side.

She immediately noticed that he was lying in a pool of blood. "Quickly!" she exclaimed. "We need to stop the bleeding!"

She frantically looked about, then down at her gown. She tore the hems into long strips, then pointed at a small rag that was on the table by the bed. Olivia understood immediately. She rushed to get it. Hannah pressed the rag onto the bleeding would, tying it around Alistair's waist with the help of the gown strips.

"He'll bleed to death unless we get him to a healer!" Felix looked at his brother worriedly. Alistair's eyes were closed. His breathing was becoming shallow, ragged.

Hannah knew that it was a matter of time before something dreadful might happen. They didn't have a moment to lose.

"Ye have to get him to his horse," Hannah instructed Felix.

"Our healer is two hours' ride from here," Felix told them, sounding unconvinced.

"Where is she?" Hannah demanded.

"It's difficult to explain," Felix shook his head. "It's better that I leave with Alistair. I know where I'm goin'. Ye need to stay here and explain to the innkeeper what happened. The constables need to be called. If we all run away, it will nae look good for us."

Hannah had to admit that he was right. "But I'm comin' after ye as soon as we clear everythin' up."

"I'm nae expectin' anythin' less," Felix agreed.

Hannah dropped down to her knees, cupped Alistair's face with her hands and showered him with kisses. Olivia had to pull her away from him.

"They need to go," Olivia reminded her.

Hannah's trembling voice was on the verge of breaking. "Daenae ye die on me, ye hear?"

Felix bent down and picked up his brother's body, throwing him over his shoulder. He took him outside quickly. Hannah watched them go and her heart ached. She turned to Olivia and buried her face in her sister's embrace.

"It'll be all right," Olivia consoled her. "Alistair is a warrior. He will come back to ye."

"He'd better," Hannah murmured softly, wiping her tears. "'Now… we need to explain to everyone what happened. And we need to get our stories straight."