Chapter 34

34

F inding Maeve was not easy —especially because he could not think of where she might be at first. Archer and Flynn had gone over the maps surrounding O'Kane in the shortest time possible, and he figured out the only reason why Maeve would run from him was because she was scared.

"Let her go," he yelled now, coming face to face with the English Lord. Archer's muscles tensed with the rage of his fury as he recalled all Maeve had told him. He stared at her, and his heart pounded with a heavy ache.

Her eyes were swollen, her lips bloodied, and the man yanked her by her hair, making her yelp and cry out in agony.

Archer dismounted his saddle before Flynn made his move. He marched towards Lord Hampton and repeated. "I said, let her go."

Lord Hampton had over a hundred men surrounding them. Archer hadn't expected he would bring this many men to the Highlands to retrieve Maeve. His obsession showed his madness, and Archer was resigned to ending him once and for all.

Maeve sobbed harder and tried to pull out of Hampton's reach.

"Archer, stay back," she cried, pleading with him as she shook her head. "He will kill you." She warned, and his heart sank.

Does she think so little of me? That I would not protect me own wife?

"Do you know how long I have waited for this moment? I have watched and waited for the right time to end your life, Laird Devlin. I have had my men watching you from the day you infiltrated my home. You took something from me, Laird Devlin. I've only come to take it back."

"She is nae an object that ye can acquire. She is a human being…a person."

"She is mine!" His sharp tone conveyed his anger. In his cold, blue eyes, Archer saw the range of intense anger pulsating there.

"She is my wife," Archer replied and took another menacing step closer. He was some inches away from Maeve, now, and she sobbed harder. Her eyes latched on to his as tears pooled there. He hoped she could understand the look he gave her when he tilted his head to one side and tried to plead with her to hold on just a second longer.

"If you take one more step closer, I'll make sure she watches you die." Archer froze then and counted seconds in his head. All of this will be over soon.

Gilbert Hampton might have outsmarted them all by hiding in plain sight and threatening the woman he loved, but he still had one disadvantage. He is an outlander.

Unlike Gilbert, Archer and Flynn knew every square inch of the grounds and paths around the mountain. It was how they figured out this was the closest and safest spot Gilbert Hampton could have camped all this while.

Archer only had to wait till he heard the next bagpipe sound from the distance. Then he would know that the skilled archers from O'Kane combined with a few of his own men were ready to attack.

He would win this fight against Lord Hampton once and for all.

Hampton would never hurt or threaten her again.

"What do ye want?" he asked, glancing to his side to catch Flynn's signal. "Ye need me to bow and surrender to ye? Ye need me to admit that ye won and that ye can have my wife?"

Hampton smirked, and the gleam of mischief reached his eyes.

"I want you to die," he answered, drew his sword, and leapt for Archer. Maeve crumbled to the ground once he moved, and Archer saw two of Lord Hampton's men grab here before he defended himself with his sword.

The fight began then. The clash of steel vibrated through the air and created a dance of blades in the air. Arrows sliced through the air at intervals. Archer dodged a few and blocked impact from another using one of the English men.

He had seen thousands fall in battle before, and so when the man's jaws slackened, he felt no remorse. All he cared for was Maeve and making sure she was safe.

Lord Hampton attacked him before he got the chance to rush to Maeve. She still struggled with the English soldiers dragging her away from the battle scene.

"Flynn," Archer yelled to Maeve's brother then motioned for him to go after Maeve.

Time suspended itself as they fought. Hampton had skill, but Archer managed to cut his thigh and force him to his knees after some minutes.

Archer poised his sword over Hampton's neck, holding him captive while he panted on his knees. "This is the end, Lord Hampton. Ye will have nae power over Maeve or her sisters ever again."

Flynn rescued Maeve from the English men, and he hugged her close before bringing her towards them. Lord Hampton spat blood on the ground then broke into a quaking cackle as he stared Archer in the eye.

"You think this is over because you have your sword pinned to my neck?"

Archer looked around them. Most of the English men lay dead on the ground with arrows in their head or chest, and the others who lived were at the mercy of his and Flynn's men.

"It looks to me like ye have lost, Lord Hampton. There is naethin' left for ye to do but die."

Archer lifted his blade and was about to slice through the man's throat when he spoke up again. "Wait!" Gilbert Hampton's eyes widened with a plea, and his lower lips quivered. "Please…Please do not kill me. My father…My father he…he will come for you, and he will bring war on all the Highlands. Even your Scottish king will not be able to save you. Even your old gods will not…"

The plea in his eyes vanished just before he stuck a blade in Archer's thigh. Archer grunted from the rippling pain that sliced through him.

The rest happened in a blur to Archer as his head swooned suddenly. Maeve moved before Archer or Flynn could react. She drew Flynn's sword and stuck its pointy end into Lord Hampton.

Gilbert's eyes widened, and Maeve cried out hoarsely.

"Maeve," Archer murmured before he dropped to the ground on his knees and let out a pained cry. He had never felt this lightheaded, and it was merely a blade in his thigh. Archer had suffered worse injuries and not once ever did he collapse in battle.

Flynn caught him just as he was about to fall backwards to the ground. Maeve shook violently as she slid to her knees with Lord Hampton.

His blood soaked into her hands, and she held the sword in his guts without moving. "It's over," she chanted. Archer heard her words, but he could not move or breathe through the ache in his chest.

"Poison," Flynn said when he pulled the blade out of Archer's thigh and pressed a hand down on the wound. "His blade was smeared with poison." Flynn showed him the streaks of herbs on the blade. It was a common trick used in battle. A poisoned blade could bring down the strongest of warriors in one cut.

"Maeve," Archer managed to call again. His strength ebbed out of him quickly, and he knew he had to say these words to her before he lost consciousness.

She finally moved from Gilbert and came to him. "I killed him," she cried out hysterically, her bloodied hands shaking. "Archer…Oh goodness…" She plastered those hands to his cheeks and lowered her lips to kiss him just like he wanted.

"I dinnae have much time," he began, fighting the pain and dizziness. "I love ye, Maeve. I love ye…I love…"

"Oh, Archer, I love you too," she sobbed. "I should have told you then. I should have said it, but I wanted to protect everyone from Gilbert. He wanted me…I had to end this myself. I had too…"

Archer hushed her, smoothed her hair out of the way, then brought her down to kiss him again. In the distance he heard Flynn ordering his men in Gaelic. Archer wanted one last moment with the woman he loved, so he kissed her deeper.

"I love ye," he whispered one more time as the world around them faded. He would die a happy man because he knew she loved him too.

Archer had experienced pain and devastation after his mother died. He had never loved anyone, but Maeve made him whole, and she made him look forward to a brighter future.

As he slowly faded, her insistent voice called on him and begged him to stay awake. He felt steady hands lift him from the ground to the horse, and Maeve followed. The last thing Archer recalled as he finally gave into the bliss was Maeve chanting her love for him with tears in those lovely blue eyes.