Free Highland Vengeance by Saydee Bennett Page B

are capable of,” Liam
chimed in.
    Camden was grateful he rode in front so
that his wife could not see the large smile on his face. The fury
that was clear in her voice was very amusing. Olivia certainly
thought of herself as brave and she was far more so than he
expected. He wondered how she would respond when she saw his men
training. Their skills and power made most grown men tremble in
fear.
    Olivia was so mad she wanted to spit in
anger. She tried hard to compose herself and not shout all the
wicked things she was thinking in her mind.
    “ I have only seen that the
Highland men seem to be pigheaded and dim-witted. You obviously
have only weak women here and you have never seen what a woman like
I can do,” she snapped.
    Just as she had finished her ranting,
they reached the valley where Camden had declared his rule to the
ungoverned men and he watched as they all started gathering to
receive him. It was apparent that they had spread the word
throughout the land of the new laird because their numbers had
greatly increased in size. By Camden’s estimate there were at least
ten times the amount of men here than before. He was pleased and
anxious to train these men. The laird would create a powerful army
of warriors to defeat the McKay clan.
    As Camden and Olivia dismounted their
horses, a young boy of about twelve years came running up to them.
He quickly fell to one knee and bowed his head.
    “ I pledge my loyalty to ye
Laird Sinclair,” he said.
    “ What is your name boy?”
Camden asked.
    “ Tristan,
m’laird.”
    “ Stand and meet my wife,
this is Lady Sinclair.”
    Tristan immediately bowed again.
“M’lady.”
    “ Take our horses and tie
them up. See to their needs and you shall be rewarded,” Camden said
firmly.
    “ Yes m’laird,” Tristan said
with excitement.
    Camden turned to the nomads that
watched him and the boy interacting.
    “ I am pleased with this
boy’s devotion for his laird. I have said this before and I will
say this again. Everyone here shall swear their loyalty to me now
as their laird or you will prepare to fight me to the death and I
will not be the one that dies,” Camden ordered.
    As the warriors in Camden’s guard stood
behind their laird, all of the lawless men took to one knee and
bowed their heads.
    “ Do you vow to be loyal and
learn to fight as true Highland warriors?” Camden
yelled.
    The crowd quickly screamed “aye” to
their new laird.
    “ Do you swear to fight for
me and my guard in life and in death?” He yelled.
    More cheers and “ayes” came among the
men.
    “ We shall unite as one and
if any decide to cause grievance among us they shall answer to me,”
Camden demanded.
    Olivia watched in awe as her husband
commanded respect and received it from the newly formed clan. How
easy it must be, she thought, for a man to gain leadership. Not
minutes earlier, Olivia was trying hard to make the men believe she
was an equal and they clearly were not going to give in. Camden
just rode in here with his guard and took power over these men. Of
course, they looked as if they needed a fierce leader for not one
of them had the size and strength that the Sinclair warriors had.
The clan members barely reached their laird’s shoulders and Olivia
noticed that even she was taller than some of the men.
    The new clan began introducing
themselves to their laird and his guard. Olivia stood to the side
as she watched her husband interact with the people and she could
not help but grin when he smiled. Some of the new men openly gaped
at Olivia as her beaming smile captivated those who saw
her.
    “ Stop drooling over your
laird’s wife,” Liam snarled at the men.
    Suddenly, a seven-foot wall of warriors
surrounded Olivia as the Sinclair men blocked her from everyone’s
view. Camden could immediately tell there was going to be a problem
if he did not calm the matter quickly. Olivia thought they were
being ridiculous for certainly nobody was drooling over her. She
thought that