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King McCloud sat on his horse on the peak of the Highlands, flanked by his son, his top generals, and hundreds of his reedily at the MacGil&039;s side of the Ring On this su hair, and he peered down at their lush land with envy It was the land he&039;d alished for, the land his father and his father before hi, with more fertile land, deeper rivers, richer soil, and purer water His side of the Highlands, the McCloud side of the Ring, had been adequate, ood But it wasn&039;t choice It wasn&039;t the MacGil side He didn&039;t have the very best vineyards, the richest htest rays of the sun And McCloud, as his father before hie that The MacGils had enjoyed the better half of the Ring for long enough; noas time for the McClouds to have it
As McCloud sat at the very top of the Highlands, eyeing the MacGil side for the first time since he was a boy, he felt optih told hi he needed to know In the past, the MacGils had always guarded the Highlands so carefully that the McClouds could not even find a single way to pass through - and certainly could not sit on the high ground Now his htest skir an attack from their ancient adversaries It was either that or, McCloud supposed, the new MacGil king eak, unprepared Gareth He&039;dlike his father To think that the kingdohable
McCloud knew an opportunity when he saw it - and this one was once in a lifetime, one that could not be passed by It was a chance to strike the MacGils hard, once and for all, deep in their territory, before they had had a chance to reconvene fro that they would still be reeling, still unsure how to react under the rule of this novice king Thus far, he had been right
McCloud speculated even further, reasoned that MacGil&039;s assassination pointed to a division within the MacGil dynasty Soone about it very well There were chinks in the armor, all down the chain Thatto a fractured kingdo to the McClouds, after centuries, finally having their chance to crush the
McCloud sht of it, as close to a shtest bit at the corner of hishis thick, stiff beard All around hi hin of what to do, how to act What he saw below pleased hies, spread out in bucolic hills, s clothes out to dry, children playing There were entire fields of sheep, far fruits - and ht The MacGils had become sloppy
His smile broadened Soon, those would be his women Soon, those would be his sheep
"ATTACK!" McCloud shrieked
His men let out a cheer, a battle cry, all of theh
As one, they all charged, hundreds of them, down the mountain McCloud went first, as he always did, the wind in his hair, his sto as he stormed down the steep descent And as he kicked his horsefaster, ever faster, he had never felt so alive