The Bard (Highland Heroes #5) - Maeve Greyson Page 0,83

risen had someone exited the room. The wily man had taken precautions in case he dozed off. With his couch pulled close to the door, Sutherland felt sure the man had stretched his legs across the threshold, just as he had done earlier. Anyone leaving with Sorcha would’ve tripped across him.

“Help me find it, Magnus, or get the chief so he can show us where it is. There has to be a secret passage leading out of this damned room.”

“We need more light.” Magnus went to the hearth, snatched up a taper, and touched it to the flames. With the burning brand, he lit every candle in the room and ripped open the draperies at each set of windows. Morning was almost full upon them, and thankfully, the pair of windows on either side of the headboard faced the east.

“I see nothing!” Sutherland pounded on the walls. “Greyloch!”

“The moon turret,” the old chief shouted as he charged back into the room. “Sorcha’s escape passage is hidden in the turret.” He pointed at an arched wooden door centered in the curve at the far corner of the room.

Sutherland yanked it open, examining the entry, the floor, and the walls. Thankfully, he found no blood. Just a scattering of downy feathers he could only assume came from Sorcha’s bedding. She had to still be alive. He would not consider otherwise.

“Twist that far torch holder to the right, then step back. The wall will swing wide and reveal steps to the passages,” Greyloch instructed from the doorway. “Ye can either go up to the roof or down to only God knows where. There’s several connecting passages, and damned things move. Walls open and close like a feckin’ puzzle. I’ve never used this side of the maze. ’Twas a favorite game of hers and her mother’s of hiding and searching for one another in it.”

“Who else knows these tunnels?” Sutherland yanked on the blackened bit of iron, then stepped back as the wall opened.

“I feel certain Jenny does,” Greyloch said, his voice cracking. “When they were both wee things, they used it to sneak back and forth between their rooms when they shouldha been fast asleep.”

“Aye, well someone other than Jenny and Sorcha knows of it. Who else?” Now was not the time for emotional reminiscing. Sutherland took the lantern Magnus provided and started down the steps.

“Wait!” Magnus called out. He disappeared for a few moments, then returned with Sutherland’s sword and another lantern. “Yer weapon. I’ll guard the back.”

Sutherland took the sword and pointed it at Greyloch. “Find out who has gone missing other than Sorcha. That will reveal our fiend in case poor Jenny doesna awaken for a while—or ever.”

“It shall be done.” Greyloch turned to go, then paused and turned back. “Find my bairn,” he ordered quietly. “And bring me that bastard’s head, aye?”

“It shall be done,” Sutherland promised, echoing the chief’s own words. He cast the light on the stretch of steps, thankful that these appeared to be a great deal drier and in better condition than the ones leading down to the dungeons. At least the kidnapper wouldn’t have lost his footing while carrying Sorcha. Pausing, he crouched, searching for any kind of sign that someone had recently accessed that way.

“Any footsteps or markings?” Magnus lent his own lantern-light to the task. “I canna tell a thing in this accursed darkness, especially with the blackness of these stones.”

“I canna either.” Sutherland resumed their downward journey. “Once we get off these steps and hit the passages…maybe then.” They traveled farther with little success at finding any signs, coming to a halt when they reached a connecting passage. “I hate these damned halls within the walls.” He shone his light down in the new direction, then shone it back on the route they were currently on.

“Every good keep has escape tunnels,” Magnus said as he walked a few steps down the new way. “They’ve saved many a life. Wait here while I go a bit farther this way and see what I can see, ye ken?”

“Nay.” There was no way in hell he could stand still and wait for anything. “I’ll keep to this path. If ye find nothing, backtrack and catch up with me.” He scored a large cross on the wall with his sgian dhu, then added an arrow pointing in the direction he planned to take. “To keep us straight, ye ken?”

“Good plan. I’ll mark this one to show I’ve been down it.” Magnus scratched a five-pointed star