The Scot's Pursuit - Keira Montclair Page 0,45
witness it. I don’t believe your lies about marrying the Grant lad, and I’ll soon find out the truth, will I not? I’ll be looking for the bloody sheets as evidence. Osbert will arrive on the morrow and the bedding will commence. Then you will return and care for his children. This time I’ll send three guards to make sure you are watched. And where is Osbert’s eldest daughter?”
She did her best to look innocent, but her heart was racing in her chest, his horrible threat ringing in her ears. Still, she knew better than to tell him anything about Lora.
“Papa, I’m telling you that Father MacKenzie married us,” she insisted.
“You’ve made up many stories before about the priest who talks with you, but I know better. There is no Father MacKenzie, there was no wedding, and you’ll go to Osbert a virgin. He’s paid me good coin for your maidenhead, and he’ll have it.”
What was happening? Her father had lost his mind. Of course there was a priest named Father MacKenzie. Of course she was married, though he was correct in assuming it hadn’t yet been consummated.
“I don’t know anything about his daughter. I ran away.”
“She probably saw what you did and decided to run away on her own. If I find out you encouraged her, you’ll get more than a slap next time.”
He spun around, opened the door, and left, taking care to lock the door behind him. Branwen rubbed her cheek before carefully shifting her hand to her head. A small knot had appeared.
Please, Lord. Help Alick find his way to me. Please.
She fell onto the pallet and rested her head, not wanting to see what came next.
Branwen slept in fits, the cold and her fear of critters and insects keeping her from any sort of steady sleep. But at one point, she could swear she heard talking. Moving over to the door, she peered out through the small window.
Male voices in low tones carried down to her from the staircase as boots struck the stone, the sound echoing across the dark of the night.
The footsteps came closer, and she prayed it wasn’t her sire returning to slap her again.
What she saw shocked her. Two guards carried an unmoving person down the passageway. She stood back from the door, wanting to see who it was they carried, but not wanting the guards to know she had.
How she prayed it wasn’t Alick.
When they passed her cell she stood on her tiptoes, leaning toward the window to look out. All she could see in the night was a glimpse of long, dark hair. Two men carried the person while one went ahead of them to unlock the cell.
“Did you bring the pallet? He said to treat this one well,” the first man asked.
The one in the rear said, “I’ll go get one.”
“And two plaids, a pitcher of water, and a container with bread and cheese in it. We’ll just leave it covered.”
“Who’s doing the cellar checks?”
“I’m not certain.”
Then they left, never once glancing her way, so she didn’t get a good look at any of their faces.
Who was the person with the dark hair?
Chapter Fourteen
Alick and Dyna neared Thane Castle well after dark. “I’m glad it’s nightfall,” he said, slowing his horse. He checked the landscape for a good place to hide their horses. After his previous dealings with Arnald Denton, he had no wish to run into the man this eve. If they couldn’t learn anything from Jep, the stablemaster Branwen trusted, then they’d have to sneak inside. The wind blew across the land, giving the night an eerie feel as if thunderclouds were rolling in with the promise of rain.
He glanced up at the sky, wondering what the weather would bring, when Dyna answered his question.
“’Tis not going to rain,” she said in a tone he knew better than to question. “But we’ll have to take care, Alick. What’s your plan?”
They stopped their horses, and Alick said to the guards, “I’d like you to hold back here. See what happens. Keep your eye out for young lasses in case we go in through one entrance and she’s sent out through another. Dyna, do you have suggestions?”
“I’ll see if I can find my way in through the back entrance.”
Alick said, “Good idea. She trusts the stablemaster. I would prefer to start with him, but there’s quite a bit of activity going on at the stables so I suspect he won’t be able to tell me much. I’ll do