by Kara Griffin
“I will, Grey, but not yet. When I hear word from the lady, I will set you free. Only after I have secured my crown. If what she says is true and there is a revolt, I will call arms. I expect ye both to lend support.”
Grey scowled his dislike for his king, and didn’t give a good damn if he knew it. “Lend you support? Are ye fucking maddened? After you sent my betrothed to that insufferable swine? If you want to secure your crown, you will do it without my aid. I will never support you again, Alexander.”
“Grey,” Donal called. “Mayhap this will all turn out well. Don’t be so surly.”
“Surly, are ye jesting, Donal? I am more than surly.”
“I know you are upset about the lass, Gunn, which is why I’ll forgive such treasonous statements. We shall see if and when I receive word from the lass if war is to be.”
Alexander turned his back and started to walk away.
Grey tried to grasp him through the bars, but he’d stepped away too hastily. “Come back here. Let me go to her, damn it. Alexander! Alexander!”
Both Alexander and Donal left him. Grey continued to pace and if it were possible, he was more angry now than he’d been before Alexander came. His rage consumed him and he fisted his hands, wishing he could get a hold of Alexander’s neck or a finely sharpened sword.
“Psst, laird.”
Grey looked toward the stairs and saw someone lurking. “Come.”
Greer hastened to the cell. “I waited until Donal and the king left.”
“Tell me, did you see Bree before she left?”
“Aye, laird. She held herself like a queen, she did. I don’t deem you should be concerned for it appeared she had a plan.”
“I have a plan too. Have one of the men find a messenger. I want the Gunn soldiers ready. They will await me by MacHeth land. Have them come immediately. I don’t intend to be here long.”
“All ready done, Laird. I had one of Donal’s soldiers deliver the news to Duff because they won’t let us leave Ross land.”
“Once I’m freed, I will retrieve Bree and then …”
“War, Laird. We will kill all those churlish dogs. We will be ready.”
“I can’t stop thinking I failed her again.” Grey leaned his head in woe against the iron bars. “If anything happens to her, Greer … She didn’t want to face the king and I forced her to.”
“Laird, she will return, and if she cannot then Gordy will bring back word and then we can go and get milady. She told me to tell ye not to worry for her.”
“She’s a brave lass.”
“Aye, that she is.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
She was a coward. Bree was so afraid to leave the chamber. MacHeth had never answered her question the previous night. She’d waited to hear what he’d do with her, but he ignored her question and continued to dine without a word to her.
He and his cohort jested, saying foul blasphemies which sickened her. They in all gruesomeness described how they would kill their enemies. She listened intently hoping to hear King Alexander’s name mentioned, but all they referenced was a dog.
After an hour, she returned to her chamber where she’d spent a sleepless night. Sounds through the night terrified her. Screams and sounds of torment filled the night air. If the castle didn’t look gloomy to begin with, the noises within would certainly scare the bravest knight.
Gordy looked as frightened as she, considering he slept sitting with his back to the door, leaning his head on his raised knees. Seeing him reminded her of home. Home.
Why she thought of the Gunn keep as home, she didn’t know. She missed her dear friend Cait and now wished she hadn’t asked Grey to go to Maurice’s wedding. Sunny’s beautiful face came to her and she saddened. If she ever got out of this predicament, she would hug that child and never leave Gunn land again.
Light shown through the window casement as the morn broke through the dim sky. Day had finally come after a long and dismal night. Bree hadn’t slept a single wink, yet she wasn’t tired. Keeping her guard up lent a rush of adrenaline to her. She hesitantly moved off the bed and nudged Gordy with her foot.
“Gordy, awaken. I have an idea.” Thinking of Sunny gave her the inspiration.
Gordy rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood. “Milady, what idea?”
“None have spoken to you yet. I want you to pretend that you cannot hear. I will use my hands to gesture to you and will tell them you are deaf.”
Gordy smiled. “What?” he asked, cupping his hear.
“I said—”
“I know what you said, milady, I was but jesting. Couldn’t hear ye.”
“Oh,” she said and then laughed. The boy needed to take this seriously. “This is no time to jest, Gordy. In this way if anyone should speak around you, they will not guard what they say. Now shall we go and see what Laird MacHeth is up to?”
Gordy followed her out of the chamber. Bree didn’t see a soul on her way to the great hall. When she made it to the lower floor, she heard men’s gruff voices.
She bid Gordy to await her by the stairs, and she went to MacHeth, hoping he was in a better mood this day than last. The man didn’t seem to let his guard down and would likely not reveal anything. Somehow she had to come up with a plan to get him to reveal something and soon.
“My lord, good morn.”
“So ye awakened? Come, sit. This is my good comrade, Domnall MacWilliams. This is Albrey MacKay, Dom, the lass I told you about.”
Bree eyed the two curiously, first MacHeth and then MacWilliams. They were not pleasant to look upon, nor did they have a good disposition. Something in their eyes told her to be wary, their eyes, one’s blacker than hell, the other’s as muted at horse manure.
There was a look of evilness to them and Bree was sure it wasn’t her imagination. She curtseyed and took a seat at the table. There was no way she could stomach eating and so she toyed with the trencher of food set before her by a servant who showed herself from nowhere.
The old servant woman’s back was hunched over and she grinned slightly when she set a cup beside her trencher. Bree thanked her and then set her attention on the men.
“I will have her,” MacWilliams said, before lifting a bowl and spilling half of its contents down his shirt.
With a frown, she rose. “My lords? I know not what you speak of. If you deem to use me in such a way then I shall leave.” Bree wanted to flee in that moment. MacWilliams scared her beyond anyone, he was far more dangerous than MacHeth. If what he said was true, she was surely going to be harmed.
“Sit ye down,” MacHeth said. And when she didn’t, he hastened to her seat and forced her to sit by pushing her into it. “Domnall is your intended. You were told, were you not, that you would wed? He is your betrothed.”
“Aye, Baron Thomas did say something about a betrothal …” Bree wanted to retch. The man was repulsive, let alone foul and crass. She couldn’t marry him and wouldn’t.
“She is a shy maiden, MacHeth?” MacWilliams asked, belching. “Suites me well. Me likes a woman who has a sweetness about her.”
Bree wanted to abscond to her chamber, but she also needed to find out who the cohort was, if any, in the supposedly revolt. She wondered if Domnall MacWilliams was involved. MacWilliams wore a cross look and his disposition matched the surliness.
The only thing that kept her from running was the thought of Grey being held prisoner by the king. Until her task was completed, Grey would not gain freedom. That gave her courage. With that thought, Bree got another idea.
“I saw King Alexander at the Gunn keep a few days ago. He was visiting Laird Gunn. I understand you both served his father. What think you of his son?” She waited for their answer as both stared at her. Though he didn’t wish to speak of politics, she hoped to stoke MacHeth’s curiosity enough to loosen his tongue.
“Alexander was at the Gunn keep?”
She nodded, but didn’t elaborate. The less she said the better when it came to being deceitful.
&nb
sp; “I deem the wily king isn’t fit to rule, that’s what I think,” MacWilliams said with a sneer.
“I cannot agree with you more. He did not impress me. Why my King John, now there is a king.” Bree kept her tone serious. She was getting really good at fabrication.
“You have met King John?” MacHeth asked.
“Aye, he often came to Baron Thomas’ residence. He and I are acquainted.”
They both laughed, and MacWilliams wiped at his eyes.
“What is so comical, my lords?”
“You just secured your fate, lass.”
“How did I do that, my lord? What fate?”
MacHeth grinned. “If ye won’t wed MacWilliams. Well now, we’ll have something for which to barter with King John. I would wager he would pay a lot of coin for you. He has much to repay us for, doesn’t he, Dom?”
“Oh aye, he does. Too bad he doesn’t know we do not intend to further the relations with him once I repossess the crown.”
A chill came to Bree with MacWilliams’ words. He wanted Alexander’s crown. Obviously he was in league with MacHeth. Now all she had to do was find out if there were others.
“You plan to ransom me? I doubt King John would pay a farthing for me. I was naught but a servant in his nobleman’s household.” Bree watched the two men give odd looks to each other.
MacHeth laughed derisively. “He’d pay a good amount for you, lady. Indeed, a good amount to get his hands on Scotland’s kin.”
Bree wasn’t sure what he meant by that remark. The two men began eating again; their vile table manners unsettled her stomach. She couldn’t take much longer in their presence. “May I return to my chamber?”
“Aye, go,” MacHeth said. “Ye are to return for supper this eve.”
As Bree left the hall, she motioned to Gordy to stay where he was by gesturing to him and making sure the men saw her hand movements. He had taken a position near the entrance, by the buttery where he was unnoticed.
She hurried to the chamber she’d been given and latched the door when she stepped inside. If only she could write a message, she would send it now. There was no parchment or ink to be had in the entire chamber. The desk which sat by the window had not a single item on it. She gazed out the window and wished Grey were with her. She needed him.
Throughout the rest of the day, Bree paced the chamber wearing away any shine left on the flooring, thoughts madly skittering her mind. She’d been told this was where the Mackay clan had lived before MacHeth overtook them.
If that was so, then she had been raised there and lived a handful of years with a loving family. Though she could not remember ever being there, she imagined the keep was far more appealing when the Mackays resided there.
As the day turned to dusk, she waited impatiently for Gordy and hoped he would soon return to her chamber. The lad hadn’t come and she worried for him, hoping she hadn’t put him in danger. Bree heard a knock at the door and looked at it. Something told her not to open it, and so she did not until she heard Gordy’s voice call out.
“Milady, ‘tis me, Gordy.”
Bree rushed to open it and let him in. She couldn’t help hugging him. “Are you well? They didn’t harm you did they? I worried for ye.”
Gordy spoke in a low voice, and motioned for her to move near the window. “Nay, milady, they didn’t hurt me. I pretended not to be able to hear. They believe me deaf. I waited until they left the hall before I came to you. Most of the men left the keep. There be nary a soul left.”
“Did you overhear anything?” she asked apprehend-sively.
“MacHeth is not the leader.”
Bree sucked in a breath and rubbed her forehead. “If he is not, then who is?”
“MacWilliams. He means to take the crown from Alexander and has a large army preparing. I heard them speak of forces moving even now to confront the king and his forces at Kinloss. I must go, milady, right now, and let King Alexander know what is to come.”
Bree’s chest tightened. “Go then. Be safe, Gordy, God be with you. If they release Grey, please tell him I …” Emotions came bursting forth and she wept at the thought of never seeing him again.
“Milady, he knows you love him. Do not worry so. My laird will come for you.”
“I hope so, Gordy. I hope so.”
“We Gunns always keep what is ours.”
“Be careful. How will you leave the walls?” She opened the door and he stepped into the hallway.
Gordy grinned and then picked up a bucket before holding it up. “I’ll pretend to be getting water.”
She waved at him and then smiled to herself, for the Gunns were definitely a boastful bunch.
Gordy reached the steps and turned to look at her before quietly descending, leaving Bree alone. What she would face by herself at this dilapidated castle, she wasn’t sure, but she knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant.
Soon after Gordy left, another knock came at her door. She thought he had returned, but when she opened the door, the old lady stood glaring at her.
“Ye be wanted in the hall by the laird. Make haste, lass.” The woman limped away.
Bree had been startled by her. As aged as she was, she couldn’t be younger than sixty. The poor woman looked unhealthy too, mayhap it was hunger she’d seen in her eyes.
She had no choice but to go to the hall. Once there, she noticed there was no company as there had been on the first night. All those who had lingered in the great hall that night were absent, save for MacHeth and MacWilliams.
“My lords,” she said and curtseyed.
“Be seated,” MacHeth said.
Bree did as she was bid and looked around, hoping to take her attention from the two formidable, disgusting men. She spotted a window unadorned by any covering and noticed how late it had grown. Darkness set the window casement.
Again, the unseen servant came forth and set a trencher before her. Bree looked at the fare and couldn’t make out what it was. It smelled rank. She hadn’t an appetite anyway, and so she didn’t eat it. How she wished she was back at the Gunn kitchens. How she missed Gell and his surly manner. If she ever made it back to the Gunn keep, she would make a feast so delicious, everyone within the clan would want to dine with her.
When she looked up from her trencher, she noticed MacWilliams had risen. He made his way from the end of the table to stand next to her. With a bone in his hand, he tore off the meat, chewed it and then threw the bone at a door nearby. Bree was disgusted by him. He was foulness and ill-mannered. She’d throw herself off the nearest tower before she’d wed a vile man such as he.
The man rubbed her face with his greasy hand, and Bree had to swallow the bile that arose from her throat. She leaned away from him, but he grasped her hair and jerked her face back to make her look at him. He leered at her.
“I think this lass needs to learn her place, MacHeth. Put her in the room. Aye, a good fright will make her learn her place. She has much spunk for my liking.”
Now she knew Gordy was speaking the truth, because MacHeth rose to do his bidding. He grabbed Bree’s arm and jerked her forward until she stood by the door MacWilliams had thrown his bone at. As the door opened, a horrible odor came forth and Bree thought she would vomit. MacHeth pushed her through the door and shut it.
From the force of his push, Bree landed on her hands and knees. She was inside a room with no windows. It was obscure and dank. Her knees hurt from hitting something hard. She felt odd shapes under her and she gripped something. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she held the object up and made out a large bone. Instantly, she tossed it away.
She screamed in terror at the thought she’d held someone’s bone in her hand. Backing up, she bumped the door and tried to find a handle. There was none. She pounded on the wood.
“Let me out, please, let me out!” Her words gave out as her pleas died in her throat.
Bree could hear them laughing on the other side of the door.
“Please.” Her plea went unanswered. �
��Please.”
She stood by the door and could make out a chamber. No windows could be seen and yet as her eyes adjusted more to the darkness, she could see many bones and skulls lining the floor. A sick feeling overcame her and she couldn’t help gagging. The stench inside the room was unbearable.
Then an atrocious thought came to her. How were these poor people killed? An image of MacWilliams throwing a bone at the door came and Bree gagged again. Surely they hadn’t done the imaginable to these poor souls.
Bree couldn’t move. She kept near the door hoping they would let her out. Her voice had given out from screaming and crying. Raspy now, she called out in an inaudible voice. After a few hours of torment, finally the door opened. The old woman stood on the other side.
“Go to your chamber, go, lass, afore they return. Hurry.”
“Thank you.” If she wasn’t afraid of harming the woman with a hug, she’d wrap her arms around her in gratitude, for letting her out.
She didn’t stay to question the old woman, but fled the hall and hurried to her chamber. Bree hastily went to the basin and washed her face and hands. Filth covered her garments, and the beautiful gown Elaina had given her was ruined. But that was the least of her problems. She had to get out of this castle.
The door burst open and MacWilliams strode in. She’d forgotten to latch it. He stalked her through the room, and Bree kept moving away from him. Her nerves tensed her and tightness came to her chest. Scared and beyond sense, she continued to avoid him. Yet he stood a few feet away, almost close enough to reach out to her. He had a bizarre crazed look on his face and Bree suspected he would pounce on her.
With that thought in mind, she spotted her satchel next to the bedding. As she neared, backing up as he stepped toward her, she hoped she could reach inside and take hold of the dagger Greer had given her.
MacWilliams cornered her. “You’re a fine looking woman. It’s been a long time since I had a comely woman who looks as good as you. You’re to be my wife. I have come to claim my husbandly benefits.”