The Protector
Page 24
‘They also need to believe you have left to return home, Duff. An event that needs to be witnessed by others to appear real.’
‘When am I to leave?’ Duff asked.
‘Tonight. Soon. Once I’ve told you the rest of my plan.’
***
Duff closed the door to the room he’d called his own for the sennight he’d been at Gordon and glanced across the way. Mairi’s door remained closed, and given the lateness of the hour anyone would believe she was inside and fast asleep. But Duff knew she wasn’t.
He turned and descended the stairway from the third floor to the first, his footfalls, quick and light, resounding softly off the walls. He also knew Mairi had been attacked. His fingers bit into the coarse fabric of the sack he carried and his jaw ached at the sudden clenching. Not that anyone who saw him would notice the small signs of anger he couldn’t restrain. They’d simply think he had somewhere to be and was content on going. Just as Alastair wanted anyone who saw him to believe. And it was up to Duff to ensure someone did.
The Great Hall was all snores and slumbering breaths as he entered the darkened room. Only two torchlights, one positioned on the wall at each end of the laird’s table, remained burning, giving off enough light for anyone with a reason to move about to see by, but not enough to disturb those who were sleeping.
With a heavy tread, Duff headed to the opposite end of the room where the doors granting entrance into the hall were located. As much as he loathed interrupting anyone’s sleep, someone needed to witness his departure. But not a soul stirred from their slumber and the poor light hid any eyes that might be watching Duff taking his leave.
Just as he was contemplating who to wake, a whispered voice spoke to his right.
‘Going somewhere, lad?’
Duff turned to find Balfour regarding him from the healing room doorway. Perfect!
‘Aye,’ Duff replied softly and walked toward the older man. ‘Shouldn’t you be sleeping, or at least resting?’
Balfour looked out into the chamber of slumbering clansmen and beckoned Duff to follow him into the smaller room. Time was short and Duff couldn’t waste too much of it here, but he also couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
‘A body can only sleep so much, and I’ve grown tired of resting,’ Balfour said, as he sat on a wooden stool beside his pallet and waved Duff toward the other.
‘How are you?’ Duff asked as he perched on the stool’s edge.
‘A day or two more and I’ll be free of this cursed room and the witch who guards it.’ Duff smiled at the man’s description of the Gordon’s healer. He, along with everyone else, knew how much Balfour respected Tavie. ‘But you look to be a man who needs to be somewhere in a hurry, Duff.’
‘My time here is done. Alastair knows what I’m doing.’ Duff loathed lying to Balfour but Mairi’s safety depended on it. ‘Mairi will make her choice the morn and I’ll nae longer be responsible for her protection.’
Several moments of silence followed Duff’s words. He looked up from his clenching and unclenching fists to find Balfour watching his hands.
‘Even if you want to be,’ Balfour said quietly and met his gaze. ‘She steals into your heart before you even know it.’ Duff’s chest tightened at the older man’s observation. It seemed he hadn’t been able to hide his feelings for Mairi from everyone. ‘I have been Mairi’s protector for most of her life, and even when she is wed I’ll continue to watch over her.’
Duff knew Balfour would give his life for Mairi, just as Duff would. ‘Now I can leave knowing she will be safe,’ Duff said and stood.
‘I hope we meet again, Duff,’ Balfour said, also standing. He reached out and Duff clasped his wrist. ‘Something tells me we will,’ Balfour added.
Duff looked into the older man’s intelligent gaze and squeezed his arm. ‘Until then.’ Duff lifted his sack of belongings and headed for the door. He’d done what needed to be done and had been seen by someone no Gordon clansman would question. He’d almost reached the entrance when Balfour asked, ‘Did you say goodbye to the lass?’
Duff stopped and turned to look at the man who saw too much. He wasn’t leaving, but the question made him think about whether he would say goodbye to Mairi when he did leave, or if he’d just go. They had wished each other well but had not said goodbye. ‘Nae.’
Balfour nodded as if he understood his reasons for not saying farewell to Mairi. ‘Then know she will miss you.’
Duff turned and left the healing room and then the hall. He didn’t turn back again, too afraid he’d tell Balfour exactly how he felt about Mairi and how his words caused something to twist deep inside Duff’s chest.
He left the tower steps and crossed the deserted bailey in a few quick strides, noting the guards on the walls paused to track his progress. Good. The more people who saw him, the better. He’d have to speak with one of the sentries to gain access beyond the castle grounds. From Duff’s experience, news travelled fast when it came to a castle’s security. If he was lucky, by the time he’d saddled Duncan, the gateman would be expecting him.
Duff headed for the stable’s second entrance, the familiar smells of horse and hay greeting him as he entered. No torches were left burning within, due to the danger they represented should they fall, so the only light Duff had to see by was the faint glow of the moon from high in the sky filtering in through the opening.
Sensing Duff’s arrival, several horses housed near the doorway shifted within their stalls or blew air through their nostrils to alert the others and to let Duff know they knew he was there. Duncan occupied the first stall on the left and made no sound, but immediately walked to the barrier and greeted Duff by lifting his head over the edge of the enclosure.
‘Ready for a late night ride, lad?’ Duff said quietly, scratching the favoured spot between his mount’s ears.
‘You going somewhere, sir?’ A young stable lad emerged from the shadows, knuckling the sleep from his eyes.
‘Aye, lad.’ Duff hated the thought of lying and was pleased when Glendon didn’t ask for details.
‘Want me to saddle Duncan for you?’
‘My thanks, but I’ll manage,’ Duff said retrieving the saddle from the opposite wall.
‘I have a treat for Duncan.’ Glendon dashed off deeper into the stables.
‘I see you’ve won the lad over with your sweet temper,’ Duff said softly, entering the stall. ‘You’ll likely not want to leave when the time comes.’ Duff wasn’t sure he spoke for Duncan or for himself; perhaps both.
Glendon quickly returned and entered the enclosure as Duff placed the saddle on his mount. ‘I was saving this for tomorrow, but you won’t be here so you’d best have it now.’ The lad offered Duncan a large carrot, which Duncan happily devoured.
Duff secured the sack that Alastair had given him to the saddle. He didn’t want to rush the lad, but he needed to go.
‘My thanks for taking care of Duncan,’ Duff said, walking forward to grasp the reins. ‘You’ve done well, Glendon,’ he added placing a hand on his shoulder. The lad beamed a smile up at him. It was time to leave.
Duff led his mount from the stall and the stables and only looked back once, to see Glendon still smiling. Duff would put in a good word to Alastair about the lad before he did leave the Gordons for good.
As he’d hoped, a guard was waiting for him as he neared the gate. ‘It’s rather late for a ride,’ the sentry said.
‘Aye, it is. I’ve somewhere to be on such a fine night,’ Duff said, adding the first of the simple code words Alastair had shared with him, ‘and the laird knows what I’m about.’
The guard nodded in understanding and gave the signal to open the gate and lower the drawbridge.
Duff mounted and with a return nod, rode through the gate and over the bridge. Steering Duncan to the right, he passed by a few long benches that hadn’t been collected after the footrace and headed south, for the benefit of those watching from the battlements. He was, after all, to give the impressio
n he was going home. When he was out of sight from the guards on the walls, he turned Duncan again and, skirting the Gordon village, he finally headed into the forest to the west of Gordon Castle.
Though the moon was almost full and sat high, its glow didn’t penetrate the forest’s canopy as they entered the trees. Duff slowed Duncan’s pace and searched for the small clearing that Alastair had told him he would find located fifty feet into the forest. Was he first to arrive or had he kept them waiting?
Night creatures stirred in the undergrowth and the dying debris carpeting the forest’s floor. Duff sensed no danger lurking in the shadows, but his fingers rested on the hilt of his dagger all the same.
The number of surrounding tree trunks thinned out as he found the clearing. Nothing moved in the open space. Had something happened? Had there been another attack?
Duff peered hard through the clutter of trees to his right, where he determined Gordon Castle would be. Faint light from one of the torches positioned at each corner tower winked off and on with the gentle movement of the leafy branches. There’d been no shout of alarm, but there hadn’t been any alarm raised earlier when Mairi had been attacked.
Duff’s fingers curled about his dagger. He loathed to think of what might have happened if Mairi hadn’t escaped herself. He hated knowing he’d failed. But she had escaped and he would soon have the chance to make up for not protecting the woman he could no longer deny he loved.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chill air wrapped its frosty fingers about Mairi’s ankles, face and neck. She reached up to accept the torch her father passed down to her through the basement floor’s opening. A secret door she’d had no idea existed, until now.
She held the light aloft and peered into the underground chamber before moving further down the narrow stone stairs to allow her father room to join her, her careful steps echoing and bouncing off the walls like thunder.
She shivered. Since the attack, a coldness that had naught to do with their descent beneath the floors of the Great Tower had crept deep into her bones and settled. Her father’s arms about her had helped to chase away the icy-cold for a little while and had awoken precious memories of being held just so when she was a little lass. But as much as she’d have liked to stay there, and having sensed her father’s reluctance to release her, for his plan to catch her attacker to work, he’d had to let her go.
Mairi shivered again. A momentary shudder that didn’t last long, but shook her to her core.
‘Are you alright, Mairi?’
It was the fifth time her father had asked the same question since Duff had left them. And for the fifth time she lied. ‘Aye, I’m fine.’ She wasn’t, but her father had greater concerns needing his attention.
To conceal the next shudder and to appear as if she was truly fine, she added, ‘I am stunned to discover that Gordon Castle has secret passages I wasn’t aware of.’
After a slight pause her father said, ‘There was nae need for you to know of this one, before tonight.’ He cleared his throat. ‘We’d best hurry. We still have a way to go.’
Mairi descended the rest of the narrow, uneven stairs. When she reached the bottom, she held the burning taper aloft to light her father’s way and waited for him to join her.
‘I’ll take the torch, lass.’ He took it and held it above her for a moment, his gaze searching her face.
‘What is it?’ His lengthy appraisal started to worry her.
‘‘Tis naught. Come,’ he said lowering the light and heading into the darkness behind him. ‘This place you speak of, you’re sure it’s safe?’
‘Aye.’
He continued along the stone passage and spoke over his shoulder. ‘Is it far? Will you reach it tonight?’
Part of her wanted to tell him exactly where the place she’d chosen was, but it was her father who had told her to tell no one where she was going, not even him. Not even Duff. ‘We’ll reach it tonight.’
He stopped, turned and gave a single nod. ‘Good.’ He glanced back into the dark passage before looking back at her. ‘The ceiling is low from here. Watch your head.’ He then transferred the sack he carried into the same hand holding the torch. ‘Take my hand and stay close.’
Mairi took her father’s hand and was awed by its heat, when hers was so cold. His fingers closed about hers and squeezed. She squeezed back. He then ducked his head and entered the low, narrow tunnel.
The further they went, the icier the chill from the stones that had never seen the sun. The sound of their combined footsteps had nowhere to go and rang like a thousand running feet. Her father’s strained breaths echoed off the walls and the torch’s light flickered and dipped with their progress, casting eerie bit shadows against the stones. She swallowed an awkward dry swallow and tightened her hold about her father’s fingers.
‘Not too far to go, lass.’ Her father’s words were reassuring but also more strained with his efforts. ‘Watch your step,’ he continued. ‘The passage slopes downward here and the floor will be wet for a way now. Mind, there might be a puddle or two.’
Mairi had barely absorbed the warning when her next footfall sent a splash of icy water up her ankles and lower legs. She gasped.
‘I hear you found one.’ Mairi heard the smile in his voice a moment before he suffered a fit of coughing. His steps barely faltered.
‘Father?’
‘All’s well, lass.’ He’d stopped coughing, but a low wheeze accompanied every inhalation. ‘We’re walking under the moat on the west side.’
‘Under the moat?’
‘Aye. Your ancestors are a clever lot. This tunnel has been here since before the Great Tower was built.’ Mairi struggled to imagine a time when the Great Tower, her home, didn’t exist. ‘They too had their share of troubles and planned a way to escape the castle with nae one the wiser.’
Mairi was simply pleased they’d built the escape passage. How else would she have gotten outside the tower tonight unseen?
‘Almost there, Mairi,’ her father assured her with another squeeze of his fingers. After only another few steps, he suddenly sighed and straightened. ‘There. We’ve reached the end of the tunnel.’ He released her hand and lifted the torch higher.
Mairi curled her hand into a fist, stretched her back and neck and searched the small space they now stood in, while her father caught his breath. The three walls had been strengthened by stone, but the earth trickled through each sandstone block that had been cracked by the roots from trees and other plants.
Her father handed her the flaming torch. ‘Hold this, lass.’ He bent low and retrieved a wooden ladder lying on its side at the rear of the cavern. He propped it up against the right wall, pressed his weight against it twice to ensure it was sturdy, and turned to her.
Mairi searched his face in the flickering light. New lines marked his face about his mouth and eyes, and his cheeks looked less full than she remembered. His gaze roamed over her as she looked into his. There was a look of wonder and worry and a sadness in his eyes, and she couldn’t help thinking she was the cause.
‘You are as beautiful as your mother.’ His voice broke on the last word.
Time seemed to stop as Mairi stared at her father. He’d never called her beautiful. He’d never compared her to her mother. He never talked about her mother, at least never with her. A great ball of emotion formed in her throat. She heard him swallow.
‘Duff will protect you, Mairi.’ He stepped closer and laid a trembling hand to her cheek. ‘You are a clever young woman and know what is right. Trust yourself.’ He smiled and looked into her eyes. ‘As I do.’
Mairi swallowed past the lump in her throat and her eyes began to fill with tears. It seemed she’d waited her whole life to hear those words.
‘Come.’ Her father took the torch from her hand. ‘Duff will be waiting.’ He turned for the ladder.
Mairi ducked her head and blinked the moisture from her eyes. Dear God. When her father needed her to be strong, she’d almost wept
right in front of him. Something she’d sworn never to do again.
‘Are you ready, Mairi?’
‘Aye,’ she replied immediately, and stepped forward.
‘I’ll go up first to ensure it is safe, but I need to douse the torch and it will be black as a moonless night.’
‘Aye.’
‘Will you be alright, lass?’
She was afraid of other things, like failing to do her duty or crying in front of her sire, but … ‘I’m not afraid of the dark, Father.’
‘Good. Take hold of the ladder, lass.’ He crouched and rolled the flaming end of the torch in the grit and dirt at his feet as she stepped closer and grasped the roughened wood. He coughed three times into complete darkness, and at the cracking of his knees, Mairi guessed he was now standing. ‘Ready?’
‘Aye.’
The timber beneath her hand shook as her father began his ascent.
‘You’ll need to feel your way with both your hands and feet. Make sure you have a secure hold before moving up to the next rung.’
Just for a moment the recent memory of tumbling down the secret passage stairs in total darkness rose up to haunt her. The sound of her father’s cough rained down over her and scared her more. She clutched each side of the wooden ladder and began climbing upward, one steady and certain step at a time.
‘I’m at the top, Mairi. Stop and take a firm hold while I check the entrance.’
‘Aye, Father.’ Mairi tightened her grip on the timber and peered up into complete blackness and then down into the same. She couldn’t see how far she’d climbed, but the unsettling feeling of hanging suspended in the middle of nowhere, of nothing, swept over her. She leaned in close to the ladder and felt more grounded at the touch of solid timber at her hips and shoulders.
A faint lick of light caught her eye and she looked up. Her heart seemed to sigh with relief at the sight of the shadowy figure of her father above.
The ladder shook more as her father continued to climb upward. Mairi tightened her hold and told herself they were almost there. All movement stopped again and then the whispered words she longed to hear reached her.