A Lesson in Passion (5 page)

Jumping off the stage, she ran to the nearest
ladder and began climbing it. About half way up someone grabbed her
ankle. Ginny turned to see one of the smelly guys trying to pull
her down. “What the hell?” she asked to no one in
particular.

Turning on the ladder, Ginny used her other
leg to kick the dirty guy in the face. He dropped for a moment,
giving Ginny just enough to time to scale the ladder. He climbed up
after her, but didn't realize that there were several heavy objects
at the top of the wall. Ginny began throwing buckets and sacks of
grain until he finally fell to the ground.

Ginny turned to see who was
winning, although she was fairly certain who was on top. She looked
around to find something she could use to help, but there wasn't
much. Twenty feet along the wooden pathway, she spotted what she
was looking for: a bow and arrows. Ginny had never used a bow
before and it stood nearly as tall as she was, but she picked it up
and started to string an arrow into it. As she got the arrow loaded
and ready to fire, she looked down and noticed that her boobs were
smaller.
Who am I?
Before she could consider the possibilities, Ginny turned to
the mayhem and carefully aimed at a bad guy.

Suddenly, a bad guy went down, with an arrow
stuck out of the back of his head. “Whoa, did you see that?” Ginny
screamed at no one in particular. She was beginning to like this
dream. It was becoming like a video game, with the killing unreal
and detached. If necessary, she could reason it as justifiable,
since these same men wanted so badly to violate her in unimaginable
ways.

Ginny picked up another arrow and
started shooting at a different bad guy. She was contributing to
the battle, not just standing around to be rescued.
Now that ladies, is how it's
done
, she thought happily, not wanting to
fall into the romance novel, saved from the villain, damsel in
distress crap that she had read over and over again.

She noticed that the her mega-hunk was
watching her and not paying particular attention to the battle. For
a brief moment, their eyes locked and Ginny could feel something
between them. Electricity, maybe? She didn't know, but it was
palpable. Ginny also noticed that a bad guy was about to come up
behind him and make him into mincemeat. Before she could think
about it, she picked up another arrow and fired it at the bad guy,
only to notice that mega-hunk knew he was there all along. With a
loud clash, mega-hunk raised his sword up in time to thwart the
blow from behind, at the same time Ginny's arrow met its mark by
embedding in the guy's chest. Mega-hunk slowly turned to look at
her, not looking at all pleased.

Searching around her, Ginny
realized she had no more arrows. With nothing else she could do,
Ginny ran along the wooden ledge toward the building that was
directly across from the gate. Just as she reached the next ladder,
she remembered something the big, smelly guy had said.
The old mistress is worn out
, Ginny thought for a moment.
Where
is that poor girl?

Ginny climbed down the ladder and made her way
to the building. Without a doubt, she knew she needed to find and
save that girl.

• * Chapter 5 *
  

The building was menacing, made of
large, gray stones, slick with humidity. Men were being slaughtered
around her, but Ginny cared little about them. After all, they had
asked for it. However, there was some poor woman somewhere who
needed help. She raced into the building and started to
panic.
Where could she be?
she wondered.
What if I
can't find her and these new guys are up to no good as
well?

With that, Ginny stopped herself,
took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves.
First, this has got to be a dream, so just go
with the flow. Second, think logically... where would they keep a
prisoner? Wasn't it always in some underground dungeon? Find a door
that leads down!
Getting it together, Ginny
started her search.

After a few minutes she found the
door. There were stone steps, quite steep that led down into
shadowed darkness. The steps were damp and slippery, so Ginny took
her time to avoid falling. The torches on the wall cast only enough
light to see a few steps ahead. The smell was bad before, but now
it was nearly overwhelming.
This must be
what crushing terror smells like
, she
thought to herself as she finally reached the bottom. The floor was
covered with hay and there were many non-human inhabitants watching
her as she walked by. Tiny feet scurried in every direction as she
passed. Ginny didn't know if she could take much more of this place
so she hurried along the cells to find what she was looking
for.

Luckily, there wasn't anyone around
to get in her way. She looked in each cell and didn't find anyone.
Panic started to set in again. For whatever reason, Ginny had to
find this girl and help her. She had never been so compelled before
in her life. The thought of having dodged the bullet this woman had
endured for who knows how long was driving her to search each cell
carefully. In the last cell, Ginny almost missed a small form in
the corner. “Hello, are you okay?”
Wow, is
that my voice
, she thought. It didn't sound
like her at all. Ginny noticed some movement, then saw a pair of
eyes shine from the light of the nearest torch. “I'm not going to
hurt you. I want to help. Can you tell me where the keys are?”
Every time she spoke, she listened to herself. It was like
listening to a recording of your voice, only this was someone
else's voice.

“You're English?” was all the woman
said.

“Huh... what... oh, yeah, sure, I'm
English. Listen, I don't know how much time we have. Do you know
where the keys are?” Ginny was speaking in a panic and sounded
somewhat annoyed. She could reason it was a dream, but right now,
it felt real and she wanted to get this woman out before someone
came along. Ginny was angry, angrier than she'd been in a long
time. The kind of anger you feel when you watch the news story
about the abused small child left for dead by the boyfriend of his
mother. And she knew that she could and maybe even wanted to hurt
someone. She also knew, and this was the greatest source of her
anger, that she hadn't the ability to inflict the kind of harm that
people who would do this deserved. Those warriors were doing it for
her, but she didn't know their intent, so she had to do this on her
own.

“By the chair,” came a weak and
defeated voice.

Ginny turned around and spotted
them. She grabbed the keys and went about unlocking the ancient
cell door. As she entered the cell, Ginny was struck by the
conditions this fragile looking woman had so far survived. The cell
had no bathroom and reeked of urine and feces. There was some straw
for her to bed down on, but there were also insects and rats. The
inhumanity of it reminded Ginny of a novel she'd read about Nazi
concentration camps.
This is what happens
when we surrender our humanity
, she
thought, disgusted to share her species with the likes of these
men.

The woman sat up and continued to stare at
Ginny, as if wondering if she were a dream. Her face was gaunt, her
eyes lifeless, and her hair was dirty and hanging in strings around
her face. Again, Ginny was reminded of the pictures of the Jewish
prisoners during World War II.

“My name is Ginny and I want to try
to rescue you,” Ginny said knowing not to get her hopes up. “Can
you walk or do you need me to carry you?”

“Could you carry me?” The woman was
obviously used to disappointment.

“Right now, I think I could carry
you in one hand,” trying to sound courageous, Ginny just sounded
pathetic.

The woman nodded her head and took Ginny's
outstretched hand. As she stood up, her face contorted with pain.
“Lean against me... that's good. We'll take it one step at a time.
When we get out of here, I'll examine you and treat your wounds.
That's it... oh, what's your name?” Ginny was rambling, trying to
keep her cool despite her fear.

“Aileana... from the clan McKenna.
How did you get here?”

“I was kidnapped. I was taken here
to replace you.”

“A profession I would not
recommend,” Aileana said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Ginny's heart was breaking for this woman. Despite the horrors
she'd endured, she was trying to calm Ginny's fears and help in
their escape.

Climbing the slippery steps was taking a long
time. By the time they reached the top, Ginny was out of breath
from half carrying Aileana up. Despite her emaciated form, the
woman still had enough bulk to make it a challenge to assist her.
Ginny wasn't sure which way to go, being in the dark dungeon had
muddled her mind. She stared in one direction, then the other,
trying to determine which way she had come.

All of a sudden, she heard a loud crash to her
right. Heavy footfalls were coming in their direction, so Ginny
looked around for a weapon. There, standing against the wall, was a
short sword. She quickly leaned Aileana against the wall and
reached for the sword. Just as she picked it up, men came running
around the corner. Ginny put her body in front of Aileana and made
her stand by raising the sword. It was heavy and Ginny struggled to
keep it up.

Three men were standing in front of her,
staring at her incredulously. They had far bigger swords and were
covered in blood. Ginny recognized them as the intruders, with the
one in the middle her mega-hunk. Ginny was unable to speak,
breathing heavily from helping Aileana and from trying to keep the
sword up. She was shaking from fear and her eyes were wide. She
wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. It was quite obvious who
would win this match.

Ian couldn't believe what he was
seeing. This slip of a woman was trying to ward off three men with
a tiny sword that she couldn't even hold up. A smile formed on his
lips at her audacity. He knew that she must fear them. They were a
ferocious sight, especially after a battle.
Truthfully, it wasn't much of a battle
, Ian thought to himself.
Cowards
never put up much of a fight. Still, this girl is willing to stand
up to us. How refreshing.

Ginny saw the leader smile and it
scared the hell out of her. Summoning up what little courage she
had left, she said, “Please, just let us go... I just want to help
this woman... you have no beef with us, we've done nothing to
you.”
Stop rambling, you idiot!

Suddenly, the man on the left saw the woman
behind Ginny. “Aileana, is that you?”

“Alec? Aye, 'tis me,” was all
Aileana got out before sobs racked her. Ginny threw the sword down
to turn and help her. Before she could complete her turn, the man
on the left, Alec, had pushed past her and knocked her into the
wall. Before Ginny could fall down completely, her mega-hunk
grabbed her and pulled her aside.

“Who are ya?” Ian asked abruptly.
He had Ginny by the arm and was pulling her away from
Aileana.

“Aileana, are you alright? You know
these guys, right? They aren't here to hurt you, are they?” Ginny
looked back with concern.

“Fear not, Ginny, they are here for
me,” Aileana said as she put her hands to Alec's face. She looked
like she was in a dream, one that she would never had allowed
herself to have. After so much pain and despair, she was feeling
some peace.

“Please,” Ginny pleaded to
mega-hunk. “Let me help her. She's been hurt and I can help
her.”

“Are ya a healer then?”

Ginny noticed the soft cadence of
his Scottish burr. It was almost hypnotic. His eyes are the deepest
blue she'd ever seen. He had a chiseled face, a perfect jawline, on
a square head that reminded her of her Norwegian ancestry. He had a
reddish five o'clock shadow, which matched his hair.
My God
, she thought
grimly,
I really am in a romance
novel!
The unreality of the situation
pulled her back to his question.

“Yes, I'm a healer,”
sure, whatever you say
,
“Can I please examine her now?”

“Nay,” Ian turned and walked away
while still dragging her by her upper arm.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Ginny screamed while ripping her arm from his grip.
This is getting a little too
surreal
, Ginny thought. She was in a
medieval castle, with a Greek god inspired Highlander, having no
way of knowing how or why she was here. One thing she did know,
with absolute certainty, was that she was no pushover.

“Who the hell do you think you are?
I want... to... help... her. Capiche?” Ginny was standing toe to
toe with the giant. “Do... you... understand... me?” Speaking
deliberately slow, she hoped she made her point. All the while
making him feel like the ass he was acting like.

Ian closed his eyes for a moment and prayed
for patience. When his eyes opened again, he glared at the
Englishwoman. No one would dare speak to Ian McKenna like this. It
just wasn't done. Ian was the Chieftain of one of the most feared
clans in the Highlands. He made his reputation in battle and had
the scars to prove it. There were many who would die of fright just
to stand as close as this woman was standing to him right now. And
yet, she wasn't backing down.