Ian (20 page)

“Arrrrrgh,” he cried out, sitting up, feeling like this was all his fault. He never should have kept his secret from the MacKeefes in the first place. They had all be
en like family to him his entire life. And no one turned their back on family.

He kne
lt by the bars of the dungeon door, and looked over to the other cells. That’s when he recognized several of the MacTavishes from his stay here years ago. And they were imprisoned the same as he.

“Gilbert? Lir
? he called out to the men.

“Ian?” said Gilbert, looking up in surp
rise. A full beard and mustache covered the man’s face and he looked much thinner than Ian had remembered. “Dinna tell me Tearlach got ye too?”

“I killed thet bastard
, but yet he lives,” said Ian. “But dinna fash yerself as I plan on killin’ him again.”

“
Ye are lucky te be alive. All o’ ye,” said a soldier walking up to the outside of the cells.

“Dunmor, ye bastard, how could ye turn traitor?”
shouted Ian, holding his hand to his head as he looked at the man he’d once considered a friend.

“Shhhh,” he said, and looked back to the main dungeon door. “I’m no
’ a traitor, Ian, and I’ve saved yer hide from bein’ killed, so ye should be thankin’ me instead.”

“Let me outta here,” said Ian getting to his feet
, bent over from the pain of his wounds. “And give me back me weapons so I can kill Tearlach already.”

“I canna do thet,” said Dunmor.
“Tearlach trusts me and we need te keep it thet way fer now. It was all I could do no’ te tell him I made up the fact I’d killed his attacker, when in fact Murdock had died from fever and I used thet as a cover-up fer ye, Ian.”

“What do ye mean?” he asked.

“What I mean is thet I saw ye kill Tearlach thet day, but I didna say anthin’ becooz I kent Tearlach deserved it. No one should do what he did te ye and live te tell aboot it.”

“Then if ye wanted te help, ye shoulda killed him the moment he came back from the grave.”

“I couldna. Becooz when he came staggerin’ across the moors after managin’ te get outta his grave, me own mathair was the one te find him. And when Eigg showed up jest then, there was nothin’ either o’ us coulda done te change things.”

“But Odara is Tearlach’s own sister. Dinna tell me she’d do somethin’ against him?”

“I did,” came another voice, and Odara walked up to join them with her bag of healing herbs in her hands. “Tearlach has changed through the years,” she told him, “and if Eigg hadna seen him, I woulda killed me brathair and finished the job ye started, Ian.”

“How did he survive?” asked Ian.

“He is stronger then ye think. And a hard bastard te kill,” said Dunmor.

“I was expected te bring him back te health with me herbs,” Odara told him. “If no’, then Eigg woulda killed me. So I took me time in healin’ him and made sure it took several years. And te make him pay fer what he’d done, I gave him herbs thet ru
ined his chances o’ e’er siring a bairn.”

“Thet was ye?” Ian raised his brows and nodded his head.

“I didna want any more bastards like him inside these walls. We once used te be a guid clan, Ian. Long afore ye e’er showed up here the first time. When Ross was our chieftain, things were different. Then he died in battle and Tearlach claimed chieftain. They were guid friends at one time, and I, guid friends with Ross’s wife. But Tearlach didna like her, and had her hunted down like a dog when he found out she was practicin’ spells and makin’ potions.”

“So he killed yer friend jest like Daghda,” said Ian. “No wonder ye hate yer own brathair.”

“Ian, I have te tell ye somethin’. Daghda wasna a witch. I gave her thet love potion te give ye becooz I didna want ye te leave the clan.”

“How could ye?” Ian growled. “Then it’s yer fault the lassie and me bairn are deid.”

“I wish I could say it wasna,” said Odara, “but I ken thet I am te blame. I kent ye were a guid man and thet ye could help the clan, and thet if ye left, we’d ne’er have a chance.”

“Then why did
na ye jest ask me?”

“Because I kent ye wouldna
have stayed. Ye’d already told us ye were goin’ te leave. And I didna want Tearlach te find out thet some o’ us were against him. I am so sorry, Ian. I ne’er meant fer anyone te get hurt.”

“And thet’s why ye helped me by coverin’ up fer me when ye kent I was the one te kill Tearlach.”

“Aye,” said Dunmor. “Ian, ye dinna ken half o’ what’s goin’ on here.”

“I think I do,” said Ian, wiping his hand
in his plaid. “But go ahead and tell me.”

* * *

Kyla waited near the entrance of the hidden passageway with Wynda and the other women at her side. She paced the floor anxiously, as it had been over a day now and still Eigg had not come to bring them food. But she knew he should be here any minute as Wynda told him they were expecting him. The children were hidden safely in the shadows, just waiting to escape as soon as they ambushed Eigg.

“I hear him comin’
,” said Wynda with her ear pressed to the backside of the door.

“Raise yer weapons and be ready te attack him on me command,” said Kyla, raising her dagger up high in the air. The others had no weapons, but they had ripped
off parts of their skirts and used their arisaids and tied them together to make ropes. They also held rocks above their heads just waiting to bring them down atop Eigg’s skull.

“I’m afeard
,” said one of the girls from the shadows. “Are ye sure we’ll be able to do this?”

“If no’, we’ll at least die tryin’,” said Kyla. “But either way, we need te do somethin’ te stand up te Tearlach already.”

She heard a key turn in the lock from the other side of the door, and then it slid open slowly. She motioned for the others to be ready, and when Eigg walked in, Kyla slashed out at him with her dagger, catching him on the shoulder in surprise.

He looked up and dropped the food he was carrying and pulled
his sword from his scabbard.

“Now!” cried Kyla, and Wynda hit him over the head with a rock and then the others rushed forward and threw rocks at him as well
and wound their ropes around his body. Kyla reached out and grabbed his sword and held it to his throat.

“Make a sound and I’ll sever yer heid f
rom yer body,” she said, having heard Ian and her brother say this many times through the years. She knew how to use a sword, and while it took her two hands just to hold the weight, she would use it if she had to in order to save these women.

“Gag him,” she instructed the women. “And bind him so he canna move.”

“Ye’ll ne’er get away with this,” he said, then was cut off as one of the women shoved a rag into his mouth and tied another around his head. The women worked quickly, and Wynda’s young daughter stood silent holding the baby and just watching. Kyla leaned her body against the door and looked outward. She scanned the area, but didn’t see anyone else.

“Take his dagger
, too,” she said. “And make sure te grab the food.”

They worked swiftly and quietly, an
d stepped out into the open area only to realize it was already nightfall. They’d been in there longer than she’d thought and she only hoped Ian was still alive. She knew they had to make their way to safety, and she also knew the MacKeefes would help them if they could make it to their camp. But it was a far walk and especially with the bairns and pregnant women. Without horses, Tearlach and his men would catch them easily.

She looked back into
the passageway, making sure everyone else had exited and then slid the door back, hearing Eigg trying to call out, and struggling to loosen his bindings, squirming on the floor. She turned the key in the lock and threw it onto the ground.

“
Thet should hold him fer now. Here,” said Kyla, handing Wynda the sword. “Lead the women and children west through the forest. Stay off the main roads and keep te the stream.” Then she spotted Eigg’s horse and grabbed it and brought it over. “Let Liostaith ride the horse as she is no’ goin’ te be able te walk far bein’ so pregnant.”

“Where are ye goin’?” asked the woman.

“I’m goin’ te go back to the castle and steal some more horses. If no’ we’ll ne’er get there afore Tearlach finds us.”

“Then y
e take the sword,” said Wynda, handing it to her.

“Nay, it’s too cumbersome and I may need te move quickly if I’m spotted. I have me dagger and I’ll be fine.”

“Guid luck, and thank ye,” said Wynda.

Kyla
turned and started running through the forest, wondering how the hell she was going to get back into the castle to get the horses without being caught. And she also wondered about Ian, and only hoped they had not killed him by now.

Chapter 23

Ian snuck through the courtyard and toward the stables, glad he was able to convince Dunmor to let h
im out of the prison cell. Odara had tended to Ian’s wounds and wrapped him up so he’d stop bleeding, and though he was weak, he still didn’t let that stop him.

Ian had also convinced them to help the prisoners an
d set them free, as well as to round up the MacTavishes that would be willing to try to go up against Tearlach. Ian knew there weren’t many, but they had to try.

He made his way to the
stables, planning on collecting some horses and sending them over the drawbridge where Dunmor’s men would be waiting. If a few of them at least could go for help to a neighboring clan, they could form their own army against Tearlach.

Ian knew this wasn’t going to end well, and his only reassuring thought was that Kyla had managed to escape and find somewhere to stay where she was safe.

He made it to the stables unseen and spotted his sword still attached to the side of a horse from the guard who had taken it from him. Two guards were talking and drinking and not paying attention, so he snuck up beside it and pilfered his sword and was about to use it on them when something caught his attention from inside the stables.

A movement, and though it was dark it looked to him a l
ot like Kyla. God, he hoped not. Because if she had done something stupid like come back to try to save him, she could just ruin all his plans.

He crept into the stable and over to the stall, and slipped inside without making a sound.

Kyla had managed to get back into the castle
unspotted, finding the postern gate near the back of the castle unlocked, so she didn’t have to cross over the drawbridge. She’d made her way to the stables, purposely leaving the bottle of mountain magic where the guards would see it for a distraction.

She’d manage to tie together
three horses and was just about to get one more, when someone grabbed her from behind and held their hand over her mouth. Her hands in instinct flew to her attacker’s and she bit him, then grabbed for her dagger when he cursed and moved his hand from her mouth.

“
Bid the devil, Kyla, ye didna have te bite me. I’m already in enough pain.”

She turned around with her dagger raised to look into the eyes of Ian.

“Ian, ye’re alive.” She threw her arms around him in a hug.

“No’ fer long if ye’er goin’ te be makin’ this much o’ a ruckus.” He spoke in a whisper and backed her against the wall of the stall, his eyes searching toward the stable door. “What the hell are ye doin’ here, when I told ye te make yer way back te the MacKeefes?”

“Ian, ye’re wounded,” she said, reaching out a hand to caress his face. He closed his eyes for a second and leaned his head into her hand as if the action soothed him. “I have so much te tell ye.”

“We dinna have time fer thet,” he said, pushing away from her, his eyes going back to the door. “And w
hat the hell did ye think ye were doin’ tryin’ to come back and save me?”

“Save ye? Thet’s no’ why I’m here,” she said.

“It’s no’?” He looked very surprised.

“Why did ye think thet? Did ye need savin’?” she asked.

“Nay, but ye need a guid spankin’ o’er me knee right now fer no’ listenin’ te me.”

“Quit talk
in’ te me like I’m a bairn. I’m no’ here te save yer arse, I’m here te get horses fer the women I’ve freed from the secret room in the ruins.”

“Ye did what?” he asked, squinting his eyes and cocking his head as if he’d heard her wrong.

“Ye heard me. I saved the poor lassies thet were forced te wed Tearlach in fake alliances, as well as Dunmor’s wife and child. They’re on their way back te MacKeefe camp right now. What the hell have ye been doin’ all this time?”

“
Kyla, ye found them, that’s great. Dunmor and Odara told me what’s really goin’ on here. And I’ve been a little preoccupied as I’ve been beaten and thrown in the dungeon, but I dinna expect ye’d think thet was a guid excuse.”

“Hm
mph,” she said. “Well I guess it’ll have te do. Now grab some horses and help me. The women and bairns are ne’er goin’ te make it back on foot afore Tearlach finds them. Most o’ them are pregnant and they have bairns with them as well.”