Page 81 of Kilted Hate

Katherine slipped out of the room. Keeping close to the wall, she made her way down the corridor, her heart thumping against her ribcage. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she gazed down, but could still see no one. Grabbing the handrail, she began tiptoeing down the stairs, praying she would not make a sound. But as her foot landed on a stair halfway down, a high-pitched creak sounded from the old board, and she stopped dead, awaiting a reaction from someone who might have heard it.

Another second passed with the sound of her pulse rushing in her ears, but no one came running, and thus, she continued, hurrying down the last steps, safe in the knowledge that there was no one nearby.

As she hurried through the corridor, the dreadful sounds grew louder, only this time, she heard the raging bellows ofher brother. The sound was coming from beneath her, and Katherine realized the house must have a cellar.

Carefully listening, she moved toward the sound, until eventually, the heartbreaking wails were right beneath her. To her left, there stood a door with light spilling from beneath it.

This has to be it.

Katherine was just about to turn the handle, when she heard heavy footfalls beyond it. Someone was climbing up the stairs from the cellar. Someone was coming.

Hide!

Spinning her head, she looked about her and saw a door on the opposite side of the corridor. Flinging it open, she discovered a closet, and quickly stepping forward, she jumped inside just in time, for the door to the basement flew open.

The closet door remained open a crack, and peering through it, she watched her brother and three of his men walk out into the corridor.

“Do you not think one of us should stay with him, my lord?” one of the men said, as they continued down the corridor.

“Where is he going to go?” Reginald snapped back. “No. Leave him there to suffer alone. Go and check on the others. They’ve already been outside for hours.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The voices faded the farther away they went, and when Katherine was certain they were gone, she slowly pushed the closet door open.

I have to save him. I must.

Swiftly moving across the corridor, she opened the door to the basement, making certain to close it tightly behind her again. She was then faced with a set of steps, and without hesitation, she hurriedly ran down them.

There in the dimly lit room, she gasped at the sight of Domhnall. Barely standing, his body was bloodied and cut. His wrists were bound with rope attached to thick iron rings secured into the wall behind him.

“Oh, my God,” she cried.

Her throat tightened at the sight of him, for once so strong and untouchable, he was now reduced to a man beaten and weak. It didn’t make any sense, for she had witnessed him taking on three and four men at a time. How had her brother even captured him without being killed?

She had no time to think about that, and instead, ran to him, even as the horror of his condition threatened to overwhelm her, for he was slumped against the wall, his breathing shallow and labored, with blood trickling from wounds all over his body.Her fingers skimmed over his bruised skin, her hands shaking at what her brother had done.

The guilt crashing through her was nearly unbearable. She was supposed to have protected him. She was supposed to have told him the truth. And now, because of her silence, the man she adored with all of her heart was on the brink of death.

Tears blurred her vision, but there was no time to waste. She had to act quickly. Reginald had made his move, and now it was up to her to save Domhnall before it was too late.

“I’m so sorry, my love,” she sobbed, grabbing at the rope, her hands still trembling as she struggled to loosen the thick nots. “This is all my fault. I’m so, so sorry.” As the knots loosened, she continued to talk to him, somehow hoping the sound of her voice would bring him some comfort. “We’re going to get out of here. I will find a way out.”

But what then? Where was she supposed to go? Domhnall was in no condition to travel far. Could she find a way to get a missive to Enya? His wounds needed healing, and quickly.

“Dinnae blame yersel’, Katherine,” Domhnall croaked, still struggling to stand once he was released from his ropes. “All will be good. But ye need tae leave. Yer brother will return soon. Ye’re nae safe here.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Katherine retorted. “We just have to find a way out.”

Leaving him leaning heavily against the wall, she moved across the room, pushing aside sacks and old chests, desperate to find an outer door. There had to be one. She just needed to find it.

“Katherine, please.”

“No,” she said firmly, turning to look at him. “If we’re leaving, we’re leaving together.”

But just as Domhnall opened his mouth to argue, the door at the top of the stairs burst open.

The torture had gone on for hours before Katherine had arrived. While she had untied him, he could barely breathe, speak, or stand. In fact, he was certain he was close to the end.

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