Page 74 of Highlander of Steel
“The only placeyeneed to go is me dungeons,” Killian countered, watching for any flinch or movement to suggest that Murdock was about to run.
But the man stood firm, clasping his hands together as if in prayer. “Nay, ye daenae understand.” He took a shaky breath. “Somethin’ happened to prevent me man from deliverin’ the peace treaty. If me faither kens about it, then me daughter and sister are both in danger. He’ll kill them both to punish me.”
“Ye’ve never cared for either,” Killian scoffed, his own nerves spiking.
He had thought of how miserable Ailis’s life would be, now that she was back within the walls of Castle Ainsley. And though he had warned her that she might be killed there, he hadn’t actually believed it. Not until he saw abject fear etched into her brother’s features.
“I have doneeverythin’to keep me sister safe,” Murdock snarled, his temper suddenly flaring. “I have been cruel to be kind. I wouldnae expect ye to understand, or to believe me, but it’s true. And if ye stand there questionin’ me, then we’ll both lose her, and me daughter will suffer too!”
Killian moved forward, but Paisley darted between the two men, her hands up in a gesture of diplomacy.
“Heaven help me if I’m wrong, Killian, but… I believe him,” she blurted. “The man who delivered the box—he had blood on him. It’s why I looked inside. I had this… sense that it was somethin’ awful, and I wanted to ken, so I could describe the man who delivered it.”
“What did he look like?” Murdock barked.
“Forty or so, brown hair with gray at the temples, blue eyes, a scar across his mouth,” Paisley replied.
A groan escaped Murdock’s lips, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “That isnae me man. Me faither kens.” He shook his head slowly. “Me faither kens what I did… what I meant to do.”
“And what’s that?” Paisley asked, her voice a beacon of calm in this sea of confusion.
Murdock sucked in a breath. “I meant to oust him. It was there in the treaty that I’d replace me faither and this war would end, with everyone returned to where they’re supposed to be. Naymore bloodshed. Nay more fightin’. The heirs fixin’ what our faithers couldnae… or wouldnae.”
For a moment, he looked like he might be sick.
“I kent the soldiers would support me; they fear me faither so much that they’d leap at the chance to be rid of him, at me command. And safely confined in the dungeons, he’d never bother anyone again.”
Killian could hardly fathom that he was listening to the devil, but despite everything, he was starting to believe him.
But if he was starting to come around to the idea that the man was telling the truth, then that meant…
“Horses!” He whirled around, shouting to the guards—to anyone who could get to the stables before him. “Three horses! Now!”
29
Ailis had only been in her old bedchamber for a few hours when she slipped back out into the silent hallway. She had never intended to go to sleep, tired as she was. She had just wanted to be certain that her father wasn’t lurking, so she could visit Fraser without an unwelcome escort.
I’m surprised he hasnae got guards stationed outside me door.
She had already checked through the keyhole, using the reflection of the windows opposite to be sure—a trick she had used many times during her countless imprisonments, and when she had snuck down to give food to the prisoner.
Tiptoeing along the corridor, she paused at Kristen’s old door for luck, then again at Skye’s door to peek in. The little girl was still fast asleep and didn’t stir at her aunt’s quiet observation, her soft and steady breaths helping Ailis to relax somewhat.
If only I could get ye out and back to Castle MacNairn before yer faither returns. I ken I could keep ye safe.
But although there were no guards stationed in this part of the castle, there were plenty stationed throughout the grounds. At every exit and entrance, on every battlement and tower, watching every gate and doorway, their quivers full and their bows in hand.
There was no escape; her father had seen to that.
Retracing a familiar route that she had wandered thousands of times in her twenty years, it didn’t take her long to find her way down to the dungeons. No one had hindered her descent either, for she knew all the ways to reach the labyrinth where she wouldn’t have to encounter a single other person: secret stairwells and long-abandoned passageways that only she remembered.
As she pushed open the small hatch that had been far easier to navigate when she was a child, she crawled into the dark of the dungeons. It smelled of dust and earth and stale air, with a hint of brine to sting the nostrils. But, to her, it was a welcome aroma, the scent of safety and security.
Now, where did me faither have Fraser moved?
With her hand on the wall to guide her, for not every part of the dungeons had a torch to light her way, she pictured the map of the labyrinth that the years had etched in her mind. Taking a breath, she began to walk.
She had been wandering for no more than half an hour, pausing at every cell to see if it was empty. Along the way, she had picked up a torch, grateful for its amber glow so she could see to the very back of each cell.
