Page 78 of Siren of the Highlands

“How’d you get out of your bloody cell?”

The first guard passed through the archway from the staircase, his gaze fixed on Ivy. It was only when the second man appeared that Fin moved. Leading with the point of his sword, he stepped forward and drove it through the second man’s side. He felt the blade scrape along bone and watched the man’s eyes widen as a fount of blood spilled from his mouth.

It had all happened in the blink of an eye, but the first man was fast. He was already spinning around with his hand going to the sword on his belt. As quick as the man was, though, it was too late. Fin was already in motion. As the second guard fell, he released the hilt of his sword and drew the dagger from his belt in one fluid motion. He drove the point of the blade into the man’s throat. The soldier opened his mouth to sound the alarm, but all that came out was a large, red bubble and a wet, gurgling noise. He staggered backward and fell, his body twitching a couple of times before it was still.

Fin moved to reclaim his weapons, cleaning the blades off on the tunics of the fallen men. Ivy stared at them with wide eyes and a stricken look on her face. It was clear to Fin that she had never seen a body before, let alone somebody being killed in her presence and she was shaken. After sliding his sword back into its sheath, he crossed to her and took her gently by the hand.

“I’m sorry ye had tae see that,” he said. “I wish to hell ye hadn’t.”

Ivy finally tore her gaze away from the dead men and gave herself a small shake. She looked up into Fin’s eyes, and he saw the sorrow and fear in them. He truly wished she hadn’t witnessed such brutality, but there had been no way around it. Not if they had any hope of getting out of the castle alive.

“I - this is war,” Ivy said. “There are always casualties in war. Castor said that to me recently.”

“Unfortunately, he’s right,” Fin said. “I’m sorry ye had tae see it all the same.”

“There was nothing you could have done,” she said, almost as if she was trying to make herself believe it. “They would have brought down all of Castor’s men on us.”

He nodded. “Aye. They would’ve,” he said. “And speaking of it, we should go.”

He was as anxious to get out of the cells and away from the keep as much for their safety as for getting Ivy away from the sight of such carnage. Holding onto her hand with his dagger in the other, he led her up the stairs slowly and quietly.

When they reached the landing, he carefully peered out into the corridor and finding it empty, he pulled her along and toward the storeroom. They were halfway there when a voice rang out that turned his blood to ice.

“Intruders! To arms! We have intruders in the castle!”

Fin risked a quick glance behind them and saw half a dozen men in Welton livery rushing toward them, swords bared, their faces dark with anger. Fin tightened his grip on Ivy’s hand and pulled her along as he started to run.

“Stop them! Stop them now! And kill the Scotsman!”

Fin recognized Castor’s voice and glanced behind them, seeing the man running behind his soldiers - which was about where he would have expected him to be. Men like Castor did not lead from the front. They barked orders from the rear while other men put their lives in jeopardy in his stead.

They made it to the door to the storeroom ahead of the soldiers, and Fin pushed Ivy inside. He followed her in and slammed the door behind them, hooking a long-handled broom through the handle to keep it from being opened. He pointed to the trapdoor he’d come through.

“Down there. Hurry,” he said. “That broom will nae hold them long.”

Ivy was quick to obey his order and descended the staircase into the darkness of the tunnel beyond. Fin quickly followed her down, pulling the trapdoor down behind him. There was nothing he could do to secure the door, so he descended the stairs and groped through the darkness until he found her. He closed his hand around Ivy’s and pulled her along the corridor.

Behind them, the trap door crashed open, and the sound of boots on the stairs chased them along.

“Hurry,” he said.

Ivy’s breathing was labored as she ran along with him. Just up ahead, Fin saw the light slanting down into the tunnel from the trapdoor. The voices of the soldiers chasing them grew louder, commanding them to stop. It was such a foolish request, all Fin could do was smirk to himself.

They finally made it to the stairs and Fin all but pushed her up and out of the tunnel. He climbed the stairs and slammed the trap door behind them. Hollis was grinning at him as he tied the handle to a nearby tree.

“This should keep thae bastards cooped up for a while,” he said.

A moment later, there was a heavy thump on the trapdoor, and it begin to rise. With a loud laugh, Hollis stomped on the door, slamming it back down onto the heads of the soldiers on the stairs. The way he had tied it to the tree allowed it to only open a crack, and it was going to take them a while break through it. The soldiers would be stuck down there in the dark for a while.

“Ye’re a bleedin’ genius,” Fin said.

“Aye. I ken that.”

He laughed and punched his friend in the shoulder playfully. Mira was to the side of the clearing, holding onto their horses. Fin watched as Ivy ran to her handmaiden and pulled her into an embrace.

“We should get out of here,” Fin said. “They’ll have raised the alarm in the castle by now.”

“Aye,” Hollis nodded in agreement. “Then let’s be away already.”

---