“Aye,” Reid replied. “He is. But ye would do well to keep such opinions to yerself. Domnall Maguire has the laird’s favor right now and the laird wouldnae take kindly to yer words about the Lady Abigail.”
“But we canna let them treat her like this. We have to do something!”
Reid paused, studying the castellan. It seemed that his wasn’t the only heart Abigail had softened during her time here. Martin looked fiercer than he’d ever seen the man and others, too, would not be happy at Abigail’s treatment: Thomas. Clyde. Cook. Maybe more.
He clapped Martin on the shoulder. “Leave Lady Abigail to me.”
He hurried through the castle and up the stairs to Abigail’s room. Looking right and left to check he was alone, he opened the door and slipped inside. The room had not been touched, but it would not remain that way for long.
Striding over to the window, he crouched and examined the floorboards. Sure enough, one showed signs of recent disturbance. Taking out his belt knife, he stuck the blade in the gap between the boards and prised it up. A small cavity was revealed beneath, in which sat a small wrapped bundle. He hesitated only for a moment before he reached in and took it out.
Unwrapping it, he found himself holding a small flat tablet that was all glass on one side. He stared at it. He’d never seen the like. He swiped his finger over the glass and almost dropped the thing in shock when the glass suddenly lit up, showing lots of small, brightly colored icons on the glass screen.
What on earth?
He stared at the device. Reid had never been superstitious, never one to give in to flights of fancy, but as he stared at the glass tablet, he felt an unease he’d never felt before. This thing was not of this world. Or, more accurately, it was not of thistime. He knew instinctively that the thing he was looking at was from the future. And that meant only one thing.
Abigail was telling the truth.
Chapter 18
Abi had finally fallenasleep. She’d sat for hours staring at the tiny barred window in the door of her cell, willing Reid to appear again. He hadn’t. She’d been in here all day and now it was dark again. Nobody had come to see her. Nobody had brought her food or drink. She was famished and thirsty but was so frightened she didn’t think she’d be able to eat even if they did bring her something.
Finally, she’d fallen into a fitful sleep full of dreams of a grinning Domnall Maguire and a pyre being built in the center of the courtyard.
But her sleep was shallow, and she bolted awake instantly when she heard the sound of the door opening. She was on her feet in a heartbeat, straining to see down the corridor. Reid! He’d come for her! She knew he would!
But her heart froze in her chest when she saw it was not Reid. It was Domnall Maguire.
Abi staggered back. “What do you want?”
He grinned at her, showing a row of brown teeth. “Is that any way to greet me? After all I’ve gone through to get ye here?”
“Go to hell, Domnall.”
“Oh, I’m not the one who’ll be going to hell. That’s reserved for ye and yer kind, witch.”
