“Gordon and Donovan attacked us as we neared Dunvegan. They had seven boats to our four. They captured me and Ronan. They let me have a chamber, but Ronan and half his men have been in the dungeon the entire time. They locked the others in a storage building in the bailey. They’ll ken I’m gone by now and will punish Ronan. If we dinna get to him before today ends, I’m certain they’ll kill him. They’ll believe he’s lying, but he has nay idea I got away. Please, Kieran.”
Kieran’s long arms engulfed his sister and his wife as he held the two shivering women. Despite Abigail’s objections, he and Maude coaxed her inside the keep. While Maude ordered food and the fire lit in Abigail’s old chamber, Kieran summoned his second-in-command, Kyle. The men listened to Abigail retell her story. She added details about killing Donovan and finding the secret tunnels. Holding her MacKinnon plaid out to shield her hand, she retrieved the gate key and the Fairy Flag and gave them to Kieran. Neither man said anything, both recognizing the significance of the tattered piece of pink and green fabric.
“I found the flag in Edina’s chamber. Then I located the key just inside the cave and let maself out. I crawled along the rocks and then along the dockside. I dinna ken how they havenae caught me. Expect to meet them nae far from here, Kieran. If we make it to Dunvegan without being seen, that will get ye inside. I can lead ye to the solar, the Great Hall, Cormag’s chamber, and there’s a door to the dungeon inside the cave.”
“Ye’re staying here,” Kieran declared.
“The hell I am. They have ma husband and ma clansmen. I amnae staying here like some wean ye can leave behind. I escaped one keep that I didna ken ma way around, so dinna think for a moment Stornoway can hold me. I want ma husband, and I want to go home—to Dun Ringill. Take me, Kieran, or God bless, I will find ma own way back. Dinna doubt that I will.”
“Kieran, take yer sister,” Maude’s soft tone belied the authority in it. “Do ye want us sailing alone?”
“Us? Ye’re nae going anywhere, buttercup,” Kieran barked.
“If ye dinna take yer sister, I will. She’s nae the only woman in this clan whose brother taught her how to sail.”
“Remind me to trounce Lachlan the next time I see him. Ye’re a mother. Ye canna leave.”
Maude’s crossed arms, raised chin, and her defiant glare challenged Kieran to see who would win their battle of wills. Abigail shifted toward Maude, knowing her sister-by-marriage would convince her husband in Abigail’s favor.
“Kier, take Abigail. She faced more danger sailing here alone. She can get ye into the keep, whether through the sea gate or the main gate. She and Ronan need to go home with nay more detours.”
“I ken,” Kieran huffed. He kissed his wife’s forehead. “And I ken ye arenae going anywhere. But I wouldnae put it past ye to lead the raid, buttercup.”
“As long as we understand one another,” Maude grinned before she lifted her chin for a kiss. Abigail watched her relatives, warmed by the obvious love the couple shared, but saddened that she wasn’t with her husband to share their own kiss. Maude looked at her with a sympathetic smile. “Let’s get ye into warmer clothes and get some hot food into ye. By the time ye’ve eaten and changed, Kieran will have the men organized.”
With a glance and a nod to Kieran, Abigail followed Maude to the stairs. They weren’t halfway to the second floor before Kieran barked orders and the massive doors slammed behind him. Abigail didn’t dally, accepting Maude’s help as she changed into two fresh pairs of stockings, a thick chemise Maude lent her, and one of Maude’s heaviest wool gowns. She wrapped her MacKinnon plaid around her, then added a MacLeod of Lewis plaid before belting them into place. Maude had returned with lamb’s wool when she brought the extra clothes. Abigail stuffed it into her boots, an added layer of insulation.
Abigail shoveled the food that arrived, starving after barely eating for a sennight. What she couldn’t manage without feeling ill, Maude stuffed into a satchel. They arrived belowstairs as Kieran and Kyle walked into the Great Hall, shaking snow from their heads and shoulders. Maids arrived with stuffed sacks of food. Maude and Abigail embraced, genuine sisterly love passing between them, before Abigail followed Kieran and Kyle back to the docks. Abigail turned and waved at Maude, realizing she’d been at her former home for less than an hour. She stepped into Kieran’s birlinn, found a spot to huddle in the bow, grateful for the pair of gloves she found in the satchel. She drew her plaids around her and fell asleep, able to trust her safety to her brother.
* * *
“Abigail.” Kieran shook her shoulder as she came awake. He helped her to her feet and pulled her into his embrace. She huddled against her older brother, fighting to keep her tears at bay. She feared they would make her eyes freeze, and she wouldn’t have any of the men view her as weak. Kieran’s massive hands rubbed her back and arms, bringing heat back to the numb extremities. “I need ye to tell me all that happened. Especially how ye wound up with their Fairy Flag.”
Abigail nodded her head against Kieran’s chest. “I’ve already told you most of it. Skye just came into sight when I spotted the boats. Ronan tried to steer us toward shore. I’m certain he would have preferred to fight there, but the wind was against us. Gordon and Donovan sailed with the wind. Their seven birlinns surrounded ours. I hid beneath a bench, just like Ronan told me. He and his men kept the MacLeods from boarding, but their boats rammed ours until it capsized. Ronan, our men, and I ended up in the water. The boats were close together, and the fighting distracted the men. I inched ma way around them, even though I heard Ronan calling to me. Kieran, I have never been so cold.”
Abigail shivered against Kieran, recalling the misery and fear. His arms tightened around her, and despite the two plaids covering her head, she felt him kiss her crown. Once more, tears threatened to overwhelm her. She swallowed the lump in her throat several times before she could speak again.
“Donovan spotted us just after Ronan joined me beside one of our boats. I had ma dirk in ma hand. When Donovan pulled me from the water, I stabbed him. In the neck. I killed him, Kieran.” Abigail felt Kieran tense, but he said nothing. “They still pulled us from the water. Ronan took the knife and killed a MacLeod, but Gordon had Ronan’s sword and knocked him out. They gagged me and bound us both. They tossed us into the dungeon in a cell together. They took those of us they found on the boats or in the water to the dungeon. They imprisoned the men they caught on land in a storage building in the bailey. I was only in the cell for a few hours before they gave me a chamber. Lady MacLeod—Cecily—recognized me.”
“I can imagine what she had to say aboot that. Bitter woman.”
“Aye. But Ronan predicted she’d insist they give a lady—even a captive—a chamber. Her pretentiousness is the only reason she has a sense of decorum. I joined the laird and his family for the evening meal and reminded them of what was at stake if they harmed Ronan or me. Ronan swears they havenae tortured him. They ignored me during the day, which was fine. I ken the guard rotation, Kieran. I ken where they station the least guards and where they nap while they should be on watch. I ken how to get into the keep through the sea gate. I remembered the tunnels Donovan showed Madeline and me. I can get from the sea cave to the laird’s solar, the family chambers, the Great Hall, the dungeon, and the chamber they gave me. I sneaked out of ma chamber most nights to visit Ronan.”
“Abigail,” Kieran hissed.
“I ken. He didna like it either. But we’ve been there a sennight. I wasna going to go without seeing ma husband if I kenned how to find him. He doesnae ken that I escaped. I left the dungeon last night and was going to return to ma chamber. I remembered hearing snoring in one of the family chambers the first night I explored. I couldnae figure out whose chamber it was. I spied in there last night and discovered Edina, Cormag and Gordon’s mother. Do ye remember how kind she was to us? Her mind is gone, Kieran. She thought me a spirit come to take her to Heaven and her husband. Then she thought I was Annalily. When she nearly fell, I went to help her. I couldnae let her get hurt. She thought I was Queen Titania! She told me where the Fairy Flag was. She told me to get it!”
“And ye think to bribe Cormag with it for Ronan?”
“Nay. I think to unfurl the bluidy thing, wave it in their faces until they pish themselves, then toss it into the Minch. Let them fall to their knees and beg ye for mercy. They’ll believe the battle is lost before it begins if they see we have their banner.”
“Do ye nae fear being swept off to the land of the fae?” Kieran grinned.
“Bah. If I’m Queen Titania, then Ronan is King Oberan. We’ll be fine together.” Kieran sobered as he cupped Abigail’s cheeks. He opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head. Her gloved hands covered his. “I ken they may have killed him, Kieran. But I had to take the risk. This might be the only way to get him free. Ye hadnae already sailed for Skye, so I ken Cormag didna send for a ransom. But I dinna ken why the MacKinnons didna go to Stornoway to tell ye we hadnae arrived. I fear Cormag’s led a raid on Dun Ringill.”
“That’s possible. Nay one told us ye hadnae made it home. It worried Maude and me that ye didna send a messenger to tell us ye arrived safely. But we thought the weather might have kept Ronan from sending anyone.”
“It hasnae snowed much at Dunvegan, but I dinna ken what the rest of Skye is like.” Abigail bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. “The weather turned so foul just after we left Stornoway. We had to spend the night in a cove near Ranish. But the next day was beautiful. The water was calm. The sun shone. The only problem was the wind was against us. I thought the worst was over. Then hell truly began.”
