Ewan stifled a grumble as he abandoned his hiding place to return to camp. He couldn’t approach the castle wall while it was daylight. He would have to wait to claim Allyson’s message once no one could detect his presence. It was another day of waiting, but at least he’d seen Allyson and was reassured that she was in one piece.
“She looked for you, or rather toward you. I think the lass knows you’re here, but she didn’t seem alarmed that you weren’t with us,” Ewan explained to Kenneth.
“She realizes I can’t approach in breeks and a doublet. If you knew to cover your face to hide the glow of your skin, then she knew my clothes would serve as a beacon. She understands your plaids help you blend in, making it possible for you to hide among the foliage. She must trust you, lad, if she risked searching for something to use for a missive.”
“Aye.” Ewan wasn’t sure what else to say. He didn’t feel like he’d done anything to gain her trust back, but she appeared so relieved when she recognized him. He assumed she was happy to see anyone who might rescue her, so he didn’t consider it personal. But the last look she cast him made him wonder if she was glad he came. She hadn’t looked for Eoin and barely glanced at him once she noticed he lay beside Ewan. He refused to read more into it, but his heart hammered.
“Do you believe you’ll be able to retrieve it without detection?” Kenneth continued.
“I’ll do what I have to, to ensure I get that missive. She risked much to get it to us.”
Kenneth nodded before glancing once more at the castle, then turned away. Ewan hunted with his brother, but there wasn’t enough to occupy his mind until night fell once more.
Chapter Thirteen
Just as they had done the first night they attempted to scout the castle, Ewan, Eoin, and their men slathered mud on their faces and necks. They stalked through the high grass, keeping low but not needing to slither. Ewan watched as the guards changed shifts and marked the time by the position of the moon. They waited while the new rotation of guards made their rounds of the entire battlements before settling into their stations. Ewan and Eoin divided the men and went their separate ways with Ewan creeping to the spot where Allyson dropped the rock. He pressed his back against the wall, using the structure’s shadow to offer him even more concealment. He searched the ground and soon found the parchment and ribbon. He pulled them free from the stone and dropped them in his sporran before signaling for his men to follow him.
Remaining in the shadows, the men surveyed the defenses and searched for any weaknesses in the structure. Ewan didn’t expect to find any, but they would investigate. From what Ewan ascertained, the only weak point in the keep’s defenses was the wall built out of the loch’s shoreline. The fewer guardsmen posted to that area indicated they didn’t expect an attack to come from that direction. Ewan made do with the weak light of the moon and the torches overhead to feel along the wall, finding places where the centuries old mortar crumbled when he pried his fingers into it. It would take great effort and strength, but he and his men could scale the wall, making finger holds as they climbed. They had no grappling hooks to launch over the walls or rope to assist their ascent. He hoped the Elliot men were as capable as they appeared. He’d grown to respect them as their time together dragged on. They were competent warriors and dedicated to their clan. They followed their laird’s directives with no hesitation and worked together as a team used to spending long days on the horseback. Ewan never found fault with any of them, and they all chomped at the bit to ensure Allyson made it out safe and sound.
Once Ewan and his warriors finished scouting their section of the keep, they eased back into the meadow as Eoin’s team joined them. When Ewan was confident the guards hadn’t caught sight of them, he rose to his full height and sprinted back to their camp. They’d kept their cook fire small, but it burned bright enough for him to read Allyson’s bold script with ease. He noted her penmanship looked more like a man’s, precise and practical, as opposed to the flourishing marks most women included. He read the missive before passing it to Kenneth, who glanced back in the castle's direction before rereading it.
“What do you propose based upon what you saw?” Kenneth posed the question equally between the twins and studied their expressions as they considered their answers.
“Allyson was right about the garrison. From what I witnessed, there are close to a hundred men who will take up arms to defend the keep and the Greys. We know Sage is in there, too. That butcher kills as many as fifty people a day.” Ewan swept his gaze toward the castle.
“That just tells us there’s a dungeon filled with people who would like to see him dead,” a Gordon warrior interjected.
“Aye, Scots mostly, I presume,” Eoin responded. “They’ve reinforced the gates to withstand a battering ram, not that we have one. And they have winches to tip oil during an attack, but they don’t seem prepared for a few lone warriors to slip over their walls. The guards spend too much time milling about and not enough time patrolling. At least that’s the case with the ones near the gatehouse. They’re overly confident.”
“I agree,” Ewan nodded. “The guards ignore the wall that butts up against the loch. It’s a closed body of water, so they assume no one will sail up to their back door. There’s no patrol along there after the initial sweep when the shifts changed. We saw it’s the same during the day. That’s how Allyson stayed there for so long today. No one’s watching.” Ewan curved his fingers into claws as he gestured. “The mortar is falling apart, so you can make finger holds if you dig a bit. Climbing would be hard going with little purchase for your feet, but not impossible. Grappling hooks would help, but we have none, and I doubt any of the crofters have ones to share.”
“My man should return in the morning with another report from the village. He found a wench who took pity on a weary traveler. He should have plenty to tell us after spending two days in a tavern. I’m sending a rider back to Redheugh in the morning. I’ll call for more of my warriors to join us. It’s only a few hours ride each way, so they will be here before nightfall tomorrow.”
“We’ll wait for his report, your men, and to see if Allyson can communicate with us again, then we’ll make our move.” Ewan stated.
“I hate knowing she’s spending another night in Sodom and Gomorrah.” Kenneth had taken to swiping his hand over his tired face more and more often as the days stretched out.
Ewan noted the concern and frustration the man experienced at his inability to charge in and rescue his daughter, but he wondered which drove Laird Elliot: the fact he was duty bound to rescue his daughter or genuine concern for Allyson. Ewan sensed it was the former because the man knew it was expected, but he rarely spoke of anything about Allyson that showed a bond. The expression on Allyson’s face as she looked toward the trees and where she suspected her father waited didn’t match the detachment Kenneth Elliot appeared to have for his youngest. Ewan didn’t understand it, but the feeling grew stronger the longer they searched for Allyson. It was like the laird and his daughter were little more than strangers. He’d replayed Cairren’s words from when she informed them of Allyson’s disappearance. She said Allyson had received little attention until she arrived at court. Ewan now suspected Cairren hadn’t exaggerated, and Allyson was often overlooked. He knew she was the youngest of six, but he couldn’t imagine ignoring any of his children, regardless of how many he had. Yet, as the notion crossed his mind, he remembered that not long ago he felt no qualms about breeding a couple of sons with whoever he married and continuing on with his life as though marriage changed little. If he’d been so ready to leave a wife behind at his clan’s keep, that would mean he’d been prepared to leave his children behind, too. Watching Kenneth was making Ewan reconsider his view on parenting and having a family.
* * *
Allyson rolled onto her side in her freezing chamber and wondered what the Gordon twins and her father were doing camped in the woods. It shocked her to find Ewan and Eoin hiding so near the keep, but she realized in an instant that they were scouting how to breach the castle’s defenses. From what she could tell, and from what she put in her note, the castle appeared impregnable, which only made her confidence waiver. While Sir John hadn’t forced her to visit the dungeon again, the incident on the wall walk with Elizabeth and him disconcerted her. She perceived the couple would attempt to seduce her into joining their twisted love play, and when she continued to refuse, she sensed they would take the choice away from her. It had become a question of when, not if, they would strike. Her time spent in the Great Hall taught her no one would defend her if Sir John flung her over his shoulder and dumped her on a table before having his way with her right there in front of everyone. There was nothing anyone would do if Sir John caught her behind a closed door or forced her into the dungeon. Allyson resolved to only venture out of her chamber when they were serving a meal or she was certain Sir John was in the lists. The man still trained daily, and it consumed most of the morning. For as long as she could, she would drop daily reports for Ewan. She prayed it wouldn’t take more than another two or three days to get her out. Allyson doubted her freedom from being molested would last much longer than that.
She shifted again and gazed at the stars that shone through the window embrasure. She’d investigated a few more chambers that day and discovered only the lord’s and lady’s chambers had glass in the windows. The rest had thin hides hung to protect against the elements. The one in Allyson’s room was so thin that it was pointless to use it. If she was going to lay shivering, she might as well have something to look at. She missed her chamber at Redheugh, her family’s home. She couldn’t see the North Sea from the battlements here at Chillingham, but she often inhaled wafts of sea air. But at her family’s keep, she climbed the battlements and had a view of the rolling valley between her home and the Hermitage. A river flowed to the north of the pele tower, and Allyson had spent hours there as a child. As she continued to gaze at the stars, she wondered if anyone at Redheugh was looking upon the same stars. An unexpected question floated through her mind: would she ever discover if the stars were brighter in the real Highlands, where Ewan lived?
I’m only thinking about the toad because aught is better than being a captive here. Even marriage to him. If I wasn’t so desperate to escape here, I’d still want to escape him.Allyson’s mind paused as she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling.I shouldn’t be so ungrateful. We aren’t truly betrothed yet, not without the contracts being signed or the ceremony, so he wasn’t obligated to come with Father. Eoin definitely wasn’t. They both chose to chase after me and dragged their men along, too. If I’m honest with myself, which I don’t want to be, it’ll be Ewan and Eoin who devise a way to free me. Father is a powerful warrior, but there is something about the Highlanders that makes them unstoppable, unbeatable. I suppose that’s what I need right now. Warriors who will plow through aught to win what they want.
Allyson drifted to sleep, picturing Ewan as she’d seen him that morning. She remembered how braw and handsome he’d looked when his head poked through the grass. She considered the strength and muscle she’d felt each time they’d danced over the years, and she admitted it had seemed exciting and reassuring all at the same time. He was more than just attractive, and she’d wondered several times while dancing what it would feel like to kiss him with his powerful body pressed against hers. As she lay alone in bed, she wondered if she’d have been so averse to the arrangement if they’d never met in that blasted passageway.
Morning arrived far too soon for Allyson as she trudged up the steps to the dais and slipped into her seat. As had become her routine, she kept her head lowered at all meals but observed everything and everyone she saw. That morning, she counted the number of men she was certain were knights, then counted how many were regular warriors. When she finished, she moved toward the stairs to retreat to her chamber again, but Sir John intercepted her.
“My dear, I’ve been remiss in my hospitality.” His words might have sounded suave, but his tone threatened. Sir John linked Allyson’s arm through his and pulled her in the direction of the dungeon steps. She’d noticed Elizabeth leave the table but hadn’t paid attention to where the woman went. Allyson wasn’t interested in anything Sir John might do to her, and she wasn’t interested in raising Elizabeth’s ire because the retired knight’s attention returned to her. But he gave her no choice but to precede the man down the stairs. She wanted to gag at the stench, which seemed worse than the first time he’d forced her to visit the underworld. There was more noise, too. As Allyson continued down the corridor, she noticed the cells were full this time. Each one appeared to have at least three occupants. She tallied the number of doors and estimated there were at least four dozen people locked away when there had only been a handful a couple days prior.
“More border villagers who forget they live in England rather than that shite hole they call home.” Sir John spat as he described Scotland. Allyson bristled and wanted to defend her homeland, but she recognized Sir John was back to his games. He only said it to bait her, so she pressed her lips together in a thin line to keep from speaking. “Fear not, the next time you’re here, it should be quieter.”
Allyson flinched, understanding Sir John meant the cells would be empty because their current occupants would be dead. She kept her eyes straight ahead until they reached the door to his torture chamber. She angled her body closer to the wall, so he couldn’t trap her once again. She’d nearly hurled when he’d run his hand over her breast and toward her mons, and she wouldn’t allow him to catch her unprepared again. Or so she assumed until the door swung open. There were lit torches in all the wall sconces and manacled to one wall was a naked Elizabeth Charlton.
Chapter Fourteen
