“I’m not leaving without telling my father, and he’ll never agree. I won’t do that to him, just run off.”
“I understand. Bring one or two guards, but they can only come to the wall. I canna let them in. It defeats the purpose.”
Caitlyn considered what Kenzie offered. It was ridiculous to trust her, but she couldn’t ignore the chance to rescue Alex without bloodshed. She considered who else could go with her. She wanted it to be Brice, but she couldn’t ask Tavin to have both his sons captured.
“What will Laird Scott think when I don’t bed down soon?” Caitlyn wondered what role the laird played in Kenzie’s fears. When the pregnant woman stepped further into the shadows, Caitlyn had her answer. She feared her father-by-marriage. It made Caitlyn appreciate Kenzie’s risk taking more. “Let me speak to my father. It may take a moment to convince him. Would you speak to him?”
Kenzie stared past Caitlyn’s shoulders for a long moment before she nodded. Caitlyn cast her a long stare before turning away and picking her way through camp until she reached her father’s side. Tavin and Brice greeted her but turned away to check on the Armstrongs assigned to their portion of the watch.
“Papa, I need you to come with me, but I can’t explain until I’m certain no one can hear.” Caitlyn spoke in rapid French, knowing none of the guardsmen understood, but Tavin, Brice, Angus, and Robert could. All four men were educated and spoke multiple languages, as Innes did even before meeting Collette. They stepped away from the fires and into the shadows. Innes drew his sword but held the tip toward the ground. “Papa, Kenzie Scott is waiting in the trees with David. She snuck him out and can sneak me in to get Alex. She’s terrified that, even if you and the other leaders won’t harm her and her children, Sully will. She knows the clan won’t easily survive an attack or a besiegement. She fears Sully will pray on your unwillingness to let a woman suffer, then he will blame you if you don’t relent and will kill Kenzie or their weans.”
“Sick bastard.”
“Aye. And from what I can tell, she fears the laird too. It’s clear she doesn’t trust him. She believes Sully will let his father die because this makes it more convenient for him to become laird. She said David and one other guard can come with me to the walls. There’s a tunnel she can lead me through. She believes I’ll be less noticeable than any warrior.”
“She is right aboot that. I don’t like it, Caity. I don’t trust her.”
“I wouldn’t either if she weren’t pregnant.”
“She’s carrying a bairn and slipped this far from the keep, helping us when she fears a mon in this very camp?” Innes peered toward the trees, straining to find anyone in the dark. “She’s brave or stupid, but she and her bairn are likely to wind up dead.”
“She knows, but she took the risk to save her other children.”
“I’m coming then.”
“What aboot the others? They’ll notice if you and I disappear.”
“Go to Kenzie. I must tell Tavin and Brice. If anyone else asks, they’ll say you had need of more privacy for a womanly matter. No one will question that.” Innes grinned. With a wife and two daughters, inevitably he faced “womanly matters,” and he knew it made other men uncomfortable. No one would gainsay him, Tavin, or Brice.
“What aboot Angus and Robert?”
“Tavin will tell them if they must. Go on now. I’ll follow in a moment.”
“Straight ahead, then aboot ten paces to the left.” Caitlyn squeezed her father’s forearm before slipping back into the darkness. Innes rushed to explain the development to his new family-by-marriage. Brice demanded to go, but Innes pointed out what Caitlyn already realized: Tavin couldn’t risk losing both his sons inside Buccleuch. With his sword near his waist, Innes crept to the trees and found Caitlyn standing with Kenzie and David.
“The tunnel comes out close to the keep’s southern wall, which abuts the loch. I can get Lady Caitlyn in through there, and ye can hide near the wall. The shadows make it difficult to see, even from the battlements. We rely on the loch being our primary defense for that side.” Kenzie drew back her cape and held up her chatelaine’s keyring. There was one key on a separate loop. “He’s in the stocks nae the dungeon.”
Caitlyn’s heart sank when she imagined the pain Alex must be enduring. At least in a dungeon, they might not have chained him within a cell. She nodded as Kenzie continued to explain that despite its central location, the storage buildings and bailey wall cast it in a shadow. She intended to take food to Alex, arguing that they might still exchange him for Abraham, so he needed to be in decent condition. She planned to unlock the stocks but leave the bailey before Alex escaped. He was to wait at least ten minutes, so people were less likely to blame Kenzie. Caitlyn’s part was to help Alex from the stocks if he needed it before leading him to the tunnel. Kenzie would already be there to guide them back out.
“There is something ye must ken before I take ye. Something that I canna change and is indirectly ma fault, by nay choice of ma own.” Innes and David froze, but Caitlyn nodded encouragement. “I didna want to marry Sully, but our fathers decided for us. I was a MacCabe before I married into the Scotts.” Kenzie glanced at David, who already guessed what she would reveal once she said her former clan’s name. She looked at Innes and lowered her chin, ashamed. “Ma brother died at Alex’s hand because he led the gallowglass men who attacked. Ma cousin leads them now, and he is the one who brought Alex to us.”
Caitlyn shot David a warning glare as he opened his mouth. She feared he might add that the man also held a sword to her throat. It wasn’t the time to enrage her father. She shook her head once, and David closed his mouth. With no more to confess, Kenzie led them through the trees, across a strip of tall meadow grass to what appeared like a berm. On the far side was a bush she pushed aside to reveal a door. She pointed to where Innes and David could approach without being seen. Then she disappeared into the tunnel, forcing Caitlyn to follow her. When the door closed behind them, pitch black shrouded the women. Kenzie reached back and took Caitlyn’s hand, leading her into the dark abyss.
Caitlyn knew her way through the tunnels at Stirling Castle, but Laurel was the one to teach her the routes, and Caitlyn trusted Laurel. As Kenzie guided her, Caitlyn prayed she hadn’t misplaced her faith in this stranger. The tunnel seemed to go on for miles, but it was only minutes before Kenzie stopped, and Caitlyn bumped into her.
“Ye must remain silent. The tunnel opens near the kitchens,” Kenzie whispered in the pitch black. Caitlyn couldn’t even see six inches in front of her to where Kenzie stood. The pregnant woman eased open the door a crack, placing one eye to the sliver of light. She tugged the door closed with a soft snap. “Sully.”
Caitlyn’s heart accelerated, already racing to the point of pain. She waited for the irate warrior to yank the door open and drag both women out by the hair. When nothing happened, but Sully’s muted voice drifted to them, Kenzie pressed against the door again. The crack was only wide enough for sound to filter in. Opening the door another inch and looking through the narrow space, Kenzie watched her husband taunt Alex. She shifted as Caitlyn ducked beneath her to squat and watch too.
“I should have killed you the first time. I shouldn’t have trusted any of my men to do the job. That arm should have laid beside your dead body. It should have fallen and left you to bleed to death.” Sully sneered as he spat onto Alex’s limp hand.
“And yet I survived. It must be so galling that you keep trying to kill me, yet I persist in living. How does it feel to fail so often? I wouldn’t know.”
“You fucking piece of shite.” Sully raised his foot to kick Alex in the groin, but he had enough freedom to turn his hip toward Sully instead. He swept his leg out, connecting with the outside of Sully’s ankle. Off balance from standing on one leg, Sully dropped to the ground. Alex said nothing but raised his eyebrows, mocking Sully. “Mayhap I shall finish the job now.”
“And mayhap my father and our allies will raze every village on your land, then burn your keep to the ground. I think your mother and wife could find work at our alehouse. They’re certainly trained how to spread their legs, from the size of your family.” Alex’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he chuckled. “Mayhap Kenzie will become my leman. Even with only one good arm, we both know my cock is bigger.”
Caitlyn and Kenzie gasped in unison. Caitlyn patted Kenzie’s foot. “You know he would never do either of those things.”
