“I ken.”
Caitlyn wasn’t certain whether Kenzie believed her, since Alex sounded convincing even to her. She covered her mouth to stifle her moan when Sully’s fist plowed into Alex’s eye. From the force, Alex’s opposite cheek hit the wooden frame. Caitlyn feared his eye swelling shut within minutes. She prayed he could see well enough to make his escape with her.
“You can hit me, but you have denied none of it. Your land burned, your keep gone, and your woman under me. You’ve said naught to prove me wrong.” Alex continued to antagonize Sully. When the latter attempted to throw another punch, Alex jerked to the side. He slammed the side of his head against the small circular opening around his neck, but it angled him perfectly to sink his teeth into Sully’s wrist. He clamped closed until he tasted blood, which he spat on Sully’s face. His laughter echoed in the bailey.
“The only woman getting fucked soon will be little Caitlyn Kennedy. They made her kind to be plowed. She was bred from a whore to be a whore. Tell me: how rough does she like it?” Sully took control of the goading, but Alex’s dark mien was his only response until Sully erred and leaned forward to whisper in Alex’s ear. Getting too close, Sully was unprepared for Alex to grab his hair and yank him forward. His face collided with the wood.
“Speak of my wife like that again, and I will push a stick up your arse and fuck you untilyouknow what it is to be a whore.” For good measure, Alex pulled Sully back and slammed him into the frame once more. Dazed and bleeding, Sully stumbled away from Alex.
Alone once more, Alex sagged against the stocks. His arm throbbed and ached with shooting pains radiating to his fingers. It had been pure fury that gave him strength. Whether or not his life was forfeit, Sully endangered Caitlyn, and for that the man was destined to receive whatever vengeance Alex could reap.
Caitlyn wanted to rush forward and free Alex the moment Sully entered the keep. She wanted to pull his head against her chest and cradle him in her arms, protecting him from the rest of the world. While his undeniable strength still mesmerized her, she’d trembled, waiting for Sully to drive his dirk or his sword into Alex.
“He can’t kill him.” Kenzie widened the gap between the door and the frame. “I think he’s realizing the danger he’s placing us all in. He might ransom Alex or hold him prisoner, but your mon will live.”
For now. Caitlyn nodded, but internally disagreed with Kenzie’s assessment. She wouldn’t put it past Sully to be in the keep gathering more weapons to stick into various parts of Alex. Her husband played a dangerous game, and it did not convince her he would win.
“Stay here. I will go inside and make my way around until I can re-enter the bailey.” Kenzie didn’t wait for Caitlyn’s response. She pushed the door wide enough for her swollen belly to pass through before it shut, leaving Caitlyn in the dark once more. She closed her eyes, pulling forth childhood memories. She recalled the day she met Alex, when he arrived with his father. She remembered how he’d stood bravely three days later when the Armstrongs rode out. It had been Caitlyn who found Alex tucked away in a storage building, crying from homesickness and fear. She’d given him what was left of a half-gnawed apple and invited him to go swimming with Cairren and her.
Caitlyn recalled the time the trio attempted to hide from an irate Collette, who bellowed at them in a mixture of French and English as she searched for them. They were running through the kitchens playing chase when Alex’s elbow pushed a bowl too close to the edge, and Caitlyn’s shoulder knocked it to the floor. The crockery shattered, and half of the night’s pottage landed on the floor. Following her younger sister, Cairren slid through the scalding mess, grabbing the table. Her momentum pulled the table with her, upending it. That sent loaves of bread into the air. The children braved the dungeon, thinking it was the last place Collette would search, but it was the first place she went. She threatened to lock them away, forget where she placed the key, and let them starve, since no one else would eat that night. None of her threats were true, but eight-year-old Alex and Cairren and six-year-old Caitlyn were certain Collette meant every word.
Alone in the tunnel, waiting on tenterhooks, Caitlyn continued to reminisce about events throughout the years Alex lived and trained with the Kennedys. She didn’t really remember a time before she and Alex were friends. He was as much a part of her life as she was her own. He’d said something similar during his last visit to Dunure before Caitlyn left for court.
“I don’t know a life without you, Caity. You’re as much a part of me as the air I breathe and the bones that carry me.”
A noise beside the door had Caitlyn holding her breath. When she realized someone was about to open the portal, she slipped along the wall. She prayed the floral fragrance from the soap she used that morning didn’t give her away.
“I swear I heard something down here when I passed by on the wall,” a Scott guard insisted.
“Who’s going to be down here? It’s likely the breeze moved the handle,” another man’s voice countered.
“But we can’t tell. I should get a torch.”
“What you should get is your arse back to your post.”
Caitlyn assumed the huff and grumble came from the first man. She waited for the sound of the door closing, but it didn’t come.
“Who are you? I ken you’re a woman because I can smell you.” The second man’s voice was far too close for Caitlyn’s comfort. She pulled the dirk from her waist and the one in her pocket, positioning them in her hands as Alex taught her. She’d thought him ridiculous when he insisted she and Cairren learn how to wield them in the dark. She’d argued that she would never roam passageways alone, and she would never wander far from a campsite fire. Now she wondered if Alex had the gift of second sight.
Caitlyn held her breath and held her ground. She’d thought her heart was beating rapidly earlier, but now it rang in her ears and pulsed in her throat. She felt her jaw clench, but she couldn’t ease the tightness. Her palms threatened to let the dirk handles slide from them. She couldn’t afford to get herself lost in the tunnel, nor could she let this person chase her back out the other end. She heard metal scrape against the stone wall before a spark lit against the wall. In the flash that it illuminated the dark corridor, she had a moment to comprehend the warrior’s sword was moving toward her with force.
The guard’s cackle echoed in the passageway, but it was a grunt of pain a moment later. Caitlyn ducked and came up under the man’s arm, driving one dirk into his belly, and the other into his armpit. The sword clattered to the ground as Caitlyn yanked the blade free from his armpit. She twisted and shoved the other, trying to lever it upward. Terrified that she hadn’t done enough when a hand wrapped around her throat, she thrust her free dirk wildly. Blood spurted across her arm from the artery that erupted. The man crumbled to the ground with a gurgle.
Tentatively, Caitlyn reached down to find the man’s chest. When she felt no movement, she did her best to wipe her blades clean against the dead warrior’s tunic. She grimaced but used her foot to inch him toward the wall and out of the way. She rushed back to the door and prayed no one came in search of the now-dead guard.
* * *
Alex watched Kenzie slip from the keep through a door he assumed led to the kitchens. She carried a covered dish she held above her protruding belly. She walked with surety as she approached Alex. He narrowed his eyes and surveyed the surrounding area. He spotted only the men standing watch on the battlements, and they faced away.
“I’ve brought ye food.” Kenzie’s gaze darted around in case anyone watched before she uncovered the dish to show Alex a dirk beneath a thin layer of apricots and chicken. Keeping her voice low and barely moving her lips, she explained. “I canna get yer sword, but Henry will. He’s likely to kill Sully before any of ye do. Ma husband has nay coin to pay him. Henry willna fight for ye, but he will return what’s yers since he owes nay loyalty to Sully.”
She held food up to Alex, but he shook his head, not trusting the woman despite her outward kindness. He swept his gaze over the bailey and up to the walls, but no one paid them attention. But Alex was aware that didn’t mean no one watched.
“I’m going to unlock ye and return to the keep. Ye must wait at least ten minutes before ye try to move. I need people to notice me in the keep. Caitlyn will come help ye lift off the bar and guide ye to the tunnel. I’ll be there to guide ye back out. Innes and David are waiting for ye both.”
“Caitlyn’s here?” Alex strained to peer past the ends of the wood restraints. His head only had so much space to move, but he craned his neck. “Why are you helping me? And why bring Caitlyn in here if you’re supposedly freeing me?”
“I dinna trust ma husband nae to harm me or our children to force yer clan and allies to leave ye to him. I will do aught to protect ma children. I dinna wish to risk this bairn’s life, but I have three other weans who depend on me. Caitlyn is less likely to be noticed. People will think she’s soft-hearted when it seems like she brings ye water. Once she lifts the bar, ye canna dally. Ye must run for the tunnel. I’m going to step closer to make it look like I’m handing ye food. I’m going to slide this dirk into yer belt.” Kenzie moved slowly, both to reassure Alex that she didn’t plan to stab him and to keep her movements from drawing attention. Once she secured the knife and opened the lock, she backed away then spun on her heels. She wasted no time returning to the keep.
