Gerdy hesitantly touched the fist Adellis unconsciously clutched to her chest. “Do you hurt inside? Your heart or where you breathe? I have brews that could help. Smoke you could breathe.”
“A brew will not help.” Adellis let her hand fall away and turned back to peering outside. She had been stricken with the strongest poison of all. A dangerous caring. Such a fool she was. She knew better. How in God’s name had that stubborn Scot foisted such a feeling upon her?
Escape was even more important now. She had to find him. Warn him. He had to be kept safe. Even if she had to break her oath and kill her brother. Mother’s spirit would somehow forgive her. “How many remain here? You mentioned you were to report to the guards?”
Gerdy joined her at the opening, pointed to the east, and then to the west. “Naught but two remain. Wherever you see torch light. Jarl Alrek felt sure his poison would keep you close to death until he returned.” A proud smile finally curved the girl’s mouth, adding a much-needed roundness to her hollow cheeks. “He did not know of my kelp poultice’s power.”
The knowledge that Alrek’s conceit had played against him once again filled Adellis with thankfulness. Many times, his overconfidence had been his worst enemy and her greatest weapon. “Good then. We must move fast.” She took notice of every article cluttering the small den. “I need clothing and your sharpest blades.” She peered outside again, craning her neck to squint up at the starless sky. Perfect. The dark of the moon and a cloudy night. Both would serve her well. She turned back and eyed Gerdy. “You need garb that will let you run, crouch, or climb. Shed those rags. Drink and eat while I dress. You do not appear strong at all.”
“I am stronger than I look.”
“You will need to be.” Adellis rolled her shoulders, impressed that nothing bothered her but a faint soreness. Gerdy’s healing skills seemed close to miraculous. She joined the girl at a pair of open trunks on one end of the pallet. The trunk to the right had an assortment of folded clothing piled inside. The other held an array of tools, bundles, and bottles that she assumed were used for healing. A dagger-like instrument, long, thin, and with a slight curve to the blade made her smile. “I want that one.”
Gerdy pulled it free of the leather loop holding it in place and offered it, along with a stack of dark clothing from the other trunk. “There is no food here. Nor drink.”
The girl looked ready to faint. If she didn’t eat, Adellis had her doubts she would make it. She tipped her head toward the doorway. “Tell them you need food to tempt me back to consciousness. Tell them your healing is helping, but you fear it is not enough to pull me through.”
After a hesitant step toward the exit, Gerdy paused and turned back. “But they will bring it in here. They do not allow me near their stores. They fear I will poison them.”
“Not a bad idea.” Adellis mulled it over but decided against it. It wasn’t worth the effort or loss of time to poison just two guards. She would finish the men off with a blade. “Let them come. I will be ready.” Another tool, one that consisted of a long, wicked spike protruding from a chunk of carved antler, caught her eye. “I will have that one, too. Once I’ve sent the guards to the other side, I’ll take their swords and daggers, and you can use these if need be.”
Gerdy’s face paled even more, making the soot around her eyes more fearsome. The sight gave Adellis another idea. “If we soot our faces completely, we will be harder to see in case we come across any guards Alrek has left along the way.”
“Why would he do that?” The tiny healer frowned as she touched a hand to her face.
“Because that is what he does.” She rested a hand on the girl’s bony shoulder. “We will prevail if we refuse to fear defeat.”
“But we could be defeated,” Gerdy whispered.
“How bad do you want your freedom and a new life?” Adellis stood taller, fixing the waif with a fierce smile. Doubt could be a warrior’s worst enemy. It must not be allowed.
“More than anything.”
“Then fight for it and do not consider defeat.”
Gerdy pulled in a deep breath, blew it out, then lifted her chin. “To freedom.”
Adellis smiled and squeezed the girl’s shoulder. “To freedom.”And saving my Scottish bear, she added silently.
Chapter Seven
Thorburn scowled downat the encampment on the beach below. It was too still. Too calm. What if they were too late?
The blackness of the night allowed little to be seen other than a pair of torches bobbing past a faint flickering of light escaping from underneath the walls of at least two shelters. From the outline of the glow, one was a tent that was quite small, and another appeared large enough for a legion of men. Waves crashed across the rocky shoreline bordering the place. A nearby waterfall tumbled down a steep cliffside. The night revealed no other sounds of what should have been a noisy outpost of rogue Northmen.
“I canna believe Edrid failed to find this place,” Thorburn muttered, speaking more to himself than his brothers.
“He didna search this far west. Just moved northward along the Sound.” Ross shifted positions and made a sweeping motion that took in the camp. “They chose a good place. Near as I can tell, there is only one way to reach them.” He pointed at a less treacherous spot farther down the shore.
“Keep yer voice down, man,” Valan scolded. “We dinna ken if there be more guards up here, and our men are still positioning.”
TheGallóglaighhad as fine a set of archers as the men from the north. Thorburn had ordered them to find good vantage points whilst the rest of the men readied themselves to lay siege. His goal was rescuing Adellis.
“I see naught but two down there,” he said quietly. “Mind those torches there. The way they move. Two guards for certain.” They had encountered and killed six so far, and none of the curs had seen fit to tell them anything that might aid them in their cause. It appeared Alrek’s men feared his wrath more than they feared death. “This darkness might conceal us, but it hides them, too.”
A large square of light flashed from the smallest tent, but once the flap fell back in place, the velvety darkness blotted out everything once again. The two torches, separated by several lengths, converged as though their bearers now stood together. Thorburn snorted out a frustrated huff. They needed to get closer. If there was naught but the two, they could dispatch them easily and save the rest of the men for battle when they came across the entirety of Alrek’s forces.
He knew that he and his brothers could find and recover Adellis before the Northmen realized their enclosure had been breached. Just to be certain, the entire fourscore and ten of hisGallóglaighwaited for the signal to attack. He would spare nothing when it came to recovering his fierce vixen from the north.
