“Grandsire, there is no choice,” Maggie said, attempting to reason with the old man. “Will ye let him murder Fin’s lads?”
“I’ll kill ye!” Dugald Kerr said, pulling his dirk from his belt, his gnarled hand raised as he came forward.
Ewan Hay knocked the weapon from the old man’s hand, pushing him back so hard the old laird stumbled and fell. “Bhaltair,” Ewan Hay called. “Take this old fool to his chamber, and lock him inside.” Reaching out, he prevented Maggie from going to her grandfather. “Nay, madam, we have unfinished business. Am I to understand that ye will wed me of yer own free will?”
“Aye,” Maggie ground out.
“Excellent,” he said, and he smiled a triumphant smile.
“My sons,” she said.
“Tomorrow,” he told her. “Sign the contracts tomorrow, and I will consider releasing them. And then on the day after, we will go to the chapel to receive the blessing on our union.”
“If I sign the contract tonight, will ye let my lads out?” Maggie asked him.
“Nay, on the morrow is time enough. Ye’ll not have yer will with me, madam, as ye’ve had it with every other man who has crossed yer path. Now come to the high board, and we will eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” Maggie said, and she wasn’t.
“Whether ye are hungry or not, madam, ye will sit with me at the high board,” Ewan Hay told her. “Remember that from now on the comfort of yer sons’ lives depends upon yer behavior towards me.” He held out his hand to her.
Maggie took it, hating him with every fiber of her being as she did. Her bairns would be so frightened, she thought. She needed to go to them. To comfort them. She would find out where they were after she escaped the hall. The serving men began bringing the food to the table. Ewan Hay and his priest ate and drank heartily. Maggie tried to eat because she knew she had to keep her strength up, but right now in this company she simply could not swallow a thing. She drank a little of the wine in her cup. Finally Maggie could bear no more. She arose. “I should like to go to my chamber,” she said.
Ewan Hay’s fingers fastened about her wrist. He yanked her down into his lap.
“I’m not ready to part with yer company,” he said as an arm encircled her waist, drawing her close. The hand that had pulled her down now released her wrist and plunged into her bodice. He fondled her breast, tweaking at the nipple, and pressed a wet kiss on her mouth. “Ye have soft skin,” he then murmured at her.
“Have ye no shame?” she hissed at him. “Ye would lust openly before yer own priest? Take yer hand from my gown. We are not wed yet.”
He snickered. “Gillies is already asleep, for he has no head for wine. Turn yer head and look at him. He’ll be snoring any minute.” The hand that had been crushing her breast now slipped beneath her skirt, and up her thigh.
Maggie gasped with shock at his lewdness. He was half drunk, and she felt the arm about her relaxing. Jumping up, she skittered away from him. “I am going to my chamber,” she said.
“Let me come with ye,” he begged her.
“I’ll cut yer throat if ye do,” Maggie threatened, and then she ran from the hall.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she whirled about and found Busby coming towards her. “The bairns?” she said to him. “Do ye know where they are?”
The majordomo nodded. “They’re all right. When the Hay took the keys from me, he had no knowledge that there was a second set. I spoke with the lads, and told them ’tis a game we’re playing. They have food, water, a lamp, and blankets, my lady. They are safe, and they are fine.”
“I have to get my children out of the keep, Busby. I can’t allow him to use them against me. I have had to promise to wed him to protect them, but if we can get them away, I don’t have to keep that promise,” Maggie said.
“But where outside the keep can they be safe?” Busby asked her.
“They must be taken through the pass to Netherdale,” Maggie replied. “My uncle will not harm them, for they are his blood. Besides, he has it in mind that his daughter by Aldis, his third wife, would make a fine wife for Davy. Whether that ever happens is something we must leave up to the Fates, but my lads will be safe in Netherdale. Rafe, my cousin, will watch over them. He has several lads of his own.”
“The night will be short,” Busby noted. “Go to your chamber, my lady. I will take the lads to Clennon Kerr, and he will see them taken safely to Netherdale.”
“I must see them, Busby. I must bid them farewell,” Maggie said.
“Nay, my lady, ye must go upstairs, and let the house settle into its nighttime quiet. I will fetch the boys and take them out through yer secret gate into the village. I saw ye did not eat. Ye will find food in yer chamber, and Grizel awaiting ye. When it is discovered tomorrow that yer lads are gone, ye can say with complete honesty that ye don’t know how they escaped, and Grizel can swear ye were in yer chamber all night.”
Maggie nodded. “Tell them I love them, and to be respectful to Lord Edmund,” she told Busby. Then turning again for the stairs, she hurried up to her chamber where Grizel was indeed awaiting her. “Bar my door,” she told her servant. “I left him drunk, and apt to get drunker. If he comes sniffing about my door, we want it well locked and barred.” Then Maggie told Grizel what had transpired, and of how the Hay was attempting to use her sons against her. “I am going to have to kill him,” she said, “and if I’m caught and hanged for it, I will regret naught.”
“Sit down and eat,” Grizel said. “Then ye must get some sleep. Ye need to be strong, my lady. ’Twill not be an easy day tomorrow.”
Maggie did as she was bid. She ate heartily, now able to swallow and enjoy her food. She slept heavily and on waking dressed in a dark green velvet gown. Then she descended to the hall. Just as she reached it she heard Busby’s voice murmur, “All is well, madam.” Maggie strode into the hall. “I’ve decided I will not wed ye.”
