“Ye’ll doas I bid, or ye can leave Lochahearn for good, Duncan.” Tearloch was furious that his men no longer obeyed him without question. “She will be kept warm and fed. And between the lot of ye, she willnae lack for company.”
His men had met him at the top of the stairs that led to the dungeon, where he had just placed a very angry woman. Her shrieks could be heard through the kitchens, and most likely into the hall as well.
“I want the same sentry duty. Two men, changing every two hours. If there are any among ye that she does no’ particularly care for, they are relieved. I will not torture her, even with bad company.” He looked back at Duncan, then to his men. “Duncan is no to be left alone with her. And any man who frees her will die for it.”
As soon as Tearloch, Jamie, and Kincaid left through the gate for Edinburgh, Duncan flew down the steps to the dungeon. Frazier and another soldier stood when he approached and watched the surprise register on his face.
Frazier bobbed his brows. “No bad, eh?”
“This is madness,” Duncan said, taking in all that Tearloch had managed to accomplish in just an hour’s time.
Kenna lay curled in the center of a soft bed inside a cell. Torchlight bathed her cloaked form and all the comforts that surrounded her. A small fire burned in a brazier beside the closed gate, although it was barely cool enough to need one. Books and linens covered a table set against the bars, and a privacy screen stood against the back wall beside a shackle that had been imbedded in the stone when the keep was first built.
But for the dim light, the woman had to be bearably comfortable, as Tearloch had wanted.
The aftereffects of her sobbing and the crackling of the fire made Duncan want to curl up behind the lass and soothe her. When Frazier noticed the look on his face, he cleared his throat.
“Duncan, have ye taken leave of yer senses? She belongs to Tearloch, at least until his new wife discovers her. Ye must put her from yer mind.”
“Dinnae be an eejit, Frazier. She is far too young for me. But I cannae stand by and let him rip her heart out. It rips so easily…” Duncan whispered the last, then shook himself and left the men to their duty.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Two nights later, just before daybreak, both guards drifted off to sleep with no notion they were being watched. With the light of one torch and the dimming fire to keep them awake, they could not be blamed. Besides, their charge was safely locked inside her comfortable cage.
Or so he thought.
When the old man’s snoring became regular, Kenna rolled off her warm bed and tended to her personal business one last time behind the privacy screen. She caught up her sack of clothes to which she had added as much food as possible from the meals she was served the day before, then moved to the lock. A couple of bent tines served just as well as a key, and within minutes, she was saddling a horse.
The sentries on the wall were looking so far off in the distance they did not notice her walking the beast out the postern. And if they had, they chose to ignore her. Everyone in Lochahearn knew what had happened to her, and she was counting on the sympathy of anyone who caught her in order to get away. Fortunately, she did not have to convince anyone.
In the fairy light of the nearing dawn, she struck out, away from the outer wall, and headed home.
It wasan hour later when Andrew and Jacob arrived to take over guard duty in the dungeon. Another half an hour before they realized the lump on the bed was not a woman. The pair rushed upstairs and hurried to the hall where Duncan was breaking his fast.
Andrew strode to the dais. “The woman is gone. Her cell door was open.”
“Our laird is a fool. That woman could likely fly if she put her mind to it.”
“But the laird took all the keys,” stated Mary as she paused with a trencher of food in her arms.
“Aye, I ken it. The lass must be a hand at a lock besides her other talents.” Talents she must have learned from the real Kenna Carlisle in order to convince them all she was the woman they sought.
Frazier arrived in time to hear the last. “Well? Do we not go after her?”
“Nay. I will follow a bit behind to make certain she arrives home safe. I should return before Tearloch. If I have not, ye’ll ken the lass did me in.” It was meant as a jest, but earned not a smile.
Andrew was taken aback. “Ye’ll not bring her with ye?”
“Nay. The lass is far more canny than our commander. She kens it will be best if he forgets her and turns his attention to his new wife. The new Lady of Lochahearn is bound to bore us to tears, though, is she not?”
“Ye ken what strikes me?” said Monroe, as he stared at the lass’ empty seat. “She never looked like a Fia.”
Duncan headedfor the stables but was waylaid by two riders entering the outer gates. He recognized them as the two MacCurrachs who had ridden with them to Carlisle Keep, the same two men Tearloch had left to guard Agatha Carlisle until the king dealt with her. Duncan postponed his departure so he could sit with the men, share a drink, and hear the news.
Fia wouldn’t get too far in the meantime.
“It seems the king never got our message that ye were holdin’ Agatha Carlisle for him. Is that why ye are so long returnin’ home?” Duncan asked in between drinks.
