“If he never told you his name, I wonder what else he failed to tell you.” Again, his eyes lingered on her pelvis. “Did you lie with him?”
Kenna gasped. “Certainly not!”
“It would be easy enough to find out.” Balloch took a step toward her.
Horrified at the possibility, she cried out, “I just told you I am not innocent!” The last thing she wanted was for this man to believe she had some value he could use.
“Was she alone?” he asked, still watching her. When the men confirmed it, he mused. “If you had wed the man, he never would have allowed you to return. So….no wedding. Hmm.” A knowing leer grew across his face like blood soaking slowly into a cloth. “Take her down with the others.”
Kenna lost count of how many times she stumbled as the men escorted her through the dark manse to the dungeon below the kitchens. The quiet of the empty house changed as she finally detected the women’s voices.
They passed through one sturdy door and into a large chamber, the walls of which were interrupted by doors every ten feet. Small windows in the center of the doors were barred, but large enough to show that many of the cells were occupied. Five women’s faces looked out at Kenna with pity before moving away from the doors.
Kenna had known of the place but believed it was never used. Her aunt had certainly never sent her there, no matter how angry she grew.
One of the men, indistinguishable from his cohorts, opened the door to an empty cell and gestured her inside. Kenna glanced around, judged her chances of escape, but decided compliance was the best choice for the moment.
A single torch was left in the main chamber. The men took the rest with them when they left. Kenna looked out between the small bars to catch a glimpse of her fellow inmates.
“My name is Kenna Carlisle. Pray tell, who are the rest of you?”
A sad laughter rang out from five other cells as the woman made their ways to their doors.
“Look here,” said one woman, “she’s already learnt her first lesson. Aye, lass, we’re all Kenna Carlisle.”
Kenna was thoroughly confused but had no time to question the others as they heard someone coming and retreated once more. She couldn’t bare to do the same.
A large man peeked through the doorway and then entered. His stern face was the sweetest sight Kenna had ever seen.
“Duncan!” she whispered.
“Kenna! Oh, lass!” He went back to the doorway and looked out for a moment before returning to her.
“Is she?”someone hissed.“Is she truly Kenna Carlisle?”
“Aye, I am.”
“Then if he’s found the real one, maybe he’ll let us go.”
“Not bloody likely. Would ye expect him to leave witnesses to what he has done here?”
“Ye’ll all be leavin’ with us, now,” Duncan said, putting an end to it. He produced a ring of keys that he sorted through gently to control the sound. He tried a few in Kenna’s door before one did the trick, then he moved to the next. “I supposeye needed me not at all, lass, seein’ as how ye can unlock doors by yerself.”
“Not wooden doors, Duncan. How could I reach the lock?” She helped the woman out as he unlocked each door.
“Are there only five of ye, then?” He asked, nodding to the other doors.
“There were six of us, until this mornin’,” one woman said quietly. “Now five.”
Kenna just then realized that they all had her same red hair. Some of them even looked quite like her, but none were as tall. She turned to Duncan and asked, “Why?”
Duncan was in no mood to indulge her. He shook his head and moved back to the entrance to the stairs. When Kenna reached for the torch, he whispered, “Leave it. We’d best feel our way. The light will only show them where we are.”
The women clung to one another as they crept up to the kitchens. Duncan turned toward a hallway instead of the door, and Kenna knew where he was leading them. The laundry had a window through which they could exit without needing to drop far to the ground. It was near the end of the building and the edge of her aunt’s garden. There were shadows a plenty in which to hide. Kenna took the lead and left Duncan to bring up the rear.
The laundry was cold and quiet. Every careful step, every slide of a foot, echoed off the walls and tin kettles that were usually filled with steaming water. A line of clothes were strung across one end of the room, but they failed to muffle much sound. As Kenna moved to the open window, her greasy enemies eased out from behind the drying clothes. Duncan didn’t see them as he backed into the room, his sword point even with Gair Balloch’s throat as he followed him inside. Unfortunately, he had four large men behind him.
“Well done, Sir Duncan. At least you have saved my men from having to carry all these bodies up the stairs…”
