Heather peered up at him in confusion. “What does that mean?”
“It means nothing,” Brandon interjected, flashing a warning glare at Owen. Evidently, itdidmean something, but there was no time for Heather to press the issue.
“It is not much farther.” Heather tiptoed up the dimly lit hallway: her eyes fixed upon a set of double doors at the very end.
All they had to do was get through those doors, pass through the kitchens undetected, and slip out of the rear door. From there, it would be a swift dart into the forest surrounding the castle. At some point, Owen and Sawyer would have to scale the boundary wall, but she suspected that would not cause them too much trouble.
Will that be the end? Will that be farewell, forever?To her surprise, her heart ached a little. She had only just begun to know Owen and his healing knowledge. It seemed too painfully soon for her to have to say farewell to both. But what else could she do? If he did not leave now, he would die, and if he ever returned, he would meet the same fate.
“We must be as quiet as mice,” Heather whispered, reaching the double doors.
Owen smiled. “Mice can be louder than ye think.”
“Hedgehogs, then. I daresay I have never heard one make a sound.” She cast him an amused look, before opening the kitchen door and slipping inside.
To her relief, it lay as empty as she had hoped. A blast of warmth from the perpetually lit ovens struck her in the face, but the workbenches were devoid of pots and pans and trays and ingredients. Everything had been cleaned away, the servants all gone to bed.
“Nay baker,” Owen murmured, “but we ought to take this for the journey.” He plucked up half a loaf, which had been covered with a cloth on the side, and tucked it under his arm.
Behind him, Sawyer grabbed a small sack of apples. “We’re goin’ to need us some horses, too. I trust yer faither will nae mind us takin’ a couple, as payment for bein’ locked up without due cause?” Though phrased as a question, Heather knew it was notone. Of course, they would require horses, otherwise they would never outpace the soldiers that would surely ride after them.
“I believe your own mounts are presently in the stables,” Heather replied, hurrying to the back door of the kitchen. “Go straight to the forest and allow me and Brandon to fetch the horses for you.”
Owen nodded. “Very well, Lass.”
Carefully, Heather opened the back door as wide as she dared, wincing at every creak of the hinges.
Glancing out into what should have been the thick camouflage of darkness, she froze in terror. Torches flickered menacingly in the stretch of land between the castle and the forest, illuminating grim-faced men. Her father’s men: their attention fixed upon her.
“It is a trap,” she gasped, as the soldiers swarmed forward.
10
Owen knew it had all been a little too easy. He could not bring himself to believe that Heather was part of the trap, for her shocked expression seemed genuine, but he was not so sure if Brandon was innocent in this. After all, he was the one who had come running, to reveal the news of the dawn execution.
Och, ye’re craftier than I thought, Lord Gallagher. Ye cannae execute us without a trial, but if we’re killed tryin’ to flee, ye can declare it as proof of our guilt.Evidently, the grief-stricken, immoveable Earl had decided to kill two birds with one stone.
“Sawyer! Grab a weapon—we’re fightin’ to survive, nae to kill!” Owen yelled, sprinting back into the kitchen to snatch up a poker from the fireplace. It was not a broadsword, but it would do for this battle. He could not risk killing one of the Earl’s men, even in defense of his own life. Then, he really would be guilty of a crime.
Sawyer lunged for a mallet, which he swung above his head like a battle-axe, as he turned his vehemence toward the incoming enemy.
“Stay out of the way!” Owen seized hold of Heather’s hand and shoved her down the avenue between the workbench and the ovens. In battle, there was no place for gentility, and he did not want Heather being caught in the fray.
He need not have feared, for Heather quickly made her way to the end of the workbench, where she ducked down behind it. Brandon, however, did something Owen had not anticipated. He took up a thick metal rod, used to spit-roast meats, and joined Owen and Sawyer in their attack.
Does this mean ye didnae ken there’d be men waitin’?It remained to be seen, and Owen would not pass judgment until they had escaped this place.
“Seize them!” Gallagher’s guards roared, surging toward the meager army of three with their blades glinting in the torchlight.
Outnumbered, Owen doubted anyone would place a bet on his side emerging victorious, but they were not taking his dogged determination into account.
With a bellow of anger upon his lips, Owen crashed into the larger battalion of ten or so men. He swiped and whirled with his poker in hand, bringing it down on anyone who deigned to get too close. The metal vibrated with every impact, sending a shudder up Owen’s forearm.
Groans and yelps encouraged Owen, for he knew he was striking hard and striking true. Indeed, he could feel the difference between the metal hitting a skull or a chest and hitting the more generously padded parts of the body.
Meanwhile, Sawyer rampaged through the soldiers with his mallet: a terrifying sight to behold, for he was the sort of fearless warrior that instilled fear in the hearts of anyone unfortunate enough to fight him. Out of the corner of his eye, Owen could see some of Gallagher’s guards faltering as the mallet came close to their faces. It might not have been a true battle axe but, in Sawyer’s hands, it might as well have been.
Even Brandon was carving a path through the guards, lashing out with the length of metal. He did not hesitate or hold back as he swung the makeshift weapon at the blades and heads of Gallagher’s men.Hismen, in essence.
