“Unhand her!” Heather strode out onto the path: her heart in her throat. She knew this was foolish, but what choice did she have? She would not watch her father hurt Edith.
Elias was just getting to his feet, when his cold gaze met hers. “Is this your barbarian’s doing?”
“No, Father, this isyourdoing,” Heather hissed, balling her hands into fists. “You killed your own son. Her husband. She has every right to want to see you dead for that crime, just as you tried to ensure that my beloved would die. Only, unlike you, my beloved committed no crime.”
Sheepish expressions passed across the faces of the other cavalrymen, revealing their guilt to Heather. She could not tell, just by looking, which ones were responsible for injuringWilliam so badly that nothing could save him, but she knew they were among this group.
Elias sneered. “What nonsense is this? What lies has that Scottish wretch been feeding to you?”
“They are not lies, Father.” Heather mustered a bitter laugh. “Might we desist with the attempt at subterfuge? I know everything. I know what you did to William. Brandon discovered it all, so you tried to have him killed, too. Is that your solution to everything, Father?”
Elias faltered for just a moment: his mask slipping. “Brandon is alive?”
“No doubt you thought your men had dealt with him but, yes, he is alive. With his evidence, you will be punished for your crimes.” Heather felt a swell of courage in her chest. “Halt where you are, turn around, and retreat to Gallagher Castle while I am still in a lenient mood. You will not attack the castle of the man that I love. My husband.”
Rage flared in Elias’ eyes. “Pardon?”
“I believe you heard me, Father. My husband. If you attack him, you are attacking me—the Lady of Dunn.” Her father did not need to know that the wedding had not yet taken place. Indeed, if he left now, she would be married in two days’ time, as planned.
The columns of soldiers had come to a standstill, the rearmost men listening with curiosity, as whispers found their way back through every regiment. Gossip could spread faster than artillery fire, especially when it was juicy.
Elias turned puce with fury, as he marched right up to Heather and grabbed her by the wrist, all but throwing her toward the men who restrained Edith. The cavalrymen caught her, but they held her limply, as if they did not quite know what to do with her.
“Ye’ll die for what ye did to me husband,” Edith seethed. “I daenae care if it’s nae by me hand, but yewilldie for it. What would Cromwell say about a father who has murdered his own son? Do ye think ye’ll be spared the gallows?”
Heather nodded as one of the soldiers pushed her to her knees. “Do you hear this, everyone?” she shouted, loud enough for the nearest regiments to hear. “Elias Spencer, Earl of Gallagher, is guilty of killing his own son! There is evidence aplenty, and if you would stand by such a man, then you may remain. If you find it as despicable as I do, as the sister of that son, then I urge you to leave!”
Doubt flickered across the faces of the soldiers, as a rumble of discussion rippled through the ranks. Heather could see that many of them were considering her suggestion, for they had fought enough for causes that did not concern them. Why should they give their lives for a killer?
“You will hold your ranks and continue your march!” Elias bellowed, gesturing to his cavalrymen. “And you will bind thesetwo women and lead them behind the horses. Let us see if they crow so loudly and deceptively after they have been dragged along for a while.”
The cavalrymen, no doubt thinking of their own involvement in William’s death, immediately did as they were told. They hauled Edith and Heather to the horses, where ropes were found and tied around the women’s wrists. Then, they were hitched to longer ropes that trailed from the saddles, before the cavalrymen remounted and waited for Elias’ next command.
“Onward!” he roared, drawing his sword from its scabbard. “Anyone who does not will be cut down where they stand!”
That jolted the infantrymen into action, as they resumed their slow plod toward Dunn Castle. It appeared that, regardless of Elias’ crimes, they would follow him, for they would rather submit to an English murderer than flee from a Scot and his turncoat Lady.
“I am sorry,” Heather whispered to Edith, as the horses began to move, forcing them into a staggering walk.
Edith shook her head with a smile. “Daenae be. That was worth almost gettin’ meself killed. Yer brother would’ve been proud of ye.”
“But… it did not work,” Heather urged.
Edith chuckled. “Aye, it did, ‘cause now the soldiers daenae ken what they’re fightin’ for. If an army isnae loyal to their commander, they willnae linger to die for him.”
It was the tiniest glimmer of hope, and Heather cupped her figurative hands around it, determined to keep it alight. Evidently, there would be a battle this night, but perhaps it was not as futile as it seemed.
With that faith firmly set in her mind, she kept pace with the motion of the horse and edged closer to Edith, as an idea came to her. Keeping one eye on the cavalrymen, though it appeared they had lost interest in their captives, Heather discreetly set to work on the knot of Edith’s ropes. After all, if the horses bolted, they would drag the women with them.
Ten minutes later, after Edith’s knot was undone and she had been freed from her bonds, she returned the favor for Heather. With deft hands, Edith had the rope loose within half a minute, but they continued to walk with the ropes held in their palms, as if they were still tethered. Only when they saw an easy path to escape down would they make a run for it.
So, it came as a surprise when a tremendous shout went up from somewhere in the distance. The horse that had been leading Heather bolted, as she had feared it might, prompting her to drop the rope and step back.
“What is it?” Elias barked, but evening had a way of hiding things.
Edith dropped her rope, too, and in the confusion, she grabbed Heather’s hand and pulled the younger woman into the forest. Once inside the camouflage of the shadowed trees, the women ran as though their lives depended on it. Which, if the soldiers caught them, it would.
27
