Who’s to say shehascome alone?his mind insisted.She is easily the most black-hearted and devious lass I’ve ever encountered. There could be numerous cadres taking up positions around me.
Except if there were, he knew he would hear them, sense them. His instincts had always proven keen enough to warn him of such things. He knew they would not fail him now, even through the fog of emotion that had swirled around him ever since he’d received news of Katherine’s captivity.
“I knew that if I searched these woods, I would find ye, or some other Oliphant, searching for a way in so that my sister might be rescued,” Romilly said. “I have climbed nearly every tree in this forest at one time or another, so that I might see my own home and its defenses from every angle. ‘Twas as my father insisted.” She chuckled humorlessly. “He has insisted on so many things from me, my entire life. Some reasonable. Recently less so.”
“Ye seemed tae find it reasonable enough tae plot the butchering of Lady Isla,” Bryan reminded her through clenched teeth.
Romilly lowered her head, mortified. “I deserve that judgment from ye, aye. I blindly allowed myself tae be swept up in my father’s fervor, his hatred for the Oliphants. I did terrible things in his name, and was foolish enough tae believe they were needed for the security of my clan. And what has it gotten me? No doubt, ye are here because of Aitken’s message. Ye know my sister is imprisoned.”
He nodded slowly. “Do ye mean tae see me behind bars as well? That would be a fitting enough punishment, would it not, for what ye endured at the hands of the Oliphants?”
Romilly shook her head sharply. “I have had enough of that. There must be a way forward for our two clans, I see that now. And that cannae come tae pass while my father is allowed tae indulge his own madness and depraved whims. There can be no lasting peace while my sister is locked away senselessly, just tae taunt ye. Come. Follow me.”
“Where do ye mean for us tae go?” Bryan was loath to trust Romilly, but if she was giving a performance, it was certainly a convincing one. If nothing else, he was curious to see where it might lead.
If she truly meant him harm, there were far easier ways to achieve that than whatever game she appeared to be playing with him.
“Tae the dungeons, of course. I can show ye which sluice gates in the outer walls of the stronghold might be wide enough tae permit ye tae pass through. I can take ye through the hidden corridors of the dungeons, which will keep ye out of the guards’ sight. Without my aid, ye will have no hope of success. And I would not see ye fail with Katherine by yer side, lest she be harmed in the attempt. Besides,” she added quietly, “if my sisteris tae have any hope of a happy life or future, it will have to be far away from this ghastly place. With ye.”
Bryan was somewhat taken aback by that last comment.
Romilly noticed, and smiled sadly. “Aye. Even in the brief moments when I saw ye together, I noticed how she looked at ye. With such love in her eyes. More than I ever saw there for anyone else.” She laughed humorlessly. “Even me. Now we mustn't waste another moment, for I cannae abide the thought of her in those dungeons a second longer, and I’m sure ye cannae either.”
Romilly started in the direction of the stronghold as night fell across the lowlands, and Bryan followed, not knowing what else to do. He did not feel as though he had any choice but to accept her offer and pray that it was genuine.
She found the tallest sections of grass and went down on her belly, crawling through them slowly and carefully and motioning for him to do likewise. He did, craning his neck to squint in the direction of the stronghold. His neck and back were tense; he kept expecting to hear some McGregor guardsman raise the alarm upon seeing the rustling of the grass.
But dusk had cast long shadows across the green expanse, and the sentries appeared blind to their approach.
Still, their advance was excruciatingly slow, and it seemed like hours before they reached the foot of the wall. At their present angle, the guards would not see them unless they made a point of leaning far over the edge and looking straight down. Bryan knew they would not do so, for why would they expect to see an intruder so close to them without having observed their approach long before then?
Bryan almost hated to admit it, but so far, it seemed as though Romilly’s plan would get them safely inside.
What might happen after that was anyone’s guess.
The sluice gate was so small that although Romilly was able to slip through fairly easily, Bryan’s brawny shoulders and arms got him stuck a handful of times. Each time his breath froze in his lungs, and he was gripped by the grim certainty that Romilly had meant for it to happen, that she intended to bring a horde of guards to drag him out into the courtyard by his hair.
But then he would find a bit of leeway and manage to edge forward a little more, until at last he was out under the moonlight again. As he rose to his feet, he saw that Romilly had flattened her back against the rough-hewn blocks of the wall, and so he did likewise.
“Follow me,” she bade him, sliding along the wall. “There is a hidden passage, long forgotten by most within the stronghold. It was originally constructed tae allow enough currents of air into the dungeon for the prisoners and guards so they wouldnae suffocate. We may be able tae squeeze through there, if it’s as wide as I remember.”
“If all others have forgotten it, then how do ye know about it?” Bryan tried to keep the suspicion out of his voice, but he still had his doubts about accepting Romilly’s aid.
“Most days I spent with my father, learning how tae use a sword and make the most of my wits,” she whispered. “Those days when he was too busy tae teach me anything, I roamed the stronghold, memorizing every inch of it. For the day when the Oliphants might attack, and I might have needed tae lead people tae safety.”
“Ye truly have spent yer entire life preparing for an invasion from the Oliphants?” Bryan asked, bemused. “What did our clan ever do tae make ye think we were any sort of threat tae ye?”
Romilly turned her head away, embarrassed. “Because my father told me so. No reason better than that, though I ought tae have demanded one. Now remain silent, for there shallbe guards nearby, and we cannae risk alerting them tae our presence!”
“I wouldnae worry about that,” another woman’s voice cut in suddenly.
22
Bryan’s panic rooted him to the spot. His skin came over cold as ice, and he was deathly certain that, having been caught, he would never see another sunrise.
I didn’t even make it far enough to see Katherine one last time, he lamented inwardly.After all of this danger and uncertainty, I won’t even have that to comfort me during my final moments.
When he turned toward the source of the voice, he saw a haggard-looking woman he’d never seen before, with tangled hair and haunted eyes that were sunken in their sockets. The clothes she wore looked as though they had been fine indeed in years past, but lack of cleaning or care had made them dingy and threadbare. She was somehow fierce and pitiable at the same time.
