5
Ailis stared at the man sprawled at her feet. When he groaned and began to move, she felt a mix of relief and fear. It was evident that she had not even put Sir Alexander into a satisfactory state of unconsciousness. Nevertheless, she discovered that she was heartily glad that she had not injured him, either.
She stepped gingerly over him, grabbed his fine linen shirt off the bed, and put it on. It was far from decent, did not even fully reach her knees, but there was little else right at hand. She could not fret over modesty now. Knowing that her time to act was swiftly passing, she dashed out of the room. She had to reach Jaime and help him before Alexander could stop her.
Barra and several other MacDubh men were just stepping out of the great hall as Ailis raced down the narrow, winding stone steps. They gaped at her, and a quick glance in a mirror on the wall as she careened to halt in front of them told her why. Ailis doubted that the men had seen many half-naked lasses, with waist-length raven hair in wild disarray, racing through the hallways of Rathmor. Ailis easily shrugged aside the pinch of modesty she suffered. She was far too concerned about Jaime and about Alexander’s impending pursuit. Kate then stepped out of the great hall to join the men in their astonishment. Even Alexander’s bellow from the upper chambers did not move the men to act.
“Where is Jaime? Tell me how to find him,” Ailis begged of Barra as she kept a nervous watch for Alexander. “Tell me, ye gape-mouthed idiot!” she cried when Barra just continued to stare at her.
“I can tell ye, mistress,” Kate said and stepped forward.
“Ye wouldna try to trick me?” Ailis did not really trust such a quick offer of help.
“Nay. I ken that whatever troubles ye concerns Jaime and that this isna some game ye play to try and escape.”
“Well, please, let us hurry, then,” Ailis urged even as Alexander could be heard running along the upper hall toward the stairs.
Kate rushed toward the dungeons, and Ailis followed her. She had just grabbed a torch from its place upon the wall and handed it to Kate, who started down the steps to the dungeons, when Alexander reached his men. Ailis knew that from hearing the curses yelled out in Alexander’s distinctive voice. She clutched at Kate’s hand as, with as much haste as they dared to use, they made their way down the steep, narrow steps into the bowels of Rathmor. They had barely gone half a dozen steps when the sounds of Jaime’s terror reached their ears, his deep manly voice only adding to the pathos of his cries. Ailis did not need to prompt Kate to try and move faster.
“Why arena ye going after her, ye great fools?” snapped Alexander, and his men quickly reacted, rushing after the two women without any further hesitation.
One glare from Alexander’s hard blue eyes told Barra that it would not be wise to reveal how much humor he found in the situation. He faltered on the steps with the others when the eerie, unsettling sound of a grown man’s torment echoed up from the dungeons. A harsh oath from Alexander got them all moving again. Ailis’s clear, even voice was soon added to the din rolling up from the cells beneath Rathmor as she sought to calm Jaime.
Both Kate and Ailis cried out in sympathy and alarm as they reached Jaime’s cell. The huge man was moving incomprehensively as he made a continuous circuit of his cell. His big hands were bloodied from his blind, frantic attempts to find a way out. While Kate grabbed the ring of keys from a hook embedded in the dank gray wall and sought the one needed to free Jaime, Ailis talked to him. She tried to break the hold terror had upon her friend, but it was hard, for there was nothing but a small barred window to speak through and that was above her head. Jaime needed far more than her voice in the dark. When Kate finally opened the cell door, she handed Ailis the torch, but Alexander was already there. He grasped Ailis by the arm when she started to step inside the cell.
“He isna in his right mind,” Alexander warned, eyeing Jaime warily. “Ye had best not go in there.”
Ailis ignored him and, pulling against his hold, walked deeper into the cell with her torch held aloft. “ ‘Tis Ailis, Jaime,” she called to her friend. “Look—‘tis no longer dark in here.”
With his wide back pressed to the wall, Jaime stared toward Ailis, his gaze fixed upon the torch light. “L-light.”
“Aye, my poor friend, light. I have come to take ye out of this place.”
“I am in the hole. ‘Tis the hole. He has buried me again.”
“Nay, Jaime. Ye arena in the hole. Ye arena in that box. See the light? ‘Tis Ailis and I have come to take ye out of this place.” She stepped closer to Jaime when Alexander reluctantly eased his grip on her. “Can ye see me, Jaime? ‘Tis Ailis.” She set the torch into a holder on the wall before stepping up to the shaking man and placing a hand on his wide chest. “I will take ye out of here now. Ah, my poor bedeviled Jaime, what have ye done to your fine hands?”
Jaime was soothed by her voice and the light and began the slow crawl up toward sanity from the depths of his fears. He frowned at his much-abused hands, and his stutter was very thick as he said, “I was t-trying to d-dig out. I had to d-dig out of the hole.” He wept silently as he met her gaze, fat tears rolling down his beard-shadowed cheeks. “I canna b-bear it, mistress. I tried, truly tried, but I c-canna b-bear it.” Kate tore strips from her petticoat and began to bind up Jaime’s hands.
After giving Kate a look of gratitude, Ailis told a still-agitated Jaime, “ ‘Tis all right now, Jaime. Can you see? Now there is a light to chase away the dark. Ye arena in the ground, ye arena buried in that box, ye are in a cell and now the door is open. ‘Tis unlocked and open. Ye arena shut in here any longer.”
He looked toward the open cell door, was recovered enough to see the men crowded around it, and hung his head. “I have shamed ye.”
“Nay,” Ailis protested in a soft voice as she reached up to pat his sweat-dampened curls. She did not wish him to lose the confidence she had been able to instill in him after rescuing him from his cruel family. “There is nary a person here who doesna have a fear of something. Aye, and if they had the cruel bastard ye had for a father, they would act as ye do. I dinna think any the less of ye for this.”
“Nor do I,” murmured Kate. “Ye need some salve on these hands, but this bandage will do for now.”
Jaime cast a shy glance toward Kate, then asked Ailis, “Am I to be let free now, mistress?”
Alexander had to suppress a smile when Ailis looked his way. Her glance dared him to say no. He nodded.
“Aye.” Ailis smiled at Jaime. “Ye are to be freed. Come along, my friend.”
“I will see to the laddie,” Angus offered in a subdued voice as Kate and Ailis began to lead Jaime out of his cell.
“Laddie?” Alexander choked out the words as he gave Jaime a sardonic look.
“He canna be more than twenty no matter how big he is,” Angus muttered. “He willna be doing much with those hands of his for a wee while, either.”
