“Of course!”Nathanwould definitely come looking for her. If he knew where to look. Which he didn’t. Her spirits dipped. This wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought. They could be here for days, waiting for an opportunity to escape. And Gram…Hold on Gram. Wait for me…I need to talk to you at least one more time…She kept the tears from welling up, but just barely.
She must have been walking too slowly, because Bridei took her by the arm, steering her towards the broch. His fingers felt warm and electric on her bare skin. She shivered. She must have gotten chilled again.
He led her straight to the imposing stone tower at the center of it all. Her mind had trouble reconciling the solid, well-built structure with the tumbling ruin she had always know it to be.
The inside was much bigger than she would have imagined. They stepped into a spacious hall that was decorated with woven rugs and various tables and chairs. In the center was a massive hearth, with a chimney supported by a series of stone pillars around the edge. She realized the chimney must go all the way to the top of the tower. No fire was burning, but the smell of cold ashes and stale smoke lingered in the air.
Hundreds of narrow stone steps curved upwards along the wall, beginning just to the right of the door where they stood. Bridei pushed her gently forward, urging her to go up them. There was no railing, but the next floor was no more than about fifteen feet above, so she was able to climb the stairs without her fear of heights kicking intoomuch. They stepped onto a landing that had a single wooden door, then climbed another flight of stairs. When they had passed three more landings, Bridei opened a door and let her walk through before closing it behind them with a solid thud of thick oak. The first thing she saw was the window on the opposite wall, and she was immediately drawn to it. Not to escape. No, she must be at least five stories up, maybe more, so jumping out of the window would mean certain death (or at least a lot of broken bones), and she wasn’t anywhere near ready to die.
It was the sea that drew her, in a perfect frame of stone, stretching out blue-green and sparkling to the horizon. As she got closer, she could see the waves crashing against the rocky cliffs below in a spectacular show of nature’s raw power. Far to the left, there was a harbor and a small sandy beach, with at least a hundred boats drifting and bobbing not far from the shore. Big boats. An entire naval fleet in this time. If she doubted Bridei’s wealth and power before, she didn’t now.
For a long moment she was completely lost in the scene—until she felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. She jumped and turned to face the King.
“You weren’t thinking of leaping from my window, were you lass?”
He was too close, almost as if he were breathing her in, and her stomach filled with those pesky butterflies again. Only this time they felt more like small birds. She couldn’t tell if they kept coming back out of fear, or nerves. Maybe she was suffering a little bit of latent celebrity-worship. After all, how often did you get to meet a King that had been dead for over a thousand years by the time you were born?Not very often.
“No. The view—it’s—I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
His eyes softened just a little as he followed her gaze out the window. “Aye, it is. But you and I, we need to talk. And this time I will have the truth from you, or lass…there will be consequences. Ones that you will not like.”
She sighed, drawing her gaze away from the sea and moving farther from the window. “Um, look, I’m really sorry that we just showed up like this unannounced, but my uncle isn’t quite right in the head, and we got lost, and if you could just help us…”What, Nessa? Get back to Fife? Do you really think that would be any better? They might be much less friendly there, and then you’d have to get back here anyway if you’re ever going to get home. Home. Gram. Nate.
“On second thought…maybe we could stay here a few days if you don’t mind. Someone is bound to come looking for us.” She could have smacked herself in the forehead for the way she was babbling on. If she couldn’t manage to be any more clever than this, they wouldneverget home.
Bridei watched her, missing nothing. “What are you running from, then? Or perhaps Ecgfrith would be angry should you return too soon and without anything of value?”
Ecgfrith? He had been…no… currently was, King of the Saxons. He had invaded the southern Pict lands and was forcing people to pay tithes just to stay in their homes. According to history, Bridei had killed him—wouldkill him?—in an epic battle. If he really thought she was working with Ecgfrith, she was in a world of trouble. Ecgfrith was a mortal enemy.Mortalas in people spying for him would almost certainly be killed.
She forced herself to look into Bridei’s eyes, even though doing so made her feel unbalanced. Was her heart speeding up? Keep calm, Nessa. Now isnotthe time to panic. Angus needs you. Gram needs you.
“No. I’ve never even met him. I’m just…I’m nobody, I swear it.”
He paced a few steps. “We’ll see. You must pardon me if I cannot believe your words, lass. We are at war. There will always be treachery in times of war. Though if Ecgfrith did send you, he chose well. You are very beautiful.” He stopped in front of her and drew his fingers over the side of her face, making her skin tingle. She just stopped herself from leaning into his hand. How could a man so large and so brutal have such a gentle touch?
“A lesser man than I might easily be swayed by your charms.” He dropped his hand to his side, but his eyes didn’t leave her.
“I don’t have any charms.” Did he think she was trying to seduce him? Oh please. If she was going to seduce a man like him, she’d start with modest flattery until she had him eating out of her hand, then she’d move on to casually touching him. Light, secret caresses that his mind barely noticed but his body did. Then, when she had him wrapped around her finger, she’d move on to his lips, and…oh my god!Nessa, stop that!
He smirked, as if he’d seen the direction of her thoughts clearly written on her face. Her eyes widened in horrified embarrassment.
“You shouldn’t be afraid. Not like that anyway. I would kill you, but I would never rape you.”
A sound of shocked disbelief left her throat. “Oh, well isn’t that reassuring. I can keep my virtue, but not my life?”
“Your virtue? You are a virgin?”
“No! I… none of your business”, she snapped. The exact meaning of that word was lost in translation between English and Pictish. Damn it, she couldn’t think straight around him.
There was a scratching at the door, and as she watched, the iron latch lifted and it swung slowly open, revealing…the biggest dog she’d ever seen.
He was long-legged and tall, nearly reaching her waist, and covered in tousled grey fur that looked alarmingly like that of a wolf; yet his head was smaller and more elongated than his wild ancestor, tapering down to a shaggy face and a neat black nose. Overall, he looked like a slightly more wolfish version of the Scottish deerhound. His long, sharp canines gleamed white as his huge tongue lolled out of his mouth in a slow, lazy pant. He stood in the doorway for a long moment, surveying the room. Then his tail began wagging and he sidled up to her, looking up with what for all the world seemed like canine adoration.
She patted his head cautiously. “Hi boy.”
He stood taller and used that tongue to lick the whole of her face in one long, wet swipe, making her giggle despite herself.
“Ru! Back.”
