Then he curled his fingers around the key and strode off down the corridor, ignoring Rose’s muffled shouts from behind him.
Chapter Nineteen
Rose’s knuckles werered and sore from pounding on the door and her voice hoarse from shouting. How long had it been since Cailean had locked her in here? An hour? Longer? And still nobody answered her shouts.
Cailean had clearly given orders. Bloody infuriating man! How dare he lock her in here? How the hell dare he?
She rested her forehead against the wood, sucking in great heaving breaths. She was furious but her fury was being drowned out by a deeper, stronger emotion.
Fear.
Cailean MacNeil, she knew, was going to do something stupid.
I love ye, Rose MacFinnan.
Those had been the last words he’d spoken to her. His voice had been muffled by the door between them but she’d heard them all the same. Every time she thought about it, her breath caught in her throat and her heartbeat ramped up a notch. She’d been aching to hear those words. Only now did she realize that. Only now did she realize that she felt exactly the same way about him.That’swhat this ache inside was.
She loved Cailean MacNeil.
And now she might never see him again.
She sank down onto the bed and put her head in her hands.Think, Rose, think.
She had no doubt where Cailean had gone. Even now, he’d be riding to Hemkirk. She knew it as surely as she knew the sun would rise tomorrow. It was his duty, he would think, to sacrifice himself for his people.
Think, Rose, think.
She had to get out of this room. She had to stop him. If he didn’t come back…
Barra would be left without a leader. Catriona would be left without a father. And she… she would be left without the light that lit the dark corners of her life. She could not do that. It was unacceptable.
Think, Rose. Think.
There was no breaking down the door. The window was too narrow to fit through. So what did that leave her?
Her eyes fell on the fire burning in the hearth. A mad idea came to her. It was risky, desperate. But desperation was all she had.
Grabbing a bit of parchment from where it sat on the small desk, she rolled it then carried it over to the fire, sticking the end into the flames. It didn’t catch fire but began to smolder, giving off an acrid white smoke. Blowing gently on it, and shielding it with one hand, she carried the burning ember over to the door and put it down by the crack underneath. Getting down on hands and knees, she began blowing on it, sending white smoke curling under the door and into the corridor outside.
Next she sprang up and ran to the window. Throwing wide the narrow shutters, she cried, “Fire! Help! Fire!”
People looked up from where they were crossing the bailey and came running. Rose pressed her back against the wall at the side of the door, putting her sleeve over her mouth to keep from inhaling the smoke. She did not have to wait long.
Footsteps pounded in the corridor and she heard the sound of coughing. A moment later, keys jangled in the lock and the door burst open, revealing Mable and a contingent of guards carrying buckets of water.
Rose seized her chance. Shouting a quick apology, she jumped over the burning parchment, pushed past Mable and the guards, and bolted down the corridor. She didn’t stop until she’d reached the stable and then only long enough to bark a command to one of the stable hands to saddle Snip.
By the time she was leading the horse out of the stable and into the courtyard, Mable and the guards had gathered outside and had been joined by Maggie and Beatrice.
Rose ignored them, swinging up onto Snip’s back and pulling the mare around to face the gates.
One of the guards stepped forward, taking hold of Rose’s stirrup. “We canna let ye leave, my lady,” he said. “Laird’s orders.”
“I don’t give a fig for the laird’s orders,” she growled. “So let go, damn it!”
He didn’t. His grip only tightened.
Maggie stepped forward. “Let her go, Tom.”
