The servants stoking the ovens and preparing the morning meal for those warriors who had remained behind and everyone else in the household had been startled, indeed, to see her enter their domain.All she had wanted was a steaming bowl of porridge for Colin and a cup of goat’s milk, which would be enough to nourish the boy until midday.
She had considered a round of things for them to do together, but mayhap he simply wanted to play in his room with the wooden toys Aislinn and Sorcha had given him to add to the few that Lorna had brought with them from Perthshire.
Even now, it pained her to think of the woman and how she had so cruelly chosen to torment her—but that was in the past, another reason for her to feel comforted.
Her beloved husband had seen to it that Lorna would not trouble her again, which made Lisette’s heart lighter as she reached the second story and hurried past her bedchamber.
Already maidservants had entered the room to tidy it and fix the bed, making her blush at what they must think to have found it in so disheveled a condition.She heard feminine voices and giggles, which answered her question, Lisette rushing past the door with the cloak swirling around her feet.
The air felt as chilled as Cameron and Aislinn’s keep, which made her grateful again for the garment’s warmth.She hastened toward Colin’s room, but was surprised to see the door was yawning open.
Strange, considering he should still be sleeping, Lisette looking forward to waking him and seeing those big blue eyes and his happy smile.She imagined the nursemaid who slept on a cot in the same bedchamber must have stepped out for a moment, an eerie silence greeting Lisette when she walked in with the tray.
Colin’s bed was empty, the covers thrown back, but it was the feet sticking out from the opposite side on the floor that made Lisette’s heart lurch into her throat.
One shoe on and the other bare…
“Bonni?”she whispered, wondering if the kindly and ever patient nursemaid was playing an early morning game with Colin.Hide-and-seek, surely, but why then did the woman’s legs looked sprawled out as if she had fallen?Lisette ventured closer and peeked around the side of the bed…horror filling her at the sight of the unconscious woman with an ugly purple bump on her forehead.
“Oh, no…oh, no,” she murmured, her hands shaking as she set the tray upon the mattress, but it was the soft intake of breath behind her that made Lisette whirl around.
Her knees nearly giving way at the sight of Colin held tightly behind the door by the stout serving maid Lisette had seen speaking to the priest yesterday in the bailey, the woman’s large hand covering the boy’s mouth.
“Dinna scream, Lady Campbell, or the child dies.I could take your cloak now but they’ll not open the gates for me or Father Philip.There’s only way one for us tae leave the fortress and that’s together.”
“Cloak?”Lisette echoed, glancing down in confusion at the garment made especially for Isabeau and then back to the serving maid.“I-I don’t understand—”
“No questions, it will all be made plain tae you as soon as we’re out of this place.Now you’ll walk with me quickly tae the bailey where Father Philip awaits us with a wagon.Go!”
The woman hadn’t shouted, but the vehemence in that last word spurred Lisette into motion as Colin began to wriggle in the serving maid’s arms.
What could she say to soothe him?She didn’t know what was happening any more than the child, whose eyes filled with frightened tears.If he began to wail in spite of the hand pressed over his mouth, would the woman break his neck as easily as a twig with those thick forearms?
Seeing only malevolent determination in the serving maid’s dark eyes, Lisette guessed that was exactly what would happen if Colin burst into loud sobs.
Pausing just outside the door and trembling from head to toe, she took a deep breath and turned around with her arms outstretched.
“Let me take him.I’ll make it into a game…please.”
The woman said nothing, but Lisette could see her mind working as if weighing the offer, and then abruptly shoved Colin toward her.
At once Lisette scooped him up, Colin throwing his arms around her neck and burying his face into her shoulder, but she forced a light laugh to try and calm him.
“We’re going for a ride, Colin…would you like that?”
He nodded weakly, and lifted his head to look at her with his blue eyes brimming.“A-a ride?”
“Oui, in a wagon.You liked the wagon yesterday and the horses.We’ll have fun, you’ll see!”
Lisette felt swamping relief as Colin’s clouded expression turned into a smile.Behind her, as they stepped into the hall, the serving woman stuck the point of something sharp against her back.
“Move!”
She did, Colin pretending to gallop in her arms that almost made her drop him, his giggles ringing around them at the high expectation of his wagon ride.Somehow Lisette made it past her own room where the maidservants glanced up from their work, shrugged, and then went back to fixing the bed—and finally to the steps where she almost faltered.
Again she felt the poke of what she guessed was a knife, which spurred her downward with the serving woman feigning laughter—a cruel sound that reminded Lisette of Lorna.
What could she do in the bailey?Shout for help?Scream out for Finlay?Yet she knew that she would do none of those things if it meant risking Colin’s life.
