Nessa started to weep more heavily now. “Sir Shain sent me to tell ye,” she sobbed. “Sir Frederick came back. He came back with the O’Byrne and let them in! They killed many people and they killed yer bird and ate it! Oh, please, my lord, ye must come and help us!”
Devlin just stared at her. He could feel a sense of grief and rage sweeping over him, filling his veins until every part of his body was hot with fury. The fingers grasping Nessa tightened on her arm to the point of causing her pain. She shrieked softly and tried to pull away.
Emllyn had been listening with horror. She could hardly believe what she was hearing and when Nessa winced because Devlin was hurting her, she pried the man’s hands off of the serving wench. She grasped the woman, giving her a gentle shake and forcing her to look at her.
“Nessa,” she said, trying to keep an even tone because she could see how affected Nessa and Devlin were. “Tell us what happened from the beginning; you said that Sir Frederick returned? Returned from where?”
“He tried to kill me,” Devlin told her, his voice faint and dull. “When I returned to Black Castle after leaving you at Glenteige, Freddy poisoned my wine but Iver drank it instead. He also tried to kill Shain but failed. When Freddy fled Black Castle, we feared he had come here to Glenteige because he knew of my plan to spy on the English. We thought he had come here to betray me and, consequently, put you in great danger. That is why Victor has only known you as Emllyn and why his men have only calledyou Emllyn. They did not want to put you in any danger in the eyes of your host.”
Emllyn listened with seriousness in her expression. “But Sir Frederick did not come to Glenteige,” she said, confused. “If not here, then where did he go?”
Devlin sighed heavily; it was all becoming very clear to him now what had happened. He and Shain had discussed two options; Frederick would either go to Glenteige to betray Devlin or he would go to an enemy and side with them against Black Sword. It would seem that even though Frederick hadn’t gone to Glenteige, he’d clearly created issues elsewhere. The man simply hadn’t faded away.
Devlin was overwhelmed with the realization of Frederick’s actions but he fought it; a muddled mind would do him, or his people, little good. What mattered now was what to do about it. Struggling for composure, he faced the weeping servant.
“What happened when Freddy returned?” he asked her quietly.
Because Devlin was calming, Nessa calmed, too. “He came back after ye had left,” she said, sniffling. “He begged for Shain’s forgiveness. He wept and called him brother. Shain believed him and feasted with him but that night, after everyone had gone to sleep, Sir Frederick murdered the gate guards and opened up the gates. The O’Byrne came in and killed everyone they could, including my mother. I escaped with Sir Shain and we fled. Shain sent me to find ye because most of yer soldiers are dead or have scattered.”
More than rage, Devlin felt utter and complete devastation at the thought of Neart. “And my falcon?”
Nessa sniffled sadly. “They took him first when they came into the keep,” she said. “A man cut his head off and they roasted him.”
Tears popped to Devlin’s eyes for his falcon, his friend and companion, who had suffered at the hands of his hated enemy. Devlin would make them pay; with God as his host and witness, he would make those bloody bastards pay.
There was a spark of revenge burning in his chest, growing by leaps and bounds. The fire filled his veins, causing his hands to shake and his heart to pound. It was revenge against the O’Byrnes, to be sure, but more than that it was revenge directed against Frederick. He’d always defended the man against others, refusing to think ill of him even when his maliciousness was obvious. But this was where every last scrap of good will towards Frederick ended and now, he became Devlin’s most deadly enemy.
He would find Frederick and the man would pay with blood and anguish a thousand times over. Now, Devlin’s vengeance was unleashed. Somehow, his anger helped him think clearer. He knew what he had to do.
“Emllyn,” he turned to her as she held Nessa’s hand. “Go inside and bring Victor to me. Bring him here, please, love.”
Emllyn nodded obediently and left them behind the wagon as she went into the hall. Meanwhile, Devlin turned to Nessa.
“Where is Shain and the remnants of my people?” he asked, his voice oddly calm now that his initial shock and fury had faded. Devlin was, if nothing else, able to maintain a level control in the face of madness. It was one of Black Sword’s greatest attributes.
“At Dungans Castle,” Nessa said.
Devlin’s gaze glimmered with recognition, and also with some concern. “Did he take the tunnel?”
Nessa nodded firmly. “That was his intention,” she said. “I heard Sir Shain order men to collapse it so that the O’Byrne couldn’t follow them.”
There had been a tunnel linking Black Castle and Dungans Castle since the two castles had been built and shared by the same clann. That had been decades ago, however, and both castles had changed hands many time since then. Now, Dungans belonged to a sect of Hospitallers, men who were hermits and most fearful. In fact, Devlin had never had any dealings with them, mostly because it was common knowledge to stay away from them. Rumors abound through the Wicklow countryside that the Hospitallers were really worshippers of Satan and that they drank human blood. Devlin wasn’t sure if he believed that, but he had stayed clear of them nonetheless.
“The castle must have been greatly compromised if Shain chose to take the survivors through the tunnel to Dungans,” he muttered. “That is a feared place.”
Nessa nodded. “I am glad I did not go with them,” she admitted. “Sir Shain lowered me over the wall as the castle was overtaken. I just started running and never looked back.”
“Then you do not know if they actually made the trip to Dungans?”
“Nay, my lord.”
Devlin sighed heavily as he pondered the information. “It’s very possible they never made it,” he muttered. “Those tunnels are very old. They could have been blocked any number of ways. It’s very possible that they are still at Black Castle, all of them, and if that is the case, then I must go directly to Black Castle.”
Now that her information was delivered and the highs and lows of her emotion were even for the moment, Nessa was showing signs of real exhaustion. She slumped back against the wagon wheel, sitting in partial mud and not even realizing it.
“There weren’t many, my lord,” she said. “I heard Sir Shain say there were no more than a few dozen men left.”
With that, she fell silent. Devlin sat next to her, his mind whirling with the revelations that had come this night. He knewhe had to return and reclaim his castle; there was no doubt in his mind. But he needed men in order to accomplish that. He didn’t have any men at his disposal; but de Noble did.
