*
She had thedirk in her hand.
It had taken some doing, but Isadora managed to get a good grip on the little dirk that Cam had given her and as Cam and The Beast rolled around on the floor of the great hall, Isadora began to slice furiously at the ropes binding her.
She didn’t want to watch the fight, especially when The Beast got his hands around Cam’s neck. It sent her into a panic butas she watched, Cam raised a knee and caught the big man in the gut, causing him to falter. Cam then gouged at his eyes and The Beast wailed, momentarily blinded, as Cam threw a series of punches into his sensitive nose and mouth area.
It was turning into a bloody mess.
Isadora looked away. It wasn’t that blood bothered her on the whole; it was simply that seeing Cam in the fight for his life and knowing there was no way she could help him made her sick.
Using the dirk, she sawed faster.
The dirk was sharp and, soon enough, it broke through and she could feel the bindings loosen. In fact, everything seemed to be unraveling but she didn’t move too much, afraid Drostan or Ternan would take note.
They were riveted to the fight, however, and not looking at her, so Isadora slowly shifted her body to bring her bound ankles near her buttocks. Eyes on her captors to ensure they didn’t notice what she was doing, she used the sharp dagger to slice through the bindings around her ankles without being seen.
Realizing she was nearly free, she felt her heart begin to race with excitement. She dared to take her eyes from Drostan and Ternan, looking to the fight taking place in the hall only to see that Cam had managed to get in behind The Beast and as she watched, he threw his arm over the man’s throat and held him in such a way that he was slowly strangling him.
Realizing that the battle might soon be over, Isadora fought down her panic. The Beast was turning shades of red, trying to grab Cam around the head to flip him off again, but Cam was holding on to him so tightly that the man wasn’t able to get a grip on him. The Beast coughed and choked, his face starting to turn purple, but Cam didn’t let go. He had his head tucked in behind The Beast’s head, avoiding the enormous hands that were grabbing at him.
The Beast was losing consciousness.
Onto the floor, The Beast sprawled with Cam on his back as Cam slowly squeezed the life from him. Seeing this, Drostan realized he had to break up the fight and he stood up from the feasting table.
“Enough,” he said. “Cam, let him go. Cam! Do ye hear me?”
If Cam heard him, he didn’t acknowledge it. He kept squeezing and The Beast’s movements were growing less and less as his life slipped away. Enraged, Drostan marched over to the edge of the fight area but he didn’t get too close. He didn’t want to get caught up in the battle.
“I said let him go!” he bellowed. “Cam, I command it! Ye won the fight, man! Release him!”
Cam didn’t respond and The Beast stopped struggling. As Drostan stood there and shouted at Cam, Isadora leapt to her feet, the ropes falling aside. For her sake, for her father’s sake, and for Cam’s sake, she was going to finish this. Before anyone realized she was free, Isadora was running across the hall floor and heading straight for Drostan.
Caught off guard, Drostan looked up in time to see Isadora as she threw herself against him, toppling him to the ground. As he cried out, the tiny dagger in Isadora’s hand plunged straight into his neck.
And that was where it remained as Drostan Lindsay bled out onto the cold stone floor.
It happened so fast that no one had any time to react. Cam, in a fight for life and death, saw a flash as Isadora dashed by him, but he wasn’t about to let go of The Beast, not until the man stopped fighting. He heard Drostan cry out and he heard Ternan make a noise that sounded suspiciously like a shout, so he was forced to release the limp figure of The Beast, turning in time to see Ternan pulling Isadora off of Drostan.
Cam was on his feet before he drew another breath, charging Ternan and sending the man to the ground with a crushing blow to the face.
He pulled Isadora out of Ternan’s range.
“Are ye well, love?” he gasped. “Are ye hurt?”
Isadora was verging on tears. “Nothing that willna heal,” she said. “And ye? Yer face… so much blood—”
He cut her off, pulling her into a crushing embrace. As Cam began to move Isadora toward the hall entry, Ternan called out to them.
“Wait!” he said. “Not that way! They’ll see ye!”
Cam came to an unsteady halt, Isadora held up against him. “Ye’ll not stop us,” he threatened. “I won the fight. She belongs tae me and the fact that she killed Drostan makes no difference. I’ll kill ye if ye try tae take her from me.”
But Ternan shook his head, wiping at his bloodied nose. “No one is going tae take her from ye,” he said. “Dunna kill her, Cam. It’s not her fault that Netherton burned.”
Cam was still moving, trying to get them out of the hall, but Isadora tugged at him. “Stop,” she said, gently. “Listen tae what he has tae say, Cam. Did ye hear him?”
Cam did as she asked and came to a halt. He focused on Ternan.
