Page 47 of Highlander’s Haunted Past

Halfway to the castle, five of the men peeled off from the rest. While the main group would infiltrate the castle by going up and over the wall, the other five would guard the gates, preventing anyone from escaping.

When they were still fifty strides away from the walls, the men dismounted and pulled out their weapons. At night, the sentry circled the castle every four minutes. He had last passed three minutes ago, and, right on time, the soft glow of his torch began to emerge from around the side of the castle. The man looked tired, lazy, likely a bit too overworked to really care about his duties. He was an easy target.

Hugh stood up and pulled his bow down from his saddle, nocking an arrow and aiming it up into the air with a grace that Rob envied. Hugh was a deadly good archer, as were many of the best Highland warriors. Rob loved to watch him shoot. It was such an effortless way to kill.

With a thump, Hugh released his hold on the bowstring, and the arrow flew. A second later, there was another thump, and then a thud as the sentry collapsed to the ground.

Rob sprinted forward and stomped on the torch to extinguish the light. The sentry reached for him, channeling his last energy into a muted, gurgling moan. One of the men silenced him with the slip of his knife.

Hugh caught up to Rob and reached for him, and Rob crouched while his brother climbed up onto his shoulders. The wall was low here, low enough that Hugh could reach the top with ease from where he was perched on Rob’s shoulders. He heaved himself up and onto the ledge before turning back and taking Rob’s hand, helping him scale the wall. The rest of the men did the same, until, one by one, they all dropped as quietly as shadows to the grass inside Strathbogie’s walls.

They were near the stables, and a soft whinny of horses echoed through the yard. Quick as lightning, Rob took off toward the nearest castle door, eager to get inside before anyone came to see what was riling the beasts. The first door he tested was unlocked, and the room beyond was dark. He paused for a moment, listening for any trace of someone breathing, but all seemed quiet, so Rob turned back toward the wall and gave a soft whistle, hoping it sounded like a bird.

The men filed into the dark room and began fumbling around to try and find the next door, the passageway that would take them from wherever they were to the main rooms of the castle. There was a soft groan as Hugh found a door and pulled it open. A bit of dim light streamed into the room, and Rob rushed to Hugh’s side to try and see what was beyond. The room in front of them was massive, with ceilings that must have been nearly the height of the entire castle. A few large lanterns hung lit on the walls, but there wasn’t a soul in the room to enjoy them.

“The hall,” Rob whispered, more to himself than anyone else. “Let’s go; the entrance to the tower should be to the left.”

Rob led the group from the antechamber and into the main hall, searching in the dim light for any doorway or staircase that would lead him to the tower and the Earl of Huntly’s private chambers. He crept along the stone wall and hesitantly pulled aside a bright curtain that was adorned with the Gordon coat of arms. Sure enough, a passageway, lined with flaming torches, lay behind it.

This is almost too easy, Rob thought.

So, was it fear that was now making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up? Rob spun back to the hall, surprising a few of the men behind him. They were being watched, he could have sworn that they were, but there was no one else in the hall. No one he could see, at least.

“Lead the way,” Rob mouthed to Hugh, stepping aside to hold the curtain back for the men to pass under.

Hugh shrugged and did as he was told, clearly not feeling the same trepidations as his brother. The rest of the men followed Hugh, casting confused glances at Rob as they passed.

Rob gave one last scan of the hall before following. There was still no one; the only movement coming from the flickering light of the lanterns.

Nothing is wrong, he chastised himself, for making such a fuss over nothing.

He let the curtains fall back behind him, resisting the temptation to look back through them once more before he followed the men creeping up the stairs.

The first flight of stairs ended at a large, open solar. The walls were lined with shelves of books; a small fortune’s worth of books. There was a heavy wooden desk at the center of the room, and it was surrounded by sturdy looking chairs. A map lay open on the desk, and it was covered with small pieces to replicate the movement of small armies.

“Looks like a private office to me,” Rob whispered to Hugh, relishing in the subtle victory of Kenna’s information being proved true.

Hugh grimaced and whispered back, “Aye, but where is the Earl?”

Rob pointed across the room, to a second flight of stairs that spiraled upwards.

“How much do ye want to bet that his bedchambers are just one floor above his office?”

Hugh rolled his eyes, a silent refusal to make such a bet.

“Should we gather these papers?”

“Aye, may as well. No one seems to ken we are here.”

A few of the men overheard and began to slowly roll up the parchments that were scattered through the room, doing their best to do the task with as much silence as they could.

This is good, Rob thought. We gather the papers, grab the Earl, and make a break for it. Even if he sounds an alarm, we will already be done here.

Then Rob felt that soft prickle on the back of his neck again. Nothing was supposed to be so easy. Not when the stakes were this high.

Rob whipped his sword from its sheath and spun, and his steel found the steel of another. The man, nearly his size but with shoulders even an ox would have envied, looked surprised, but the feeling only held for a moment.

With a flurry of blows, he and Rob spun around each other. Rob was so caught in the moment, in the thrill of meeting such a good swordsman, that he almost missed the other man’s glance to something to their side.