Page 66 of Highland Steel

“Then I’ll carry ye,” he said, bending down and throwing her over one shoulder, hurriedly heading for the door with Bug right behind him.

Chapter 21

Rhoswen looked out the tower window, feeling now like it was a mistake to come here. It seemed there was little hope for escape. The moat lay directly below the tower, and it was a long way down. The battlements connected to each side of the tower, but were quite a ways below her room.

She couldn’t see the castle’s courtyard from where she was to know what was going on. Little Lockie cooed from atop the bed, and waved his arms and legs in the air. Rhoswen smiled and walked over, sitting down on the bed next to her nephew. The baby flipped over, and tried his hardest to push up to his knees. It wouldn’t be long now before he started crawling. She wished her sister were alive to see this precious sight.

“My lady, here is the gown ye’ll wear for the weddin’,” said Rona, pulling a garment out of a trunk and walking over to the bed.

Rhoswen looked up and her mouth fell open. “That’s my sister’s wedding gown!”

“Aye, yer sister looked lovely in it, and I am sure ye will, too.”

“Did ye ken Ailsa?” asked Rhoswen curiously.

“I did. I was her handmaid just as I will now be yers.”

“You are not a handmaid,” said Rhoswen, her eyes raking down the woman’s body. She could tell by the low bodice and the fact she didn’t wear hose that she was something other than a lady, indeed. “You are Ranulph Drummond’s whore, aren’t you?”

The woman’s smile faded. She looked down at the gown when she spoke. “I am,” she admitted. “But when I came to the Drummond Clan, I was promised I’d be a bride.” Tears filled her eyes. “I wasna always a whore. But Ranulph made me that way.”

“I’m sorry to upset you,” said Rhoswen, feeling bad for the woman who was also naught but a victim in this whole scheme. She stood up, putting her arm around the woman’s shoulders. “Mayhap if you help me, we can both escape this place together.”

“Oh, nay,” she said, shaking her head. “I dinna want to escape. This is my home.”

“Well, it’s not mine, and I won’t stay in a place where I’m kept prisoner, my sister’s been murdered, and my lover has been thrown in the dungeon and most likely condemned to death.”

“I’m sorry,” said the woman, it now being her turn to apologize. “Ailsa was a kind lass, and very happy when her baby was born.”

“Tell me what happened,” said Rhoswen, taking the woman’s hand and pulling her over to sit on the bed. “I missed my sister so much. I’d like to know how she died.”

“I dinna ken exactly,” said Rona.

“Drummond killed her, didn’t he?”

“That’s what he said. She just disappeared one day and he announced that he’d killed her.”

“My mother was so distraught when she got the missive that she ended up killing herself.”

“How awful!”

“Then my father said we were coming to get little Lockie, but it seemed he was only interested in revenge.” She reached out and ran a hand over the baby’s back as the boy rocked back and forth on his hands and knees.

“Now that ye are to be Ranulph’s wife, ye will be Lockie’s mathair as well.”

“Nay, I will never be his wife,” said Rhoswen. “Now that I know that Logan really does love me, he is the man I will marry.”

“But he’s a prisoner and has been condemned to death,” said Rona.

“I plan on freeing him as well.”

“How?” asked the girl. “Ye are one lass up against a clan of Highlanders all with swords. Face it, Lady Rhoswen, ye are goin’ to be Ranulph’s wife and yer lover will be killed and there is nothin’ ye can do about it.”

“I hope you’re wrong,” said Rhoswen, wondering about Logan in the dungeon. Would he be killed because of her? This was all her fault. If she’d never have climbed into the back of Bug’s wagon, Logan never would have come after them and they wouldn’t be in this position. If only she could go back and change things, she would. “I hope you’re wrong,” she repeated, hoping for a miracle to get them out of this mess.

* * *

Logan emerged from the stable with a skein of rope and a grappling hook in his grip, having snuck inside and found it in a pile of supplies at the back of the barn. He needed to get up to the tower to talk to Rhoswen, but with all the guards Drummond posted, there was no way to do it without being seen. So the only way in as far as he could tell would be to scale the tower and go in through the window.