Page 21 of Highlander’s Vengeful Seduction

“I dinnae want the lasses tae go anywhere near that wretched man,” she said. “I’ve already endured his vile comments and his attention. I ken what tae expect from him, and he canna hurt me anymore. These lasses…weel, none of them should have tae go through what I went through. I am certain that he will say something lewd, he is such a vulgar man. I can spare them from that. I have already heard everything that he has tae say to me.”

Vanora could see Mrs. Gallach visibly soften at that, her scrutinizing gaze turning into a warm one, full of affection. “Yer a good lass, ye really are,” she said. “Weel, if ye insist…if ye change yer mind, though, I will deliver the meals myself tae the guards. Ye only need tae say so, and I will go instead of ye.”

“Thank ye, Mrs. Gallach, truly,” Vanora said, just as one of the other women handed her two heaping plates of food, overflowing with beef, potatoes, and bread. “I’ll be off now, then.”

With that, Vanora left the kitchen and made her way to the basement of the castle, where the holding cells were. There was a crevice between two walls right before she reached the cells, a hidden little spot where she could barely fit. It was dark, unlit by any torches, and the perfect place for her to mix the sleeping draught that she had made with the food.

Once done, she continued on her way. The moment she stepped foot in the area where the holding cells were situated, the air around her seemed to change immediately. There was no warmth there, only bone-chilling darkness that seemed to encompass everything, swallowing it in its depths.

Vanora had never liked the holding cells. They reeked of death and decay, and they were infested with rats, bigger than any she had seen before. They were a bad place, a place where men went to die, and none stayed alive for longer than it took to walk to the courtyard, where they would be executed.

The mere thought of such a thing happening to Donal made Vanora’s stomach churn and revolt, and she had to swallow down the lump in her throat. It would do no good to have the guards see her cry.

“Edan…Auley,” Vanora said once she reached them. The only good smell in the entire basement was coming from the two plates that she was holding. She didn’t miss the way that the two guards looked at the food, practically salivating at the sight. “How are ye, lads? I thought that ye havnae had any supper, so I brought ye these. Ye must be verra hungry, spending all day down here.”

The guards’ faces lit up once they realized that the food was for them, and they both reached for their plates immediately, digging into their food with the ferocity of hungry wolves.

“Aye,” Edan said around a mouthful of meat, his eyes closing with a satisfied moan when the flavor hit his tongue. “Yer a godsend, m’lady. I had half a mind tae eat Auley here. I was so verra hungry.”

“Food is all ye think about, ye bastard!” Auley said, before whacking Edan on the back of his head with his hand. “Forgive him, he hasnae learnt any manners. We thank ye for this. Ye didnae have to bring us food.”

“I wanted tae,” Vanora assured Auley, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I’ll leave ye twa tae enjoy yer meals, then.”

Vanora gave Donal a glance before she left. His lips looked parched and cracked, as though he had not been given water all day, and his gaze was pinned on the two plates of food that Vanora had brought for the guards. When he looked at her, she gave him an almost imperceptible shake of her head, hoping that he wouldn’t ask for the food—and that even if he did, the guards wouldn’t give him any.

She had just a little bit of time, Vanora knew, to go back to the kitchen and smuggle some more food out—just enough to have something to give to Donal when she would help him escape. She discreetly filled her pockets with bannocks as she talked to the women in the kitchen, making enough small talk to distract them, and then she ran back to the holding cells.

It was only a matter of time until Auley and Edan would be asleep, unaware of anything that happened around them. Vanora hid in the shadows once more, patiently waiting for that moment.

Chapter Eleven

Vanora waited and waited, and then she waited some more. She stayed hidden until she could hear the snores that came from the two men, loud as a pair of boars. The sleeping draught that Vanora had made had knocked them out in little time, but to her, it seemed like an eternity. She didn’t have any time to waste. She had to get Donal out of his cell as soon as possible before she risked getting caught any more than she already did.

Vanora tiptoed her way to Auley and crouched down next to him, slowly taking the keys to the cells from his belt. The keys clanged and jingled as she grabbed them, but even then, neither of the two men woke up, both of them in a deep, undisturbed sleep.

“What are ye doing?” Donal hissed when he saw Vanora hurry towards him with the keys. “Have ye lost yer mind, lass? What if someone sees ye?”

“No one will see me,” Vanora assured him, as she tried key after key on the lock with trembling fingers. “If ye havnae noticed yet, I took care o’ that.”

Vanora nodded towards the two sleeping guards, and then she finally got the door open. It creaked on its hinges as it moved, and it made her stop in her tracks, but once again, neither Auley nor Edan had been awakened.

The moment Donal stepped out of the cell, he threw his arms around Vanora, holding her into a tight embrace. Vanora sighed and relaxed against him, allowing herself to let go of all the worry and anxiety for a brief moment.

“I’ll get ye a horse,” she said when she pulled back from him. “Ye must stay hidden as much as ye can, ye hear? I’ll get ye aught ye need.”

That reminded her of the bannocks that she had stolen from the kitchen, and she reached into her pockets, taking them out and handing them to Donal, who looked at them as though they were nuggets of gold. He began to devour them before Vanora could say anything else, crumbs falling all over his clothes as he ate.

Vanora couldn’t help but giggle a little, much to Donal’s dismay.

“Come with me,” Donal said once he had swallowed the last of his bannocks. “Come with me, Vanora, I beg ye. I’ve made so many mistakes, I’ve wronged ye again and again, and I ken that asking ye tae come with me is more than I deserve, but I will make it up to ye, I promise. I’ll make ye my wife, and I’ll love ye until the day I die.”

Donal’s request gave Vanora pause. What did she have to lose, though? Her sister had made the castle that she had once called her home something foreign, something that Vanora could hardly recognize. As long as Vika was there, free to do as she pleased and to trap others in her web of lies, it was a wretched place.

Her parents were still there, of course: her beloved father and mother, the people who had raised her so lovingly. Vanora knew that it would hurt to leave them behind without even a goodbye or an explanation.

Neither of them had vouched for Donal’s honor, though, even though he was like a son to them, especially her father. They had believed Vika blindly, and they had not bothered to even pay Donal a visit to his holding cell to ask him for his side of the story.

Vanora had nothing left for her in that castle, not as long as Vika was there.