Page 55 of The Cursed Highland Bride

Reminded of the blade that Esmerelda had given her, she searched her dress for its hiding place. Had they taken it? She prayed that they had not. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt its hard surface beneath her hand, nestled in the inner folds of her skirt. They had not searched her thoroughly enough to catch it. She withdrew it to show her sisters. “A daughter of the Romani gave me this on Orkney. We can use it to help us escape.”

Her sisters’ eyes widened. “How did they not find that on you?”

“I do not know, but I praise God that they did not.”

“Morgan’s men come with our food twice a day, once in the morning and evening,” Idalia explained. “During that time, they have no choice but to open the door. We tried attacking them, but they were too strong.”

“Now there are three of us,” Katarina spoke with fierce determination. “And this will make the difference.” She lifted the knife, then hid it back beneath her skirt. “What time of day is it? I cannot tell without windows.”

“We only know what time of day it is by the men coming to deliver the food. Time passes slowly in here.” Leonor shrugged her shoulders.

Katarina felt sympathy for her sisters and their plight during imprisonment. While she had endured fear and heartbreak, she had not been deprived of food or physical comfort. Dunn had seen to it that she was well taken care of. She had been allowed freedom, protection, and even affection. From the smell coming off of her sisters, they had not even been allowed such comforts as bathing water. All they had had was each other. Another tear slipped down Katarina’s cheek at the thought of it.

“I am sorry that it took me so long to find you both.”

Her sisters each took her hands in their own. “It was not your fault,” Leonor reassured her. “You did everything that you could.”

“I am sorry that it was not enough.”

“You are here now, even though I wish you were safe elsewhere.” Idalia attempted a smile, but concern marred her features. “How did they capture you?”

“There is more I must tell you.” Katarina took a deep breath and decided to tell them everything, including the attack by August Raymond, Dunn being wounded, and the burial of their family. Tears fell from her eyes as she relived the experience of seeing her parents’ and grandparents’ remains, and the three sisters took a moment to weep together for all they had gone through since fleeing to Scotland in an attempt to escape August’s clutches.

Once she was able to wipe her tears and regain her voice, Katarina then told Leonor and Idalia of her return to Orkney, finding Dunn in bed with Esmerelda, and her flight back south to find them. She told them of the sacrifice that Bran had made to give her more time to escape and her guilt over not being able to do so. She also told them of August Raymond’s spy within Morgan’s stronghold. “Do you remember seeing anyone that you recognized?”

Both of the girls shook their heads. “The only men that we recognized were those that attacked our encampment and killed our people.”

“Did any of them hurt you?” Katarina was afraid of the answer.

Once again, they shook their heads. “There were some who wanted to, but they were under orders not to touch us.”

“That is good. I am glad that my marriage to Dunn provided you both with protection. I feared for you both.”

“It has not been comfortable, but it has not been unbearable,” Leonor answered honestly. “We had each other.”

Idalia smiled at Leonor. “It has brought us closer.”

“Shared pain will do that.” Katarina squeezed both of her sisters’ hands, then released them. She crawled over to the door, took her knife from its hiding place, and attempted to pick the lock with it. She cringed at the metal scraping upon metal and paused in her labors to make certain that no one had heard it on the other side of the door. When she did not hear any investigative sounds, she continued her work. She was not certain how long she knelt there on the floor, but try as she may, she could not get the lock to open. She nearly broke her knife tip off in the process. “We have no choice but to wait until someone comes.”

“What do you plan to do?” Idalia asked.

“I will lie in wait and force them to let us out by the point of my blade.”

“And if there is more than one of them?” Leonor queried.

“Then we will do all we can to fight them.”

Her sisters looked at her with doubt in their eyes, but they agreed to her plan regardless of their feelings on the matter. “We will do what we can,” Idalia agreed. With that, the girls set about preparing their trap.

God help us, for if this fails, there is no one left to save us.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Dunn stood on the cliff edge and watched the enemy approaching as his men scrambled to ready themselves for battle. They had been training their entire adult lives for this moment, and Dunn’s men had the advantage. Not only was this their home, but the castle had been positioned within the terrain so as to make it nearly impossible to attack.

“Morgan is a fool tae attack us here,” Tor murmured under his breath.

“Aye, he lacks the advantage, but I have seen this man fight. He is nae fool when it comes tae strategy. I dinnae ken what his plan is, but I do ken that he has one that we are nae seeing yet.”