“I dinna know ye were in yer chamber,” he said, his voice so hoarse that he could barely speak. “I am sorry for the noise.”
Amaline didn’t reply. Nervously, she scooted down the stairs and away from him as he sat in the landing, beaten and muddled. She continued out of the keep, out into the dusk of night, seeing that there were men still in the arena with some kind of object they were running after. She didn’t even know what they were doing, but evidently, the day’s games were still going on. She was sorry she didn’t even get to see any of them, but that could not be helped. Off to her left was the great hall and the kitchen yard, and straight ahead was the gatehouse.
Ever vigilant, she clutched the cloak against her as she kept an eye out for the de Lohr knights, thinking they must surely be somewhere nearby. Even as she neared the gatehouse, she had yet to see them and wondered if they might be in the great hall. She could see a good deal of smoke coming from the chimney, which meant someone was stoking the hearth against the coming winter evening. Perhaps the knights were in there, warming themselves after a busy day.
The temperature outside was dropping, causing Amaline’s breath to hang in the air, heavy with moisture, as she made it to the entry to the gatehouse. There were soldiers about as men took their posts for the coming night and she could hear a sergeant, somewhere, yelling. Dogs barked. Looking around nervously, she was about to enter the stairwell leading down to the vault when it occurred to her that the cells were locked and the keys were usually with the sergeant who commanded the gatehouse.
She had to get those keys.
With the heavy cloak still clutched against her, she knew she had to come up with a plan for getting those keys. She wasn’t very good at planning, hence forgetting about the locked cell in the first place. Havilland and Madeline were the ones that usually did all of the planning. She simply followed along. But now, she was having to come up with a scheme to break her sister out of the vault and she struggled not to become overwhelmed by it. What could she possible do to get the keys from the sergeant?
What could she do?
So she stood there, apprehensively, as men walked past her, men heading to their posts or just being relieved of them. Men over at the makeshift arena were just finishing up their games and were beginning to clear out, heading for the troop house. Amaline watched them for a moment, her gaze falling on the archery targets from earlier in the day. Now, they were a pile of broken wood near the troop house, having served their purpose. Looking at the big pile of wood pieces, an idea suddenly occurred to her.
Formulating a plan, she quickly made her way over to the pile of wood and picked up a fairly heavy piece, something she could use to hit someone with. Right in the head, hard enough to knock him out! Quickly, she draped the cloak over her arm to cover up the hand holding the wood. It was all nicely concealed. Now armed, and feeling much more confident than she had moments earlier, she went to find the sergeant in charge of the gatehouse.
Now, she had a plan.
The man wasn’t difficult to find. He was standing just inside the gatehouse near the guard’s room because the room was very warm and men were packed inside. When she politely asked him to please admit her to Madeline’s cell, the man shook his head and pointed to the wall, explaining that Sir Thad had the keys. Thad, the knight who had carried Amaline’s favor for games she had never even seen. Feeling embarrassed, and very anxious, she went to find Thad.
It took her some time to locate the young knight. He was on the northern part of the wall, watching the mist roll in, and she called to him, yelling two or three times until he actually heard her. Quickly, he came to her bidding which only increased her apprehension considering what she was about to do. He smiled at her as he slid down the ladder.
“Lady Amaline,” he said. “You ran off this morning and I did not see you at all after that. I hope all is well?”
She nodded, ashamed and nervous. “I… I was not feeling well,” she said. “I am sorry I deserted you. Did… did you win any of the games?”
Thad nodded. “I won the hammer toss,” he said proudly, “but I only won that because Jamison left and Tobias throws like an old woman. He is angry at me now for besting him.”
“Oh,” Amaline said, her eyes darting around the bailey. “Where is he?”
Thad was smiling at her, seeing that she appeared nervous but he thought it was because she was simply nervous to talk to a fine, handsome knight, of which he was one. He took it as a compliment.
“He is in the great hall with our visitors,” he said. “Did you see them?”
“See who?”
“Our visitors,” he said again. “The Lions of the Highlands have come back to England. They came to pay Jamison a visit. Evidently, there is trouble at home and Jamison’s father has sent for him.”
That bit of news caught Amaline by surprise. Was that why Havilland was so upset? Because Jamison had been summoned back to Scotland? Her confusion grew.
“I… I did not see any visitors,” she said. “But Jamison is in the keep. Havilland is weeping and she will not speak to him. He is sitting outside of her door.”
Thad lost some of his humor then. “I know,” he said. “There is more to it than that, poor man. I am not entirely sure he can straighten things out.”
“What things?”
Thad eyed the girl, realizing he’d probably said too much. It wasn’t his business, anyway, what was happening with Jamison. He didn’t want to start rumors. Therefore, he forced a smile again.
“It does not matter,” he said, brushing off her question. “Now, did you wish to speak with me, my lady?”
Amaline was still thinking about Jamison being summoned back to Scotland, forcing herself to push that thought aside with Thad’s question. “Aye,” she nodded. “I want to see Madeline and the gate sergeant says that you have the keys.”
Thad lost his smile again. “I am not sure she is allowed visitors, my lady,” he said. “Let me ask Jamison before I consent.”
Amaline shook her head quickly. “He is outside of Havilland’s room, yelling at her to open her door,” she said. “I do not think he would take kindly to your question. Please… I just want to give my sister this cloak, as it is very cold. Won’t you please let me in to see her? I will only stay a minute.”
Thad eyed her, considering her point. It was true that Jamison might not take kindly to being interrupted when all of the knights knew he was in the middle of a serious personal crisis. Beaux MacKay had told both Tobias and Thad what had transpired earlier in the day and how Jamison had forced them to divulge George Munro’s desire that Jamison should marry his dead brother’s betrothed. It wouldn’t have been so bad had Jamison not forced them to say it in front of Havilland, who understandably reacted poorly to the news. Now, Jamison was dealing with a goodly amount of turmoil while Beaux, Kendrick, Caspian, and Tobias sat in the great hall and drank, waiting for Jamison to emerge from the keep.
But that might take a long time. Certainly, Jamison didn’t need to be bothered with something like this if all Amaline wanted to do was give her sister a cloak. Thad didn’t see any harm in it. Looking into the young woman’s eager face, he relented.
“Very well,” he said. “Come along.”
Amaline did. Heart pounding, clutching the piece of wood in her hand, she walked alongside Thad to the gatehouse, purposely falling back behind him as he went down the stairs first. She didn’t know when she’d have another chance to catch him off guard as she could now, for he certainly couldn’t see her pull out the piece of wood as she came down the stairs behind him. If she was going to do this, now was the time.
She summoned her courage, her stomach in knots at the thought of failure. She couldn’t fail! They were almost to the bottom when Amaline lifted the wood and cracked Thad over the head, so hard that he fell down the last two steps and landed in a heap, still as stone. Rushing upon him, she rolled the unconscious knight over onto his back and searched him, finally coming up with the
ring of iron keys in the pocket of his tunic. Grabbing the keys, she rushed to the cell where Madeline was just starting to wake up.
Exhausted, Madeline had slept on and off for most of the day, as there was little else to do in the nearly pitch-black cell. She had been dead asleep when she’d been awoken by a grunt and what sounded like a fall. Suddenly, Amaline was opening her cell and when Madeline realized this, she scrambled to her feet, rubbing her eyes in disbelief.
“Ammie!” she gasped. “What have you done?”
Amaline didn’t have time for any questions. “Quickly,” she said, thrusting the cloak at her. “Put this on and go. Go through the postern gate and leave. You promised you would never come back here!”
Astonished, Madeline took the cloak, still a bit groggy from sleep and having no real idea what had just happened. She looked at her sister, her eyes wide.
“But… but why?” she said. “Why would you…?”
Amaline was terrified they would be found out or that Thad would soon regain consciousness. She yanked her sister by the arm, pulling her from the cell.
“Put the cloak on,” she told her again, snappish. “Get out of here, do you hear? I have given you your freedom and if you do not leave now, it will more than likely cost me mine if we are discovered. Go, Madeline! Do not ask questions, just go!”
Madeline didn’t have to be told twice. With shaking hands, she pulled on the cloak, a heavy dark thing, pulling on the hood so no one could see her face. She went to hug Amaline but her sister stood back, unwilling to be embraced. She was fearful and uncertain, and in truth, angry. Angry at the entire situation. She simply wanted Madeline gone.
“Ammie,” Madeline’s features softened with sorrow when Amaline rejected her embrace. “Thank you for doing this. Thank you for saving my life. But what will you tell Havi and Jamison? They will punish you when they discover you have released me.”
Amaline yanked her sister towards the stairs. “Since when do you care about me?” she asked. “You only care about yourself or else you would not have asked me to do this.”
Madeline took the first step but she didn’t leave; she looked at her sister seriously. “Then why are you helping me?”
Amaline sighed heavily, shaking her head. “I am not sure,” she said honestly. “Mayhap… mayhap I do not want to see your head cut off. Mayhap Jamison is lying and you really have done nothing wrong. Or mayhap you are lying and I am a fool. I do not know! Simply go and never come back!”
Madeline didn’t know what to say. Perhaps there was nothing really to say. Amaline was risking her own freedom to help her escape and she didn’t take that lightly. She began to feel guilty for it but not guilty enough to go back into her cell. She was free and she intended to stay free.
“Thank you, Ammie,” she whispered. “I shall not forget this.”
Amaline didn’t say anything. She simply watched her sister run up the stairs, bound by the cloak, and disappear into the coming night. Amaline thought her escape would be rather easy considering that, out of respect to Havilland, Jamison hadn’t told many of the soldiers about Madeline’s imprisonment. That would be his undoing.
Madeline would be able to slip by men who would recognize her but think nothing was amiss. Still, the fact remained that Thad would know Amaline had set her sister free. He would tell Jamison and she would be punished, now for her own particular brand of treachery.
Amaline had to think of a believable explanation.
When Thad finally regained consciousness a short while later, it was to Amaline’s concerned face. She was patting his cheeks, trying to wake him. When he looked around, groggily asking for an explanation, Amaline proceeded to inform him that he had slipped on the stairs and knocked himself out, and when she used his keys to open the cell to provide Madeline with the cloak, her sister had overpowered her and run away.
Amaline made a good show of being quite upset about the whole thing, but deep down, Thad didn’t believe her. He was fairly certain it had all been quite planned and he had the bump on the back of his head to prove it.
*
“If we leave this week, we should make it back tae Foulis by late spring,” Kendrick said. “I’d like tae spend more than a few days here but we must return as soon as we can. There is no knowing what has happened in our absence.”
He was speaking to Beaux and Tobias as Caspian, exhausted beyond all reason, was sleeping with his head down on the table. In fact, all three Scotsmen were exhausted but Caspian was the only one who had succumbed to sleep. The others were fighting it, awaiting Jamison’s return to the hall. There was still a great deal to discuss.
But there was a sense of disappointment, too. Disappointment that Jamison’s happiness with Lady Havilland had been so cruelly damaged. Of course, Jamison was to blame for that, not allowing his father’s message to be delivered in private, but it didn’t matter now. Lady Havilland was heartbroken and Jamison right along with her. Beaux had been trying to figure out how to make it all well again, to ease both Jamison and Havilland, but it simply wasn’t possible. Jamison was to marry Agnes MacLennan and there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it.
If they wanted to end the blood feud, it had to be that way.
Beaux kept rolling that over and over in his mind; it has to be this way. It must be this way. He seriously wondered if Jamison was going to obey his father’s wishes in this. He would risk a continued feud by not marrying Agnes. Would his life-long happiness be worth pleasing his father? Beaux had known Jamison a very long time and the man was stubborn. He also knew very much what he wanted in life and if he wanted Lady Havilland that badly, Beaux could easily see him defying George for the privilege of calling that beautiful woman his wife.
Some things were worth fighting for.
As Beaux pondered Jamison’s wants and desires, Tobias was pondering something completely different. He’d been near the arena, preparing the coming games, when he’d seen Jamison and the three Scotsmen come through the gatehouse. He’d seen Havilland go to meet them and he also saw her run off with Jamison on her heels. Only then had he left his men at the arena to go and see what had happened, being informed by Beaux of the reason for their visit to Four Crosses.
Tobias was a horrible person in that he was glad they’d come.
Glad that they’d come with news that Jamison was now heir to Clan Munro and that he was expected to marry his dead brother’s betrothed. The mention of the betrothal had almost been an afterthought following news of Georgie’s death and the feud with the MacKenzies, but to Tobias, it was the most important thing he’d heard. Jamison is betrothed to another! Finally, now he had his chance with Havilland. He would swear to Jamison he would take very good care of her and make all sorts of promises to the man for the care and keep of Havilland, but the truth was that he was ecstatic over the news. Ecstatic and struggling not to show it. So he pretended, as he sat at the feasting table with the others, that he was as distressed as everyone else. He put on a good show of it.
Finally, something on this day had gone his way.
“I never met Georgie Munro,” he said, pouring himself and Kendrick more hot wine. “What was the man like?”
Beaux, having had four cups of wine already, was feeling the alcohol. Half-lidded, he answered. “He wanted tae be a priest,” he said. “The man was kind and quiet. He wasna suited for the life as a Clan Chief. Everyone knew it so there may be some who think his death a blessing. Now, Jamison will assume control and he will be the best chief in the Highlands. With him, there will be no question of the Munro Clan’s strength.”
Tobias pretended to ponder that but his next question was calculated. “And the woman he is to marry?” he asked. “What about her clan?”
Beaux was feeling just as bad as he possibly could about that. He simply shook his head, imbibing of more wine, as Kendrick spoke.
“She’s the heiress tae Clan MacLennan,” he said; the man was bloody well drunk with the amount of hot wine he’d consumed. �
�She’s a tiny little lass, barely fourteen years of age, with a pale face and pale hair. She’s been sickly most o’ her life but she’s the only child of Amos MacLennan, a rightly powerful man who commands thousands. Moreover, the MacLennans are a rich lot. More sheep and wool than they know what tae do with. When Jamie marries Agnes, he’ll be rich beyond his wildest dreams.”
Tobias listened seriously, but inside, he was dancing a gleeful dance. Still, he kept up the pretense of being sorry on Jamison and Havilland’s behalf. “And if he marries Havilland, he will get nothing,” he said. “Oh, ’tis true that she is a beauty. No doubt about it. She is bright and compassionate. But her father is not a wealthy man. In fact, he’s quite mad. Did Jamison tell you that? We only found out yesterday. Havilland’s father, Roald de Llion, has been mad for over a year and Havilland and her sisters have been keeping the secret. So if Jamison marries her, he inherits a madman for his wife’s father and a castle that does not even belong to the de Llion family. It belongs to my father.”
By the time he was finished, Beaux and Kendrick were looking at him in various stages of disbelief. It occurred to them both that Tobias knew Four Crosses and, more than likely, the history between Jamison and Havilland. Clearly, he had divulged a great deal already.
“Lady Havilland has kept her father’s madness from her liege?” Beaux said, somewhat incredulous.
Tobias nodded. “She did,” he said. “But that is not the worst of it; at nearly the same time we were told of Roald’s madness, we discovered that Lady Havilland’s sister, Lady Madeline, had been feeding information to the Welsh. Did my father tell you that Four Crosses has been repeatedly attacked over the past several months? It has, you know. Now we find out that there was a spy in our midst – Lady Havilland’s own sister.”
He was trying to make it seem as if this was a terrible place, with terrible people, and Jamison would be well rid of them by not marrying Havilland. It was a calculated statement. Now that he’d thrown out such terrible information for them to digest, he went back to his wine, watching Beaux and Kendrick out of the corner of his eye, pleased to see that the men were quite shocked by the news.