by Amy Isan
Sheena watched Barron and his men carry the lone archer through the mess hall. She moved to intercept them, and when they saw her coming, stopped to humor her. She gave Barron a small nod, then spat in the prisoner’s face. “I hope you rot,” she said. Barron chuckled and dragged the man out into the hall to the dungeon.
Sheena was grateful to be able to eat again. She doled out enough for herself, her mother and her Da, who needed rest.
After having some supper, she found Barron Macrae and asked him where they might stay.
“Ah,” he said as he scratched his beard. “I haven’t thought that one through yet. I suppose you’re the first to ask, so you can have first pick.”
“I just need somewhere where my Da can rest, he’s taken an illness since we were captured...”
“I think I got just the place. Follow me.”
Sheena and her family were given Gavin’s old quarters, a surprisingly lavish room that made their old home look like a small broom closet in comparison. Sheena couldn’t help but touch every surface, letting her hand explore the smooth gold work or intricate and wrought designs that were carved into the stone walls. She rested her Da in the plush bed and turned to Barron, who seemed smugly satisfied with the arrangement.
“You sure the Laird won’t mind?”
“He shouldn’t, seeing as you’re the Douglas Clan, right? Where is your sister? The red-headed one.”
Sheena was taken aback. “What has that got to do with anything?”
Barron frowned. “Where is she?”
“She escaped the night the attacks started. I donae know where she went. Why?”
Barron smiled. “Good. We haven't found any red-haired lasses among the...” he cleared his throat and nodded. “The Laird has taken a fancy to her, so it sounds like they both made it out alive. Thank God. Alec is a good leader, but certainly not cut out for it.” Barron smiled and folded his arms. “He'll come to see you soon, I imagine.”
Barron turned to leave, but caught himself and asked one last question. “What was your sister's name again?”
“Elyn.” Sheena nodded, a bit of a nervous relief stirred in her heart. If Elyn was alright, that would be a huge burden lifted from the shoulders of her parents. Maybe it was the kind of news that would help cure her Da of his illness, wracked with worry as he was.
After Barron left to leave the Douglas family alone, Sheena went to the bedside and clasped her Da’s hand. “Did you hear the news, Da?”
He coughed a little and smiled at her. “That Elyn is okay? I did.”
Sheena’s Ma smiled and her eyes started to glaze with tears. “I can’t believe it. I thought fer sure...”
“Me too, Ma, me too.” She laid down to rest.
After a couple of hours, Sheena woke to a wind rushing in through the open balcony door. The sky had blackened like soot, and an electric sensation filled the air. Within a few moments, the familiar scent of the dewy earth met her, the chilled rain splashing into the chamber. Thunder cracked outside as lightning flashed into the room, muting the torches each time it struck.
Footsteps down the hallway signaled another visitor. This time it was Alec Macrae, as Barron had promised. He stood in the doorway and looked inside as if he were intruding.
“Can I come in?”
“Are you Alec?”
“Aye.”
Sheena nodded and leaped to meet him at the doorway, unsure of the warmness of her cheeks. Alec was a good-looking man in her eyes: rugged, with a scruffy stubble. His bright blue eyes seemed to wash over her with gentle warmth. He seemed familiar, and as she watched him move to the bedside, she remembered seeing a dark-haired man on the balcony when she was carried off into the spire, she was sure he hadn’t seen her at all. But she had seen him. Alec folded his arms as he stepped up next to Gavin’s old bed.
“I take it you’re head of the Douglas Clan,” Alec said. Colin nodded weakly.
“Aye. What honor do you visit us with?”
“It seems the Laird has a keen interest in the protection of your family. Barron tells me that your other daughter, Elyn, has fled. We expect the Laird found her and is keeping her safe. That’s all we can know or expect.” Alec frowned, casting a glance to Sheena for a moment. “I should confess, I also came for selfish reasons. I wanted to meet this stunning beauty.”
Sheena blushed, and tried to hide her face. She didn’t want Alec to get a bad impression of her, but the look in his eyes betrayed his vulnerability. There wasn’t a bad impression she could give. He moved next to her and took her hand, his palm rough but gentle on hers. He kissed it and admired the flush in her cheeks as she withdrew her hand tenderly.
Colin hacked again. “What kind of father would I be to deny the second family of Eilean Donan?”
“A father who cares. I donae want to coerce ye into making any decisions. If you or she decline my offer, you are still more than welcome to stay in the Laird's chambers until he returns. I hope that will be soon. I haven’t heard a single word from him — which I suppose is good enough. No body parts have shown up on our doorstep.”
“What was the Laird planning?” Sheena asked.
“He was hoping to make it to Castle Iverlochy to speak with the King to stop the MacDonald Clan from exacting any more vengeance. That was until... we learned some grim news from the last standing archer.”
“What news?”
“That they weren’t hired by the MacDonalds. They were hired by the Maxwells.”
Chapter 9: Elyn
1540 — August 29th
“I’m sorry.”
Elyn moved closer to Gavin, who readopted his position on the floor. “I’m sorry, Gavin,” Elyn repeated. “I didnae kn— .”
“Stop. You couldn’t have known. I didnae know.” Gavin pounded his fist against the hard stone, startling the guard for a brief second, who cleared his throat. “That scoundrel was behind this the whole time... I never liked that clan. Greedy, conniving...”
“What are you going to do?”
“What can I do?” He looked at her with regretful eyes. “There’s nothing to be done, but to wait for our death.”
“What if we... can escape?”
“I could...” Gavin thought about it, and Elyn watched his eyes light up with inspiration. “If I can make it back to the castle, I can warn Alec about the incoming battle. If we can prepare... No, I can’t. I’m not my father.”
“That’s the point, ain’t it? Why we have kids? So they can fix the mistakes we’ve made?”
Elyn scratched her chin, lost in thought. “What do you think the Laird meant when he said we found each other?”
“I haven’t the foggiest clue, runag.” Gavin squeezed and rubbed his shoulder, stretching it in a circle. “Probably just to, toy with our minds. Who know how much he said was true.”
“You donae believe him?”
“Nay, I believe most of what he said. Men donae get that much enjoyment out of lies. Not men like that. He’s got the king wrapped around his finger, so we can’t go to him and try to convince him... this is ridiculous, I donae even know why we’re discussing this if we can’t even get out anyway.”
“I think God will find a way,” Elyn whispered.
“Can’t say I have a lot of faith in God right now, but if you do, I might be able to muster something up.”
Elyn frowned and pushed Gavin. “You can’t be like this. What man of the people, man of his clan, and ruler of a castle can act like this? Since the very beginning you’ve been running from yourself, Gavin, runnin’ and moanin’ and throwing a fit. Aye, the world ain't fair and I’ll give ye that it seems like the world is after you, but you can’t keep going like this.”
She bristled with energy as she spoke, her chest heaving as she took in a gulp of air. “Gavin MacKenzie, Laird MacKenzie, it’s time to be a man, and act like one. How are you going to set this right? How are you going to fix what that awful excuse of a Scot just said to your face? He just spit on the grave and name of you
r father and kicked you while you’re down! How does a highlander deal with that!”
Gavin looked at Elyn with awe, his heart racing and cheeks flushed as she finished her speech. He slowly started to nod, and a laughter overtook him. “Elyn Douglas, you’re a fine lass indeed. A kick in the arse is just what I needed.”
Elyn eyed Gavin mischievously. “You're not too bad yourself, Gavin MacKenzie.” She paused then gestured to the guard, who was oblivious to their conversation. Silently, she stood up and moved to the front of the cell. Gavin watched with interest as she called the guard’s attention.
“What is it now?” the guard said. Elyn giggled and fingered for him to come closer. With a goofy grin, the guard drew himself closer to her, licking his lips and scratching himself. Elyn silently brought her hands to the bars and reached through them, touching the man’s cheek with her thumb. The guard chuckled and started to unbuckle his pants, sliding the leather with unrestrained speed.
Without warning, Elyn dug her thumbs into the man’s eyes, digging her finger nails into the back of his head and banging his skull against the iron bars. As he bellowed in pain, she thrashed him against the bars until he went silent, his body growing limp in her hands and blood running down her wrists. She dropped him to the floor and crouched down, rummaging through his pockets until she found the key to their cell door.
She glanced over her shoulder at Gavin as she fished the key from the guard’s pockets, and he had a look of confused horror on his face. He broke into a broad smile as she unlatched the door and freed them from their fate.
“Let’s get going, Mi Laird.”
They pried open the dungeon door. Outside in the hall, Gavin peered around to see if he could spot anyone. When the coast was clear, they darted down the hall and hid inside one of the closest rooms, latching the door behind them just as voices started outside.
“We won’t have much time. As soon as they find the body, we’ll be done fer,” Elyn said. “We need our horses.”
“Aye. No doubt they kept them locked up, it’d be a waste to kill the animals for nothing’” Gavin said. They waited until the footsteps grew silent outside the door and peeked out. Recalling the direction they came, they silently and quickly raced down the hall.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, their last obstacle were a pair of guards that had greeted them and barred the entrance to the castle proper. Once they reached the other side, they could grab their horses and run, but it wouldn’t do any good if they were pursued immediately.
Elyn had an idea. She threw her cloak over Gavin’s head and tied it under his chin, partially obscuring his heritage and face. She adopted a limp and took the quickly drying blood from her arms and smeared her face. She slung her arm under Gavin’s and began to walk forward, tugging at him. “Follow along,” she whispered in his ear.
She wailed as they passed between the guards, crying and moaning. They were taken aback, and asked what had happened to the lady.
“She’s injured! I have to get her back to her home, her parents are worried about her,” Gavin said, adopting a lowlander accent. The guards nodded, fearful of touching the woman and her bloody face. She wailed and cried louder as they limped past the guards, moving out of view around the corner and under an arch. Elyn laughed silently as she dropped back down to both feet and wiped the blood from her face.
On the way out, they stopped in the market and nabbed a handful of food for the road. Neither of them wanted to have to waste any time stopping to catch fish on the way back. They needed to get there as soon as possible if Gavin hoped to warn his people of the impending armies. Elyn's mind wandered at the thought of what would happen if they were too late to stop Eilean Donan Castle from perishing.
What would they do? Be captured by either clan? Killed on sight on orders from the king? As long as Laird Maxwell sat in the shadows behind King James, no one would be able to talk any sense into him. He had him tied up on strings. What of Elyn's parents? Were they dead? Elyn pushed her grim thoughts away, trying to focus on their small victory of escaping. Not only escaping, but getting food.
With an armful of bread and some vegetables on hand, they made their way to the stables and found them unwatched by guards. Elyn and Gavin snuck through the entrance and quickly scanned the stalls, finding Elspet and Rhys next to each other, full troughs of water and food.
Within a couple of minutes, they had their horses ready to go, and they dashed from Castle Iverlochy. The heavy pounding of hooves against hard earth was familiar, and the smell of the mist on the highlands tasted of freedom. Elyn was never so happy to be back outside again.
The sun glowed a mean orange as they blitzed down the trail, heading straight southwest back to Eilean Donan Castle. As Elyn reared up behind Gavin, she wondered again what the Maxwell Laird meant by the two of them meeting each other. Was it destiny that she met him after all?
Chapter 10: Gavin
1540 — August 29th
He felt different. Something had changed in him, a power had reasserted its dominance. Even when Elyn reminded him of what a nightmare he was heading back into, he felt no fear at all.
She chuckled, stealing Gavin’s attention as he rode ahead of her. He cocked his head over his shoulder. “What are you laughin’ about back there?”
“Nothin’ mi Laird, just something silly.”
“Out with it then, I could use some humor in my life right now, considering...”
“It was just a fleetin’ thought, it’s gone with the wind now.” She sighed with an exaggerated flair, trying to demonstrate that she had forgotten.
“How long will it take to get back?” Elyn asked, catching her breath. When Gavin looked to her, it was evident his mind was distracted, lost.
“Two days, I think.” He scratched his chin, the scruffiness of his beard coming in. “We donae have to travel only at night, we can travel durin’ the day too.”
She nodded agreeably, and they brought their horses back in a line. Gavin’s eyes still traveled to her hips as she swayed back on forth on Rhys’ back. He felt like a carefree man again, chasing the women in the castle, but this time he felt different.
They rode out, choosing speed over secrecy. Gavin didn’t think it was prudent anymore to avoid the roads, since they were faster. If they maintained their pace, no one would be able to catch them anyway. He didn’t expect the King’s guard to find them missing from their cell until later that night, so he was assured that they would have at least a day’s ride ahead of any pursers.
“What are we going to do when we get back? What if Maxwell was right and the MacDonalds have already marched on the castle?”
“That’s a risk we have to take, I’m afraid. We donae have a choice, really. I need more men anyway, I can’t do anything alone.”
“Bullshite. Ye done plenty alone so far, Gavin MacKenzie.” Elyn said.
He stared at her, his voice caught in his throat. She continued, “You’ve saved my life enough times that I barely can keep count anymore, and you left your people to save them, not abandon them.”
Gavin regained his composure. “I could have done more though, I should have done more.”
“You were...” Elyn shook her head, forming the words that seemed difficult to say. “The only one who could do it. You had go, no one else would have worked.”
“If I was alone, I’m sure I wouldn’t have gotten free from that cell so easily.”
Elyn shook her head, her red-curls looping around her neck and resting against her nape. “I’m just repaying you, now I donae owe you nothing.”
He was silent, lost in thought. He tried to decide what to say, what he could do now. Elyn was right, but he knew he owed his life to her, despite what she said. If things went well, she just might get it after all. He smirked.
“What are you smilin’ about?”
He waved his hand, looking away from her. “Nothing, lass, just your fiery temper is all.”
“I havenae got a temper. I’m just t
ellin’ the facts. Straight as they are.”
“Aye, of course, runag.” She blushed as the word left his lips.
“What if they haven’t marched?”
A dragonfly flew close to the horses, its wings loud and disconcerting. It buzzed in a myriad of directions then disappeared in the distance. Over the horizon, Gavin saw dark clouds forming, their twisted shapes transforming shadows on the highlands into a dark version of the greenery.
“The MacDonalds?”
“Aye. What if they haven’t?” Elyn said.
“Perhaps there'll be time enough to stop them, save them from the Maxwells.”
Gavin brought Elspet up along Rhys and felt Elyn’s moving leg touch his. He was tickled by the sensation, and he felt a flutter in his heart while his mind begged him to stop, that it was improper to be touching a woman so freely. He glanced up at her and saw her face flush, even though she didn’t meet his eyes. They rode along like that for the next several miles, heading up and over hills and ridges alike.
The castle shrunk behind them in the distance. When the sun lowered over the horizon and the glare became too much, they pulled their horses off the road and wandered near a loch, where they could rest using the overgrowth to hide themselves. If the King’s men did pursue them, they wouldn’t spot them sheltered under the thick brush that grew wildly near the loch.
Chapter 11: Elyn
1540 — August 29th
Elyn watched with amusement as Gavin led the horses down to their kneeling positions, even though she had promised to get the food ready. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him, and found her guard lowering more and more every moment they were together.
She was curious if he thought the same thing, if he felt the same way. Would he ever admit it? Would it be proper for a highlander to go around having affairs with women that were below his status? At this point, did he even have a rank above her? If they made it back to the castle and found it destroyed, she thought they might be able to go make their own clan, gather like-minded stray scots out in the moors and highlands, band together and fight back against the creeping toxicity whose symptom was disloyalty.
