Ian (19 page)

Chapter 21

Kyla watched from atop the hill while hiding in the tower ruins with Kyle at her side. She stayed hidden as Ian had instructed, wanting more than anything to rush out and help him, but she knew it would only distract him like he said. She was crouched down behind a standing stone and holding the hound so he wouldn’t run to Ian. The hound growled lowly, and she tried to calm it.

“Shhhh
, Kyle. We have te do as Ian told us. We need te stay hidden.”

Then she saw
what she thought was Dunmor riding up and hitting Ian on the head. Through the fog it looked as if he fell, and she feared he was dead until she heard the soldiers talking to him and saying they were taking him to the dungeon.

She was relieved that they hadn’t killed Ian,
but not happy to hear that they were out looking for her. Now she knew it was up to her to get back to the MacKeefe camp and let them know what had happened. She had to find help if she was going to save Ian.

She was about to set out on foot when she heard that odd wailing noise again that she
’d heard from her tower room. But this time it was much louder, and sounded like more than one voice. It almost sounded like . . . crying.

“What is thet?” she said to the hound. “Come on, Kyle, help me find where this noise
is comin’ from. It sounds as if someone is cryin’ and needs our help.”

The wolfhound led the way, and Kyla climbed over rocks and ruins, and s
topped as the hound started scratching with his paw at a part of the wall that butted up to a large hill. He whimpered anxiously. She had the feeling someone was watching her just then and turned quickly to see a raven perched in a branch of a tree. It gave a guttural cry and took off into the air.

She turned back and
noticed something on the wall, and when she moved a vine aside, she saw there was a hidden door. She quickly took hold of the latch and pulled at it, but it was locked. She knew there was someone in there that needed her help and she had to find a way in.

“I need te get in and help them,” she said aloud.

“Then try using the key.”

She jumped, startled
, and turned to see a woman in a black cloak standing behind her. The fog was still thick and swirled around the woman’s ankles as she walked forward, humming that odd tune Kyla had heard in these ruins before as well as in the field of heather in Glasgow. When the woman stopped and looked up at her from under her hood, Kyla gasped. She was not only gaunt and bruised, but had an x on one of her cheeks. That was the same symbol she’d seen on the dead man they’d encountered. As well as the same symbol Tearlach had on his face.

“Who are ye?” she asked, feeling oddly calm by the woman’s humming rather than scared. And the hound didn’t growl at her once.

“A friend,” said the woman, smiling slightly.

“I dinna ken who ye are, but if ye
are truly a friend then ye willna tell anyone thet I’m here.”

“Look under thet rock
, lass, and ye will find a key,” said the woman, pointing a long finger to a rock near Kyla’s feet. Kyla looked downward, then back to the woman, but to her surprise, she had disappeared.

She bent down and felt under the rock, and sure enough, she found a key.
She put the key into the lock and turned it slowly. She heard the latch release, and turned the handle and opened the secret door.

She could see
a narrow corridor leading into the hill and down into the ground. And she could hear crying. Lots of crying and wailing, and though she was frightened out of her mind, she still took a step forward, knowing someone needed her help. The door swung closed behind her, trapping her inside and the hound outside. She could hear the dog barking as she pounded on the door, desperately trying to get it to open, but it would not budge. And unfortunately, she had left the key still in the lock on the other side of the door.

“Who are ye?” she heard a woman’s voice from behind her, and turned to
see a woman not much older than her, holding a lit candle.

“I’m Kyla. Who are ye?” she asked.

“Me name is Wynda. Are ye a friend o’ Tearlach’s?” the woman asked.

“
Nay. Are ye?”

The woman laughed. “If I were, we wouldna be locked away in here.
”

“Why are ye in here?” asked Kyla, looking around in the dark, now realizing they were actually standing in a small room. The ceiling was low, nearly scraping her head and made from dirt of the hill
, held up by wooden beams. There were vines and roots sticking through the walls and ceiling, and it was so dense in there that everything sounded different. The flame of the candle the girl held flickered slightly, telling Kyla that there must have been a way for air to get into this underground room.

“I’m here as a prisoner more or less
te take care o’ the others. Me husband is Dunmor.”

“Dunmor put ye in here?” she asked.

“Nay. He disna ken where I am, as Tearlach has kept it from him in order to control him. He kens he willna go against him if me life is at stake. And Dunmor can control the rest o’ the men o’ the clan who dinna want te follow Tearlach.”

“I canna
even believe this,” said Kyla. “How long have ye been down here?”

“I dinna ken fer sure, but I’d say aboot six months
at least, from the size o’ Liostaith’s belly.”

“What does thet mean?” asked Kyl
a.

“I’ll show ye
,” the woman said, and motioned with her hand for someone to come forward. Out of the shadows came four women and a child, all of them standing barefoot with dirtied and torn clothes, looking up to her with wide eyes. One of the women had her hand on her stomach and Kyla could see she was very pregnant.

“Did ye come te save us?” This questi
on came from the little girl who looked to be about four years old.

“Or are ye here as another of his wives te bear him children?” asked a girl that looked to be a little older than her and holding a baby.

“Another o’ his wives?” asked Kyla. “What do ye mean?”

“We’ve all
been married te the bastard as part o’ an alliance between the clans,” said the young woman, nodding at another girl next to her that looked to be pregnant as well.

“Aye,” Liostaith
said. “Tearlach pretends te make alliances with other clans by marryin’ us but he has no intention o’ keepin’ the alliance. Instead he plans on attackin’ all our clans and eventually takin’ them over.”

“Aye,” added Wynda. “He is targeting the smaller clans first,
becooz they are easy prey.”

“Like the MacKeefes,” said Kyla with a nod of her head. “So
he’s gotten ye pregnant in order te have heirs and gain trust from the other clans so they invite him in with open arms?”

“No’ exactly,” said the woman named Wynda. “He sends in his henchman, Eigg te couple
with them as Tearlach canna sire a child. He’s been unable te – perform – e’er since he was brought back from the grave.”

Kyla thought of how she’d touched
the man’s tartan at his groin and there was little beneath it. And now she understood exactly what he planned on doing to her as well.”

“Well, what happens when yer clans come te visit ye?” asked Kyla.

“If they do show up,” said Liostaith, “Tearlach gives us a love potion te drink and they are fooled inte believin’ we really care fer thet bastard and are happy.”

“I ken what ye mean,” said Kyla, having experienced the exact same thing herself.
“I’m betrothed te marry him as well,” she told them, feeling sick to her stomach. “I was tryin’ te escape back te me clan when I stumbled in here.”

“Can ye bring me da te us?” asked a little girl running up and clinging to Wynda’s skirt. Kyla’s heart went out to the child
who she realized was Dunmor’s daughter. Her heart went out to all of the women there who had been mistreated and used as part of a devious plan. She couldn’t say no now, nor would she even consider it. She would help these women and children escape if it was the last thing she ever did.

“Ye poor things,” she said, reaching out and running her hand over the head of
the little girl.

“Nay, we are the lucky
ones,” said Wynda. “Most o’ the MacTavishes were killed the day Tearlach emerged from his grave. They tried te leave becooz they kent he was evil after he burned thet poor lassie in the fire. It took Tearlach years te recover, but Eigg stepped forward and claimed chieftain in the meantime. He, along with some o’ his nasty friends, would no’ let anyone walk away.”

“But I dinna understand,” said Kyla. “If most o’
yer clan was killed, then who are all the other soldiers?”

“Those are the
rebellious MacGillivrays who have left their own clan,” said Wynda. “They are now MacTavishes.”

“MacGillivray? Ye m
ust be mistaken. The reason I was sent here was te marry inte the MacTavish clan te form an alliance with the MacKeefes in order fer them te fight off the MacGillivrays.”

“Thet’s what we though
t too,” said the young woman holding the baby. “That’s what they want ye te think. They are tryin’ te put the blame on a clan who really hasn’t done it.”

“W
hy hasna anyone saved ye by now?” she asked.

“Becooz n
o one kens we’re here,” said Wynda. “Most people are superstitious and dinna come anywhere near these ruins thet are said te be cursed. Only Tearlach and Eigg ken we’re here and Eigg is the only one who brings us food and ale. Tearlach keeps the rest o’ the men away from here. The door is always locked, so how did ye even get in?”

“A
woman in a black cloak helped me. She told me where to find the key.”

“Sounds like the witch
,” said the little girl.

“What witch?” asked Kyla.

“The one thet watches o’er these ruins,” said Wynda. “Or at least thet’s how the story goes.”

“Well, I di
nna believe in witches,” said Kyla. “No’ really. And witch or no witch we need te think o’ a way te escape.” She went up and pounded on the door and heard Kyle barking from the other side.

“Kyle,” she shouted. “Go get help.”

“Is someone out there?” Wynda asked anxiously.

“Jest a hound,” said Kyla.

“And he can understand yer orders?”

Kyla thought about that. While the hound seemed to always understand what Ian was telling it, she wasn’t sure it would really understand what she wanted it to do. She had to think of a way that it would understand they needed it to go back to get the MacKeefes. With Ian in the dungeon and her trapped in here, the hound was their only chance.

“He may no’ understand,” said Kyla sadly, then thought of something the hound did understand. He knew the names of Onyx and Aidan’s pets as they were always yelling at him to stop chasing them. “Go get Reid. And Tawpie,” she called out loudly. The dog was silent for a moment and then barked again. “Go on, Kyle. “Go get them. Go find the wildcat and the squirrel.”

Something about the word squirrel had the hound barking anxiously now. And then she heard it rushing away and all was silent.

Kyla knew she had to get back to Ian and tell him everything she’d learned. And she knew it was so important now that they all escape Tearlach’s plans and that they bring back help for those MacTavishes that didn’t want to follow that evil man.

Wynda tr
ied the latch on the door but could see what Kyla said was true. Kyla was a prisoner in there along with them now.

“Well,
how do ye plan on gettin’ us out o’ here afore its too late?” Wynda asked.

How indeed, thought Kyla. She knew Ian would be furious when he found out she hadn’t gone back to the MacKeefes as he’d instructed. But she coul
dn’t just leave these poor women and children prisoners. Nay. And she couldn’t leave Ian behind to be killed either. She would find a way to save them all, if it was the last thing she ever did.

Chapter 22

Ian woke up with the headache from hell, and lying on the floor of the dungeon. A chill seeped up into his bones from the stone floor beneath him, and he pushed up to realize that they had beaten him and taken his weapons. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been there, as after they’d beaten him most the day and he wouldn’t tell them where to find Kyla, he’d actually passed out from blood loss and overexertion.

The cowards
had hit him while holding his arms and legs, while he couldn’t defend himself. The thought angered him, but then he found himself thinking that it was no different then what he’d done to Tearlach in a way when he’d tried to kill him. That thought sickened him even more to think that at one time he had become just like them.

His hand went to his head and
he realized he was still bleeding. He only hoped Kyla had escaped and was heading for MacKeefe territory right now. And he hoped Tearlach and his men hadn’t found her. He knew his hound would protect her if they got into trouble, but he wasn’t sure she’d make it back to camp in time to warn them before Tearlach sent his men to raid the MacKeefes.