The Key (18 page)

Iliana watched Janna work at weeding the garden. The other woman seemed to alternate
between viciously ripping the weeds from the ground and pulling them out almost absently
as her gaze gained a faraway look. It seemed to her that the young woman and most of the
women of the keep were suffering the same lack of concentration and worry that she herself
was. It was the men's fault, of course. It had been one day sinceDuncanand his men,
including Janna's husband, Sean, had marched off after Seonaid.

Sighing, Iliana moved along the path toward Janna, her thoughts turning to her mother.
Lady Wildwood seemed to be the only person withinDunbarwho was unaffected by moodiness.
She, Ebba, and Gertie had spent the remainder of the day after the men had left performing
some mysterious task in one of the newly built rooms. Whatever it was, they had finished
shortly ere sup the eve before. Today, Lady Wildwood had split her time between trying to
reassure Iliana thatDuncanwould be all right and telling Angus that his son would bring
his daughter back well and unharmed.

Iliana was growing so sick of hearing her good-intentioned platitudes that she had
abandoned Angus to the woman and spent as much time away from the two people as possible.

“Me lady!” Janna straightened to sit back on her haunches when her mistress blocked out
the sunlight with her body, making her aware of her presence. “I did not hear you
approach.”

“You seemed lost in thought.”

“Aye.” The other woman sighed, her gaze moving absently to the wall around the garden, as
if she could see beyond it. “Think you they will be a'right?”

“Of course,” Iliana murmured, hoping her own worry was not obvious. “You do not have to do
this today. Why not leave it for now?”

Janna shook her head sadly. “ 'Twould just give me more time to fret.”

Understanding, Iliana nodded. “Well, I just thought to have a peek at the garden to see
how it fares before joining Lord Angus and my mother to survey the wall.”

“The wall?”

“Aye. Mother asked Lord Angus to show us the improvementsDuncanhas made. I believe 'tis
another attempt of hers to distract us from worrying.”

Janna grinned slightly. “I am sure she means well.”

“Aye.” Iliana smiled wryly. “ Tis the only reason I agreed to accompany them. Stop when
you wish, Janna. It seems to be faring well enough on its own.”

Nodding, the other woman went back to her work and Iliana turned away, moving slowly along
the rows of growing plants, back toward the kitchen.

***

“ Tis a fine sturdy wall. You must be proud of your son.”

Angus's expression softened at Lady Wildwood's words. “Aye.Duncanis a good lad. A bit too
stubborn for his own good at times and quick to anger, but he has a sharp mind and a good
heart.”

“My daughter was fortunate to” She paused, frowning as she realized her companion was no
longer listening. He had stiffened quite suddenly, his eyes narrowing on the trees beyond
the wall. “What is it?” she asked, anxiety rippling down her back.

Angus was silent for a moment, then gave a slight shake of his head. “I thought I saw”
Cursing, he turned abruptly toward the gate. “Close the gate! Lift the bridge!” he roared.

“Now! Now! Now!”

Lady Wildwood started to peer toward the gate, then whirled back toward the man at his
gasp. Reaching out instinctively, she caught him as he stumbled forward, taking a great
deal of his weight and crying out as she saw the arrow protruding from his back. A second
arrow whizzed past them then, and she instantly dropped to her knees, taking Angus with
her.

“Mother!” Iliana rushed forward at a crouch. She had just stepped onto the battlement when
Angus had yelled for the bridge to be raised. His order had surprised and confused her
until the man fell beneath an arrow a moment later. A glance over the wall had explained
all. Mounted men were charging from the trees, archers following more slowly. The castle
was under attack. One glimpse of the tabards of the men on horseback had been enough to
tell her that their attackers were English.

For a second, Iliana was paralyzed with fear as she saw that the drawbridge was still in
place. Then it slowly began to lift. Still, she feared that at least the first two of the
horsemen charging toward it might manage to leap atop the rising bridge, but they were a
cautious pair. Instead they slowed and drew in their mounts, watching it rise unhampered.
Greenweld, Iliana saw with dismay.

Turning away grimly, she hurried along the wall at a crouch.

Reaching the spot where her mother now knelt worriedly over a prone Angus, she took in his
injury and pale face at a glance. There was little blood just yet, but his pain was
obvious. Sweat had already formed a film across his brow. His expression as he lay on his
side on the stone surface was a grimace of agony.

A glance down into the bailey showed mass chaos reigned there. The cry of attack had rung
out even as

Angus had fallen beneath the arrow, and now the people, normally so stem and stoic, were
rushing willy-nilly, looking for loved ones and children to be sure none had been caught
outside of the walls. The noise was thunderous. No one would hear her call for help to
move Angus. They were on their own.

Feeling a hand grab her own, Iliana glanced back at Angus to find his eyes open, if a bit
glazed. “Can you move under your own power?”

He nodded grimly. “I'm a'right. 'Tis just a scratch.”

Iliana's mouth tightened at that. He sounded weak and breathless, and she knew that his
claim was just male pride speaking. She peered back the way she had come, then ducked
instinctively lower as another rain of arrows flew overhead. There was no question but
that they had to get him off the wall and tend to his injury. She would have preferred
dealing with it there on the spot, but arrows were still flying overhead and it was
possible another one might find a target.

“We cannot walk.” Iliana glanced back at her mother's worried words. “I can so,” Angus
snapped, shifting as if to rise.

Iliana stopped him with a hand to his shoulder. “She saidwe cannot walk, notyou , ” she
explained quietly. “And she is right. We riskanother arrow do we try. Even bent over, you
are too tall to keep beneath the safety of the wall.”

“What do we do?”

Iliana hesitated for a moment, then began to remove the plaid she wore over her undertunic.

“What are you doing?” her mother asked with dismay.

“We shall use this to drag him to the steps.”

“I can walk, I tell ye,” Angus muttered faintly as she laid out her plaid flat on the
stone parapet beside him, then shifted out of the way. “Think you you can roll onto your
stomach on the plaid?”

“I'll not be carried off the wall like”

“Stop being a stubborn old fool and roll onto the plaid. If my daughter is willing to run
about half-naked in front of everyone, the least you can do is cooperate.”

Angus flushed at Lady Wildwood's reprimand but did as instructed, though not without
grumbling about what the world was coming to when women thought they could order their
laird about. Ignoring him, Iliana and her mother moved to crouch at the top of the plaid.
Each of them taking a corner, they straightened until they stood half-upright bent at the
waist; then they began to move forward, tugging the plaid behind as they went.

Angus grumbled all the way to the stairs leading down to the bailey. Once there, he
insisted on moving under his own steam, and actually managed to do so with a bit of
assistance. With one arm across Iliana's shoulders and one over her mother's, they managed
to walk him sideways down the stairs, then half-walk, half-cany him to the steps of the
keep, but that was as far as they got him.

Iliana and her mother wanted to take him inside to tend to his wound, but Angus would not
hear of it. Not while his home was under attack. Giving in to his stubbornness, they sat
him on the bottom step of the keep, so that he could shout orders at the few men who had
been left behind while she and her mother worked on his injury.

The arrow had entered his right shoulder from the back, directly beneath his collar bone,
and made it three quarters of the way through his body before stopping. Knowing what they
would have to do, the two women exchanged a gŸm glance.

“Shall I fetch one of the men?” her mother asked.

Iliana peered hopefully around as Angus bellowed toward a passing man, asking where
Allistair was. The response was most disheartening. He had ridden out an hour before the
attack. Iliana felt her heart sink as the man rushed toward the stairs, bow in hand,
obviously heading to the wall to return some of the arrows that had been sent over the
wall.

The situation looked grim. There were very few men left behind to defend the keep, and
most had been left because they were either too old or too young to be of much use in
battle. Every single one of them was taken up with fending off their attackers at the
moment, which left the women alone to deal with their laird's wound.

“My lady!” Ebba rushed down the stairs,Elginand Janna on her heels. “Thank God you are all
right. I was in the kitchen when Janna ran in shouting that we were under attack, and then
whenElginsaid that ye, yer mother, and Lord Angus were up on the wall I thought sure Oh!”
The last word was a gasp as she saw the arrow.

Pausing, she glanced over the two women once more to make sure that they, too, had not
been injured, then whirled away, nearly running overElginand Janna as she charged back up
the steps. “I shall fetch some linen to wrap the wound,” she cried breathlessly before
disappearing back inside the keep.

“Ye'll need fresh water,”Elgindecided, whirling to follow.

“What would you have me do?” Janna asked anxiously.

“Fetch Gertie. Have her bring her medicinals. Especially her sleeping potion.”

Nodding, the woman hurried to do her bidding, and Iliana glanced toward her father-in-law,
slightly surprised to find him eyeing her suspiciously.

“What would ye be wantin' a sleeping potion fer?” “I thought to give it to you ere
removing the arrow.” “The hell ye will!”

“But we needs must push the arrow through the front to take it out.”

“I've been a warrior fer longer than ye've been alive, lass. I ken what ye have to do, but
ye'll do it with me awake. We are under attack. Me men need me.”

Iliana glared at him briefly, then heaved a sigh and gestured for her mother to take
position in front of the man to help brace him, even as she moved behind. Grasping the
arrow carefully in her sweaty hands, she paused and glanced at his paleface. “Ready?”

Angus braced his hands on his knees and started to nod, then shook his head. “I need
someuisgebeatha . first.”

“I shall fetch it.” Lady Wildwood rushed after the servants.

Angus immediately turned his attention to barking orders at this person and that as they
flew by. Iliana envied him his ability to turn his mind from what was coming. She herself
felt positively ill at the prospect of what she must do. Moments later, her mother came
flying back down the stairs, Ebba, Gertie, Giorsal, Janna, and Elgin on her heels.

Stopping in front of Angus, Lady Wildwood started to hand him the pitcher she had returned
with, then paused to down some of the fiery liquid herself. The laird half-smiled and
half-grimaced with pain as she began to splutter and cough.

Iliana noticed all of this rather distractedly. Most of her attention was on Gertie as the
servant exarmned the arrow protruding from theDunbar's back.

“He'll bleed,” old woman announced. “Bleed?” Iliana asked warily. “Once the arrow is out
of the way, he'll bleed.”

Lady Wildwood had been about to hand the pitcher to Angus again, but paused at those words
to gulp some more of the liquid. Giorsal and Ebba began shedding the linen they had both
brought into long narrow strips.

“Do you have anything to slow the bleeding?” Iliana asked, slapping her mother's back when
she began hacking again as the whiskey burnt its way down her throat.

Gertie pursed her lips. “Pressure.” “Pressure?” She nodded. “Hold the blood in.” Lady
Wildwood groaned and tipped the pitcher to her lips again.

“Mother!” Iliana bit out impatiently, noting the wistful way Angus was watching her mother
devour his liquor.

“Sorry, dear,” she gasped, a chagrined look on her face as she handed the half-empty
pitcher to Angus.

Grunting, he lifted the pitcher to his lips, downing a goodly portion in one chug before
straightening and bracing his arms on his legs. “Do ”it"

Wishing she could have a swig of the liquid herself, Iliana gestured to her mother
andElgin. Both moved to press their hands to his shoulders to help hold him in place.

Assured that all was ready, she took a deep breath, brushed her suddenly damp hands down
the skirt of her tunic, then grasped the arrow. Silently counting to three, she took
another breath, then began to push with all her might, nearly groaning aloud when Angus
stiffened and began to bellow.

His roar of pain ended when she stopped pressing on the arrow. One glance at her mother's
tear-streaked face told her that she had not succeeded. While the tip of the arrow had
pushed deeper, it had not yet pierced the other side. Eyes blurring with her own tears,
Iliana readjusted her stance and immediately began to push again, this time putting all
her weight behind it.

Angus cried out as the arrow finally tore through and out, his shout ending on a string of
curses that were muttered in a much fainter voice.

Stepping to the side, Iliana grasped the arrow where it still protruded from his back.
Hands shaking with the effort and eyes blurring with her own tears, she tried to snap it
in two. It took three tries for her to break the stem of the arrow. Iliana was sobbing by
then with each groan from her father-in-law as the shaft shifted in his body. When it
finally broke in two, she dropped the end with the flights on it, then stepped around to
stand before him, pausing there to brush her hand across her eyes so that she could see.

“Whist, lass, I'm the one who should be crying,” Angus chided gently.

Iliana glanced at his face then, frightened by the gray tinge to it and amazed when he
managed to offer her a weak grin.

“Go ahead, finish it,” he whispered. Straightening her shoulders, she grasped the
arrowhead and pulled it out with one clean jerk, then stepped quickly out of the way as
Geitie andElginapplied cloths and pressure to the wound.

Iliana watched dully as the others worked over him, applying pressure, then the salves;
one to clean the wound, and one to encourage healing. Then Geitie quickly stitched and
bandaged him front and back.

Once it was finished, the others stepped back to eye him worriedly. Despite Gertie's quick
work, he had lost a good deal of bood. Even his lips seemed gray now.

“Are ye done?” he asked, grimacing. Geitie nodded solemnly.

“Good. Then I'd best see to our visitors.” He pushed himself off the steps then, swaying
but managing to gain his feet, much to the amazement of the people surrounding him. He
even managed a shaky step forward. Then he collapsed like a tree under the ax.

Crying out, Iliana and the others hurried to catch him as he pitched forward, then gently
eased his unconscious form to the ground.

“Laird!” Willie, the stablemaster's son, came to a shuddering halt before them, eyes wide
in horror as he saw that the man would be of little assistance.

“What is it?” Iliana asked impatiently.

The boy hesitated, then seemed to decide there was little harm in telling her. "My father
sent me to tell the laird that the English are erecting a causeway. Once 'tis done, they
will no doubt either ram the bridge or set it afire.

Iliana frowned and glanced toward her unconscious father-in-law.

“Go,” her mother murmured. “See what you can do. You are in charge now.”

Iliana stiffened in dismay, for her mother was right. With Angus out of action and her
husband away, she was in charge. Even Allistair was not there to relieve her of the
burden. 'Twas a frightening realization, made more so by the anxious expressions on the
faces of those around her.

Realizing she had no choice, Iliana gathered her courage. “Where is your father?” she
asked at last.

“On the wall.”

“Go,” her mother repeated when Iliana glanced toward her uncertainly. “We shall see Angus
to his room.”

Nodding unhappily, Iliana turned to walk toward the stairs she and her mother had helped
Angus down not more than half an hour earlier. Aware that Willie was lagging behind, she
glanced back at him sternly. “Pick up your feet, lad,” she ordered with as much authority
as she could muster. “ Tis not a Sunday picnic we are heading to.”

The boy's eyebrows rose at that and he did speed up to walk beside her. He even managed to
look a little less positive that they were doomed.

One glance down the wall when she reached the stablemaster's side told Iliana that this
was not a problem that could wait for her father-in-law to regain consciousness.

Greenweld was below. She recognized him in his armor. He was mounted and shouting orders
at the men building the causeway across the moat.

“If they finish that, they'll be within the walls in no time,” the stablemaster announced
as she straightened. “They'll set fire to the bridge and gate.”

“Aye.” Iliana racked her brain for a solution.

“Our arrows are no good with that barricade over their heads,” he informed her helpfully.

“I realize that.” Iliana sighed, then glanced toward the mound of boulders in the inner
bailey. The men had just managed to finish the wall ere leaving on the expedition to
rescue Seonaid. That was a blessing. They would have been in quite a spot had they not.
Still, there was stone left.

Iliana remained silent for a moment, her mind working over the problem that had been
presented to her. Her gaze slid to the rocks again. Most of them were too large for the
idea forming in her mind, but the

smaller ones would do quite nicely.

“Collect as many men as you think you will need and fetch that rock up here.”

“Rock?” He peered where she pointed dubiously.

“The smaller one on the edge of the pile,” she explained.

“I don't think”

“Do it.”

“But 'twill take at least six men to get it up here.”

“Then take six men,” she responded promptly. “And send four more to the kitchens with two
long posts to fetch Elgin's vat of stew up here as well.”

“The cook'sstew ?” He goggled at her. “You heard me.” “Aye, but That will leave only two
men up here to keep shooting arrows at”

“There is nothing to shoot at, sir,” she pointed out dryly. “As you have said, they cannot
shoot through the barricade, and the others are out of range. Now, stop questioning me and
do as I have ordered. I have a plan.”

Rabbie opened his mouth to argue further with her, caught a glimpse of her stubborn
expression, and thought better of it. Closing his mouth on a sigh of resignation, he
turned and moved away, shaking his head.

Iliana watched him go, then peered down on the Englishmen again, watching them work until
she heard a series of muttered curses coming from the steps.

“Be careful! Ye'll spill the Damn ye fool men!”

Iliana whirled toward the stairs at those harassed words from Elgin, who had apparently
accompanied the product of his labors.

“Me lady!” Elgin's florid face came into view as he mounted the last of the steps.
Wringing the hem of his apron in his hands, he hurried toward her. “These buffoons came
charging into the kitchens, slid those damn posts under the handle of my vat, and started
to leave with it. When I asked what they were about, they claimed ye wanted it up here. I
told them they must be mistaken”

“They told you true,” Iliana soothed, patting his shoulder gently. Stepping past him, she
instructed the four men to set the vat of steaming liquid down as close to the wall as
possible to make as much room as they could for the six men huffing and puffing along
behind them, carrying the boulder she had requested.

“Where do ye want it?” the stablemaster gasped breathlessly as soon as he and the other
men had maneuvered gingerly past the stearmng vat.

“Set it on the wall, directly in the center,” Iliana instructed, then turned to the four
men still standing by the vat. “I would like that on the wall right next to it.”

That they followed her instructions at once was good, but the exchanged looks made her
grimace. She was not a stupid woman, nor was she mad, and the fact that they had not yet
caught onto her plan was rather irritating.

“Me lady?” Elgin was glancing from her to the vat that was teetering dangerously on the
edge of the wall, looking nearly ready to burst into tears. Iliana smiled at him gently
and patted his shoulder once more.

“Do not fret, Elgin. All will be well.”

“But me stew...”

Iliana's mouth thinned out into a straight line. “We have guests at the door. Would you
turn them away without at least offering them some sustenance?”

His eyes widened in horror at that, but the other men suddenly began to grin as they
understood her intentions. Iliana turned toward Rabbie.