“She is only a child,” Cristiana warned, wondering if the man possessed a soul to touch such a helpless creature. “There are more lucrative hostages—”
“There’s only one that will do for my lord.” The man kept Leah pressed tightly to his side, his splayed palm the size of her small back. “As the first heir to Culcanon, she will help us claim what is rightfully his.”
They knew. Somehow, Donegal and his men had learned of Leah’s existence. The truth she’d kept hidden so carefully was a secret no more.
“Donegal will skewer you if you harm this child.” Edwina’s threat sounded vicious despite the tearful gasp that escaped at the end of it.
“That is why I hope you will be smart enough to stand back and let me take her.” The brigard brandished the blade toward them, making them jump back a step.
Leah yelped, a small, helpless sound that tugged at Cristiana’s heart. Then, quicker than a blink, the invader disappeared down another passage—a corridor Cristiana did not recognize.
“Do not worry, Leah,” Cristiana called out blindly,
counting on the echoing stone to carry the message to her daughter. “Your papa will come for you.”
And he would. While Edwina alerted the maids and other children still in the chamber behind them, Cristiana hastened down the stairwell to find Duncan. He would save Leah.
Hadn’t he risked his life before to save her? He would do so again. This much she knew. In fact, as she ran past the timber reinforcements and doorways toward the main keep, Cristiana was overwhelmed by her own certainty, a faith in Duncan in at least this much.
And wasn’t that what mattered most? That he kept her daughter safe? Of all the times to realize nothing else mattered…
But if she thought about it, she would have to admit that every way he’d deceived her had been his way of keeping her safe—and later, Leah, as well. He’d warned Cristiana that a takeover could be bloody, and that his manipulation had been better because no lives had been lost. But she could not see past her pride to the truth of that until someone invaded her home and dragged her child from her bed to help a scum-sucking wretch in his grasp for power.
She’d been a fool to question Duncan’s bid for Domhnaill, when he had harmed no one. When she had let years lapse without urging her father to find a replacement to rule.
She only hoped it wasn’t too late to tell him she
had been blind. Prideful and stubborn. But first, she had to let him know that Leah was in terrible, terrible danger.
D
uncan was halfway to his horse when he stopped himself.
And thought.
He’d planned to leave Culcanon’s walls to engage this brigand army of rebels that plagued his people—to call out his rogue brother and meet him with his sword. But with the still, cold air of winter blowing around him, his passions cooled and reason reined again.
He’d planned to leave Cullen behind in charge of the women and ferreting out anyone who’d sneaked into the keep with his party. For his part, Duncan would lead a charge to flush the outlaws from the forest and rid his lands of his brother’s dangerous ambition.
But why resort to the sword now when he’d
accomplished so much through shrewdness and diplomacy? Hadn’t he travelled the continent for the king all those years to learn skills that spared lives and left towns in tact?
“We have unfinished business here,” he called to his second in command—a younger knight, since he’d left Rory in charge of Domhnaill. “Spread out and man the walls on the ground. A traitor seeks to breach our defenses tonight and we must be ready to stop the scourge where it flows.”
Confusion followed his announcement. There was muttering among the men as the horses stomped impatiently in the cold. But his second in command barked out orders on top of the questions and grumbles, orchestrating a mass movement of their limited resources.
He was almost back to the keep when Cristiana ran out the main doors, Cullen close behind her. By the deathly pallor of her skin, he feared he already knew what she would say.
“They’ve taken Leah.” Her voice shook, but not half as much as her hand as she latched on to his arm and squeezed. “A man I did not recognize held her at the point of his blade and said he would take her to his overlord. I can only assume he means Donegal.”
Rage rumbled up out of his gut and spewed through his blood like a poison. The need to lift his own sword to avenge anyone threatening that precious girl—his
girl—was so potent he almost forgot his cursed plan to wield words before steel.
“Duncan, please.” Cristiana’s urgent voice called him back from the darkness. “He disappeared down a side hall near the children’s chamber. I did not dare to follow them for fear he would hurt her—”
“Of course.” He had not thought of it before, but then he did not consider anyone who remained in the village would be loyal to Donegal after the way his half brother had run the lands into the ground and robbed the keep of any wealth he could move. “There is a passage to the outskirts of the town, but still within the walls.”
His fury still simmered to think of a man with a sword standing so close to Cristiana and daring to touch his daughter. The light, falling snow did not begin to soothe the hot anger churning within, but it did remind him that Leah faced another danger in her captor’s hands. A child could freeze in no time at all being dragged around through this kind of weather.
He turned to Cullen. “Ask one of the servers to show you the staircase near the children’s chamber that leads to the village. It must be barred up and guarded immediately.”
The man nodded and left, his unquestioning haste to do Duncan’s bidding chasing any remaining doubts he might have had about the Blackstone knight from his mind.
He wrapped an arm about Cristiana, a plan
forming. As much as he wanted to wreak unholy vengeance on anyone who would wield a weapon at a child, he was more certain than ever he needed to trap the treacherous within the walls before he could stomp out the brigands outside.
“You think we can surprise them at the other end?” She hastened her step. “I can take Leah and you can throw that pig of a man into the dungeon until he rots.”
Here was the woman who had spent her youth hunting alongside her father. She was strong. Ready to fight. What would their marriage have been like if she’d been willing to fight for him?
“No.” Reaching the outer wall of the keep, he steered her toward the stairs leading up to the ramparts. “We will put our people to work and help them reclaim their homes and their safety.”
“What about Leah?” She maintained his fast pace, even though he suspected she’d far rather run to the end of the keep’s escape route in hopes of saving the girl herself.
“This will bring her back,” he assured her, finally seeing the way to unseat Donegal for good.
As they reached the top and broke out into the sunlight again, Duncan called to the herald and asked for all the townspeople to be brought together in the courtyard. His men would remain on watch around the perimeter of the town’s walls, but everyone else began to assemble as soon as the herald brought his
horn to his lips. From all around Culcanon, maids and churls, tradesmen and farmers who worked his land departed their homes and gathered in the courtyard.
No doubt they responded all the more quickly, since the whole town knew of the recent unrest. The riding party Duncan had called and then dismissed earlier had roused much interest.
“You will speak to them?” Cristiana worried her lip with her teeth, peering over the ramparts as if she expected the villagers to begin launching arrows their way any moment.
“You already know I will protect Leah with my sword and my life.” He tugged her back from the wall, placing her by his side, where he would address the throng. “Trust me when I tell you this is a more potent strength.”
She looked disbelieving, and he supposed he should be flattered her faith in his knightly skill was so great. Mostly, he feared she would never bring herself to trust him again.
Steeling himself to accomplish the task before him and bring Leah home, he turned back to the ramparts and lifted his voice.
“People of Culcanon, it’s been too many years since I lived among you.” He knew time was of the essence today, but he could not rush his plea. Not when the reward could be so great. “In my work for our king and my efforts to obtain a worthy lady for
our lands, I have been away more than I’ve been here. I tell myself this is why some of you have chosen to support the only leader you’ve known since my father died, a leader who fouled the lands with his greed, selling off crops to outsiders that could have fed you.”
Duncan took stock of the utter quiet in the court yard. Never had a thousand people been so silent. He could hear his family banner snap in the breeze beside him as he looked out to study the upturned faces below. He scoured the far reaches of the lands with his gaze, hoping to see Leah and her captor hidden among the rest.
“But I tell you now that my half brother has for saken us. You, me and even the fortress my ancestors built two hundred years ago. Donegal has stripped the keep of every ornament and bauble he could sell to support a rebellion that will never take place. And do you know why that rebellion will not take place?”
He paused, folding his arms upon the battlements for a moment while his people considered the question. Then, leaning back again to stand tall, he continued.
“Because I will not suffer a traitor in my home any more than you will suffer traitors among you.”
There was a roll of mutterings and murmurs at this proclamation. Duncan listened to it, satisfied with the ebbs and flows of the crowd’s reactions, which he
could not have scripted any better. Now all he had to do was incite them to action.
If only he was as skilled at influencing Cristiana.
“We know they are there,” he called out over the villagers. “Donegal receives supplies and man power from somewhere each moonrise. The odds that those supplies come from supporters within Culcanon’s walls are overwhelming. So I tell you this today. Anyone supporting my brother has my blessing to pack and leave the gates by nightfall. For families with children, I will even be sure you have enough food for a sennight. But anyone who chooses to remain will renounce all ties to an outlaw and a thief—” he hardened his voice, allowing the fierce ness of his anger to come through “—for my half brother has stolen my daughter and sole heir.”
By now, the crowd was in such frenzy, he had to raise his hand to call for the herald’s horn again.
When quiet reigned—and he knew it would be brief—he made his final request with Cristiana at his side, her veils and her long hair streaking against his back in the wind.
“We can protect our homes and our families from this scourge that bears my blood, but it means we stand united. We will cast out all traitors from our midst and rebuild Culcanon, but only when I receive my daughter back home and unharmed. Anyone who knowingly gives shelter to the man who stole
her—or the man who ordered her taken—will feel my wrath.”
From beside him, Cristiana nodded with approval.
“They will all search for her.” She wrung her hands together, her knuckles white with fear. “And with your men at all the walls, no one will leave the town without them seeing.”
He nodded, glad that she had recognized his intentions and realized the potential payoff. With her intelligence and talents alongside his, they could rule a prosperous and thriving domain for many, many years. If only she would give him that chance.
From below, a lone woman’s scream diverted his attention. Together with Cristiana, he looked down to the courtyard just as mass chaos erupted.
On the outskirts of town, one crofter’s hut billowed black smoke into the sky while the structure beside it sparked into flame.
Somehow, Donegal and his men would escape.
Cristiana feared it with all her soul as she raced into the courtyard behind Duncan. He’d shouted orders the whole way, putting Cullen of Blackstone into action as all the people who’d been locked safely in the keep poured out into the bailey to help contain the fire.
Acrid smoke filled the courtyard, the dried grasses and twigs used for most of the crude shelters catching fire instantly. Where was Leah in all this?
Eyes burning from the flying ash and thick soot, Cristiana blinked as she ran. Panic clogged her throat more than the smoke as she thought about how frightened Leah must be. Ahead of her, she saw Duncan disappear into the thick gray air as if he knew exactly where to go. Had he anticipated his brother’s next move? She had no doubt but that Donegal was behind this.
“Cristiana, wait!” From behind her, she heard Edwina’s voice.
Unsure where else to run, Cristiana slowed her step as Edwina caught up.
“I lost Duncan. I can’t see where I’m going.” Around her, people shouted and ran, as if the whole of Culcanon knew what to do. But with people hurrying in so many different directions, it didn’t make sense to follow any of them without a plan.
“You will catch fire if you are not careful.” Edwina stooped at Cristiana’s feet and grabbed the ends of her cloak, tying them together below her hips so the fabric did not fly up as she ran.
Cristiana noticed her sister had already secured her own cloak thus. Oddly, with the clouds of gray surrounding them, her eyes settled upon the one flash of brightness she could see. A hint of silver about her sister’s finger.
Instinctively, the clutched Edwina’s hand and stared at the band of heavy, hammered silver studded with deep red garnets.
“What is this?” She stumbled forward as someone knocked her in the leg with a bucket of sloshing water. She hardly noticed.
Edwina drew back her fingers and straightened before pulling Cristiana through the smoke.
“Cullen gave it to me this morning.” Her voice contained a girlish sweetness and disbelief so unlike her usual bold, adventurous self. “He said he would take the dowry Duncan offered, but only because it is a symbol of my worth and not because he needs it.” She squeezed Cristiana’s arm harder as her voice broke. “Do you believe him? He says I am worth a treasure, but he will donate the dowry to the church near his keep. I never guessed a person could swing from such happiness to such depths of fear in one simple day.”
Cristiana understood completely. Right now, even as she felt relief for her sister’s security, fear for Leah swamped all else.
“He is a good man.” Privately, she thanked the saints she had never been able to ask Cullen to wed her. All this time, he had still loved Edwina. “You deserve the kind of happy marriage that brought mother and father contentment for so many years.”
Finally, they made it through the worst of the smoke to come out on the end of the town where the two cottages had been burning. Villagers had made a human chain to pass buckets of water from the well to the fire, their cooperation evident in the speed with
which they’d contained the blaze. Now, soot and ash poured from the simmering, sizzling mess of stinking, charred straw. But flames sparked no more.
“Praise God,” Cristiana murmured, relieved that Duncan’s tenants had halted the spread of a fire that could have left the whole town homeless in winter.
“Cristiana.” Duncan appeared beside her, his face streaked with soot and dirt, his sword in hand. “She is not in the passage from the keep to the village. The townspeople helped me to chase out three men hiding within the hidden tunnel, but Leah was not among them.”
Cullen arrived behind him, his expression as somber as Duncan’s. Wordlessly, the other man stood behind Edwina. In that moment, Cristiana could see how they fit together—his silent strength and her vibrant determination. Any worries she’d had about her sister returning and possibly reclaiming Leah faded in the face of needing all the strength and resources she could muster to keep the girl safe. No child could have too many protectors.