Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

" W hat the hell were ye thinking in coming here, Lydia?" Elara cried from behind a screen as she changed her gown. This one was nowhere near as revealing as the latter. It still had a deep neckline but covered enough of her breasts to hide what had been a particularly deep cleavage before. She was still busy fussing with the ties across the front as she stepped out, meeting the panicked gaze of Lydia.

"I was worried," Lydia said once again, fidgeting in her seat as she pulled on fresh shoes. Their clothes had been delivered from the inn and they had both seized the opportunity to change. "Ye had gone to a man ye believed tae be a murderer and ye had nae come back."

"He is a murderer, Lydia."

"How can ye be so certain after all we have just heard?" Lydia waved a hand at the door, still bearing her other shoe. "He hardly seems like a killer, does he? Nae tae mention that after ye attempting tae drug him, he would have been well within his right tae put us in a dungeon."

"What of it?"

"Look around, Elara. This is nay dungeon, is it?"

Elara grunted in frustration as she reached for her own shoes. It baffled her, why Laird Stuart would insist on giving them such a fine chamber as this. There were two richly embroidered beds at either side of the room, settle benches full of plush wolf furs and buffet cabinets heavily inlaid with beautiful scenes. It was a rich room, one made for guests, not prisoners.

"Perhaps he intends tae distract us from the truth," Elara mumbled, though she was well aware there was no fight in her tone.

"Aye, sure he daes," Lydia said with full wryness. "And why would he bother doing that when, if he was a killer, he could have just done away with the complication of us by killing us?"

Elara shifted around uncomfortably, now up and down the chamber.

"I dinnae ken," she said eventually at Lydia's pleading look. "All I ken is that I cannae believe him yet. I've spent too long thinking it's him, Lydia. I'm nae going tae be swayed on just a kind word from him. I need tae see the proof that he is nae involved."

"Aye, aye, fine." Lydia held up her hands in surrender, slumping back into the settle bench where she had perched. "Then tell me this, where exactly did ye spend the night?"

Elara froze in her pacing, aware that her cheeks were heating up by the second.

"That's one mad blush," Lydia murmured.

"Enough." Elara turned her back on her sister and returned to her pacing.

"Did the two of ye dae anything in his chamber?"

"Of course nae!"

"Ye were tied up in his chamber. Dinnae tell me he –"

"Nay!" Elara turned back and threw her arms in the air, desperate to quieten such thoughts in her sister's mind. "He didnae touch me, Lydia. He slipped the vial into what I drank. He drugged me with the very thing I was going tae drug him with. Then he…" She trailed off, realizing just how what she had to say next would sound.

"Then he…?" Lydia waited, pushing her on to say more.

"Then he carried me tae his bed and let me sleep there," Elara spoke quickly to get the words over and done with.

"Oh." Lydia sat tall in her chair. "He let ye sleep in his bed alone? He carried ye there himself? He didnae hurt ye? Didnae lay a finger on yer? And ye still think he's a demon?"

"Would ye stop sounding so logical. It's doing me head in." Elara waved her hand impatiently in the air, doing her best to ignore her sister's knowing smile. "Look, whether Laird Stuart is telling the truth or nae, I dinnae think we should stay in this castle."

"Well, I heartily agree with ye there." Lydia stood and moved her hands to her hips. "I by nay means think this a perfect place tae stay." She wrinkled her nose as she looked around the chamber, her eyes lingering on the locked door. "They dinnae trust us, and who can blame them after what ye did last night –"

"Ye helped me," Elara reminded her. "Ye wanted tae find out the truth as much as I did."

"I ken." Lydia waved her hand impatiently. "Me point is, they clearly dinnae trust us. I dinnae believe this is a wise place tae stay, and if ye dae happen tae be right and Laird Stuart isnae a man tae be trusted, then we definitely cannae stay."

"Thank ye." Elara threw her arms in the air in relief.

"I have nay liking fer his friend either." Lydia shifted her weight between her feet.

"The mercenary? Marcus?" Elara asked. Lydia shuddered and shook her head.

"He looks at me and I think he could break me in two with just one hand."

"Nae a fan of strength in a man?" Elara teased her sister. Lydia blushed scarlet but said nothing more on the subject.

"The question is, how are we going tae get out of here?" Lydia thrust a finger at the locked door.

"Let's think." Elara halted her pacing and absentmindedly plaited her hair. The night before, her blonde hair had been loose, for it was the way of courtesans for it to be loose, but now she was returning to her own identity, she had to do something with it. Once she had finished plaiting it and tying it down her back, an idea had occurred to her. "The maid said she was coming back with food, aye?"

"Aye." Lydia nodded.

"Then when she comes, one of us should feign being ill. That should distract her. Maybe she'll even offer tae take us tae the healer. That's when we take our chance and we run." Elara moved to the window, peering out over the castle grounds. "The servants' quarters, that's our best bet." She pointed down to the kitchen door, just visible from her position high in the tower. "There are nay guards there."

Lydia moved to her side, peering past her shoulder and out into the grounds.

"And when we're out of there? How do ye expect tae get past the guards at the gate?"

"We dinnae go that way." Elara pointed once more to where a line of laundry maids were coming up through another door in the curtain wall. It was much smaller, this gateway barely discernible. "There must be the river that way. It may lead back tae Inverness. From there, we could find a horse tae get us home."

"Aye, aye, we could." Lydia nodded slowly. "One thing. How do ye intend tae lose the company of the maid once she is with us?"

Elara didn't answer straight away but chewed her lip in thought. There was something she could do, something that Cassian had taught her long ago when the assassination attempts had started. Terrified that one of them would be hurt, Cassian had started teaching them both some attacking skills for self-defense.

Lydia had never taken to the lessons well, preferring her herbs and her remedies as a healer, but Elara had gained skills from Cassian she would always be grateful for. He once called her as good as his best spies for the talents she had learned from him.

"There's a way tae lose her," Elara whispered uncertainly. "It wouldnae hurt her, but she would be unconscious fer a while."

"I have nay more herbs with me if ye're intending tae drug her."

"That's nae what I was thinking." Elara shook her head, guilt swelling in her stomach. To even think of knocking out a maid grated deep within her gut. It was cruel, even crueler when she considered she would be doing it to an innocent woman, but what other choice did she have? The woman would not be hurt, and it would enable Elara and Lydia to escape the hold of a man who could well be a murderer.

A light knock on the door showed they were out of time to think.

"Come," Lydia called.

A key was turned in the lock and the door opened. The maid walked in, smiling brightly at the two of them.

"Good day. Me name is Elspeth. I have brought food fer the two of ye, and something tae drink too." She placed a pewter tray down on a wide circular table. Lydia hurried forward at once, picking up one of the flagons and drinking thirstily, but Elara did not move forward. "Is everything well?" Elspeth asked, turning to look at Elara with concern across her features.

"I'm sorry," Elara whispered, leaning on the windowsill and fluttering her eyelids closed. "I am nae well."

"What is wrong?" Elspeth asked, releasing the tray and stumbling forward.

"She's been complaining of stomach pains," Lydia said quickly. "Faintness too."

Elara acted quickly at her sister's words, dropping to her knees.

"Oh!" Elspeth ran forward, moving to her knees beside Elara. "Here, turn yer head down tae the floor. It will help if ye fell faint. I'll find ye a chamber pot." She hurried off before Elara could do anything.

As Elspeth pressed her head under the nearest bed, looking for a chamber pot, Elara widened her eyes at Lydia who was now eating cheese from the platter. Elara's wide eyes roused her sister to the fact she was not acting her part well. She dropped the cheese and scurried over to Elara, moving to her knees and holding onto her shoulder.

"There, there, sister. All will be well." Lydia's forced words were so poorly acted that Elara cursed under her breath.

She tried to cover up the poor acting by retching.

"Here, take this." Elspeth appeared again at Elara's side, pushing a chamber pot under her head.

"Thank ye." Elara reached toward Elspeth, under the pretense of taking her shoulder in thanks.

"Oh." Elspeth gasped as Elara suddenly shifted her grip.

The guilt swelled in Elara, but she stamped down upon it. She found the vein Cassian had taught her to look for in Elspeth's neck then tightened her fingers. It restricted the blood flow to the maid's head at once. Elspeth swayed on her knees, her eyes fluttering closed. It happened so fast that both Elara and Lydia had to dart forward, throwing their arms under Elspeth to stop her hitting her head on the wooden floorboards.

"What the hell did ye dae?" Lydia seethed over Elspeth's head as they picked her up.

"Come, take her tae the bed so she'll be comfortable."

"That wasnae answering me question!"

"Ye restrict the blood flow tae the head momentarily and it will render a person unconscious. It doesnae hurt them," Elara insisted.

"Really? It doesnae hurt them? Elara, she hardly looks like the picture of health right now."

"I ken, I ken," Elara said hurriedly, the guilt overwhelming her as they released Elspeth on the bed. "But we have nay choice." She grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her across the room. They didn't bother to collect their bags and just ran for the door. "If it means making a choice between a stranger and keeping ye safe, Lydia, guess which one I'm going tae choose every time."

Elara jerked her sister out of the door.

"Come, we have tae be fast." Elara pulled her down the corridor, turning her head back and forth to look out for any guard.

"We agreed on sneaking out," Lydia hissed in her ear. "Ye are nae tae knock another person out."

"What else was I supposed tae dae? Plead with her tae let us go? Aye, aye, that would have worked." Her sarcasm only earned a roll of Lydia's eyes.

A shadow moved at the end of the corridor. Elara grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her toward a door. They tumbled through the doorway, nearly falling down what turned out to be a spiral staircase. Elara gripped her sister hard to stop herself from falling as she closed the door behind them.

"Servants' stairwell?" Lydia whispered, pointing down the staircase. "This could lead tae those kitchens."

"There is one way tae find out. Come on." Elara beckoned her sister to follow.

They crept down the stairs, their footsteps as light as they could possibly make them. There were other doors leading off the stairwell. Each time they came across one, Elara peered through the gap, only to find another illustrious corridor in the castle. She gestured for her sister to keep walking down the stairs.

As they reached the bottom of the stairwell with just one door left, she found Lydia leaning against the wall, rubbing her own neck.

"What's wrong?" Elara asked, opening the door an inch to peer through the gap. At last, it was a servants' corridor. At the end of the passage, she could see cooks moving into a kitchen, but closer, there was an open doorway, streaming with such light that it had to lead outside into the castle courtyard.

"Just thinking about that poor maid," Lydia whispered. "What if she doesnae wake up?"

"She will wake up," Elara insisted.

"How dae ye ken?"

"Because Cassian made me practice on him tae get it right." Elara looked at her sister with a smile, watching Lydia's lips fall open, agape. "He was determined I get it right. Lydia, I dinnae like it any more than ye dae." That guilt still sizzled in her gut like a burning fire. "But if this castle is home tae a murderer, then we cannae stay, can we?"

Lydia slowly shook her head.

"Right, here is the plan." Elara took her sister's shoulder, urging her to peer through the gap as well. "Ye see that doorway? We creep toward it. If we are seen at any point, we run. We take that gate out tae the river and we keep on running, as fast as we possibly can, all the way back tae Inverness. We take a horse, and we go home tae Cassian, and tell him what we found."

"What we found? We have found nothing. We only have Laird Stuart's word tae go on that he isnae a killer."

"I ken," Elara whispered. It wasn't much, but it was more than they had before. "Are ye ready?"

It took a minute, but soon enough, Lydia nodded.

"Then let's go." Elara stood straight and opened the door wide. Taking a step into the corridor, she peered up and down.

There were no staff near to where they were standing. She could only glimpse a few cooks down the other end of the corridor through an open doorway. These cooks were so busy with their own tasks, they did not pay attention to Elara's and Lydia's presence.

"Aye, now's our chance." Elara beckoned Lydia to follow her.

As calmly as possible, Elara and Lydia walked down the corridor, heading for that open door. Out of the corner of her eye, Elara could see her sister was trembling with fear. She reached out and took hold of her hand, encasing it tightly in her own.

I will keep her safe.

The whole point of this trip was to discover Laird Stuart's guilt. Elara may have been content to put herself in danger, but Lydia was never supposed to be in any sort of danger. Elara looked around, suddenly recognizing this part of the castle. It was the same doorway that she had taken into the castle the night before, when the guards had escorted her inside. She pointed around a corner toward the door, urging her sister to move as quickly as possible.

"Elara," Lydia whispered.

"Aye?"

"What dae ye think Laird Stuart will dae when he discovers we are gone?"

"I have nay idea," Elara murmured. "It probably depends on whether he is a murderer or nae."

Her sister's hand shifted.

"He didnae hurt ye, Elara. Ye spent the night in his bed, and he didnae hurt ye."

The reminder wasn't helpful. It made Elara think of the tangled dark hair and those richly blue eyes that had hovered over her as he had placed her in the bed. In her dazed state, she had so badly wished to reach up to that dark hair of Laird Stuart's, to thread her fingers through it and pull him down toward her.

"We're nearly there," Elara whispered, pushing all thoughts of Laird Stuart away.

They turned to face the doorway, sunlight streaming through on their faces, warm and golden. In her fixation on that particular door though, she had not noticed there was another door off to the side. As she stepped forward, a figure stepped out of this doorway, straight into her path.

Elara walked into what felt like a wall of muscle, her face practically planted into a man's chest. Her hand fell out of Lydia's grasp as she tottered on her feet, her palms moving to the toned chest to push herself back a few inches. As she moved her face off the thickened waistcoat covering the strong chest, she tilted her chin up to find her imagining had come true. She was once more facing that wild dark hair and those rich blue eyes. Above the stubbled chin, a smirk spread across Laird Stuart's features.

"Leaving us so soon, Elara?"