Chapter 15

Part of Lily's brain warned her that she had to remain calm, but that part was drowned out by the sudden rage that gripped her at the sight of Alfred Brewer's face. As he stepped out of the shadows, all she could see in front of her was the image of that cart careening through the market place, crushing anyone in its path. All she could hear was the screams of the injured. All she could smell was the stink of burning wood and cloth.

"You!" she cried.

She lunged at him and moved so fast and so unexpectedly that she surprised her guards and managed to land her bound-up fists into Brewer's face before anyone could stop her. His nose made a satisfying crunch as her fist connected and he staggered back a step.

"I tried to help you!" she bellowed at him. "And look what you did! I should have left you unable to walk!"

She swung for him again but Eberwyn's men grabbed her and dragged her back. Alfred Brewer slowly straightened. She was gratified to see blood pouring from his nose.

"And for the help ye gave me," he said. "I willnae kill ye for that. Now we are even."

Eberwyn smirked. "Ye deserved that, Alfred. Lock them up with the others."

Lily was dragged with Oskar over to the wall where she was quickly chained up next to Emeric and Magnus. Both men looked the worse for wear. Emeric's head hung down and he seemed barley conscious and Magnus's face was badly bruised.

"I'll kill ye for this, traitor," Oskar growled at Eberwyn. "And it willnae be slow nor pretty."

Eberwyn just laughed and gestured to his men, who, along with Alfred, went back up the stairs and shut the door with a thud. Lily heard a key turning in the lock.

"Magnus? Emeric?" Oskar asked, turning to his sword-brothers. "Are ye all right?"

Emeric groaned in response, his eyes fluttering open. "Oskar? Is that ye?"

Lily leaned close to Emeric's ear. "Hey, Emeric, it's Lily. Can you hear me?"

He managed a nod, his voice barely above a whisper. "Aye, Lily. I can hear ye."

"What's happening?" Magnus asked weakly. His eyes flicked to Oskar, and then Lily. "Are we...are we still alive?"

"Aye, we're alive," Oskar replied, his voice throbbing with anger. "But we're trapped."

"Dinna...dinna trust Eberwyn," Magnus gasped. "He's...a traitor...one of them..."

"Aye," Oskar said. "We noticed." He leaned forward as far as the chains would allow. "Are ye hurt? What did he do to ye?"

Magnus gave a sour grunt. "Tried to get information about the Order of the Osprey, that's what. When we wouldnae give him any...well, he wasnae best pleased."

"But he didnae kill us," Emeric added, raising his head and fixing Oskar with bleary eyes. "And that was a mistake. When I get out of these chains, I'm going to kill him."

"Well ye'll have to get in line," Oskar said. He glanced around the chamber and Lily could see his mind working, churning over plans for escape. He tested his bonds, arms straining until the muscles in his biceps and neck stood out, but the metal bracket that attached the chains to the wall didn't budge an inch.

"It's no good," Magnus said. "Ye willnae break the chains. It seems our old friends the Brewers have been planning this for a long time."

"Planning what? Magnus, Emeric, what happened? How did ye end up here?"

Emeric took a wheezing breath. From the way he winced as he breathed in, Lily guessed his ribs were damaged. "After we left ye, we found Alfred and Alice's trail easily enough. They left in such a hurry that they didnae have time to cover their tracks. They turned north not long after and began to circle back the way we'd come. Can ye guess where they led us?"

Oskar scowled. "Lord Eberwyn's manor?"

"Got it in one. We thought they were going to attack Eberwyn so we thrashed the horses to get there in time to help. But when we got there, we didnae find a fight waiting for us: we found a trap."

Magnus continued the story. "We were captured and questioned for days. Then they brought us here under cover of darkness. I've lost track of time but I reckon we got here yesterday."

Oskar shook his head. "I dinna understand any of this. Why would Alfred and Alice Brewer risk coming to Edinburgh? The very place we were bringing Alfred to in the first place? There is a price on both their heads—they must realize if they are caught they will hang?"

Magnus shrugged. "I dinna know, my friend. But if there is one thing I've learned about these people, it's not to underestimate them. I dinna know what they are planning but it's nothing good, of that ye can be sure."

Oskar mulled this over in silence for a while. Finally, he spoke. "If they're planning something, we have to find a way to stop it."

"Aye, but how?" Magnus replied. "In case ye havenae noticed, these chains are pretty tight."

Oskar ground his teeth and Lily could see the frustrated rage boiling up inside him. "There has to be something we can do! I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and wait like a rat caught in a trap!"

"Why the rescue?" Lily said suddenly.

The three men looked at her.

"What do ye mean?" Oskar asked.

Lily frowned, thinking it through. Something had been bothering her and she was only just beginning to puzzle it out. She met each gaze in turn. "Why did they rescue Alfred Brewer when and where they did—on the road? If Eberwyn was a traitor all along, why didn't they just snatch him from Eberwyn's manor while you were there? Why go through all the convoluted charade of getting him treatment for his leg then have you take him in a cart towards Edinburgh and then rescue him from that? It doesn't make sense."

Nobody answered. Oskar's eyes narrowed and she could see a vein throbbing in his temple. Magnus's expression turned thoughtful and Emeric stared at the floor, his hair falling forward to curtain his face.

"Because the timing wasnae right," Magnus said at last. "They weren't yet ready to show their hand and reveal Eberwyn as a traitor. My guess is that they didnae expect Emeric and I to follow them back to the manor either. They kept us locked up for days before they finally moved us."

"So what changed?" Lily pressed. "What made them suddenly decide to come to Edinburgh? What were they waiting for?"

Oskar looked up suddenly. "The Order of the Osprey," he breathed. "That's what's changed. Some of the Order's commanders are here. Kai and Conall arrived right before ye did."

Magnus nodded, his face grim. "We've been played. They've been using us as pawns in their game. And now, we're stuck in this damned chamber with no idea what their next move will be."

A heavy silence fell. Lily leaned her head back against the wall. She longed to feel Oskar's arms around her, to hear him tell her that everything would be all right, but her chains wouldn't let her reach him and she knew that everything was most definitely not all right.

How had it come to this? Tears of rage and frustration stung her eyes and she blinked rapidly, refusing to let them fall. Her back and hips were aching from her rough treatment at the hands of Eberwyn's men and her head pounded like someone was drilling on the inside of her skull.

What were they going to do?

Think, woman!she told herself. There has to be a way out of this, there has to be.

She was still trying to figure all this out when the key rattled in the lock and the door swung open. Two of Eberwyn's men came down the stairs, each holding a dagger in their hands. They approached Oskar.

"His lordship wants to see ye," one of them said, halting just out of the range of Oskar's chains. "Are ye gonna play nice or does this need to get ugly?"

Oskar grinned up at them, cold rage shining in his eyes. "Why dinna ye come closer and find out?"

The guard sighed. He nodded to his companion who strode over to Lily, grabbed her by the hair, and laid the blade of his knife against her throat. Lily froze, the knife feeling like an icicle against her skin.

"Get away from her!" Oskar yelled. He threw himself to the extent of his chains, fighting to reach her, but the chains yanked him up short.

"Come with us quietly and she willnae be harmed," the first guard said. "Cause any trouble and ye know what will happen."

Oskar's nostrils flared and his eyes swiveled to Lily. For the first time since she'd met him, she saw true fear in his eyes. She swallowed thickly, the knife bobbing precariously close to her jugular.

"All right!" Oskar cried. "I'll come quietly. Just please dinna hurt her."

The first guard nodded and began unlocking the manacles from around Oskar's wrists. The second didn't remove his knife from Lily's throat until Oskar had been prodded ahead of them up the stairs.

At the top Oskar paused and looked back, his eyes meeting Lily's, before he was shoved through the door. It swung shut behind him with a boom.

"Oskar!" Lily shouted, her voice hoarse and desperate. "Oskar!"

But he was gone.

OSKAR WALKED BETWEENhis captors as they led him out of the cellar and into the townhouse. He glanced around as he went, assessing possible avenues of escape, the strength of the place's defenses. If he could somehow distract the guards, grab their weapons...

He discarded the idea almost immediately. He could do nothing whilst Lily, Magnus and Emeric were locked in the cellar. Brute force would not serve him here. No, he had to be clever about this. Yet strategy had never been his strong point and for the life of him he couldn't think of what to do.

His captors led him through one of the doors in the hall and into a large, low-ceilinged room.

Three people waited within. Lord Henry Eberwyn sprawled in a chair by the fire with Alfred sitting opposite, his splinted leg stretched out in front of him. The third figure sat hunched on the table but as soon as Oskar was through the door, the figure leapt off the table and slammed into him, taking him tumbling to the floor. The figure straddled him, pressing a knife against his throat that glinted orange in the firelight.

"I'll gut ye like a pig!" said a woman's voice.

She was gaunt, as tall as him, with wild curly hair and sharp, suspicious features. She glared at him with undisguised hatred.

"Ah, greetings, Alice," Oskar said. "I can see ye've missed me."

Alice Brewer, Alfred's wife, snarled, her eyes wild. "How dare ye?" she spat, spittle flying from her lips. "How dare ye mock me?"

Oskar tried to smile but couldn't quite manage it. "I see ye've not changed much, Alice. Still as bitter and cold as ever. Although I must say ye are looking mighty well for a dead woman."

The last he had heard of Alice Brewer, she was thought dead, drowned off the northern coast in a sea-battle between Leif Snarlsson, the Norwegian mercenary who had been Alice's commander, and Conall's father, Earl Sinclair.

Alice's eyes narrowed, and she leaned closer to Oskar, the knife pressed harder against his throat. "I wouldnae push yer luck, if I were ye," she hissed.

Lord Eberwyn chuckled from his chair by the fire. "Ye two seem to have quite the past, Oskar. Such an unfortunate reunion, wouldnae ye agree, Alice?"

Alice glared at him, then back to Oskar. "That depends on how ye look at it. Vengeance can be very sweet."

"That isnae why we are here," said Eberwyn. "Remember the bigger picture. Ye'll get yer vengeance on the Order. We all will. But not yet."

Alice glared at Oskar a moment longer, something like madness dancing in her eyes, then abruptly scrambled to her feet and went back to her perch on the table.

Oskar looked between the three of them, wondering just exactly what was going on here and who was in charge. Leif Snarlsson had been the ringleader of this cell of Disinherited but had died in the same sea-battle in which Alice had been thought lost.

He climbed slowly to his feet. His fingers itched to close around Eberwyn's traitorous throat and it was all he could do to keep the fury that boiled through him under control.

"What do ye want?" he demanded. "Why have ye brought me here?"

Eberwyn spread his hands magnanimously. "Will ye not sit?"

"I'd prefer to stand."

"Suit yerself." Eberwyn glanced at Alfred and then at Alice before continuing. "We've brought ye here to offer ye a bargain."

"What sort of bargain?"

"The sort of bargain where ye do something for us and we do something for ye."

"All right," he snarled. "How about this for a bargain? Ye let me and my people go right now and I willnae kill ye. How does that sound?"

"Ye see?" Alfred Brewer said to Eberwyn. "I told ye, didnae I? He's too unpredictable, too unstable. We should have used Emeric or Magnus—at least those two know how to control themselves."

Eberwyn shook his head. "Neither of them would do what we need them to. We dinna have the leverage over them like we do with Oskar here." He smiled up at Oskar. "Nay, Oskar is exactly the man we need for this job. We need a street-thug and a killer and that's exactly what ye are, isnae it, my old friend?"

Oskar refused to be baited. "If ye think I will do anything for ye, ye are mistaken. I'll die first."

"Oh, I've no doubt ye would. But it isnae yer life that's in danger. It's Magnus's. It's Emeric's." His gaze sharpened suddenly, flashing dangerously. "It's Lily's."

Oskar felt a cold, icy grip tighten around his heart. "Ye wouldnae dare," he said. "I swear, if ye hurt her..."

Alice leaned in closer. "Ye'd be wise to remember yer place," she snapped. "We've got all the power here. And if ye think we willnae go through with our threats, think again."

Lord Eberwyn chuckled, sitting back in his chair. "Enough of this posturing, Oskar. Let's cut to the chase. We need ye to do a job for us. It's simple, really. And in return we'll keep Lily, Oskar and Emeric alive."

Oskar's eyes narrowed as he studied Lord Eberwyn. "Why are ye doing this?" he asked. "Why are ye working with these people? Ye were loyal to the Order of the Osprey once."

"Aye, and look where it got me!" Eberwyn snapped, eyes flashing with sudden anger. "I thought I was fighting for a better Alba, a better future, and what reward do I get for my troubles? My wife and son dead, Alba more corrupt than it ever has been, a king that is more interested in cozying up to the English than caring for his own people, and the Order of the Osprey casting me out as soon as I'm no use to them!"

"Ye weren't cast out," Oskar replied. "Ye were retired from active duty with full honors."

"Honors? Pah! What use have I for honors? That willnae bring back my family will it?"

His voice rang with anger and bitterness. Why had Oskar not noticed it before? Eberwyn had always seemed mild to him, a retired Order operative content with what life had given him. But that had been a facade hiding a shriveled and angry heart.

"So that's what this is about? Some kind of twisted vengeance because of the way yer life has turned out?"

"It's about putting things right!" Eberwyn snapped. "And ye will help me do that."

"And if I refuse?" he challenged, his jaw tightening.

"If ye refuse," Alice drawled slowly. "Then our three guests below will have their throats slit and their bodies thrown into the river. How would ye feel about yer lady friend feeding the fishes?"

White hot rage exploded in Oskar's chest and it was all he could do not to throw himself at Alice, howling in fury. But he knew that's what she wanted. She already had her knife out and was waiting for his attack. No. He could not afford to play their game. If he was going to find a way to help Lily, Oskar and Magnus, he had to stay calm.

He lifted his chin and glared at Eberwyn. "What do ye want me to do?"

Eberwyn grinned and leaned forward. "Like I said, naught too taxing. A couple of jobs and this will all be over. Firstly, ye are going to make contact with some old friends of yers."