A Highlander Forged in Fire by Kenna Kendrick

Author:Kenna Kendrick [Kendrick, Kenna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Highland
Published: 2019-12-25T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

I sla had finished counting the floorboards. It was what she did to pass the time; that, and a myriad of other little tasks to keep her from going mad. She knew how many cracks were in the mirror and where the first ray of sun would fall when dawn broke. She knew how many paces it was from the end of the passage to the door, for she counted the footfalls of those who came to visit her, and how long it would take her to pace up and down the room a hundred times while counting in her head.

She had been in this room for six days, or so she reckoned, and with each passing day, any hope of rescue became ever more unlikely. She knew that her father’s forces had been nearly obliterated on the battlefield, and Sir Percy had come to her to tell her with triumph that it would not be long before the castle at Kirklinton was overrun and an English flag planted on its battlements. She had remained defiant in the face of his glee and informed him that her father would fight to the death before he saw such a fate befall his clan.

“And he shall have, my dear,” Sir Percy had replied, “just like your father before him. I burnt one Laird’s castle out, I am sure I can do it to another,” and he had gone off laughing to himself, leaving Isla feeling sick.

Her only consolation, if it could be called that, these long days past, had been the twice-daily arrival of Lena McGowan. Early in the morning and in the evening, the familiar footsteps would be heard coming down the corridor. The food was always the same, a thin gruel with an occasional vegetable floating in it accompanied by stale bread and water.

At first, Lena had always been accompanied by a guard, but in the last few days, it had been Lena alone who had brought the food. The ritual would be much the same, she would place the tray outside the door and fumble with the rusty old lock. The door would be opened, and the servant girl would ask Isla how she was and lay the tray down before her. Lena’s was the only friendly face that Isla saw, the others being gruff guards or worse, that of Howard Musgrave, who visited her several times a day breathing threats and demanding answers about her father.

Lena was different; she seemed to understand Isla’s pain, and as their twice-daily meetings continued, the two built up a rapport. Isla discovered that Lena was an outcast from across the border, though she would not say where from, and Isla did not push her on the subject. But it was clear that there was more to tell, and as the days went by, the trust between the two women continued to grow.

“There we are, lass. I managed to place a ladle full more in yer bowl tonight, though ‘tis still precious little,” Lena said, setting down the tray before Isla, who began to eat hungrily.

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