A Temptress in Tartan by Gerri Russell

Author:Gerri Russell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781950510962
Publisher: Tule Publishing Group, LLC
Published: 2019-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The guards took turns walking Lachlan back and forth across his small cell all through the night. The church had decreed that suspected witches and warlocks must be kept awake because during the hours of sleep, the Devil may easily enter their bodies and exert his power. The goal was to make the accused disoriented and confused so they might confess to their crimes more easily.

What the king or the church failed to consider was that as a warrior, Lachlan was used to long hours of wakefulness. One did not sleep when the enemy might attack. So, he plodded back and forth across the decaying, straw-strewn floor, enduring it all, for he knew this was not the worst of the challenges ahead of him.

When the tolbooth clock chimed eight times, the guards finally left him alone. Weary, but not beaten, he settled upon the cold stone floor, waiting. Lachlan did not have to wait long until footsteps sounded in the hallway. He heard the door of his cell creak open. The aureole of light cast by a torch illuminated the eager face of John Swinton. The similarity of his features to those of his daughter left no doubt about who he might be. He was dressed in a mud-colored monk’s robe, complete with a rope belt tied about his ample belly. He shuffled into the chamber, giving Lachlan a better view of his soon-to-be torturer. His face was full, his lips hard, and his eyes studied Lachlan with cool objectivity. “Greetings of the day, m’laird. I am told you have been wicked among men and that it is up to me to uncover your sins.”

“I have not said I am without sin,” Lachlan clarified. “But what I am is no sorcerer. Your time with me shall be wasted, I fear.”

“I very much doubt that. For I have yet to let a witch slip through my grasp.” With a nod of his head, he instructed two guards to step forth and seize Lachlan. They escorted him out of the cell and down the long hallway until they came to a short staircase. The guards forced him down the stairs and into a stone chamber illuminated by a torch set into a sconce near the doorway. The only other light in the room came from a fire in the brazier at the far end of the chamber.

Eerie shadows crept over the contents of the room. But even in the low light, Lachlan could clearly make out a torture rack in the middle of the chamber.

“Help me.” The weak and pitiful sound of a woman’s voice jerked his attention to the left.

As his eyes adjusted to the low light, Lachlan saw that a young, blonde-haired woman sat upon a three-legged stool with her legs stretched before her and propped up by a slightly taller stool. Atop her legs were several iron bars that bit deep into her skin. Her back was flayed open from lashings as evidenced by the blood pooling on the floor beneath her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.