Novella by Eternal Highlander

Author:Eternal Highlander
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Chapter Two

Eva stared down at the castle below and swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. The keep crouched at the base of the surrounding hills, shadows falling across it like a cloak. It looked a dark and gloomy place. In comparison, Caxton Hall seemed a sunny abode, at least in her memory. To her mind, the gloomy structure below went a long way toward explaining the attitude of the men she rode with. Who could be happy and full of good cheer while abiding in such a dismal place?

"The sun is setting."

Eva stirred herself to glance at her companions at that comment from Donaidh. The man's words had sounded concerned to her. That concern was echoed in the expression of every man around her, she saw and wondered briefly if they worried that their lord would be displeased with their late arrival. Eva wasn't too pleased with it herself, as she'd really rather hoped to have at least a few minutes to clean up and prepare herself before meeting her husband. But she was guessing that the man would be about by now, or at least would be ere they managed to make their way down the rather steep hill they had crested and to the castle.

"Stay close," Ewan ordered the men and Eva was surprised to hear the sudden tension in his voice. She was even more surprised when he gestured to Donaidh and the large man suddenly lifted her off her mount and onto his own, settling her before him as the other men now closed ranks, surrounding them on all sides.

Eva didn't struggle or protest, but she did crane her neck to try to peer back down at the castle again.

She was sure that just before Ewan had blocked her view by urging his mount out before the horse she now sat on, she had glimpsed dark figures moving in the deepening black valley below. All she'd had was a quick glimpse, but Eva thought she'd seen a couple of darker shadows moving away from the castle.

No matter how she craned her neck, however, she couldn't now see past the mounted men surrounding her.

The ride down into the valley seemed to take forever to Eva. It probably wasn't that long a ride, but the tension in the men around her was infectious, and that and the fact that she couldn't see a single blasted thing past the backs of her surrounding guards made it seem unending. Her vision was so obscured that it wasn't until the starlight overhead was suddenly blocked out entirely and she glanced up to see that they were riding under the parapet and through the castle gates, that she knew they had arrived.

The moment they were past the gates, sound exploded around them. It was as if someone had removed a muffling cape from her head, still, Eva could see nothing and she wished she could. The bailey here sounded as busy as Caxton bailey would be during the busiest mid-afternoon hours, yet it was nighttime and should have been much quieter.

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