The Return of the Heir (Guardians of the Isles Book 1) by Gerri Russell

Author:Gerri Russell [Russell, Gerri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, romance
ISBN: 9781954894808
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Published: 2022-02-23T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Alastair and Gwendolyn walked down to the ground floor where the four warriors who had been drugged were recovering from the effects of the laudanum. The chamber was in the servants’ quarters and had a bed in each corner of the room. Alastair was pleased to find the men sitting up and talking when he and Gwendolyn entered the chamber.

Ronald and Lindon were men who had come to the castle with Alastair. Emery and Innis had lived at Dunvegan all their lives. Their fathers and grandfathers had served the lairds MacLeod for years. And yet, no one was above suspicion.

“M’laird,” Ronald greeted as he entered the chamber. He and the others swung their legs over the edge of the bed, intending to rise.

“Remain where you are.” Alastair stilled them with a motion of his hand. “We can speak from here.” He moved to the corner of the chamber and returned with two chairs, sitting them inside the entrance so that both he and Gwendolyn could see each man in his bed.

Ronald settled back against the headboard. Innis sat on the edge of the bed, his expression grim. Lindon’s face was pale as he leaned up on his elbow. Sitting at the edge of the bed, Emery’s eyes were faintly red-rimmed, and he fiddled with the edge of the sheet.

Alastair looked to each man, saying nothing. He wasn’t certain all these men were victims. It would have been easy for one of them to drug the others then drink the altered ale in order to appear as though they had not helped Garrick escape. Yet none of them looked particularly guilty. “I’d like to know what happened. How did Garrick MacDonald manage to overcome four warriors when he was locked in the dungeon?”

Ronald cleared his throat. “If I may, m’laird.” At a nod from Alastair, he continued. “One of the maids brought us the mugs of ale. She said you had ordered the ale be sent to us since we were in for a long shift of guarding the dungeon.”

Ronald lowered his eyes. “We should have known something was up, but we were all very thirsty. It wasn’t until I started feeling a little strange and couldn’t keep my eyes open that I realised the ale had been tampered with. When we were all incapacitated, she must have broken Garrick out of the cell.”

“The rest of you, can you remember anything? Was the girl familiar to you?”

They all shook their heads, except for Emery. There was something in Emery’s expression—something that said he knew more than he was saying.

“If you remember even the slightest detail about the girl, please tell us. Do you recall the colour of her hair, her height, the tone of her voice?” Gwendolyn asked sitting forward in her chair.

“She had brown hair that was pulled back in a braid,” Lindon offered.

“She was pretty,” Innis said as pink tinged his cheeks. “She was of medium height with a narrow waist and,” he paused as his cheeks grew red “forgive me, my lady for saying such, but she had a large bosom.

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