He stared at her, unblinking. She saw the arguments against her proposal crowding behind his eyes, waiting for release. But he spoke none of them. Instead, he squeezed her hand tightly and then blew out a breath.
“All right.”
Callum Sutherland nodded. “I will ride with the rest of the men. We will approach the castle but keep out of sight. As soon as ye get inside Torryn Keep, find a way to open the gates for us.” He looked around at each of them in turn. “We have no idea how many Disinherited may be inside that keep, nor of the reception that will be waiting for ye.”
The others nodded grimly.
“I’m coming with ye,” Craig announced, rising from his seat.
“Nay, my friend,” Deryn replied. “Ye are injured and—”
“I failed to stop them taking Rory,” Craig cut in. “Would ye stay behind if it had been ye?” His eyes found Maddy’s. “I’ll do my best to put my mistake right.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Craig.”
“Nevertheless. I’m coming, no arguments.”
“Fine!” Cian snapped, standing. “Are we done here? Good. We have a plan, so what are we waiting for?”
They rose to their feet, but Cian laid a hand on Maddy’s shoulder. “If ye are really going to do this, there are a few tricks I need to teach ye first. Come with me.”
She followed him onto the porch and sat crossed legged as he took several hair pins out of a pouch and held them out to her.
“Ye are going to need these.”
Cian proved to be a good teacher. She listened raptly as he demonstrated what he wanted her to do and had her practise. Only when he was satisfied she’d picked it up, did he say they were ready to leave.
Things happened quickly after that.
Maddy soon found herself riding a huge warhorse with Deryn. She was not surprised to discover that he was an accomplished rider, and together with the warriors of the Order of the Osprey, they left Darla and Craig’s farm behind and climbed out of the valley onto the uplands.
Deryn held the reins in one hand whilst his other arm circled her protectively. It was a long time since she’d ridden a horse, so she clung on grimly, determined not to slow them down. They rode at a steady trot, the wind up here sending her hair streaming into Deryn’s face and snapping the cloaks of the warriors out around them. They traveled in grim silence, the only sound the whine of the wind and the thump of the horses’ hooves against the ground.
Callum sent some of his men scouting in all directions, to warn them if any of MacKay’s warriors were around, but they encountered nobody except the odd shepherd out minding a flock.
Each step took her closer to Rory, but also closer to Rodric MacKay. What had that bastard done to her son? What was he planning? Such thoughts made her sick with fear, so she did her best to push them to the back of her mind.
We will get him back, she told herself.We will.
It seemed no time at all before they began descending into the pine-clad hills that surrounded Torryn Keep. Callum pulled the group to a halt and they dismounted.
“This is where we leave ye,” he said to her, Deryn, Craig and Cian. “From here ye go on foot. The rest of us will be waiting under the tree cover but within reach of the gates.” He walked up to Maddy. He was a tall man, taller than Deryn, and she had to crane her head back to look up at him.
“God be with ye, Madeleine,” he said. “And if the Lord is smiling on us, I will see ye again soon inside Torryn Keep.”
She nodded and he turned away, bid farewell to the others, and remounted. With a shrill whistle, he took the rest of the warriors thundering off through the trees.
Maddy blew out a breath and wiped a shaky hand across her forehead.
“Follow me,” Cian Sutherland said.
He led the way on foot through the trees, angling downhill and roughly retracing the route that Maddy, Deryn and Rory had taken when they’d fled Torryn Keep all those weeks ago. Maddy walked in a daze, clinging tightly to Deryn’s hand, each step filling her with dread.
“Get down,” Cian said suddenly.
They crouched behind some straggly trees and Maddy peered out. There it was. Rising from the bottom of the valley was the place she’d hoped never to see again. Torryn Keep. To her eyes it looked like some great gray monster crouched and waiting. A monster that had swallowed her son.
She stared at the place, allowing anger to replace the fear. If Rodric MacKay thought those high walls and thick gates would keep her from her son, he had better think again.
