Eoghan’s face, a pale white moon, appeared above the grate, the only visible aspect against the darkening sky.Not even any stars for her to look at, as they were obscured by the drizzling clouds.
“We will come for ye in the morn, and ye can offer up your pathetic confession.Dinna expect much from us, ye pagan witch.”
Then he was gone.The crowd above mumbled and faded away to nothing.She was alone in the dripping pit.She dropped her head against the dirt side of the hole.
Oh, Da!I wish ye were here to help get me out of this!I’m sorry.All that training ye encouraged and paid for was all for nothing.
Jack Gordon would be so disappointed in his daughter.
Her hands scraped across the mucky walls as she sat up.The stench of waste and wet earth beat down on her, and she struggled to breathe.
The pounding of her heart filled her ears as she panted in unsteady breaths.Damp soil and the cold seeped through her thin clothes to her skin.They hadn’t removed the rope from her wrists, and the rough rope rubbed against her already raw, reddened wrists.
Do not panic.Do not panic.Do not panic,she commanded herself.
A panicked mind is a useless thing, Master Park had instructed in her former life.
Her only chance to get through this nightmare was if she kept a level head and maintained control.
The first thing she did was get a grip on her breathing – she’d hyperventilate otherwise.Ailith closed her eyes and began counting.One, two, three, four, five, six,breathing in, the same count breathing out.
Once her breathing no longer came in spastic pants, she focused on the rope tied around her wrists.That was her starting point – freeing her hands.The knot was tight, but if she twisted her hands the right way, she could finger the knot.If she worked it for a while, she might loosen it enough to slip her hand out.That would be something.
Keeping her eyes closed, she picked at the knot with her fingertips, but when she shifted, her cold knife at her thigh pressed into her skin.
My knife!
They hadn’t taken her knife.They hadn’t even searched her for it.
Fools.
Wiggling around to reach under her soiled skirts, she twisted and contorted her fingers until she reached her knife and pushed it from her stocking garter.She yanked off the sheath and slid the knife under the knot, sawing until the knotted rope sprang free from her aching wrists.
The minute anyone peered down into the pit, she’d try to stab them.That was a vow she could keep.
As she rubbed her sore wrists, she let her mind float back to her training with Master Park.Better to have focus and a plan than nothing.
Most people think a fight is all with their hands, or with weapons, but remember, Em, a fight begins, continues, and ends with the mind.If you can’t think, you shouldn’t fight.You will lose.
Thinking.Using her wits.Keeping her mind sharp.It would be what her father wanted and was her only hope of getting out of this pit and this accusation alive.
Despite her latest dream and Dream-Eladon’s dictate about picking her battles, Ailith knew that, when the time came, she would be clear-headed and ready to take up arms, no matter what.
She wasn’t going to let these deluded clansmen and women get her.
And she certainly wasnotgoing to die in a wet, muddy pit.
Nay, Ailith, promised herself.She would go down fighting.
Chapter Fifteen
BeaganMacIntoshhadfinishedhis business with his Grant kin and sat atop his horse, leaving the village, when the retinue of Grant men rode past him.He didn’t recognize them, but the woman horseback with her hands bound and crimson hair fighting against the light rain was unmistakable.
It was Ailith MacDougal, recently Ailith Gordon.Beagan had been to the Gordon tower at Glenbervie for fur trading often enough to recognize the bold, crimson lass.He paused, thinking to mind his own business as his wife had always cautioned him, but how the woman was bound and the furious expressions on the men’s faces gave him pause.
Something was amiss, and that did not bode well for the fiery, red-haired daughter of the Gordons.He could not leave the lass until he knew what was going on.
Where was her new MacDougal husband?
