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Chapter 6
Alastair rode toward the castle, meaning to free the other clan members. Then he realized that in his condition, he would never be able to do it alone. Instead, he turned and headed through the woods in a hurry, making his way toward the border. After a short while, he heard a twig snap from up ahead and slowed his horse. This was the spot where he’d instructed the rest of his clan to go. He only hoped they were still in the woods and not already heading back to the Highlands without him.
“Clan MacPherson, it is yer chieftain, Alastair,” he called out, taking the chance that they were hiding nearby. As he suspected, one by one, his clan emerged from the thicket.
“My laird, ye are alive,” shouted Niven, running toward him, followed by more men on foot and others on horseback. “We thought we’d lost ye in the battle, but couldna find yer body.”
“Nay, I’m alive but a little worse for wear. What is the death toll of our clan?” he asked.
“We lost six men,” announced Earc, one of the members who had never wavered from following Alastair’s instructions.
“Aye,” added Fearchar, another of his most loyal warriors. “We buried them in the woods and kept lookin’ for ye. One of the men said he saw ye struck down, but that ye werena taken prisoner.”
“How many do we figure have been captured?” asked Alastair from atop his horse.
“Five men were captured,” Niven told him. “But it was only Brohain, Rhodric, and their friends.”
“Shall we head back to Scotland now?” asked Earc. “We’ve heard that King Richard’s army is already headin’ up the border toward Edinburgh, ransackin’ everythin’ along the way.”
“Nay. We need every man we can get,” said Alastair. “We will no’ leave before we’ve rescued the rest of our clan from the dungeon of Castle Rothbury.”
“But it was Brohain’s fault we are in this position to begin with,” complained Fearchar. “I say we leave them there to rot where they belong.”
“Enough!” Alastair held his side. The stitches had loosened, and his wound was bleeding again. “We will rescue them just as I would instruct them to do if any of ye were prisoners.”
“But my laird, our liaison has told us the English are already pillagin’ and burnin’ our homeland,” Earc explained.
“Then we’ll have to move faster.” Alastair turned his horse. It felt good to have his steed beneath him once again. “Hopefully, the castle willna be as well guarded if Lord Rothbury and his men have left to fight at their king’s side.”
“Even still, how are we goin’ to get into the castle to set them free?” asked Niven.
Alastair opened his pouch, taking out Fia’s bracelet, running his fingers over it in thought. “I have an idea.” Fia had told him that she and the other girls would sneak out of the castle to meet Imanie in the secret garden. If there was a secret way out of the castle, then there was a way in as well. “If all goes as planned, we’ll be able to walk right in, save the others, and leave before anyone even kens we are there.”
* * *
Fia,her sister, and her cousins watched as Lord Beaufort and his men once again prepared to leave the next morning to fight for the king. Now that the Scots were their prisoners, the soldiers and knights planned to join the other English troops in following King Richard into Scotland. Fia guessed they were keeping the Highland prisoners to use in a trade should any of the English be captured during the battle.
“I dinna like it.” Fia crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “They are goin’ to fight against my homeland. My family could be in danger.”
“Fia, don’t worry,” Maira told her. “Your father won’t let anything happen to your mother and siblings.”
“I miss bonnie Scotland, mathair, faither, and our brathairs,” Morag told Fia. “I am worried about them, too.”
Fia reached out and took Morag’s hand. “So am I, Morag. So am I.”
As soon as the troops left, a peasant boy came through the gates. He was young and bedraggled. He stopped some of the guards that had been left back to watch the castle, but they only growled and pushed him aside.
“I wonder who that is and what he wants,” said Willow.
“I’m goin’ to find out.” Fia hurried across the courtyard to meet the boy.
“My lady,” said the boy. “I am lookin’ for someone named Lady Fia.”
“That’s me,” she said in surprise. “Why are ye lookin’ for me?”
“I was told to give this to ye and that ye shouldna tell anyone about it. It is a secret.” He handed an item wrapped up in a piece of plaid that looked just like that of the MacPherson Clan.
“Who gave this to ye?” She noticed a drop of blood on the plaid as well.
