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Freya and Ella listened, glancing at one another, and shaking their heads.
“Even if it were true, what can we dae about it?” Freya demanded.
“Well… nothin’–nae on our own. But we have to convince Father of the truth. He can put a stop to the weddin’ and expose those villains,” Murdina said.
“And ye expect me to give up the happiness of my weddin’ day for one of yer hunches?” Freya asked.
Murdina faltered. She had no further way of convincing them. Freya’s mind was made up–they all believed Murdina to be the victim of Kin’s wickedness and her words the result of his manipulation. Murdoch and Iver had poisoned their minds, and now a knock came at the door, and Murdoch himself called out to them.
“Tis’ time now,” he said.
Murdina snatched the letters from Freya’s hand and hid them in her breeches. Ella had gone to answer the door, and Murdoch entered, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. He was dressed in the finery of his clan, a sword hanging at his side, and he swaggered towards Freya, ignoring Murdina and holding out his hand.
“Are ye to escort me?” Freya asked, and Murdoch nodded.
“Aye, the guests are waitin’–ye look very pretty,” he said, and now Freya took his arm, a smile playing across her face, caught up, it seemed, in the happiness of this false moment.
Murdina and Ella followed behind. There was nothing else for it. Murdina could do no more to convince them before a sudden thought occurred to her.
“Where are ye goin’ now, Murdina?” Ella asked as Murdina turned the opposite way to the bridal party.
“I am… goin’ to find Father,” she said, before hurrying off, not in the direction of her father’s chambers, but towards the dungeons.
* * *
Kin had passed a restless night. The rats were scurrying across the dungeon floor, eager for the crumbs which had fallen from the piece of stale bread the jailer had brought Kin for breakfast, and a thin shaft of light was coming from some distant recess above.
“Eat it and be grateful for it. If it were nae for the weddin’, ye would surely be hanged this day,” the jailer had said, throwing the bread to the floor.
Kin had been hungry, and now he sat awaiting whatever fate would be his. He was under no illusion that what the jailer had said was true. The gibbet awaited him, hanged by the very cause to which he swore loyalty, the cause which had turned against him at the whim of its own detractors. Kin had to admit it was a cunning plot and that Murdoch would even now be laughing at the thought of finally finishing the task he had begun when Kin’s family’s castle was burned to the ground.
“But how could I stay away? How could I not want revenge?” he asked himself before a sudden commotion startled him.
Voices–angry voices–were coming from the far end of the passageway, the jailer and… it was Murdina. Kin rushed to the cell door, calling out for her as he did so.
“Yer father will nae like it,” the jailer was saying.
“Let my father be damned–I will speak to the prisoner, and daenae try to stop me or ye shall find yerself on the end of my sword,” Murdina replied.
Footsteps now, and a moment later, Murdina appeared at the cell door, holding aloft a flaming torch, and smiling at Kin, who breathed a sigh of relief.
“I thought they might have locked you away,” he said, but she shook her head.
“They think I am mad, but they have nae locked me away, nae yet,” she said, still smiling.
“But what can we do? They will not believe us, and I am in here, supposedly having abducted you and bewitched you. They will hang me,” he said, but she shook her head.
“There is still hope. Give me yer ring,” she said, putting her hand up to the cell door.
Kin was surprised by her words. Since their capture, the ring was on his finger, but he had given little thought to it. He looked at her curiously, taking it off and handing it to her through the bars.
“But… I do not understand. What use is it?” he asked, and she smiled.
“Ye know what Gilroy told us. There are many loyal to the fellowship of the knot. This ring proves ye are who ye say ye are and that yer word is to be trusted. The weddin’ is takin’ place in but a short time and the castle is to be filled with my father’s guests. I can expose Iver and Murdoch for what they truly are, and I have the letters to prove it. When anyone in the know sees the ring, they will know I am tellin’ the truth,” she said, and Kin’s eyes grew wide.
Murdina was right. The ring would prove everything–at least to those in the know. If a member of the order were present, Kin was certain they would recognize the ring and perhaps even know the truth of what Murdina was saying, for coupled with the letters, which was all the proof they needed.
“You are right. I had not thought of it in such a way with my capture and all. Oh… Murdina, thank God,” he said, sighing and resting his head against the cell door.
