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‘What kind of question is that? Of course, I care. I would be dead of starvation by now if it weren’t for you. I think your kindness is all that keeps me going. It’s a debt I’ll repay a thousand times over if I ever leave this place.’
She grabbed the bars and pressed her face between them. ‘Perhaps there is a way we can both leave this place. If I am taken away, you will die here, Conall, I know it. There is no talk of a ransom, and they have no intention of releasing you. When my father has had his fill of making you suffer, they will simply make this cell your tomb.’
‘I know that. I’ve known it for some time, Kenna, and you don’t need to have that on your conscience.’ He took her hand in his. ‘You have done what you could for me.’
She broke into desperate sobbing at his words, her chest heaving. She seemed distraught, which was a shock, as she had always been so strong until now, prickly even. He had never seen this vulnerable side of Kenna in her visits to him, and he began to wonder just how very bad Donald Menzies must be if the thought of him reduced her to this state.
‘Conall, that mean guard, Euan...’
‘What of him?’
‘Well, he watches me all the time in a way that shames me, makes me feel as though spiders are crawling all over my skin.’
‘I know what that look means, so you must stay away from him, Kenna.’
‘No, I will encourage him, lead him on, and when he takes the bait, I will ask him to take me to see the prisoner, you that is. I know of some herbs that make you sleepy. If I can get him to drink some wine with them in and he gets drowsy, then I can get the keys from his belt and set you free.’
‘You’ll do no such thing, not on my account.’
‘But you have to get away from here.’
‘I am doomed. There is no way out of here for me, especially since that is the worst plan I have ever heard in my life.’
‘Why?’
‘You don’t know much about men’s desires, do you? Once Euan’s lust is up, do you think he won’t take you just because he is a bit sleepy? How will you know the sleeping potion will work? He is a big man. It may not even affect him? And how would we get out of the castle?’
‘I don’t know, but we must do something.’
‘If they catch you....’
‘My father will strangle me with his own hands. It will be the excuse he has been looking for all these years since I killed my mother.’
‘So just go, Kenna. Go as soon as may be. Slip away from the castle and head for Dunslair. If you tell my family you have been a friend to me, then they will give you sanctuary.’
‘Why would a bunch of strangers believe me?’
‘Tell them something, oh that’s it. My brother, Jasper, he has a piece of his ear missing, here at the top. I cut it off by accident when we were younger, playing at sword fighting.’
‘How?’
‘I had a real sword. He didn’t. Got a good thrashing for that, I can tell you. But the point is, not many people know that, so you will be believed.’
Conall stared at Kenna as if seeing her for the first and last time. Such bravery she had, such risks she was prepared to take on his account. How could she not be broken by her awful family and the meagre glimpse of life they had given her? Instead, her misery had made her resilient and defiant. Surprisingly, she had retained her beauty inside and out. Yes, he realised with a flush of emotion, Kenna had a beautiful soul. Somehow in this terrible, desperate place, she had made her spirit shine, and it was like finding gold inside a dung heap, unexpected, delightful, but also something more he had to lose besides his life.
‘Don’t worry,’ she said, ‘I will sneak down tomorrow with more food.’
‘It’s company I crave, not food. I need you, Kenna,’ he snapped.
‘I have to go, or they’ll….’
‘No.’ Conall’s arm shot out and imprisoned her wrist, his fingers like hard, icy bands. She gently prised them away and then took his hand between hers and rubbed it hard to warm it, bringing it to her mouth and blowing her warm breath over it. Conall smiled and held out the other.
‘What’s wrong with your finger?’ he said, feeling the awkward bend in the first finger of her right hand.
‘My father broke it in a rage when I was young. It didn’t heal straight.’
‘Why was he in a rage?’
