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Still nothing. Conall’s face was cold as Euan’s hands fell away and his legs stopped kicking. Finally, after what seemed like an age and with not one word to her, Conall let go of his grip, and Euan slid softly downwards, the only sound the jangle of keys on his belt as his body hit the floor.
‘You killed him. Oh God, you killed him.’ Kenna felt sick.
Conall turned raging eyes to her. ‘What do you think he would have done to you if I hadn’t, down here, with no one to hear you scream for help? Now, are you going to open this cage or not?’
Kenna had a moment’s pause. How did he have the strength to do that awful thing after weeks in a dungeon? If she let him out now would he kill her too, a hated Moncur? He had been friendly, shared confidences with her, thrown out compliments to make her trust him. Conall had set himself up as her friend and admirer. She had let him put his mouth on her. But what if it was all an act, and the minute this man had his freedom, he turned on her and strangled her too?
She’d never seen a man actually killed in front of her before, though others had died at Sgathach Dun at her brother’s hands. She knew that well enough. This time she was the cause of the violence. She had helped Conall kill a man. She felt weak and cold and thought she might vomit.
Conall saw her hesitation, and his face hardened, the expression turning cold with anger. Kenna took a deep breath, and then, whimpering, she searched Euan’s pockets for the keys. She took another breath, and then opened the lock and quickly stepped right back.
Conall barged out, grabbing her hand in a vice-like grip, almost crushing her fingers and looked at her with narrowed eyes, wild eyes. Towering over her and uncaged, he seemed twice as big and a hundred times more intimidating. Then he spoke, with iron in his voice.
‘Took your time, didn’t you.’
‘Conall I …I….’
‘How many guards on the gate? Answer me...quickly.’
‘Two, I think, usually, there are two.’
‘Youthink. You have to be sure, Kenna. Get a grip on yourself. We’ve no time for this now.’
‘Two, it’s definitely two. Everyone else is drunk in the hall.’ He frowned, and she continued. ‘Donald Menzies has come. They were all celebrating. My marriage was to take place tomorrow.’
‘And when were you going to tell me?’
Conall flung her arm away and turned back to Euan’s body sprawled on the floor. He grabbed something from it. When he stood up, he had a cosh in his hand.
Kenna staggered back and came up against the cold wall. Would it be now? Would he just smash her head in and be done with it?
He must have seen her fear on her face, for he snarled, ‘This is for the guards if we can’t slip past them.’
‘I…I thought…’
‘I know what you thought, Kenna. Now I’m getting out of here, or I’ll die trying. Are you coming with me or not?’
She hesitated for just a moment and then nodded, knowing she was placing her life in his hands.
‘Good, let’s go.’
He grabbed the candle, took her roughly by the arm and pushed her up the steps ahead of him.
***
Luck was on their side, and they got out of the dungeon without meeting anyone on the steps, but out in the shadows of the yard, Kenna suddenly let go of his hand. Conall’s heart sank. Was she going into shock? Was she frightened of him after what he had done? Was she not coming with him? Or worse, was she going to scream and raise the castle so that the Moncurs could drag him back down into the dark? If that was the case, there was nothing he could do, for there was no way in the world he was going to hurt her. He had seen her fear of him, and it had cut him to the quick.
‘I have to go and get something from my chamber,’ she whispered.
‘No, it’s too risky. You may be seen.’
‘I managed to slip down to you unseen many times, didn’t I? I am going whether you like it or not, so you can either wait here out of sight, or you can come with me. But I will be quicker and draw less attention if I go alone. I will be back as soon as can be, I promise.’
Once she had gone, Conall waited, nerves screaming from listening for any kind of sound that might indicate she had given him away. He was placing his life in Kenna’s hands by trusting her to come back and he didn’t like it one bit.
Conall didn’t even hear Kenna come up behind him, but suddenly she was there, tossing him a plaid and some boots, which he hurriedly pulled on and then grabbing his hand and dragging him along towards the main gates of Sgathach Dun. There were no guards to be seen, though the gate was barred with a heavy beam. Gregor Moncur was too lazy to keep his men in line, and they had obviously sloped off for the night somewhere warm. If his father’s men did that, they would be flogged for disobedience and dereliction of duty.
The beam barring the doors was heavy to lift, but Kenna was stronger than she looked, and with some effort, they lifted it together and opened the huge gate enough to squeeze through.
