CHAPTER TWO #2
"But why do ye care?" Maeve demanded. She was speaking a bit more loudly now, sure that they were far out of earshot of the guards, wherever they were in this strange maze. "Ye never expressed any friendship tae me in all these years beyond a wee bit of kindness."
"Ye think Malcolm would have welcomed a young man around his bride, do ye?
If we'd have been seen in public together, there'd have been a scandal.
But I cared about ye from afar, Maeve. I did what I could tae make sure ye were safe and comfortable despite everythin'.
Ye remind me of… well, it doesnae matter now.
" Eoin sighed. "Just… ye must trust me."
"Whom do I remind ye of?" Maeve pressed. Suddenly, it seemed very important.
"Me sister. She died many years ago," Eoin said shortly. "Ye look a bit like her. That chestnut hair of yers, though her eyes were blue like mine rather than green like yers. I couldnae protect her, and so I've been protectin' ye."
Maeve didn't know how to feel about that, but it warmed her heart anyway.
She believed him. She wasn't used to having family taking care of her, and though it wasn't quite the same thing, in a strange, unspoken way, she and Eoin had been that to each other for some time without her even knowing.
She wondered how many times he'd saved her in little ways since the day she was married, and if she could ever repay him now that he was saving her in the ultimate way.
"I'm sorry about yer sister," she said after a moment. "And thank ye."
Eoin said, "Dinnae thank me yet."
A sudden cold blast of air told Maeve that the next tunnel they'd turn into led to the outside, and sure enough, a moment later, they stepped out into the night air.
A small figure stood there holding a hooded lantern — Ann, who wrapped a cloak around Maeve's shoulders quickly.
"Ye didnae face any trouble, did ye?" she asked.
Eoin let go of Maeve's hand at last and shook his head. "It was quiet. The wine worked; those useless guards are fast asleep and me father doesnae suspect a thing. I'd better get back before things get rowdy, though. They'll notice soon enough."
Maeve found it so strange the way that Ann and Eoin were talking to each other — like two people who knew each other well, not a rich man and a maid — but before she could even ask, Eoin turned to her.
"This is as far as I can take ye," he said. "Stick with Ann. She'll get ye somewhere safe."
Maeve impulsively threw her arms around him in a hug, and a moment later, he hugged her back. "Thank ye for savin' me," she whispered in his ear. "I'll never forget ye. I cannae believe it's over."
"Nothin's over," Eoin said. "It's only just beginnin'. Be safe, Maeve."
He kissed her cheek and turned to go back inside, but she called him back one more time. "Eoin?"
"Aye?"
"What was yer sister's name?" she asked.
Eoin blinked in surprise, then gave her a searching look before replying, "Her name was Mary. She'd have liked ye."
Then he was gone, vanished into the tunnels, maybe forever.
Ann touched Maeve's arm. "Come. We cannae wait much longer; we have tae get goin' before anyone notices ye're gone. I'll explain on the way."
Two small mares awaited them not far away, and the two of them were mounted and riding away from Darach Castle before Maeve even fully understood what was happening.
They rode in silence for a little while at top speed, and only when the castle and the surrounding population was far out of sight did Ann signal that they could slow down a little.
Now, they rode side by side through the night, Ann controlling the direction, and at last, Maeve could ask. "Well?"
Ann took a moment before she answered. "Ye may have guessed this, Maeve, but I'm more than just a maid.
Laughing a little in an incredulous way, Maeve said, "I'd figured that part out for meself. Who are ye, then? Why are ye workin' at the castle, and what's yer interest in me?"
"Me interest in ye is that I like ye," Ann said simply. "Ye're a nice lass and a good friend. As for why I'm in the castle, it's a little more complicated."
Maeve waited, not speaking. Their mares paused to drink from a river, and only after they started to move again did Ann continue.
"I'm part of a network. We're kent as the White Sparrows," Ann explained. "Our leader… well, ye'll find out about her in due time, I guess. Morag's story is not mine tae tell. But we're undercover operatives, most but not all of us women, and we have one main purpose in our lives."
"And that is?"
There was fire and conviction in Ann's voice as she said, "Tae overthrow the False King.
That's why I was in Darach Castle. Everyone kens that Malcolm and his ilk are traitors and loyalists tae that…
that… man who dares sit upon our throne.
I was there tae gather information tae eventually overthrow that terrible man. "
Maeve's mind was racing. "So…did ye do it, then?"
"Kill him?" Ann asked. "No, I didnae, and none of me people did either. We are spies and rebels; we only kill if we have tae, and never in so cowardly a way as tae slit a man's throat while he sleeps."
Quietly, Maeve asked, "Have ye killed before?"
Ann didn't answer. Instead, she said, "We do what we must. Dinnae ye wonder, though, about who really killed Malcolm Darach?"
"I dinnae understand who could have," Maeve said slowly. "In his own bed, as ye say, well, I suspected a lover, but…"
"Ye suspected correctly. His lover killed him in order tae take power." Ann replied. She eyed Maeve. "Kyle Darach, Eoin's father, is the one who murdered yer husband and framed ye for it. It's one of the reasons Eoin kent he needed tae act quickly."
Shock flooded Maeve. "Kyle did it?" she asked. Like the other Darachs, Kyle was a cruel man, so it wasn't so surprising, but… "And the two were…?"
"Does that shock ye?" Ann asked.
Maeve thought about it. "I suppose… I suppose I suspected as much about Malcolm," she admitted. "But Kyle…"
"Kyle is an opportunist," Ann said darkly. "Malcolm was a cruel chieftain, but Kyle will be significantly worse. He's an evil man who'll take advantage of anyone if it serves his purposes, and I worry that things will only grow darker with him in charge."
Maeve had known one more man who had preferred the company of other men, a gentle cook in her father's home.
He'd been so nice and kind that everyone pretended not to know his open secret, but it seemed that, just like everything else, there was good and evil on all sides.
"I see," she said quietly. "I suppose the world is much wider than I'd ever known. "
"And now maybe ye'll get tae experience it. Ye've always deserved tae do so," Ann told her. "Ye can do anythin' ye want. I'm gonnae take ye somewhere safe, but it's up tae ye where that is."
Maeve swallowed. "What are me choices?" she asked.
"Ye can join me and return tae our base. Ye can become a Sparrow," Ann told her. "Or I can take ye somewhere else so ye can live life however ye want tae. It's up tae ye. What do ye want to do?"
It was the first time in her life that Maeve had ever been asked that question. Now all she had to do was find the answer.