Chapter Nine #3
Corisande smiled and all of the stress and concern Cole had experienced on his harried ride back to Castle Keld seemed to melt away.
“I am glad to see that you are safe,” she said as he took her elbow and turned her for the steps. “Have you been traveling all night?”
He nodded as he escorted her up the stairs. “All night,” he said. “We were in Otterburn when were told that a Scots army was moving south through the Kielder Pass. I knew we had to warn you but, evidently, we were too late.”
Corisande was watching her feet as they headed up the stairs, careful not to trip on her robe. “But you came,” she said softly. “That is all that matters. And I’m glad you’re back, Cole.”
He watched her lowered head. “May I tell you a secret?”
“Of course.”
“I came to warn your father and brothers, of course, but my main concern was you.”
Her head popped up, looking at him with surprise. “It was?”
His eyes glimmered warmly. “It was,” he said.
“It is. That is why I am going to make sure you and your sister and the women are locked up safely in this keep before I return to see what your father would have of me. If I did not know you were tucked away safely, I do not think I could go about my business properly.”
They paused at the top of the stairs, facing one another.
“That is a very sweet thing to say,” Corisande said, clearly touched.
But the warmth in her eyes faded. “Cole… if there is a battle, I am my father’s surgeon, so I cannot remain locked up in the keep.
I will need to move to the great hall so that I may tend the wounded. ”
He had a feeling she might say that and his first reaction was to insist that she retreat into the keep and remain there, but he knew he couldn’t. He had no right. In fact, he had no right at all to make any demands of her, but it was difficult to restrain himself.
Difficult, indeed.
Cole was a man who did everything wholeheartedly.
He never did anything only haphazardly, whether it was his profession or personal relationships.
He just didn’t have it in him not to give all of himself to something he was passionate about, which was difficult when navigating his fledgling feelings for Corisande. He didn’t want to overstep his bounds.
But he wanted to make sure she was completely safe.
“I understand,” he said, reaching out to discreetly take her hand in an electrifying gesture.
“If you will retreat into the keep for now, I will come for you if there are wounded and escort you to the hall personally. There really isn’t any reason for you to be out here at the moment, so it would be better if… ”
Shouts caught his attention. He couldn’t see what was happening because he was in an enclosed forebuilding, but he could hear men shouting.
Something was happening.
Still holding Corisande’s hand, he began pulling her back down the steps.
“Bolt these doors when I am gone,” he told her swiftly but calmly. “Then you will retreat into the keep and bolt every exterior door, every shutter. Do you understand?”
Corisande was trying very hard not to trip on her robe as she struggled to keep up with him. “Aye,” she said. “But if there are wounded…”
“If there are wounded, I will come for you,” Cole said. They had reached the forebuilding entry and he helped her shut the enormous oak and iron doors. “Bolt these!”
The doors slammed in his face and he could hear Corisande throwing the heavy bolts. Whirling around, he caught sight of men dashing to and fro. Now he was seeing the panic he hadn’t seen earlier. He could see Alastor running in his direction.
“My lord?” he shouted. “What is amiss?”
Alastor was breathless. “Damned Scots,” he said. “They wanted to seek shelter here for the night, but I turned them away. They’ve gone after the village.”
“They are trying to draw out your army so that you will open your gates.”
Alastor shook his head grimly. “I know,” he said. “But the village is vulnerable. I cannot deny them protection, Cole.”
Cole turned in the direction of the postern gate. It gave him an idea.
“Addax and I just came in through the postern gate,” he said. “I do not know if the Scots are even aware of it, but we can take a contingent out through the gate without opening the gatehouse. How many Scots are there?”
Alastor lifted a hand helplessly. “I could not tell in the darkness,” he said. “Hundreds, at least.”
“Then let us move a few hundred men through that postern gate immediately and protect the village,” he said. “I will go and so will Addax.”
Alastor put a grateful hand on his shoulder. “Thank you,” he said sincerely. “I will find Ares and send him and Atlas with you.”
Cole was already on the move, heading for the stables. “I will find Addax and meet them at the postern gate.”
Everyone was running for their respective destinations.
The Scots, spurned by Alastor’s refusal, had set their sights on the little village next to the castle.
It was an invitation for the men of The Keld, an invitation that was about to be decisively answered but not in the way the Scots had hoped.
The spawn of the darkest lord of all had been unleashed.