Chapter 13 #2
The men marched up the stairs and closed the door behind her.
As soon as Elspeth could be sure that they gone, she pulled the hood away and cast it to the floor.
Her arms and legs were bruised from the rough manner in which they had treated her, The cellar was small, and only a sliver of light slipped in through cracks.
There was a table to one side of the room and empty shelves at the far end, but other than that it was empty.
She crawled around and pushed against every wall to try and find a way out, but there was none.
She crept up the stairs and pressed her hands against the door, but it was locked.
She was at the mercy of these men, and had no idea what was going to happen when they returned.
She doubted Angus was going to let her go even if she told him what he wanted to know.
He wouldn’t be able to risk her returning to the castle and warning Finlay of his plan.
And what would Finlay think when she didn’t return to the castle?
Would he even consider the possibility that she had been kidnapped, or would he just assume that she had left him?
Despite the feelings they shared, she knew that his mind was fragile and prone to paranoid thinking.
He might not even know to come looking for her.
Elspeth wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the door creaked open, and Angus appeared again.
All she knew was that she was tired, and her stomach griped with hunger.
Her throat was dry, as though dust had been poured down her mouth.
Angus looked like the devil himself as he descended the stairs.
Now that she no longer had the hood obscuring her vision, she saw the knife he wielded.
It was jagged and sharp, like the man himself.
The look in his eyes was grim, and her stomach swam with nausea when he approached.
He closed the door behind him without anyone else coming in, and her eyes widened in fear.
He seemed to sense that this concerned her.
“We dinnae hae tae worry about anyone else getting in the way of our conversation. The others are waiting upstairs. This can be quick, or this can be long. It all depends on how much time ye want tae spend with me.”
He walked slowly down the stairs, each step bringing with it a portent of doom. Elspeth cowered against the wall, making herself as small as possible. He towered above her and played with the knife, twisting it between his hands. The blade seemed to whisper to her.
“Dae ye promise tae let me gae afterwards?”
“If ye tell me all I want tae know. And if ye are thinking about telling anyone about this, just remember that it will seal yer doom. I know ye must think I am a cruel man, but I truly am nae. I just want a better life and get the respect I’m due.
I hae nay plans tae harm anyone apart from the laird, but if ye betray me, then I’ll hunt ye down myself and make sure ye dinnae leave the castle.
” The threat made Elspeth gulp. “Now then, lass, tell me everything ye know about the castle.” Angus twisted the knife, pressing the point against his thumb.
Elspeth knew it was not an empty threat.
Angus was a man filled with anger, and he was just itching for an excuse to let any of it out, even on an easy target like her.
She hated it, but she knew she had no choice other than to tell him what he wanted.
She hated the thought of betraying Finlay, but she thought it was the only way she could save herself.
As she started speaking, the fear was overwhelming.
She stumbled over her words as she told Angus the layout of the castle as best she could.
Her gaze continued to drift towards the knife.
Angus’s questions punched the air, and he grew angry when she didn’t answer as quickly or as accurately as he wanted.
This only made her more nervous, and she was shaking.
The questions kept coming, and they slowly turned from the castle to the laird himself.
At one point, Angus stopped and looked at her askance, tilting his head and furrowing his brow.
“Ye know, for a maid, ye seem tae know an awful lot about the laird. From everything I know about him, I wouldnae hae thought he haes the same interests as other men. Perhaps ye mean more tae him than I thought.” He stroked his chin.
“I tried tae tell ye that he’s nae as ye think,” Elspeth said, hoping for a glimmer of compassion, but that hope was snuffed out as quickly as a flame.
“Ye may think that, but when ye hae lived under his rule for as long as I hae, ye will see things differently. There is nay room in his heart for anyone other than himself.”
“That’s nae true,” she said desperately, but there was no convincing Angus.
He was about to ask her something else when there was a commotion upstairs.
Angus turned around and marched towards the door.
When he was halfway up, he heard a yell and cursed.
He bounded down the stairs and lunged towards Elspeth.
The door to the cellar was flung open. A shadowy figure stood at the top of the stairs, and a familiar voice called her name.
It was only an echo in her mind though, as in her efforts to avoid Angus’s attack she flung herself against the wall with such intense fear that the impact was enough to render her unconscious.