Chapter 16
Though Pelna’s prediction about her lack of appetite had proven correct, she found she was able to get to sleep quite easily after all she’d been through.
Her entire body felt more exhausted and depleted than she could ever remember before.
She didn’t even bother to undress; she simply went to the bed and collapsed, asleep before her head even hit the pillow.
The daylight streaming through the windows of her room didn’t interrupt her slumber in the slightest, despite the fact that she had neglected to close the curtains.
Although her sleep was deep, it came to an abrupt and alarming end when she was awakened by panicked screaming outside, “Fire! Fire in the village!”
She sat bolt upright. For the briefest of moments, she thought she might still be asleep and that this was some terrible nightmare. Then she smelled the smoke coming in through the window and knew that this was no dream.
Pelna looked out the window and saw thick columns of smoke billowing up from the village outside the walls of the keep. Her heart leaped into her throat, and she hurried down the steps and out of the keep.
Daric was no doubt lying on the floor of some tavern, still passed out from the night before.
Stefan was standing in the middle of the courtyard, doing his best to direct the soldiers toward the blaze, but he was a fighter and killer, and so he seemed utterly lost when it came to giving orders about how to put out the flames.
If Laird Cameron hadn’t been so infirm, he would have led the firefighting efforts.
Which left Pelna to do what needed to be done.
She leaped into action, giving specific instructions to the cadre of soldiers who rushed toward the village.
She directed some of them to begin drawing water from the nearest wells and to form a line as they did so in order to hand off the full buckets and hand back the empty ones to be refilled.
Meanwhile, she told several others to soak the heavy blankets in the stables, which were normally used to keep the horses warm on cold nights, and to drape them over themselves so that they could run into the houses and huts and save anyone who might be trapped inside.
She had a third group gather soil to toss on the flames in order to extinguish them.
All of these men did as they were told without a moment’s hesitation. It was a massive and complicated effort, but thanks to Pelna’s quick thinking and quicker action, the flames slowly began to subside.
With all of the people running around her noisily, and all the commotion distracting the soldiers, it was easy enough for the hooded man to approach her from behind.
Even the fact that his face was covered did not draw nearly as much attention as it might have otherwise since it seemed as though nearly everyone involved in the firefighting effort had at least part of their faces covered to minimize their inhalation of smoke and ash.
So, unfortunately, the hooded man was able to surprise her easily, clapping a hand over her mouth and dragging her backward.
Even though she was taken entirely by surprise, Pelna struggled mightily against the man’s grip.
However, his arm around her was like an iron vise, and no matter how she tried to escape his clutches, he just kept pulling her until, with mounting alarm, she saw that he was making his way toward one of the huts near the edge of the village.
Pelna’s eyes bulged and darted around, hoping that someone would notice what was happening to her. But the smoke was so thick and dark that it provided cover, plus there were many people being dragged here and there as they were pulled from burning structures—some conscious, some not.
She looked down at the man’s boots and decided to make one bold try at escape while she still had the chance. She drove her foot down into the arch of his as hard as she could, hoping to snap a bone there and thus free herself.
Sure enough, she felt something break, and her captor let out a grunt of pain, but his grip on her did not weaken. If anything, it seemed to tighten all the more until she felt she couldn’t breathe.
“Do that again,” he whispered harshly, continuing to drag her toward the hut, “and I’ll break yer damn neck!”
Now he was hobbling and moving with a bit more difficulty than before. She wished she could take some comfort in that, but it seemed her attacker would do as he pleased with her regardless.
What would that be, though? What was this all about, and what did he want with her?
He pulled her into the hut and shut the door with his foot, hissing with agony due to his injury.
Now he released her mouth in order to grab her around the midsection with both hands, and she shrieked at the top of her lungs.
But even as she did it, she knew that there was little to no chance of anyone hearing her, with all the yelling and commotion outside.
The man tried to force her down into a chair, and she resisted ferociously, clawing and kicking at him.
His eyes blazed with hatred from the holes cut into the hood, and he delivered a vicious punch to her midsection, knocking all the wind out of her.
She doubled over, and he shoved her into the chair.
Lights danced and twirled in front of Pelna’s eyes, and she blinked, trying to clear them.
Her stomach was lurching and throbbing from the blow, and she felt as though she might be sick.
Before she knew what was happening to her, coils of rope were being wrapped and tightened around her, securing her to the chair.
“Who are ye?” she demanded. “Why are ye doing this?”
The hooded figure did not answer.
Instead, he produced tinder, struck it, touched it to the wall of the hut…and limped away, slamming the door behind him.
The hut caught fire quickly. The flames fanned out across the wooden walls, spreading up to the thatched roof and sending cinders down on Pelna’s head.
She continued to scream for help as loudly as she could, but the roar of the fire drowned her out, and black smoke gathered rapidly in the small space.
Pelna began to cough and choke. She tried to think of a way out of this predicament, but her thoughts were a jumble of panic and fright.
She tested her strength against the ropes, but to no avail; they were knotted around her far too tightly to even budge when she flexed against them. Her eyes stung and watered, and hot tears streamed down her cheeks. She took in a breath to cry out again but ended up gagging on the smoke instead.
Is this how it all ends fer me? she wondered. She’d never had any reason to imagine what it might be like to burn to death before, but now that the flames were licking and snapping in her direction like the jaws of some hungry animal, she imagined the agony of her own flesh searing and charring.
Would the smoke inhalation cause her to lose consciousness first? If so, she reckoned that would be a mercy, at least.
There was one final desperate gambit she supposed she could try.
The man had secured her arms to her sides when he’d tied her up, but he had left her legs unbound. If she could simply raise herself up…if she could gather the strength to bring the chair down hard enough…might she be able to break it and free herself?
It was her final option, so she saw no choice.
She planted her feet on the ground and carefully leaned forward so she wouldn’t lose her balance in the attempt. Once she was in an awkward standing-but-sitting position, she summoned all her might and drove the chair against the floor.
The legs of the chair dug deep divots in the hard-packed dirt floor but remained intact.
Again! she urged herself. Harder!
Pelna brought the chair down again, but it still held together firmly.
What if I were tae smash the chair against the wall behind me? she thought.
She mustered all the effort she could, lifted herself onto her feet again, and slammed herself back against the wall.
The flames hadn’t spread there yet, but sadly, she wasn’t able to drive the chair against it hard enough.
The smoke was overtaking her, her face felt full and throbbing with blood, and black roses bloomed and died before her eyes.
She was trapped. There was no escape.
All that was left for her to do was die…and lament the fact that she wouldn’t be able to see Gareth one last time.