Page 39 of The Chieftain
He pulled on the door, but it was stuck. He jerked at it. Then he glanced about the cell. There were no pups here.
“Ilysa!” he shouted and pounded his fist on the door.
Relief flooded through him when he saw Ilysa’s head poke out from around the corner. She must have been waiting for him back by the ladder.
“The door’s stuck,” he said. “Ye may have to fetch some of the men to get me out.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, stepping out from behind the wall. “If you’d listened to me, I wouldn’t have to do this.”
“What in the hell are ye talking about?” he shouted. “Open this damned door at once!”
“I can’t do that.”
Connor’s stomach dropped. She could not be betraying him. Not Ilysa.
“I told ye I had a vision,” she said. “You were with your two uncles, and Hugh stabbed ye in the back. He murdered ye.”
Instead of betraying him, had she gone mad? She stood outside of the circle of light from his torch so he could not see her face clearly, but she sounded as though she was weeping.
“Open the door,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm. “Ye do have the key?”
“Can’t ye see that I couldn’t let ye meet your uncles?” she said. “I must protect ye.”
“You, protectme?” he said, anger surging through his veins. “I am your chieftain, and I command ye to release me.”
“Hugh was going to murder ye if ye went,” she said. “I saw it.”
“Ilysa!” he shouted.
“It won’t be for that long,” she said, brushing her skirts as if she were discussing a problem with the laundry. “Three days should be long enough for ye to miss the meeting, aye?”
She could not mean it.
“Ye have everything ye need down here. Plenty of candles and parchment,” she said. “I’ll bring ye food and fresh water every day.”
By the saints, she had planned this all out. “You even cleaned it, didn’t ye?”
He wanted to strangle her.
“If ye look under that cloth on the table, you’ll find one of those apple tarts you’re so fond of.”
“An apple tart?” he said, clenching his fists. “Christ, Ilysa, ye think an apple tart will appease me!”
“No need for blasphemy and shouting,” she said.
“I’m going to commit a far worse sin than blasphemy when I get out of here,” he shouted. “I’m going to murder ye! Now release me at once!”
CHAPTER 15
Ilysa listened to the men’s snores as she crept through the darkened hall on silent feet. Guiding herself with one hand on the wall, she descended the stairs into the undercroft. After she was in the storage room and closed the door, she lit the lamp she had left there.
I locked my chieftain in a cell.The magnitude of the act struck her as she lifted the board from the floor.
She took a deep breath and steeled herself for another round of angry shouting. Once Connor realized she was not going to relent and let him out no matter what he threatened, they were usually able to have a reasonable conversation. Ilysa meticulously reported all the goings-on in the castle so he would not be caught unaware of anything important when he returned.
But this time, there would be no conversation after the shouting. She was releasing him.
After three days of hearing him make violent threats against her person, Ilysa was a trifle uneasy. She did not believe Connor would actually murder her with his bare hands, as he had said so many times. Yet she did anticipate she would receive some sort of punishment.
