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Chapter Twelve – Freya

I could not say how long I sat on my bed, alternately fuming and worrying, but I was shocked when a knock came at my door, followed by, “Freya, ’tis Katherine and Vanora. We’ve come to fetch ye for supper.”

I glared at the door. I’d rather eat poison than break bread with Laird MacDonald. Whatever generosity I’d felt toward him for attempting to stop Donald from hitting me the day of Samhain and then for rescuing me from Laird Buchanan, was now lost to the heat of my vexation that he was attempting to force me to wed him.

“I’m nae hungry,” I bellowed.

“Hungry or nae,” Katherine said, “Colin says ye’re to come to supper to meet the clan, unless ye are feeling too weary still.”

I grinned at those words and the idea they gave me.

I quickly raced to the fireplace, stuck my face as close as I could stand for a moment, then scrambled to the bed and under the covers. I pulled the covers up to my chin, hoping to appear as if I hadn’t moved a muscle since Laird Annoying had left me here. “Enter,” I called out, making sure to now weaken my voice.

The door swung open, and Katherine and Vanora entered. “I do nae feel well still,” I said, adding a little cough for good measure.

A look of alarm settled on Vanora’s face as she rushed to me that made me feel guilty for causing her concern, but the temporary uneasiness she felt would be worth our escaping. Katherine, however, approached me with a clear look of skepticism, but as she got near, I could see her taking my appearance in, and her skeptical look changed to worry. “Ye’re flushed.”

I nodded and sighed. I’d had a lot of practice feigning illness to avoid Yennifer trying to make me sit and do needlework. It took more patience to sit that long that I cared to use. “I feel warm.”

Vanora put her palm on my forehead. “Oh, she’s hot!”

Katherine was next to put a palm to my skin, and she clucked her tongue. “I’ll just go down and tell Colin that ye’re ill, and then I’ll come back up to sit with ye.”

“That will nae be necessary,” I told her. “Vanora will stay with me. I think I just need more time abed.”

“Ye’re certain?” Katherine asked, nibbling on her lip.

I nodded. “Aye. Vanora can entertain me by telling me about the stronghold, our new home.” The last line made me want to toss my accounts—if there had been any in my stomach to toss. But the lie was a necessary one to make it appear as if I was accepting of my fate. I was not! I would go down fighting until the last breath! I looked to Vanora. “Have ye seen much of the stronghold grounds?”

“Oh, aye!” she said, her enthusiasm obvious and disturbing. Did she not understand these people would use her to get what they wanted? She likely expected it, as I did, but I refused to simply accept it, and I would show her not to accept it either. “I’ve been all over the stronghold as well as down to the lovely loch by way of the seagate stairs.”

I had to bite my cheek not to grin. One thing about Vanora—well, two—She would never make a good spy, because she could not keep a secret, and she could be counted on to give way more detail than what I had asked for, which is why I had asked that question. She’d told me, without alerting Katherine, what I needed to know. Vanora had been outside. To the loch. That was excellent because she could lead us to freedom, whereas currently, I could lead us nowhere.

“I’ll send up something to eat,” Katherine said.

“That will nae be necessary,” I replied, thinking fast what I could say. I almost felt a tad bad about myself for how quickly a lie came to me. I would have called myself a very truthful person before my Samhain outing. Now, I seemed to be bending the truth quite frequently, though to be fair to myself, circumstances had forced this less than honorable behavior upon me.

“But I’m hungry!” Vanora protested.

“Well, ’tis a tradition in our clan for the women to fast the night before a wedding.”

Vanora frowned. “I do nae recall—”

“Ye are too young to remember the last time we fasted,” I tossed out, cutting Vanora off. She was really not picking up on any hints I felt I was giving her. “And anyway, ye were nae required to fast, because ye were under the appropriate age, which is ten summers.” My, I was a full out liar now. I really would need to correct that when all of this was over.

“Who was wed?” Vanora asked, making me want to throttle her.

“Auntie Theodora,” I said, conjuring up the name I’d not thought upon in years.

“Ye’re certain?” Katherine asked.

I nodded, my heart quickening in anticipation of escaping. Katherine gave a nod and made her way to the chamber door. As soon as I heard it click, I looked to Vanora. “Do ye recall the way to the water?”

“Aye, why?”

“Because we are going to escape this place,” I said, kicking my coverlet back and rising.

“What?” she gasped behind me as I made my way to the bedchamber door. “I like it here!”

I swung toward her and scowled. “Do ye have any notion how strange that is to like yer captors?”

“I do nae care,” Vanora said, jutting out her chin and crossing her arms over her chest. “Katherine is teaching me to be a healer, and Connor—”

“Who?” I demanded.

“Laird MacDonald’s brother. He’s teaching me the bow and arrow, and I wish to wed him.”

I rolled my eyes at that bit of ridiculousness. After I ensured the passageway was clear, I faced Vanora once more. “Ye are coming with me.”

“Why?” she demanded. “I do nae want to go home and eventually be bargained away by da as ye have been. I’ve found the man I’m going to wed.”

“Ye are a child! A mere thirteen summers!”

“I will nae always be thirteen summers. And I’m staying near Connor to ensure he does nae wed another.”

“Vanora!” I snapped. “Ye are being ridiculous. Ye have kenned him all of a few days! Ye are coming with me!” I grabbed her wrists and froze as images hit me. Vanora older and standing in front of a priest facing Connor. Their hands were bound, and she was grinning. Her love was obvious in her eyes. I increased my grip on her wrists, despite her protesting and trying to tug her arm away. Each beat of my heart thumped in my ears. The swish of my blood through my veins joined the thump. I willed the vision to show me more .

Sweat trickled down my forehead, rolled along my scalp, and beaded above my lip. Dizzy and queasy, the room around me faded, blurred. Vanora’s protest drifted away like a puff of smoke, and I found myself transported to their wedding, looking down upon them. I willed the scene to solidify, to form. To come into sharp relief. Who was there? What was there? Woods surrounded the clearing, tall pine trees with branches like steeples and trunks like pillars. Their shadows crisscrossed over the forest floor like a mosaic of darkness and light. Vanora wore a dagger upon her hip, its hilt glittering like a jewel in the sun. Connor had two swords sheathed crosswise on his back, hilts over his shoulders, blades waiting in readiness. Guests stood in a wide circle around them, silent witnesses. Some held elegant weapons, swords and daggers. Others carried simple bows and spears; their rough leather armor stained from battles past. All were armed, all wore gray, and all watched expectantly. The wind swept through, and the treetops swayed, rustling as though breathing. I willed the scene to move faster, to progress to its conclusion. I willed it to live and breathe and dance before my eyes. Instead, it began to waver and blur, to diffuse into nothing.

“Let me go!” Vanora demanded, smacking me in the arm with her free hand and breaking my vision.

I stood panting, still gripping her wrist as my gaze met Vanora’s. “I had a vision,” I whispered.

Vanora gasped. “Of me?”

“Aye,” I admitted, hoping I’d not live to regret admitting this to her. “Ye must keep this to yerself.”

“I will!” she replied with a vehemence that made me hopeful she meant it, still, I knew my chatty sister.

I grasped her tight as my heart raced. “I mean it! Swear it to me! Swear it on yer life! ”

“I swear it!” she said. “What did ye see for me?”

I didn’t want to tell her, because I knew it would only make her less inclined to come with me. Could I keep it to myself? I sat there, testing if it would simply slip out. I’d learned I could not lie about my visions, but what if I simply never uttered them aloud? I counted to ten. Then twenty. Then all the way to one hundred. I could keep the visions in by not uttering what I’d seen.

“Ye promised ye’d tell me!” Vanora whined.

“Ye will wed him eventually,” I said. “When ye are older. A woman.”

“I’ll wed him!” Vanora said, her excitement palpable.

I nodded. “Unless something changes. Unless I’ve changed the future by telling ye.”

A wary look settled upon her face. “I need to stay,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“If ye refuse to come with me, I will have to stay. And if I stay, I will have to wed Laird MacDonald. I do nae wish to wed again. Ever. But if I do nae wed him, he said he will wed ye to his brother.”

Vanora grinned like the senseless lass she was. “I want to wed him.”

“Aye. I ken ye think ye are in love after a few days of kenning the man, but he is a man. Ye are a child. He does nae love ye. And ye are infatuated with him. My vision is for ye as a grown woman. That means yer love will take time to grow. I will nae be the reason ye are wed as a child, but if ye stay, ye will be the reason I’m forced to wed again to a man who only wants to use me. Ye have seen how that has been for me.”

Vanora bit her lower lip. “I’d nae be the reason ye are hurt again.”

My heart expanded with her words I knew were true. “I ken ye’d nae.”

She nibbled on her lip for a moment. I knew she was trying to come up with a way to get the end result she desired. “Mayhap,” she said, the word hopeful, “Laird MacDonald is a gentle sort of man?”

I snorted. “He is willing to wed me for my visions. I think nae, sister.”

She nibbled on her lips again as she stared at me. “I will go with ye. Ye are my sister.”

I hugged her to me, and then took her hand, and squeezed it.

“How will we get home?” I could hear the concern in her tone. I had the same concern, but I shoved it away. I had to be fearless and strong for both of us.

I motioned for Vanora to follow me out of the room. We were wasting precious time. When we entered the empty passageway, I turned to her. “I do nae ken yet. First, we must get away from this castle.”

Vanora chewed on her lip, a sign she was thinking. “They keep a dinghy tied at the back of the stronghold in case there’s need of escape.” She grinned. “Katherine told me so. ’Tis hidden in brush. And,” she said, the word ringing with triumph, “Da’s attacks have sorely depleted the stronghold guards. They do nae currently have enough men to guard the stronghold all the time. I overheard Connor direct the channel guards to watch the bridge tonight. He’d gotten word to expect an attack, which means—”

“There will nae by anyone keeping watch at the back, at the loch,” I said, smiling.

“Aye,” she said, grinning back at me.

I threw my arm around her shoulder and pulled her toward me. “We have our escape.”