Page 17 of The Trials of Neilina MacKai (The MacKai Brides #5)

A bbey of St. Margaret

With very little success, Seona tried to wash the blood from her hands in one of the puddles the ocean had deposited on the floor. There was so much blood that she would have needed an entire river to rid herself of it all. She did what she could then dried her hands with the hem of her bliaut.

She removed the belt and scabbard from Thin Man and buckled it around her hips.

She checked to make certain the sword slid easily in and out of the leather sheath.

Hefty’s belt was used to fix his sword at her back at an angle between her shoulders.

She could reach the pommel with her right hand, should she have need of the blade.

She took a dagger off each man and secured them in a couple of loops on the belt at her hips.

Hefty regained consciousness long enough to tell her how to find the abbess, who prayed in the chapel from Matins to Prime.

If he’d told her the truth, Seona was confident she’d not encounter anyone on her way to the chapel. According to the dying guard, all the other nuns were forbidden to leave their cells before Prime and the abbess always ordered the chapel guards away. She wanted complete privacy, was her claim.

Seona was about to leave for the chapel.

However, first she had to find the keys Hefty had bragged about having.

She couldn’t find them on either man. Just as she began to panic, she turned and saw the keys hanging from the lock of the iron door.

Once found, she used the key that fit the lock of her manacles to remove them.

The sight of her raw wrists oozing blood dismayed her. However, tending any wounds must wait.

She double checked the location and ease of drawing her weapons.

Then she left the cell, closing and locking the door behind her.

If either man survived, dawn would come before anyone approached who might hear a call for help and let them out.

That was the amount of time she had to capture the abbess and find the MacFearann ladies.

Once they were free, she’d make the abbess tell her where to find Lady Staunton.

Rhuad would want to deal with his aunt personally, but Seona decided the least she could do was bring the woman to him.

She grabbed the torch the two men had used from the sconce on the wall and set off.

Though she wanted to, she didn’t hurry. To do so would make more noise than she thought wise.

Noise that was sure to draw attention from any sentry keeping watch within the prison corridors.

For the same reason, she did not stop to release any other prisoners.

Eliminating the abbess must come first, and for that, Seona needed silence.

The other captives could be released later.

Cautiously, she opened the door to the courtyard. The sun had not yet risen, but the space was awash in a rosy gray light that suggested dawn was about to break. She watched and waited a while to be certain no one was about then hurried across the courtyard to the chapel.

Luck was still with her. The heavy chapel doors stood open. She paused at the side of one and recalled the horrifying squeals they had made as she had opened them for the abbess, less than a day past.

Seona took a steadying breath. Hefty had lost consciousness before she could question the man about the abbess’s skills.

So, Seona had to assume the woman was as knowledgeable about fighting as she was herself.

It never boded well to underestimate an opponent.

Thanks to her brother, Seona knew more about weapons and fighting than most women.

The abbess kept prisoners and must know how to control both them and the guards who worked for her. She must have some skill at fighting.

First, I must disable her, so she can’t fight back. Then I can worry about persuading her to tell me all I wish to know.

Slowly Seona edged around the door and stepped into the shadowy interior of the chapel.

There, lying spreadeagle on the floor before the alter was the abbess.

Prayers for forgiveness rose from her prone form like the stench from a midden.

The posture suggested the woman wished to convince anyone observing that she was sincerely penitent.

The voice, though surprisingly soft and gentle, lacked any sincerity or emotion and gave the lie to her pleas.

How can I attack someone who is defenseless and praying?

Seona stood in the shadows contemplating her dilemma.

I can attack because she is far from defenseless, and I believe her prayers are false. A curtain of illusion formed to hide falsehood and betrayal .

Seona recalled the violent treatment of the novice. No doubt the abbess subjected all her captives to as much cruelty as possible and still let them survive.

At that thought, Seona drew one of the two dirks and advanced on silent feet.

When she stood beside the prone abbess, she knelt, putting one knee on the woman’s back.

The praying ceased, and beneath her knee, the woman’s body jerked.

Seona placed the tip of the blade at the tender spot where her enemy’s neck met her jaw.

“If you value your life, you will do exactly as I say.” Seona ordered.

“I’ll obey, please don’t kill me.”

The voice did not sound like the abbess Seona remembered. She moved the blade a small bit away. “Turn your head and look at me.”

The profile revealed was that of a young woman with blue eyes. A strand of deep red hair escaped her wimple and suggested that her captive might be Rhuad’s sister.

“Who are you?”

“Not the woman you expected,” the abbess’ voice growled from behind.

In the moment she looked up, Seona was bowled over by the heavier woman’s leaping attack. They wrestled for possession of the dirk, rolling across the empty floor of the chapel. The blade was sharp and each received her share of nicks.

The abbess wrested the dagger from Seona’s grip. Then the woman sliced open a long wound from Seona’s left shoulder to just above her right breast.

The cut was shallow but still painful and oozed blood.

Seona shaped the pain into rage. She was able to ignore the injury long enough to knock the dirk from the abbess grip.

It skittered across the floor to the far side of the room.

Then Seona rolled, so she lay above the abbess, pinning her down.

She straddled the woman and held one wrist in each hand.

However, a movement seen from the corner of one eye distracted her.

The girl who had been lying on the floor was scrambling away toward the chapel doors.

“Get out of here,” Seona yelled. “Save yourself.”

The distraction was enough for the abbess to wrench free one of her hands and snatch the second dirk from Seona’s belt, pressing it to her neck.

Seona froze. She could see her death in the Abbess’s eyes.

As she waited for the woman’s next move, the light in the chapel dimmed. Only the candles on the altar made seeing possible. Someone must have closed the doors.

Beneath her the abbess grinned. “I see you understand that I could kill you now.”

“Aye,” Seona gritted out. She did not dare nod.

“As pleasant as slitting your throat will be, I’ll save that pleasure for later. I want to see you suffer first. Then I’ll have your head sent to that filthy Scottish husband of yours. Now get off me and lay face down on the floor.”

Seona complied. How can I get out of this situation? Raeb always told me to think about how to control the weapon even when my enemy holds it.

The abbess knelt beside her and used the blade to slice away the sword at Seona’s back and cut open the back of her dress from neck to hem.

Seona felt the belt securing the sword at her hips go lax.

When her back was completely exposed, she felt the tip of the blade pierce her skin just below one shoulder blade.

The abbess drew the dirk in a long line all the way to Seona’s buttocks.

She gritted her teeth against the urge to weep at the pain.

“Oh, stop being so brave, curse you,” the abbess snarled. “I want to see your tears, to hear you beg for mercy you know you shall never receive.”

Seona refused to give the woman satisfaction and yield control. Instead, she waited for another dig of the dirk’s tip into her back. That was the moment she knew she could take charge.

The moment came. Excruciating pain radiated from her opposite side where the abbess twisted the dirk’ as she dug the point beneath Seona’s other shoulder blade.

Seona didn’t think she could take more and used that thought to do what she must. She heaved her body upward and rolled to her side. As she’d hoped, the dirk stuck, deeply embedded in the space beneath the bone of her shoulder.

The abbess lost her grip and momentum forced her back on her heels.

Seona struggled to stand and at the same time draw the sword that once sat at her hip. She succeeded despite the dizzying pain in her shoulder. However, when she moved to threaten the abbess with the weapon, she found the woman lay without moving where she’d knelt.

“Did I kill her?”

Seona raised her head to see the blue-eyed, red-haired woman who’d been on the chapel floor earlier. “You came back? I thought you’d left and closed the doors.”

The young woman huffed great gulps of air and wobbled where she stood. She held one of the very tall, very heavy, solid gold candle holders from the altar.

“I thought about running for my life, but you looked like you could use a little help. I’m glad I stayed. Still, I don’t want to go to hell for killing a holy woman,”

“I don’t think she’s dead,” Seona said. “However, I’ll need more assistance to bind her arms and legs before she regains her senses.”

“Oh, I can do that.”

“Good. I don’t think I can stand any longer.” Seona’s knees buckled. She fell hitting her head on the floor and blacked out.