Page 120 of Bride of Mist
She sighed.
“Besides, Ididtake your advice,” he protested. “’Twas trickery I employed to get my brother to toss me in here with ye.”
“Trickery?” She sounded doubtful.
“Aye. Once I bellowed out his crimes for all the clan to hear, he had no choice but to put me here to shut me up.”
“Clever,” she admitted. “But now how do you propose we get out of here?”
“Ye’re the stealthy one. I was hopin’ ye’d tell me.”
She sighed. “Come,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze. “I’ve been tryin’ to wave down someone along the shore.”
He followed her, holding her hand.
As they fumbled their way through the cave, he said, “Ye should know your clan is on their way.”
She stopped. “How do you know that?”
“I intercepted a pair o’ them at the Ayr Arms. Your brother and cousin.”
“You knew who they were?”
“They were ridin’ my horse.”
“Gellir and Adam stole your horse?”
“Well, to be fair, they bought him. Wait. How did ye know ’twas Gellir and Adam?” He frowned, answering his own question. “Ye saw them as well.”
“That’s why I had to leave. I needed to make certain we had mac Darragh allies on the inside before Rivenloch arrived.”
He nodded. That made sense.
They continued along the passage.
“I only hope I did enough,” she said. “I told Campbell to gather an army.”
“He’s already spread the word to the surroundin’ villages.”
“He has?”
“Aye,” he said. “And he said ye met Merraid.”
She let out a long breath. “Aye. You were right. She’ll do anything for you.”
He grimaced. “But cloutin’ ye with a chamberpot? Why?”
“I suspect she was trying to keep Gaufrid and the Fortanachs from killing me outright before she could find out where you were.”
“I’m grateful to her for that.”
“Don’t be too grateful. I made the mistake of trusting her. Once she found out who I was, she turned on me. She figured Rivenloch was holding you for ransom. So she convinced your brother to use me as a hostage to secure your return.”
“She did? But Gaufrid would ne’er have made the exchange.”
“That’s what I told her.”
“And?”
