Page 56 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
“Do ye want to leave this hall, Laird McKinnon?” Elias asked, tapping his hand on the dirk at his belt.
“Me mouth often gets me into trouble,” Ruben said with a smile. “I only wanted to check ye were still the beast ye always were.”
Beast? Is it a good thing to be a beast or nae?
“He’s in the dungeons?” Elias asked, changing the subject.
“Aye, he is,” Ruben confirmed. “So, what did he do to make ye so angry?”
“He dared to threaten me wife-to-be,” Elias explained. “I willnae go into the details until I have heard them from his lips, but he’s a rogue, nae a man. He doesnae have the courage to face his problems head-on, but he must face them now. I believe he thought he could get away with his dishonorable scheme when it was only the lass he dealt with, but he didnae account for her intelligence, and now he has to deal with me.”
“Nay one touches the ones we love,” Laird McKinnon said.
“Och, I didnae say I loved her,” Elias complained.
“Nay, ye didnaesayye loved her,” Ruben replied.
“We’ll go together,” Elias said, changing the subject. “If his head is warranted, I want ye to be me witness when I deliver justice.”
Laird McKinnon nodded.
The two men left and headed for the dungeons, where Felix Grant was currently being held.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Every time I go down into yer dungeons,” Laird McKinnon commented, “I hope I never find meself in one again.”
“As long as ye take care of yer people and treat yer worst enemies with the dignity they deserve, ye willnae,” Elias replied.
“Aye, I hope ye’re right.”
The narrow tunnels leveled out, and the space began to open up slightly. They reached a large, iron-reinforced wooden door, slightly rounded with a small barred window in the top middle. Elias walked up to it and knocked firmly. A second later, the guard poked his nose through the bars to see who was there.
“Me Laird,” the guard said before unlocking the door from the inside.
He held it open for the two Lairds before closing and locking it behind them.
The sounds hit them before the sights. Low moans came from some of the cells, louder shouts from others as imprisoned men threw insults and threats, and some pleaded to be freed. Unless someone else had been imprisoned the previous day, Elias knew every single person in the dungeons and why they deserved to be there.
The large space was oval-shaped, with wooden doors on each curved side. The air was as cold as it got in the castle, and there was barely enough light to see. Flickering, thick, stubby candles dotted the walls, casting dancing shadows over the floors and walls.
The floor below them was bare earth, slightly damp. The walls on either side were stone, and the wooden doors were strung with iron bars to prevent them from being knocked down.
The dimness didn’t let the rodents and insects be seen as they scurried around in the safest place in the castle for them, waiting for the scraps the prisoners dropped as they tried to stay alive.
Six cells stood on each side, eleven of which were occupied. Inside, shackles were hammered into walls, and they were only used when absolutely necessary. The doors were never opened without at least two men present, in case the prisoners gained some strength and tried to overpower their guard.
Elias turned to the guard, almost whispering in the darkness, “Felix Grant.”
The guard nodded and took the lantern hanging above his chair. He also retrieved the large bunch of keys from his belt. There were far more keys than were needed to unlock the twelve cells and manacles within. The guard jingled them as he walked toward one of the wooden doors, fingering them without looking to find the right one. He held a long bronze key between his fingers and let the others drop to the other side of the metal ring.
Elias and Ruben trailed behind him, both interested in what they might find inside the cell, even though Ruben himself had caught the culprit.
“Did he put up much of a fight?” Elias asked.
“Nay,” Ruben replied. “‘Twas easy once we found him.”
“How about down here?” Elias asked the guard.
