Page 71 of The Torment of a Scottish Warrior
“By marriage only. And she’ll never admit it, but I know she had my brother killed. He was a fool. I cannot argue that.”
They crept through the opening and through the unlocked cellar door.
Once inside, Artan reached back for Simone’s hand. “I don’t wish to lose you. Have your bow ready?”
“Aye. Move along.”
Artan crept up the stairs onto the main floor, surprised to hear no sounds at all. There was no one moving about the castle. Of that much Simone was certain.
“’Tan, there’s no one here.”
Artan turned back to her with a wide grin on his face. “Aye, there is. Listen carefully.” He tugged her forward into the great hall—the empty great hall that showed no signs of an evening meal either.
But then she heard it.
The snore.
A loud snore came from a place above stairs. “Is that Glenna?” Simone asked.
“I’d recognize it anywhere, though it is a bit louder. Evidence of how sickly she is. There’s probably one maid here with Glenna. No one else. Kelvan keeps her here out of his way, is my guess.”
“Move along, then. I’ll check the other chambers while you check hers for any guards by the door.”
They separated, so Simone climbed the stairs and checked every single space, and all were empty but one, as Artan had thought. The servant was sound asleep in her chamber at the end of the passageway.
Simone met Artan back at the doorway and said, “It’s time. Wake her up. She’s put the people and friends of my clan through enough.”
Artan said, “And mine. Tamsin is finally relaxing, but this is stirring her up again. Thane worries about her.”
“Tamsin will be fine, but only if we get rid of the two blights on Mull—Glenna and Kelvan.”
Artan nodded, then squeezed her hand. “Let’s go inside. Ready your weapon and hide in a corner before I awaken her.”
The chamber was dark, but with Glenna’s snoring, it wasn’t difficult to find an alcove opposite her bed in the huge chamber built for a king. Simone gave a short whistle to let Artan know she was settled. Artan stood at the end of the bed after he opened a shutter on the nearby window to light up the area a bit.
“Glenna, wake up.”
Nothing.
“Glenna,” Artan said a bit louder before he lifted the heather-stuffed mattress and dropped it again. “Wake up.”
“What? Who? What is going on? Who are you?” The woman opened her eyes and looked about her, not settling on Artan for a few moments.
“Come now, Glenna. You must remember me. I was at your cottage often enough until you tired of my brother and killed him.” Artan stood strong at the end of the bed, his shoulders back, his brown hair curling at the collar of his tunic. How Simone adored him, his power so subtle to most, but he was so intelligent that it amazed her. Smart and kind, something that was hard to find.
“I didn’t kill him.”
“Then you hired someone to kill him.”
“You don’t know anything. What the hell do you want, Artan? Your brother deserved to die. He kept everything from me—my jewels, the silks. He wouldn’t allow me to shop either. He was a coldhearted bastard, and you know it. Get out of my castle.” She sat up, her stump still wrapped in a bloody bandage, the green color telling Simone it had yet to heal. Glenna was not a beautiful woman, her hair a complete mess, her skin pale and sallow, something Simone could see in the light of the moon. The sickness in her gaze was also clear. This woman was cruel to the end of every one of her bones. Insufferable and vile, her insides rotting with hate. It oozed from her pores.
Simone had met women just like her before.
Artan said, “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me where the Grant woman is. Where are they keeping her?” He waited for another of her many lies, but Simone knew how to get her talking.
“She’s not going anywhere. I owe her. It’s her fault my grandfather died by her father’s sword. And it’s her fault I lost my hand. She owes me in so many ways.”
“Och, the trials and tribulations of the world according to the twisted, maniacal beliefs of Glenna of Buchan. You tell so many lies that you believe them yourself. Where is Kelvan keeping her? You have no one here to help you but a tiny maid, so answer my question.”
