Page 117 of The Splendor of Fire
Grief built in his chest. “I should have thrown her over my shoulders and sailed her to Calais and explained later.”
The memory of the love in her eyes as they dragged her toward Niall would haunt him for the rest of his life. Grief flooded him and he sniffed in frustration, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, but they refilled seconds later. “Whatever she’s suffering right now will be worsethan we imagine.”
Hector’s deep voice became warm and his grip tightened on Léo’s shoulder. “You cannae lose hope. We’re going to get her back, and when this is all over, you’ll marry her, and I’ll be proud to be your brother-in-law.”
Abiding warmth for who Hector was, and who he’d always be to him no matter what lay ahead, took pressure off his aching heart. “Brothers and brothers-in-law.”
Chapter 37
CRÀDH PRISON - SEPTEMBER 28, 1385
Screams rent through the blackness. Aileen startled and gave a silent groan as pain shot through the back of her head, throbbing around the crown of her head and into her temples and sinuses. Tears stung her eyes.
Screams echoed again. She heard them. She could hear!
Blinking her eyes, she tried to make out shapes but couldn’t. Her vision. She had no vision. Her heart slammed against her chest.No.
With great effort, she put a hand to the dirty floor and pushed herself to a seated position. Feeling around her, she discerned a wall.
Screams continued to echo, and she turned her head in the direction they came from. And then, from the corner of her eye, she made out the faintest glow of light from the near-dead embers of the fire.
Crawling across the floor, she made her way toward the glow, grabbing up fistfuls of soiled rushes. Head swimming, she fed one fistful and then the other onto the dying embers. Nothing happened. Bending forward, pain slamming through her head, she blew.Come on.She blew again. And again.
One rush, then two, then one bundle went up. Light erupted and she found a partial brick of peat and placed it on the embers. Hurrying, she grabbed more fistfuls of rushes and threw them on and blew. Finally,after several minutes, and almost half the rushes on the floor, the peat caught.
A warm glow of light illuminated the room and she stilled. The hearth, the ticks on the wall…she knew this cell.Léo.
A feeling that he was near enveloped her and she took a steadying breath, looking around the tiny cell. There was nothing more to see. How had he survived months trapped in here, alone? With no natural light? No fresh air? No sense of day or night, or what time it was?
You.
A distinct voice made itself known in the tenderest place of her heart and she became frightened. She looked around for the source of the sound but knew she wouldn’t find it.
When she didn’t hear the voice again, she put a hand to her head. It must be her injury. Checking herself, she looked at the scrapes on her fingers and tried each one, wiggling them and feeling her joints. Not broken.
She repeated the process with her legs. Not broken.
Feet. Not broken.
Stomach. She flinched and raised her bloody tunic. Bruised, tender. But no broken ribs.
Arms. Hale.
Neck. Dirty. She cringed and moved it from side to side. A bit stiff, but not injured.
She sucked in a breath, knowing her head was a different matter. Careful fingers went to her chin. Scraped raw. Cheeks—puffy. Mouth, swollen and ragged. She moved her tongue and found all her teeth still in place. Her fingers traveled to her nose and immediately her stomach convulsed from pain.
Nose. Broken.
Eyes—both puffy, but this morning…if it was morning…she could open them both.
Taking a deep breath, she brought her hands to the back of her head and found her hair matted with blood. There was a three-inch gash on the very crown of her head, and she could feel matching cuts over her scalp, but other than a headache and a bit of lingering oozing, it was not as bad as she feared.
She had survived. With most of her body intact.Thank You, God. Thank You.
Getting to her wobbly legs, she made a few laps around the cell and dropped into a crouched position, stretching one leg and then the other. Laying down upon the straw mat, she brought one leg up beside her ear and stretched it, and then the other. She twisted to stretch her low back, and then repeated it on the other side.
One part after another, she stretched the stiffness from her muscles. She would need to be limber, for the next time the door opened she would run. She could remember the corridors, the stairways, the passages. She could remember where the water gate was. If she could get to it, she could steal a boat and get to shore.
