Page 41 of Highland Slayer
Now they were going to get down to business. Thoughts of Anaxandra forgotten for the moment, Estevan replied.
“I’m afraid I bring gloomy tidings, mother,” he said. “We’ve seen signs of the Ormsfolk. They have reached the shores of the mouth of the River Nith and they know of Leonore’s boat. Titan has seen the footprints.”
Mother Michael’s attention turned to Titan as he nodded. “Aye,” he said. “There were five boats and each boat can carry ten or twelve men. They were on the rocky shore and they made no attempt to conceal them, which means they do not care if we know they have arrived. I suspect they want us to know.”
Estevan nodded too, cutting in on the conversation. “The point is that if they arrive here, looking for her, ye must tell them she’s not here.”
“But she is here,” Mother Michael said.
Estevan nodded patiently. “I know, but ye mustn’t tell them that,” he said. “Mother, I realize ye dunna feel the need tae lie simply because ye’re the Templar nuns and ye feel that ye can defend yerself adequately, but let me assure ye that the Ormsfolk dunna care who ye are. They’ll not leave until they have her, until yer women are dead. They’ll be relentless in ways ye’ve not seen before. Do ye understand me?”
Mother Michael seemed peeved. “I have told you before that we can defend ourselves,” she said. “We have been here for many years, young lord. Clans call upon us for assistance when theirarmies are insufficient. I assure you that we can fight off a few dozen men.”
“But these are not ordinary men, mother,” Titan said, appalled at the woman’s lack of understanding. “They fight like animals. They carry poisoned weapons. They will not stop until they have the woman they came for, but meanwhile, they will kill anyone who has resisted them simply for sport.”
“They will not get inside these walls.”
“And if they do?” Estevan said, having much the same reaction to her stubbornness as Titan was. “They’ll kill anything that moves.”
“You do not seem to understand,” Mother Michael said, her patience wearing thin. “We can protect ourselves. Our order was founded on that premise, to protect women and children. We will not fail.”
“And if ye do?” Estevan asked. “What about all of those children I saw harvesting vegetables? What of them? Are they expected tae fight for their lives, too? Because I can tell ye that the Ormsfolk will take them back tae Mann and either eat them, sell them, or treat them like slaves. Is that the life ye want for those children?”
Mother Michael looked at him with some horror. “Eatthem?”
Estevan nodded. “They’ve been known tae eat children, so I’ve heard,” he said. “And I’ll remind ye that they tend tae hack up their enemies and feed the body parts tae the blood-eating eels they raise. I canna stress enough that this is not a normal enemy.”
Mother Michael finally seemed to lose her smugness as the gravity of the situation was setting in. “That is not true,” she said. “They do not eat children.”
“I’m afraid that is the rumor.”
“You are saying that simply to frighten me.”
Estevan sighed heavily. “I dunna think anything frightens ye,” he said. “I swear tae ye that this is all true. And if ye willna deny that the woman they’re looking for us under yer roof, then ye must prepare yer women. They must be ready tae fight.”
He’d rattled Mother Michael a little, and she looked away, pacing slowly across the chapel floor, which was stone. Dusty, old stone that had been walked upon by abbesses before her. They were in a private chapel, a chamber that had never changed in usage since the abbey was a castle. There were bodies under the stone of those who had originally built the castle.
Mother Michael paced over their bones, thinking.
“If you think this threat is so serious, then what do you suggest?” she finally asked.
Estevan was feeling hopeful that she might actually be listening. “I’m sending my brother tae summon the army of our older brother, who lives near Carlisle,” he said. “We can have two hundred men here in three days or less. That should deter the Ormsfolk and keep them away from St. Margaret’s.”
“And if it does not?”
“If ye dunna tell them that the lady they seek is within these walls, then there shouldna be any worry.”
He was essentially telling her not to answer any questions about the lady truthfully should the Serpent People come sniffing around. God, he hoped she listened to him. The woman didn’t seem to understand that the world she didn’t know about could be very cruel, indeed.
Brutal, even.
“Mother Michael,” he said, lowering this voice, “ye’ve lived yer entire life here, taught by women who have also lived their entire lives here. Ye’ve built yerself a world that exists only within these walls. Believe me when I tell ye that the Outworld is a cruel place, with cruel people, and we are trying very hard tae keep ye safe. But we need yer cooperation. Yemustlisten tae uswhen we tell ye that if the Serpent People discover the woman they seek is within these walls, yer lives are all in danger.”
She regarded him from across the chamber, her dark eyes glittering. “Who told you about the Outworld?” she asked. “Anaxandra?”
He didn’t deny it. “She was a good escort,” he said. “She explained that she’d never been tae Dumfries and that everything outside of the walls is called the Outworld.”
Mother Michael considered that for a moment. “I see,” she said, though she didn’t sound pleased. “What else did she tell you?”
