Page 45 of Warrior’s Lady

Chapter Thirteen

An explosion rocked the castle. Rhiannon clutched Violet's arm as the ground shook beneath their feet. She could hear the shouts of the men as they raced through the passageway, preparing for battle. Shrill screams pierced the afternoon air in the great hall below.

Rhiannon's gaze flew to Camden, but he'd turned away, addressing the men.

A violent shiver wracked Violet's small body. "I'm scared." The young girl buried her face in the folds of Rhiannon's dress.

Pushing her own fear aside, Rhiannon gently stroked Violet's back. "I'll keep you safe," she soothed, hoping that she could do just that.

Orrin burst again through the door of the solar. "They are firing cannon balls at the outer wall. We will be breached before we can stop them."

"Who is attacking?" Camden asked, his voice tight.

"We don't know exactly." Orrin's features became strained. "Although we know it's not the English."

Rhiannon fervently prayed that the attackers were not members of her own family.

"Meet me in the courtyard," Camden said to Orrin, then turned back to her. "Go with Hamish to the cellar. You'll be safe there."

Fierce intensity entered his bright blue eyes. Did he know who attacked? He seemed almost as protective of her as he was of Violet. Did he fear her family had come to take her away? Or was it something more? He had accused her of partnership with the bishop. Did he suspect the bishop was behind the attack?

Rhiannon frowned. How would she ever know the truth unless she saw the situation herself?

Camden made his way to the door, but paused before Hamish. "Do not let either of them out of your sight," he said, his voice suddenly fierce.

At Hamish's nod, Camden was gone.

Rhiannon moved to the window. Great curling clouds of black smoke rose to the sky just outside the outer bailey. She could not see who attacked. Yet the brief glimpse left her with the feeling it was not members of her family come to raid. The Ruthvens would not have had enough resources to afford a cannon and shells. Nay, the threat came from someone else; she was certain.

She caught sight of a familiar figure striding through the wisps of black smoke in the courtyard. He still wore a tartan of the Lockhart colors, but his chest was now covered with a leather doublet. His hair was unbound, the thick ebony length curling above his shoulders.

He approached his horse, and checked the tension of the cinches while the animal's long and graceful head turned, nudging him with affection. Camden stroked the beast's neck before he mounted.

The animal swung about, and Camden's gaze strayed upwards toward the window. Rhiannon flinched, embarrassed to be caught spying on him. She backed away, her throat tight as she realized the danger that lay ahead for him at the gates of his own castle.

"Come, ladies," Hamish called. "We must hurry."

Rhiannon scooped Violet up into her arms and followed Hamish from the chamber. She paused, remembering the sound of men running through the hallway and the clang of metal that sounded as they did. "Hamish, is the armory near here?"

"Just down the hallway, milady."

"Then that is where we will go first." Rhiannon didn't wait for Hamish to agree. If they were at war, she wanted to be prepared. She could not protect Violet without some way to even the odds should they be discovered in the storeroom.

With a renewed sense of urgency, Rhiannon continued down the hall until she came to an open doorway. Inside she found armor in neat rows against the walls and weapons of every kind hanging on the walls, ready to be plucked down from their pegs and put into service.

Her heart racing in her chest, she scanned the room, looking for a familiar weapon. She breathed a sigh of relief when her gaze lit upon a bow hung alongside a quiver of arrows. She snatched them both down. Slinging the quiver over her shoulder, she turned to Hamish. "Now I'll go wherever you lead."

"Hurry," Hamish urged as he motioned for them to go back the way they had come.

Clinging to Violet and the bow with equal force, Rhiannon followed the big warrior through the great hall and into the hallway on the other side, down the long corridor she'd visited the other day on her quest for fabric, and down the stairs leading to the storeroom.

The pungent scent of fermenting grain assaulted her senses as they plunged into the semidarkness. It only took a moment for Rhiannon's eyes to adjust to the dimness. She recognized the chamber from her previous visit. The room was filled with barrels all stacked in neat rows.

She held onto Violet's hand as she searched the room for some place to hide the girl in case they were discovered. An explosion shook the walls, and the barrels groaned from their perches slightly above the floor. "More cannon fire?" she asked.

"Aye," Hamish replied. "I'll stay here and cover the doorway."

"There are two doorways."