Page 32 of Marin’s Promise

Piquette settled on the ground near Marin’s cage and slid a glance toward the tray.

Anice took Marin's hand in the cradle of hers. “You're so cold, Sister.” She looked at the cell and grimaced. “And it's so filthy.”

“Did they hurt you?” Marin repeated, her voice stern.

Anice's attention returned to her and she shook her head. She took a heel of bread and a slab of cheese from the tray where Piquette had begun to sniff and offered them to Marin.

Marin ignored the food and gestured to her sister's chemise. “What is this? What's happened?”

“It's nothing–it’s not as it appears.” Anice flipped her hair over her shoulder. “But I got this.”

She pressed something cool and hard into Marin's palm. Some kind of metal. Marin looked down and found a key within her hand.

“For the dungeon.” Anice gave a proud smile.

Marin's joy was short-lived when she remembered who had the key. The only key. Bran. “How did you get this?”

Anice shrugged with a little grin.

Fear jabbed through Marin for Anice's maidenhead, for the welfare of her younger sister. Would her betrothed still take her if she were compromised? “What happened?”

Anice rolled her eyes. “Nothing. I tried to seduce him, to free you. It didn't work.” She lifted one shoulder. “I ran my hands over his hips in an attempt to persuade him and slipped the key out.”

Marin eyed her sister warily. “That is all? He didn’t…touch you?”

“Nay. That was all.” Anice leaned closer, her eyes sparkling in the candlelight. “Though he is strong, and quite fine looking.”

Marin didn't reply. How could she protest such bold statements when she herself agreed with Anice’s assessment of the man?

She’d been listening to her guards, waiting for one of them to mention the bounty waiting within William’s work room. Yet not one had mentioned the coin.

They didn’t know. The man Bran had called Drake had kept his newfound wealth a secret. Mayhap he was loyal, and mayhap he did need the coin for his family.

Marin shook her head. “You are safe, then?” she asked her sister.

Anice nodded distractedly and pushed the food toward Marin a second time. “Within the hour, there will be a guard change.” Her tone had changed from the lightness of a girlish joy to the seriousness of a plan in action. “We can supplement their guards with our own, the ones who have remained hidden.”

Marin straightened and tightened her grip on the key. “You’ve spoken with them?” She glanced toward the cells across from hers, where most of her army stood.

“Aye. They will take the place of these guards. We will have the opportunity to slip from the dungeon without detection, and easily out of the castle through the secret passage.”

Their father had commissioned the hidden tunnel after the first attack on Werrick, accessed through the larder beneath the wine stores. From there, it ran under the castle and came out in the woods through an iron grate.

Marin always wore the key to that hidden entry on her person, in a locket on her belt. Even if someone could find the metal gate and somehow wrest it open, the tunnel broke off in different directions beneath the castle. If the intruder didn’t identify the correct tunnel, they could wander about forever without finding their way into the keep. The entrance had been masked by a trap door at the top, stained to appear as part of the earthen ceiling. If one didn’t know where to look, it would never be found.

Aye, the passage would be the perfect escape.

“I know exactly what to do,” Marin said resolutely.

“I knew you would.” Anice smiled. “Enjoy your food, dear sister,” she said with more volume to her voice. “I do hope they release you soon. It’s so dank and awful in here.” Her lip curled with sincerity.

“Thank you for thinking of me,” Marin replied with equal volume. This was a second chance. Another opportunity to save them all.

Anice's hand squeezed Marin's, and with that, she and Piquette were gone, taking with them the glowing light of the candle. Marin’s world plunged into a sea of black once more.

“Did you hear everything?” Marin asked into the darkness.

“Aye,” Sir Richard answered.

“We ought to go to Mabrick Castle and seek the aid of Baron Carlyle there. We will need a good portion of the soldiers and can formulate a plan there.”

“A good plan, my lady,” Sir Richard said. “They've always been loyal supporters of the English crown and are strong allies.”

Marin nodded to herself. A surge of confidence roared through her for the first time since Bran entered Werrick Castle. “Then it's time to begin, for we'll be freed soon.”

The servants would need to remain behind for the time being, though she was loath to do so. But to move them all would be too obvious. Marin, however, would not be going to Mabrick.

She would slip away before her sisters would notice. They would be safe, but she still wanted to protect the remaining people. She wanted her castle back, and the safety it had afforded them all once before. The only way to obtain that would be to follow her original plan and kill Bran.