Page 31 of Rory

“We would wait an eternity for you, my lass,” Ulf said, sighing the words.

Neither of them said anything about the failing enchantment, or the very real possibility that it would kill them before they could formally wed. Elspeth didn’t care about Kelso and his taunting; she knew that came from his hurt pride. What the other people at Dun Talamh thought of them had grown meaningless to her, too. They already despised her for declaring her choice of two husbands.

All that mattered to her were Ulf and Benedict.

“I reckon the collapse of this place comes swiftly,” she said, stepping away from Ulf. “’Tis likely we shallnae escape before the end comes. I want to be with the men I love before I die.”

Ulf made a sharp sound, and Benedict rose to his feet.

“Come to me, then, as my husbands,” Elspeth told them. “When your work’s finished, meet me in the chamber we chose as ours for our wedding night. I shall be waiting there for you.” She smiled as they gaped at her, and placed the basket of food in Benedict’s hands. “Make sure you eat and drink and bathe before you do. Spending all hours rendering your potions, ’tisnae good for either of you.”

Leaving her men behind wrenched at her heart, but she needed some time to prepare herself for them. She knew several of the other female vassals watched her every move, ready to condemn any behavior considered wanton, so after tonight word would spread of her sharing a chamber with her men. She wondered who would be the bravest to spit something nasty about her decision to her face.

I shall break the nose of whoever tries.

The torches in the passage suddenly went out, making Elspeth stop. She stepped into an alcove, her body shaking as she tried to see what had caused the light to be extinguished. Suddenly something pulled her back into a narrow space, and a wall of stone began building itself in front of her.

“Hang on, sweetie.” Esme Martinez appeared on the other side of the stones, reaching over them and grabbing hold of Elspeth’s hands. “I’ll pull, you climb, okay?”

It took two tries for her to find a foothold, but once she planted the toe of her boot she boosted herself through the narrowing gap. Esme yanked her out the rest of the way, falling to the floor of the passage with Elspeth on top of her. When they both sat up and looked at the alcove it had been filled in with new stones.

“I think the castle doesn’t like us anymore,” the petite woman said, her dark eyes filled with fury as she helped Elspeth to her feet.

The torches relit themselves, which was when she saw that the door to the healer’s workroom had also been covered by a new stone wall. Elspeth gasped and ran over, trying to pull the stones down, but the mortar had already dried.

“Benedict? Ulf?” She shouted their names several more times, and then heard a faint thumping on the other side.

“Are you hurt?” Esme called out. “Thump once for yes, twice for no.”

The two thumps that followed made Elspeth hug the other woman.

“We shall go and get tools and more help,” she called to her men. “Dinnae fret. Soon you’ll be released, I vow to you.”

She hurried downstairs with Esme to the laird’s chamber, nearly colliding with a group of guards armed not with swords but hammers, pry bars and picks. Inside Tasgall stood at a table with Farlan marking a map that showed the inside of the stronghold, and didn’t look up when they joined him.

“That covers the east passages, and ’tis only a few on the west side. Which of them works in the north side?” he asked Farlan.

“Healer Miller and Hunter Ulf.” The seneschal glanced up when Esme cleared her throat. His shock showed plainly. “How did you free yourselves from imprisonment?”

It was just as she’d dreaded; all of the outsiders were being walled up by the enchantment.

“Lady Esme helped me out before the stone could seal me in.” She related what they’d found at Benedict’s workroom and how they’d confirmed the two men were uninjured. “May we borrow some men and tools to free them?”

“I cannae spare the men, but I’ll accompany you myself.” Farlan handed them some hammers and pry bars, taking his own before he regarded the laird, who was doing the same. “My lord, you should remain here under guard.”

“Those days, they’re over, lad.” Tasgall beckoned to one of the senior men who had just come in with two patrollers, and put him in charge of organizing the rescue efforts according to the map. To Farlan, he then said, “Lead the way.”

Elspeth and Esme ended up sandwiched between the two men, both of whom walked at such a quick pace she and the petite woman had to trot to keep up. When they reached Benedict’s work room the entire wall had been built out in a second layer, and more bricks had begun to stack themselves in a third.

“Fack,” the seneschal said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I might secure and lower a rope from the rooftop, but the window slits, they’re too narrow for them to climb out. I fear we must leave them until we may bring more tools and men.”

What he wasn’t saying was the enchantment might continue building wall atop wall until they filled the passage, or even caused this part of the stronghold to collapse.

“I brought them food and drink just before the enchantment sealed them inside, so they shallnae suffer for a time,” Elspeth told him. “If I ken Healer, he’s reckoning what gadgetry he may build to dig a way out.”

“We need magic to fight the crazy magic,” Esme put in. “Maybe we should ask Rory to help.”

“We must move everyone out of this side of the stronghold first,” Tasgall said. “The enchantment, ’tis in confusion here and choosing outsiders. Esme, you and Elspeth bring all the female vassals down to the great hall. Seneschal, come with me.”