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“Damn!” he spat, wiping the blood off his face with the back of his hand. By now, everyone crowded around to see what was happening. “I think it’s time you shed a little blood as well.”
The man came after her like a demon possessed, swiping his blade left and right, backing her up against the well. Then he knocked the blade from her hand and it fell into the well with a splash. He pricked the skin at the base of her neck, causing blood to drip down between her breasts. Forcefully, he reached out and grabbed her by the hair.
“Take her daggers,” commanded the High Sheriff to the henchman. Delbert removed her daggers and spoke in a low voice.
“Shall I kill her now?” asked Delbert.
“Not yet,” said Sir Gregory, bending over and licking the blood from between her breasts. She cringed, wanting to kill the man with her bare hands. “If she is really married to Jacob, then I want him to suffer even more by knowing that I’ve had her before she died.”
“I’ll never lay with the likes of you!” Maira dug her nails into the man’s hand and pushed away from him, spitting in his eye.
He stilled with one eye closed and a smile on his face. “Lady Maira, I want you to wash up with water from the well and then meet me in my solar.”
“Why would I ever do that?” she shouted.
“Delbert, tell the guard to come forward.”
“All right,” shouted Delbert with a wave of his arm.
The guard who had been outside the bedchamber door walked forward holding on to Morag. Her cousin’s hands were tied behind her back.
“Morag!” Maira gasped, taking a step toward her cousin, but the High Sheriff held her back.
“Nay, you don’t,” said the man. “You will come to me willingly to couple with me in my chamber, or my guard here will kill your cousin.”
“Maira! Dinna let them kill me. Help me!” cried Morag.
Maira realized she no longer had a choice. If she didn’t do as the man said, Morag would die. When she sent Morag back to the room to keep her safe, Maira had all but sealed the girl’s fate. She wasn’t sure if they would both be killed either way, but she couldn’t do anything to help her cousin without her weapons.
“Nay, don’t hurt Morag,” Maira cried. “I’ll come to your solar, but please let her go.”
“Whether your friends live or die is up to you.”
“Friends?” asked Maira, noticing he used the word in plural.
The High Sheriff motioned with his head and Maira looked up to the battlements to see Branton being held by a guard. He had his hands tied behind his back as well and had a rope around his neck that was connected to a parapet. The guard was ready to push Branton over the edge.
“God’s eyes, nay!” exclaimed Maira, feeling as if this were all her fault. And now, her cousin, her friend, and her husband would all die because she wouldn’t be able to help them.
“You have five minutes,” warned the High Sheriff, sheathing his sword. “If you are not in my solar by then, your friends will die either way.”
“You are a heartless, no good son of a bitch,” she spat.
He reached out and slapped her hard across the cheek. The force sent her sprawling against the well and she gripped the stones, feeling lightheaded and dizzy.
“Five minutes,” warned the High Sheriff, walking away, leaving his henchman to watch her.
Maira wanted nothing more than to cry, but she was too furious to do it. Her blood boiled and she felt an intense hatred for the High Sheriff, wondering now why she had ever felt bad for the man when Jacob told her he was going to kill him. Sir Gregory deserved to die. And if it was the last thing she ever did, she would see to it. Aye, she would go to his solar and pretend she was there to couple with him, but she would kill him instead.
She reached down and patted her short boot to make sure the eating dagger she had hidden there this morning was still in place. It wasn’t a very thick blade, but if her aim was accurate and she used enough force, she could hopefully stab it right through the man’s heart and the results would be deadly.
“Lady Maira, are you coming?” called out Delbert.
She looked up to the battlements to see the guard watching over Branton. He struck up a conversation with another of the guards. Then she looked over to Morag. The guard had thrown her into the back of a wagon and was drinking from a flask.
“I’m coming,” she said, following Delbert to the solar, wondering how in Heaven’s name she was going to kill the High Sheriff, save Morag and Branton, and warn Jacob all at the same time.
Jacob emergedfrom the tunnel that led from the inside of the well, almost getting hit by Maira’s sword as it fell into the water from up above.
