Free Tempted by Virginia Henley Page B

whatever are you doing with a knife? I suppose I have no choice but to come with you. I must do all I can to protect you You must be a very reckless girl,” Damaris lamented.
    Tina climbed upon a chest beneath the high window slit After a few minutes she saw the powerful figure of the Black Ram heading toward the stables, his moss-troopers at his heels. She sighed with relief knowing they were no longer under the same roof. Before she crept quietly from the chamber, she picked up the Douglas plaid and covered her bright hair
    Her heart was in her mouth as she made her way with stealth along the passageway, then she forced herself to walk casually as if she had nothing to hide. For the moment she hoped to avoid the hall where men-at-arms tended to gather in inclement weather. From afar she saw servants and members of the Douglas clan, and she was thankful they wore plaids as she did The moment she saw stone steps leading below, she slipped down them. The air had a distinct damp and musty smell here below groundthat was mingled with the sickening odor of rushlights burning mutton fat.
    She passed through a room filled with barrels and kegs of ale and wine. Scufflings and squeaks came from the shadows, and she stopped dead in her tracks as she realized what creatures caused them.
    “The rats can sense me,” Damaris said. “Don’t be afraid.”
    When Tina realized the rats had fled, her courage returned, and she ventured down a narrow, whitewashed passageway. Here were empty cells with barred doors, similar to the ones beneath Castle Doon. When she looked through the bars of the fourth door, she gasped as she saw her brother nursing a bandaged arm.
    She put her fingers to her lips and didn’t speak until they were only inches apart. “You’re wounded. What did they do to you, Davie?”
    “They burned me!” he lied.
    “Give him the knife,” Damaris urged.
    “What the hell are you doing here, Firebrand? Are ye here tae ransom me?”
    She shook her head. “They don’t know who we are, and we must get away before they find out. There isn’t much time, Davie. That bastard Douglas has gone to the Hamiltons to demand ransom for you. I can’t unlock the cell, but here’s my knife, Davie.”
    As he grasped the haft, he said, “When the mosstrooper brings me food, he’ll be a dead man if he doesn’t unlock this door.”
    “Don’t kill him unless you must, David—there’s been no bloodshed yet,” she urged.
    He held up his arm grimly. “Someone will pay fer this.”
    “I’ve done all I can. I’m leaving before the Douglas returns.”
    “Done all ye can?” he scoffed. “Fire the castle afore ye leave—raze the bloody place tae the ground!”
    “God’s passion, keep your voice down. I just want usboth out of here with our lives!” Her heart was hammering as she retraced her steps and walked a direct path to the hall.
    The spirit of Alexander Douglas sensed the presence of Damaris immediately. He left the small group of men-at-arms who were casting dice and approached the two beautiful women, one flesh, blood, liver, and vibrant with energy, the other ethereal and hauntingly remote. “Damaris, beloved, who is this ye guard so carefully?”
    Not by the flicker of an eyelash did the lovely wraith acknowledge that she had seen or heard him. Alexander sighed. For fifteen years he had begged that his bride listen to his denials, but he had begun to conclude that though he saw her apparition, she could not see his.
    At first he had tried to communicate with the living, consumed by the need to exonerate his name and honor, but it had been impossible. The horses in the stables were aware of him, and Ram’s wolfhound had seen him so often, he’d begun to wag his tail when Alexander approached, but Damaris always acted as if he were invisible. He suspected that she saw him and heard him well enough, but she believed the lies that he had poisoned her and like all females was too pig-headed and stubborn to listen to