“Is Walda and your great-grandson in there?” Elysia asked.
“They are, and Edana is as well, ready with a sword if necessary. But they’ll not get past me. I’ll not let them get my great-grandson, Cawley.” Tears hurried to fill the old woman’s eyes, but she brushed them aside with her sleeve. “They named him after my husband. I couldn’t save him when he was struck down in battle, but I’ll be sure to save my great-grandson.”
“You should all go to the keep where you’ll be safe,” Elysia urged.
The door opened and Walda stood there with her son in her arms wrapped snug in a blanket. “Stiles ordered us to go to the keep and that is where we will go, Seanmhair.”
Walda took the woman by the arm and forced her to walk alongside her.
“I’ll stay on the top step of the keep and ward off the evil devils,” Willa said, shaking her blackthorn stick.
Elysia hid her smile as best she could, the old woman once again reminding her of Annis’s stubborn nature. She was about to follow the women up the steps when she thought she caught sight of a flash of cloth in the woods. She turned and this time she saw someone duck behind a tree. She froze for a moment not sure what to do, then the person stepped out from behind the tree and one look had Elysia hurrying to the woods.
“Chieftain Cowan,” Lord Fergus said, acknowledging the man when he brought his horse to a stop.
Odran stepped forward. “You visit without notice, why?”
“Your son speaks for you, Lord Fergus?” Chieftain Cowan asked with a smug grin.
“I speak when a foe of the Clan MacBridan shows up unannounced with a troop of men flanking his rear. I advise you to order your men to dismount now,” Odran warned his powerful voice loud enough for Chieftain Cowan’s men to hear.
Cowan’s smug grin grew as he was about to speak, but vanished abruptly when he heard the men behind him dismount. He turned a vicious glare on them, but not one of them remounted.
“Your warriors are wiser than their chieftain,” Odran said. “Now have your say and depart unless you are wiser than I believe and have come to beg forgiveness from Lord Fergus for foolishly going against the Clan MacBridan.”
“I have come for my daughter, Crissa. You will return her to me,” Chieftain Cowan demanded.
“Please help me,” the young woman begged, her eyes darting about in fright.
“Who did this to you?” Elysia asked, her heart aching for the beating the woman had taken. One eye was almost swollen shut, her bottom lip was split in the middle, dried blood holding it closed, and one cheek was badly bruised. Her hand reached out to take the woman’s arm, and she cringed.
Elysia eased her sleeve up and a deep bruise marked a good portion of her forearm. She feared the woman’s garments covered more painful bruises.
“Please, hide me,” the lass begged.
“Come with me,” Elysia urged, afraid to touch her and cause her more pain.
The woman followed, her steps painfully slow.
“What is your name?” Elysia asked, hoping to put the woman at ease.
“Crissa,” the lass said and cringed as she started up the keep steps.
“I am Elysia,” Elysia said and had to ask again, seeing the poor woman grimace with each step up the keep stairs. “Who did this?”
“You will not help me if I tell you,” the lass said.
The pitiful sadness in the woman’s voice had Elysia responding with strong determination. “Nothing—absolutely nothing—will stop me from helping you, Crissa.”
The woman’s head drooped, her curly red hair falling to conceal her face, as if she needed to hide her shame. “My da did this to me, Chieftain Cowan of the Clan MacFarden, and foe to the Clan MacBridan.”
“Your daughter isn’t here,” Lord Fergus said with a snappish tongue.
“I don’t believe you, Fergus!” Chieftain Cowan shouted. “Crissa claims to love one of your son’s skilled warriors and worse she carries his bairn. I’ll see her punished for her betrayal and the bairn dead.” He cast a quick glance about and his eyes suddenly grew wide and his full cheeks spotted red. “There she is.” He took off on his horse.
Odran took off after him seeing where he was headed and why. He was going straight for the keep where Elysia was following alongside a woman who was climbing the steps slowly. He cut through the village, worried Cowan would reach the keep before him.
Elysia stopped along with Crissa as they finally reached the top step.
“CRISSA!”
Crissa turned, fright trembling her whole body.
Elysia turned as well and watched as a man sizeable in weight but not height rushed off his horse and came barreling up the stairs toward them.
Elysia didn’t hesitate, she stepped in front of Crissa and shouted, “Don’t you dare come near us!”