Broken Highlander's Blood Oath (16 page)

So it begins
Raine thought once again. Lifting his head, he squinted upward, hoping to catch sight of something useful. He could feel the rough abrasions on his neck and his throat protesting the strain, but all he could see was a lighter gray obscurity.

“It must be fog,” he muttered, which told him they were likely still in the channel waters. In any case, north, south, nearer to France or to England, he had no idea.

“Water!” shouted a gruff man’s voice above them. The obvious thud of a wooden bucket could be heard bumping against the bulkhead as it was lowered down into the hold on a rope.

Mystifyingly thoughtful
Raine thought as he considered the possibility of whether he should rile them out of the generosity, by mentioning the fact that he and Theo had no hope to gain a drink, chained as they were. But then Theo, always eager to point out the obvious, ended his internal debate.

“I say! You up there sending the water down, it’s most admirable of you, however—”

“Piss down your leg, ya bleeding sots, I ain’t no admiral!” the sea-salted voice shouted down at them.

“No-no, I just—” Theo began, only to be halted again by the gruff voice above them.

“If yer worrying about how to drink this here fine clear water, let me tell ye. Me master now, he thinks of every little thing for your comfort.”

A raw-edged guffaw resounded through the hold, making Raine believe that the old geezer might split his gut open. However, all his thoughts halted abruptly at the next sound he heard. It was a woman’s surprised squeal! Then a sickening thud, as something, a body he thought, landed at their feet.

“That’s with me Master’s compliments! He says to tell you to poke her a few good times as this will be your last endeavor of that sort!” The old sailor laughed roughly again. “Just how my Master thinks you’re to do that being both chained, I don’t know.” His laughter echoed throughout the hold as they heard the grate slammed shut over their heads.

In the silence left behind, Raine and Theo could clearly hear a female whimpering in a space not far beyond their feet.

“Bloody hell,” Raine hissed beneath his breath

“Are you hurt, Miss?” Theo asked with concern as he brought his booted foot forward searching to see how far away she might be. His boot met a solid form immediately. However, the simple touch of his boot sent the poor woman scrambling into the dark with the unfortunate sound of the bucket of water being overturned. “Please, Miss, I did not mean to—”

“Blasted it, woman! Pick up that bucket now,” Raine exploded, harshly overriding Theo’s plea. “That is our only source of water.” Raine’s voice finally gave out with a jarring croak.

“Blazes, Raine! You’re frightening her. She’s crying and she could be hurt. Miss? Miss?”

“Hell, Theo, I didn’t mean to make her cry,” Raine rasped. Damnation, he should not have bellowed so hard, he’d nearly lost his voice again and it made his ribs throb. Theo however, was not paying any attention to him, because he kept trying to speak to the dark-haired woman. Aye, Raine had seen that dark hair an instant before the sailor moved closer to toss the lady down into the hold. The sailor’s torch had pierced the damp fog for a split-second, and Raine did not like what else he thought he saw besides incredibly long black hair.

“Miss, I am Theo and that is my brother Raine. Who I assure you is very sorry that he yelled at you.” The woman’s sobs were heart wrenching, though slightly muffled in the darkness, but they were not decreasing a bit. “You know, Miss, we are chained here to the inside wall. Both my wrists and, Raine’s are chained. We cannot move more than a few inches from the wall.” The woman’s sobs held a strange chattering sound as Theo paused to take a breath. “I thought that should make you feel better,” he began again. “I mean a-after what that sailor said.” Theo paused to assess if his words were having any effect, then he added, “I think that I could tell you in this blackness that Raine and I are gentlemen, and we would never harm you. Yet I can imagine how hard that would be for you to believe. So just know that although we never would ... we are chained and we could not.”

“Damn it, Theo,” Raine rasped at his brother’s rambling. Theo’s efforts appeared not to be doing any good, because the woman still sobbed in some obscure corner of the hold.

“She needs to be reassured,” Theo replied hotly.

Raine knew the woman’s emotions were tearing at his brother. “I believe she is naked,” he whispered as low as he could, but still so Theo could hear him.

Oh he heard!

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