Legendary Warrior (17 page)

“It has been closed each time I have visited this room.”

Both women stood.

“Do you know where the concealed room is located?” Brigid asked.

Reena nodded and hurried over, Brigid close behind her, to the section of the wall she knew contained the concealed room.

She ran her fingers over the seam of the door. “It is here, but I do not know how it opens.”

Brigid felt where Reena’s hand touched. “A lever or something must work the door, otherwise the door would be too heavy to move.”

Reena looked about, Brigid joining her in the search.

“It would be close by,” Brigid said.

Reena nodded, running her hand over the stones near the door so as not to overlook anything.

“The peg,” Brigid said, her excitement growing. She hurried to a section of the wall where a metal peg protruded. She pulled on it, pushed up, attempted to twist and turn it, but the sturdy peg remained solid in the wall.

“Here, I found it,” Reena said, barely above a whisper. “Come feel this in the wall.”

Brigid hurried over and let Reena take her hand and guide it over the wall. She felt a slim, long piece of cold metal hidden between the stones.

“Amazing,” Brigid said. “It cannot be seen and barely felt if one did not know to look for it.”

“Someone certainly wanted something kept hidden.” Reena yanked on the metal lever, and Brigid’s hand joined hers as they both struggled to move the lever. It finally gave way, and a section of the wall creaked slowly open.

Reena was quick to collect two candles from the table, and the two women, hugging close beside each other, entered the room. They looked about, Reena holding her candle high to cast light over the dark, dank, cell-like space.

Brigid gave a small gasp and pointed to the back wall. “An iron ring to chain a prisoner. A cell for sure.”

“But why up here in the tower room when a dungeon exists below the keep?”

Brigid voiced her thought. “Someone did not want anyone to know who was kept here?”

“I would say that might be so.”

“There are no chests here.” Brigid shivered. “It is cold and damp and would be so terribly dark without the candles. I cannot imagine someone chained to the wall and left in such darkness. The darkness alone would frighten me.”

“A torturous thought for sure,” Reena agreed. “And one I cannot help but wonder over.”

At that moment the two heard a creak. When they both turned toward the sound, the door began to close quickly.

“Hurry,” Reena urged Brigid and pushed her through the opening, which had become considerably narrower.

Brigid gave a yell and barely managed to clear the closing door. She turned to help Reena, and both women realized there was not sufficient space for her to squeeze through.

“I will get help,” Brigid said as the door closed completely shut, and she shivered as she raced from the room, hearing Reena’s final word as her candle flickered out.

“Hurry!”

Magnus entered the great hall after a day of riding his borders and making certain his land was well guarded. He had traveled over hills and meadows, though the weather was anything but cooperative. A cold wind and snow flurries certainly did not announce that spring was but a week or so away.

His warriors did well in guarding his holdings. They were alert to their surroundings and aware of any intruders, except, of course, the Dark One. But then no one seemed to be able to prevent his entrance anywhere, and he was a friend who was welcome anytime at the keep.

His men were aware of every stranger that traveled his land, some proving harmless, others proving suspicious, but all were watched and their actions reported to Magnus. He knew Kilkern kept a watchful eye on Dunhurnal land, and he could almost predict Kilkern’s next move. Right now the man gathered force behind him, hoping to sway the king to his cause, as well as those lords whose lands surrounded Kilkern land. But Magnus was patient and his plan was to take no action, at least not yet.

Magnus sat on a bench before the hearth, stretching his legs out to warm his chilled bones. A pitcher of ale was quickly brought to the table. He was filling a tankard when Thomas entered the great hall.

Thomas joined Magnus at the table and appreciated the warmth of the hearth and the taste of the ale.

“We are well protected,” Thomas said, reaching for the full tankard.

“From what we see, but it is what we do not see that needs our attention.”

“Kilkern works on the king.”

“Of that I have no doubt,” Magnus said.

“You sound as if you worry not about it.”

“Kilkern’s complaints will benefit us.”

“How so?” Thomas asked.

“It never helps when too many know too much, and Kilkern has a loose tongue and thinks it benefits him.”

Thomas scratched his bald head. “You sound as though you wait for the truth to reveal itself.”

Magnus grinned and raised his tankard. “Kilkern is bound to slip up somewhere, and we will be waiting.”

Thomas stood suddenly, causing Magnus to do the same, and they both cast a suspicious glance around the hall.

“Do you hear that?” Thomas asked and tilted his head as if straining to hear.

“What—”

“Help! Thomas, help!” Brigid flew down the stone steps screaming. She burst into the great hall to see Thomas and Magnus rushing toward her and servants scurrying in to see what was amiss.

Brigid flung herself at Thomas; his large arms wrapped around her and held her firm.

“What is wrong?” Magnus asked, a sinking feeling in his gut warning him that Reena was in trouble.

Brigid remained in the safety of Thomas’s strong arms. “Reena is—” She needed to pause and gasp for breath. “—stuck.” Her breath left her again.

“Where?” Magnus urged.

“Tower room,” she rushed out before her breath failed her again.

Magnus dashed out of the room, Thomas close behind, along with Brigid.

He rushed into the tower room to see Horace scratching and growling by the stone wall. He found the lever to open the door and watched as the door creaked slowly open, wishing he could force it open more quickly.

Thomas hurried into the room, torch in hand, Brigid slipping out from behind him to race to the door, which was barely ajar.

“Reena, I have returned. I have Magnus and Thomas with me.”

“Reena,” Magnus called out and reached for the torch Thomas held.

“I need light,” Reena called out.

Magnus shoved the torch through the slim opening and felt it yanked away.

“Hurry,” Reena said.

Her trembling voice tore at his heart. She was frightened, and he was angry that he could do nothing but wait for the door to open enough for him to squeeze through. He wanted to tear the door down. When this ordeal was done, that was exactly his intention. The door would be permanently removed.

The opening was finally wide enough for him to squeeze through, and he had to order Horace to sit and stay, the dog anxious to rescue Reena. His glance rushed over the room, his heart stilled, his stomach rolled like a pitching sea, and he silently swore as he hurried to where Reena sat huddled on the floor, her knees bent almost to her chest.

Magnus quickly bent to comfort her and alleviate her fears.

“You must see this, Magnus.”

Her words slowed his descent as he noticed she studied something in her hand. She was not at all frightened; she was intrigued with the object she held.

He kneeled beside her, his interest more in her than the object. “Were you not fearful being locked away?”

“Nay,” she said with a sense of excitement. “I knew you would come for me.”

“Not another would come for you, Thomas or a guard? You expected me?”

“Of course,” she said confidently. “You will always rescue me, of that I have no doubt. Now you must see what I have found.”

He wanted to know why she felt so confident about his ability to rescue her no matter the circumstances, but she was excited about her discovery and eager to share it with him.

“What have you found?” he asked, moving closer.

Reena held her hand up. “It is a piece of broken metal that looks as if it has been sharpened from use.” She placed it in his hand and fumbled to get to her feet.

Magnus held on to the piece of metal and helped her up with one hand. “How did you find this?” He examined it as she answered.

“The light from my candle reflected off the metal just before the flame went out. It took me a few minutes to locate the object in the dark, but I did.” Reena held the torch up around the area where the metal ring was attached to the wall. “It only took me a moment to realize that the sharp object had to be an implement used by whoever was imprisoned here.”

Magnus studied the sharp-tipped object, then looked to Reena, who held the torch up high while examining the stones around the metal ring. “Trapped in the dark you concerned yourself with a piece of sharp metal?”

“A piece of metal that had no place here.” Reena turned to see Thomas and Brigid standing in the open doorway. “Remain by the open door. It is either old or has been fashioned to close on its own after an allotted period of time.”

Brigid took Thomas’s hand and urged him back away from the inside of the room. “Reena is brave, I am not,” she whispered to him.

“You are more brave than you know,” Thomas said and gently squeezed her hand.

“Here is what I look for,” Reena said with joy. “Just as I thought. Someone used the piece of metal to write in the stone.”

“But what of freedom?” Thomas asked. “Why not attempt to free himself? Dig the metal ring from the wall and then attack the guard when he enters.”

“A practical plan and one a man would think of, but I do not think a man was imprisoned here. I think a woman was held here.”

“Why a woman?” Brigid asked.

“A man would think of escape, overpowering the guards once he freed himself from the confines of this cell. A woman would not have the strength to overpower guards, so she would free herself in a different way.”

“By writing?” Thomas asked. “Writing would not free her.”

“Aye, but it would,” Reena said. “It would keep her mind free.”

“What does she write of?” Brigid asked.

“She writes in Latin of love and hope: ‘Remembrance of love keeps hope in my heart. Will not forget. Never.’ ”

“She must have been a woman of wealth to speak the Latin tongue. Few if any women know the language, it is meant for the tongues of the clergy. How did you learn it?” Thomas asked.

“My mother taught me. She has a thirst for knowledge and taught herself many tongues.”

“How sad it must have been for her, being locked away and writing of love and hope,” Brigid said. “I do hope she escaped and found love.”

“Enough,” Magnus said, annoyed. “Thomas, go and bring enough men to dismantle the door. This room remains locked away no more. Brigid, go with him and see that drink and food is readied and brought here for the men to enjoy.”

The couple left, and no sooner had the door to the room closed behind them than the stone door began to shut, the heavy strength of it shoving the wooden chest that attempted to brace it out of the way. Magnus grabbed Reena by the arm and hurried her out.

It was not until the door was fully closed that Reena turned to Magnus. “It was your mother who was imprisoned there, was it not?”

Chapter 20

M
agnus stood silent for several minutes, staring at Reena. He needed the few moments to form his answer and to keep remembrances at bay. His return to Dunhurnal had not been easy for him. Memories had flooded his mind with each step he had taken inside the keep, bitter memories mixed with tender ones. No one knew of them, and he chose to keep them locked away. One day he planned on releasing the hurt and pain of the past, but Reena’s discovery now forced that day upon him sooner than he had planned.

“How did you know my mother was imprisoned here? Did she engrave her name in the stones?”

“I read one of the journals in the chest when you first showed me the room,” she confessed. “The entry spoke of giving birth to a son and naming him Magnus. I simply made an assumption.”

A commotion outside the door prevented Magnus from answering, and the door soon opened. Thomas entered in a rush, followed by several men.

He stopped abruptly when he saw Magnus and Reena standing in the middle of the room. “I thought you may be trapped in the room, so I rushed.”

“We made certain to exit the room before it imprisoned us,” Magnus said, then turned to Reena. “Wait for me in my solar. I wish to talk with you.”

She nodded and left, hoping Magnus would share his childhood days with her. She could only imagine the pain he must have suffered over his mother’s imprisonment and what the woman herself had been forced to endure. She prayed that his mother was safe and free from harm; but then, the Legend was her son, and by now she must be free. How long had his mother actually been imprisoned there? This was only one of many questions she hoped Magnus would answer.

Her curiosity also had her wondering about his connection with Dunhurnal land. He had known all along it sat adjacent to Kilkern land, yet he’d made no mention of it to her when she had approached him about protecting her village.

And why then did the king grant him the land? Was it a favor? Or did the land actually belong to Magnus by birthright?

Reena ran into Brigid, who was rushing up the steps, as she turned the spiral staircase to go down a few levels to Magnus’s solar.

“You are all right?” Brigid asked through labored breaths.

“I am fine,” she said and wished she could tell Brigid of her discovery, but that would not be fair to Magnus. He had kept the secret of the keep to himself, and perhaps for a good reason. She would not betray his trust and share his secret.

“You were not fearful of the dark and being trapped?”

“Nay, I knew you would return with Magnus and, of course, Thomas.”

“Was it not completely dark in the room?”

“The darkness was more thick than I thought possible,” Reena said.

“And this did not frighten you?”

Reena gave her question a quick thought. Recalling the door closing, the light flickering out, and the glint of metal made her realize she had been too curious about the mysterious object to worry about her predicament. “My thoughts were elsewhere—besides, I knew you would be returning in a short time.”

Brigid shivered. “Being trapped in the darkness is not a fate I wish to experience. It must have been terrifying for the woman who was chained in the small room. And why chain her if she could not escape, that was even more cruel.”

“I agree, and I hope she now has her freedom.”

“I must go,” Brigid said. “Maura needs help in the kitchen with the extra preparation for the men. I wanted to make certain you were all right.”

One last firm hug and the women parted, Thomas coming around the curve just as Brigid disappeared from sight.

“You are well?” Thomas asked, stopping beside her.

Reena was grateful for caring friends. “Aye, I am fine. It is Brigid who worries more than I.”

“She worries over you, though she need not, but then memories haunt her. Time will help heal her pain.”

“Love will help heal her pain.”

Thomas nodded, and a touch of sadness filled his voice. “Aye, she will find someone to love her, and she will be happy.” He raised a beefy fist. “And he best be good to her or else.”

Reena smiled. “Oh, I have a feeling that the man who captures her heart will treat her like a princess. Would you not treat her such?”

Thomas lowered his fist and his voice. “I would treat her like a queen and love her with all my heart and be forever grateful she was mine. And I would allow no one—no one—to hurt her.”

Reena had no time to comment, as a shout for Thomas’s help from the tower room had him fast turning around and rushing up the steps. She would make certain Brigid learned of how Thomas felt, and she continued down the steps to Magnus’s solar.

She did not go far when she ran into Brigid, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. “Thomas does care for me.”

“You heard,” Reena said with joy. It was better she heard from Thomas himself than from someone else. His own words would have more impact, and they certainly had.

Brigid wiped at her wet cheeks. “He cares for me, I cannot believe it.”

Reena shook her head. “He more than cares for you; he loves you. Did you not hear him say he would treat you like a queen and love you with all his heart?”

Footsteps on the stone staircase caught their attention, and they could detect from the raised voices that it was Magnus and Thomas who approached. A bark alerted them that Horace followed.

Brigid attempted to wipe away her tears, but she was not fast enough. Thomas immediately saw that she was upset and hurried to her side. Reena had to brace herself against the stone wall to allow the large man to pass by in a rush.

“What is wrong?” he asked, his arm going instinctively and protectively around her. Horace snuggled against her leg as if he understood she needed loving.

Brigid attempted a smile, and it settled naturally on her lovely face. “Nothing, I was merely concerned with Reena’s well-being.”

“She is fine,” Thomas assured her.

He looked to Reena to confirm his words and ease Brigid’s worry, and her heart went out to the large man with the many scars. He had a big heart, and he had given it to her dearest friend.

“I feel wonderful,” Reena said and threw her arms wide, though when she caught the look on Magnus’s face she wondered how long her wonderful feeling would last.

“I go to bring the food for the men,” Brigid said, her glance set on Thomas.

The couple left without a word to Reena or Magnus, Horace close behind, the word
food
having caught his attention.

“Tell me,” Magnus said, walking over to Reena and bracing his hand on the wall beside her head. “Do you ever get to your destination without a challenge arising?”

She turned a smile on him that stunned his heart. “Challenges make life interesting.”

He pointed down the steps. “To my solar, where challenges will definitely prove to be interesting.”

She took the steps without trepidation. Magnus would tell her of his mother or he would not. The choice was his, though she knew that a secret long kept carried burdens that often needed lifting. He could trust her with any secret, for she would take it to her grave if he asked.

She went to the hearth, bright with flames, and reached her hands out to warm them. Magnus closed the door and walked up behind her. To her surprise, he slipped his arms around her waist.

He would touch her in ways that surprised and pleased her, a simple touch to her arm, holding her hand, a hug that brought them close, a gentle kiss, a brush of his cheek against hers and a kiss that stole her breath. And it had her growing all the more confused with him and her own emotions. What developed between them? Was this mix of confusing emotions love? Was the indecisiveness of how to handle it all part of love, or were her own doubts interfering? And was now the time to be thinking of such matters when she was eager to hear about his mother?

“Silence is not something I often find you practicing.”

“I wait for you to speak.” She placed a warm hand on his arm, more out of instinct, since of late she reached out to him without thought to her action. “Though I do offer my apologies for reading a page from your mother’s journal. Had I known it belonged to her I would have respected her privacy.”

“And what if I confide in you? Will you keep the information private?”

“Have no doubt of it. I would breathe a word to no one.”

He moved away from her, though he grasped her hand for a moment before walking past her and bracing his hand on the mantel. He gazed at the fire, the flames casting a soft glow on his handsome features. His hesitation spoke louder than words. Did he trust her? Or did the secret remain his?

Reena watched him and saw the hurt in his eyes grow and spread, and she felt when anger took over and consumed him, followed by regret. Memories could prove powerful allies or horrific adversaries, and at the moment Magnus struggled with both. Reena wanted to rush over to him and hug and kiss him and tell him that everything was all right. She refrained; he was, after all, her lord, but then he was also the man she believed herself falling in love with.

“My mother kept journals from when she first learned to write.” He kept his gaze steady on the flames. “An uncle who was a cleric who fell from grace with the church taught her to read and write just before she wed my father. She told me often that she feared if she did not continue to read and write she would lose the skills.

“My father died when I was barely two years, an enemy’s arrow to his heart took his life quickly and left my mother heartbroken.”

Reena remained silent and listened, seeing reflected in his dark eyes the pain and hurt of those memories.

“Her family wasted not a moment in arranging another marriage for her. She pleaded with them to allow her to remain home and raise her son, but her father turned a deaf ear to her pleas. She would wed the man of his choice, and in so doing her father condemned her to a living hell.”

Reena shuddered and said a silent prayer for the woman.

Magnus raised his head. “My stepfather was a man of little feeling and even less morals. He wed my mother for the simple fact that he needed a wife to produce heirs, and of course my mother came with my father’s inheritance.”

“Dunhurnal land,” Reena said sadly.

“Aye, Brian Conor, earl of Dunhurnal, was my father and this is my home. Everything changed when my mother was forced to remarry. My stepfather brutalized her. At times I think I can hear the awful names he called her or hear the sound of his hand across her face or feel the sting of his hand upon me.”

He grew silent with his memories.

Reena walked over to him and took his hand in hers. It felt cold though he stood close to the hearth. She hugged it against her chest and held tightly.

“He would sit me in front of the secret room in the tower and make me watch as he chained my mother to the wall. My mother showed not an ounce of fear, and I knew her bravery was for me, for I knew she was terrified of the dark. He would force me to sit and watch as the door began to close, then suddenly it would close completely, and she was shut away from me, left alone in the dark to tremble with fear. If I made any attempt to help her, he would retaliate by beating her. I had often wondered how my mother endured her imprisonment, and today, with your discovery, I finally understood.”

“I also found writing on the lower part of the wall.”

Magnus nodded. “There were times he would simply throw her into the room and leave her there. I would sit outside the door for hours and wait for him to free her. Other times during her confinement he would torment me.”

“Her family knew nothing of her plight? Was there no one to help her?”

“Her husband owned her, and she gave him a son after several miscarriages. Her own father died, leaving my mother with no one to turn to, so there was no escape. She was wed to a beast until death.”

She hugged his hand tighter. “I fear to ask what happened to her.”

His wide smile suggested a happy ending, and she listened closely.

“My mother was strong and could endure much, but she could not bear seeing me suffer, the son of the man she loved with all her heart. She was patient and managed to hide coins from him and a few pieces of jewelry.

“One night when I was ten and the keep was asleep and the winter wind blew cold and hard, she came to my room, woke me, made me dress in most of my clothes so that I had several layers of garments to protect me from the frigid night, and then together we snuck out of the keep and away into the darkness.

“We came upon a band of people with less than we had, and we remained with them, traveling together until we found a place in the woods far from Dunhurnal land. There my mother raised me, and it is there she met a man who she came to love.”

“She is well, then?” Reena asked, feeling near tears for a woman much more brave than she could ever be.

“Aye, my mother is well, and her husband, James, is good to her. It was he who taught me my warrior skills. They live on my land now and are well protected.”

“Did your stepfather search for your mother and you?”

“His search proved useless. My mother was more intelligent than him and knew his ways too well. We heard talk of his furious search for her and his fury when she could not be found. But her wise ways and her strength kept us safe.”