Niamh pulled her cloak tight as she huddled in the corner of her dark room. She'd been sequestered in her chamber for at least two days. The only people in or out of her chamber were servants. All of which were strictly directed not to speak with her. Most of them even avoided eye contact, only rushing in to arrange her meals or bath. Otherwise, she was permitted to speak with no one.
Anytime her door swung open she kept a keen eye on what was happening in the world outside. Day and night people shuffled up and down the hall. She couldn't tell much of what was going on as they were always two men stationed just outside her door.
Through her window, she could see men gathering in the courtyard. They packed in tight, filling the large space. Outside the castle walls, the grounds teemed with catapults, warhorses, and more armed men than she'd ever seen at once, since her time here. James was preparing to wipe Clan Douglas off the map.
She had to do something. Anything but sit in this damnable room. She just hoped that Eòin made it safely back to the fortifications of Castle Douglas. She smiled and tapped her thigh feeling the cool touch of a steak knife she'd stolen at dinner. She planned to accost the next person entering her room and use them as a means of escape.
She heard the murmur of conversation on the other side of the door. A key turned and the latch jiggled as someone unlocked the entry, shaking the heavy wooden door loose. As the person stepped into the pitch-black chamber, Niamh sprung to action.
She slammed the door shut and shoved at the taller body, pushing said person against the wall. An obviously male grunt uttered a complaint but softly seeming as though he did not wish to disturb the quiet of the room. She put her blade to the man's throat pressing it against his skin.
"Don't move and I won't hurt you," she whispered, taking one of his arms and twisting it behind his back.
She felt him push off the wall. His large hand yanked the blade from hers. His arm pushed against her chest, completely overpowering her. She spun finding her back pressing against the wall and the weight of the man's large body pressed against her chest. The blade she was meant to use on the man was now pointed at the column of her throat.
She squeezed her eyes shut. The man would surely kill her in an act of retribution. So, she used the only tool she had left in her arsenal. She started to beg, "Please. Please, oh God, don't kill me I-"
"Are ye always this difficult to rescue?" A familiar voice chuckled, then she felt him release her.
"Wait," Niamh squinted in the darkness trying to make out the figure. "Richard? Is that you?" She hazarded a guess.
"Aye," He answered sounding amused.
Niamh grabbed him ushering him near the window under the soft moonlight streaming in. "Richard!" She cried happily, laughing giddily to herself. She suddenly stopped. Watching him suspiciously from the corner of her eyes she asked, "What are you doing here?"
He chortled before answering "Rescuing ye. I think?"
She chuckled and threw her arms around him, "I never expected you to come to my rescue."
"Yet, here I am." He sketched a bow.
She pursed her lips and levied a skeptical look, "I saw the way you looked at me in the King's chamber. I'm not stupid Richard, you didn't suddenly grow a conscience. So, you better tell me straight. Why are you trying to save me?"
He sighed then stepped closer in the darkness, "Because despite the fact that ye debased yourself for that cad. I am still yer kin and it's my duty to have a care for yer safety."
"Am I not safe trapped in a tower, in a heavily fortified castle?" Niamh joked.
"No, cousin. War is on the horizon. James marches to Douglasville to meet Eòin in battle. He will take ye along naw as his guest despite whot his lips may say. If things should go ill, his mood will shift and yer life may be the cost of his ill-temper. He is naw above this. I would naw stop him nor stand in his way if ye were another woman. But I'll naw have him harm my kin."
Despite how twisted and manipulative Richard could be, Niamh felt that he may have something that more or less could pass as a heart.
"Thank you, Richard." She pulled him tightly into an embrace. "I'll return to Castle Douglas-"
"I cannae allow ye to return to Eòin Douglas." Gone was the softness in his voice.
"Why?"
"Yer are no safer with him than ye are with the king. The sooner I can get ye back to Ochiltree Castle and have this marriage annulled the better." He said, making a point to emphasize the annulment. In no uncertain terms, he was letting Niamh know, the decision had been made.
"Why wouldn't I be safe with Eòin? You know very well he would never harm me," she said folding her arms defiantly across her chest.
"Because that viper, Isobell Auchinleck, kens who ye really are and I'm sure by now she's told him the truth. If ye return to Douglasville, if he dinnae kill ye. She will."
Niamh felt the earth shift beneath her. A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach made her feel as if she was falling down a bottomless pit. Remembering the Morgan's words, she rushed to a table lighting a candle. Placing it closely, she examined the one thing permitting her to stay. The one thing allowing her to exist in this time with him.
A tear beaded on the rim of her lash and fell quietly to her cheek. She watched helplessly as the tattooed feathers along her arm began to fade rapidly. Isobell just cost her everything.