Highlander's Embrace

Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Sheena

1540 — August 29th

Sheena Douglas shivered in the darkness. Since her capture, the men had handled her poorly, leaving dark purple bruises on her wrists and thighs. They had berated her for fighting back, and barely kept her fed. The hunger clouded her mind. She peered up from her cell and looked through the distant window, taking joy in the fact she could at least see the clouds passing overhead in the blue sky.

The men claimed they would make an honest woman out of her when they finally had control of the castle. Their numbers had dwindled from an impressive four hundred to a stagnant thirty-five men, not enough to make a real strike on the castle, but enough to inflict lasting pain and anguish on their hostages.

They had killed many of the villagers on the night of the raid, but taken thirty for themselves to do with what they pleased. She could still smell smoke on her clothes from the fires. Often, Sheena would stare up through her small window and wonder if Elyn ever made it out alive. She dared not speak a word of having a sister, not because she was worried she was still in the castle, but because she didn't want to be shown her corpse. She rubbed her arms to try and stay warm, the dark room in the spire surprisingly chilled considering the time of year.

Sheena hoped for rain to come. If it did, and she could make it back to her family's home, they could have another harvest for the summer. Another bounty to enjoy before it was all over. She cursed the damned MacKenzies for not doing more to stop this from happening. Hadn't they known about the MacDonald threat for years? How many years...? Sheena tried hard to think. She couldn't put a number on it, save for feeling like her entire life.

Two of the clansmen were talking to each other in hushed voices. Sheena strained to try and hear their words, as they were huddled over a table. Discussing battle plans? She heard them say something about the MacDonalds, obviously the men they worked for. Another name slipped past their lips, a more distinct sentence: 'Mathou got away.' Sheena decided it was one of the few pieces of information she had gotten from them, so she tried to remember it.

She hoped that Elyn hadn't gone back to Dornie. It was no doubt ransacked at this point. Sheena scratched against the wall, her clothes growing more tattered and ragged by the day. Another week and she'd be wearing nothing at all. She despised the thought, her mind already growing cynical.

The men that kept her locked up claimed they had killed the Laird MacKenzie. If that was true, who ruled the castle now if the Laird was dead? Why were they holed up in a small tower? A handful of guards, undeterred by violence to give up their loyalty? Sheena treasured the idea, that men could still be valiant, even after she saw what kind of evil they were truly capable of.

Sheena's father coughed, holding his hand to this mouth as he buckled in pain and hacked up phlegm. The other prisoners stared at him and shuffled back, a look of fear on their faces. One man yelled at her father, telling him to cut it out lest they all get the sickness. Sheena frowned.

"Shut it!" She stood up and bared upon the man. "If you donae, I'll make sure you wish you had an illness."

The man recoiled and shuffled into the damp corner of the room. He cradled his knees in his arms.

Sheena returned to her father and wiped his forehead. She whispered words of encouragement into his ear, which he nodded to.

Suddenly a noise roused the group of invaders, and they moved to the door to investigate. An archer called down from the top of the tower. "I see something, they're advancing on us again!"

The sound of arrows slinging from their bows echoed throughout the tower, the meaty twang of the bow limbs cracking with each loose. Sheena guarded her parents, hovering over them and trying to keep whatever was coming from hurting them. She didn't like the hungry look one of the guards gave her as he slipped out the front door.