Highlander Enchanted

Chapter Nineteen

Isabel awoke with a start, groggy and tired. Someone smashed into the table beside the bed, and the bowl she had placed there clattered to the ground. She blinked away sleep.

If not for the clouds, the light of dawn would be shining into the room. Instead, the darkness was murky, as if she had awoken in a storm cloud. The hearth had burnt out, and the chamber outside her coverlets was chilly. The scent of rain was in the air.

Movement came from the same direction as the table, and she twisted and squinted, expecting Brian had come to wake her so they could leave. A dark figure in a cloak was replacing the pitcher he had knocked over.

"Brian?" she called. "Is it time to leave?"

He froze, the opening of his hood turning towards her. "Yes," came the response almost too quiet to hear.

"I will dress," she said and flung off the covers. Gathering her clothing from a trunk, she went to the corner opposite him, going through the motions to dress. When she was finished, she sat on the bench to pull on her boots.

He ran into the trunk at the base of the bed, and she paused in her task of tying her boots.

He had said yes instead of yea. Isabel peeked out from behind of the screen. The man in the cloak stood in the center of the chamber and look around him, as if unfamiliar with his surroundings.

A chill ran through her. She checked the pocket to ensure the blade Cade had given her was present, finished with her boots, and braided her hair. Gripping the hilt, she left the dressing screen.

The stranger was at the bed.

Fear fluttered through her at the thought of him hurting Cade. "I am prepared to travel," she called.

The figure turned towards her and motioned her towards the door.

She breathed a sigh of relief, grateful to know Cade was safe at least from the intruder. Isabel walked slowly, hoping the stranger would leave the chamber with enough room for her to slam and bar the door behind him.

As if suspecting this, he stood in the doorway.

She drew nearer, trying to see his face. His hood was deep enough that even the corridor's torchlight did not illuminate his features. He was well armed, dressed in well worn and well tailored clothing and boots.

Isabel stopped, heart pounding, the knife hidden behind her. "Who are you?" she whispered.

"Come with me, and I will not hurt you." The man spoke in a low, harsh and broken voice, as if his throat had been damaged.

"No," she replied and backed away.

He moved with the speed of a trained warrior. Reaching out to snatch her, he had her forearm briefly before she slashed at him with the dagger. Cursing quietly, the man glanced at the long, red mark across his arm.

Isabel backpedaled and sucked in a deep breath, ready to scream loud enough for the guards on the wall to hear her. The intruder snatched her again, this time twisting her wrist until she released the dagger with a cry of pain. He wrapped an arm around her and clapped a hand across her mouth.

She struggled and strained, managing to smash him in the shin with her kicks.

"If you do not cease, I will kill him in his sleep!" the man hissed.

Isabel froze, eyes on Cade's sleeping form. She stopped.

"You will leave here with me, silently, or I return for him. Do you understand?"