The wee lass locked her lips closed as tears ran from her eyes. She wanted the screams to end. Wanted the men to stop hurting the woman.
“Be brave.” the voice whispered.
The wee bairn kept silent, fearful if she said a single word the woman would suffer even more. She raised her hands to cover her ears, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not drown out the sound of her suffering.
“Stay strong, little one,” the voice urged near her ear.
The words drifted past her hands and into her ear and she stiffened, resolving to stay strong.
After what seemed like forever, the screams stopped.
“Kill her and be done with it,” a man commanded.
The wee bairn gasped, but the hand over her mouth tightened, stopping the gasp from escaping. The large hand hurt smashed against her mouth, but she kept silent.
“She will not last. The wolves will feast on her,” a man said. “Besides, she is not who we search for, and we waste time here.”
The bairn listened as the ground thundered with horses’ hooves and faded in the distance.
“Stay here,” the man ordered when the horses could be heard no more. “Do not move and do not make a sound.”
The bairn watched past the bushes and trees as the man made his way to the woman, slowly and cautiously. He cast a suspicious glance around before he finally ran to her side. Words were exchanged that the bairn could not hear, then he lifted her in his arms and brought her to where the bairn waited.
The wee bairn was anxious to see the woman. She wished the man would hurry and get out of the way. When he finally did, the bairn stepped forward. Her eyes turned wide, and a scream started deep down in her tummy. She clamped her small hand over her mouth to stop her scream.
Blood—so much blood—the woman was soaked in it.
Her wee hand fell away from her mouth, and she screamed.
“Annis! Annis!”
Her eyes shot open to see her husband and she threw her arms around his neck and clung tightly to him.
Her horrific screams had woken Brogan and he had turned in bed, reaching for his sword, thinking they were being attacked. When he realized his wife was dreaming, he took hold of her arms and called to her in an effort to wake her from her nightmare.
“It is all right. You are safe,” he assured her, stroking her back and keeping a firm hold on her. “It was a nightmare, nothing more than a nightmare.” He felt her shake her head and he eased her away from him enough so he could look into her eyes. They were filled with fright. “Tell me.”
“Blood,” she said and turned pale.
“Do not think on that,” he ordered. “Tell me what else there was.”
“A woman’s horrific screams. Men hurting her. A man who covered a wee lass’s mouth to keep her quiet.” She shook her head again and paled even more. “Blood. So much blood.”
“No more,” he ordered. “Think no more on it, at least not now.”
Annis nodded, not ready to revisit her nightmare and search for answers.
“You are safe, my love, you are safe,” Brogan assured her as he eased her to lie back on the bed, keeping her tucked against him. “Sleep. I will keep your nightmares at bay.”
Her husband did just that. No more nightmares haunted her the rest of the night and she woke the next day, the disturbing nightmare filling her thoughts.
“You want to tell me about it?” he asked as they ate the food that had been there since last night.”
“Eventually, but not yet,” Annis said. “It is time to find the mercenaries and see what they know and hopefully find Gunna.”
“It may not be easy to get her to tell you where she left the bairn. Besides, the bairn is a grown woman by now. She could be anywhere.”
Annis disagreed. “Nay, with how important it was to Gunna to keep the bairn safe, she would have found a way to keep watch on her all these years.”
Brogan grabbed his wife’s cloak off the chair after he extinguished the fire in the hearth and draped it around her shoulders to tie at her neck. He kissed her quick. “You will stay close to me.”
She nodded and, after seeing to his own cloak, they left the dwelling.
A raven circled overhead as they walked along the path and she wondered, did it follow, or did it warn?
Her answer came soon enough as they reached Brogan’s warriors camped a short distance away.
Brogan rushed her behind him, seeing the band of mercenaries that surrounded his warriors.
27
A man approached Brogan on a horse.
“Stay behind me,” Brogan ordered over his shoulder to his wife.
Annis did not argue. After seeing the troop of mercenaries, most of their faces marred with more than one scar and with hardened and soulless looks in their eyes, she was glad her husband had insisted she would not face such men alone.