Giselle tried to wriggle free of the man, but she was light-headed and weak, and he had her slung over his shoulder and was gripping tightly to her legs. It grew darker and quieter all of a sudden, and there was a dank smell. The man flung her violently backwards, against a wall, knocking the air from her lungs.
She looked in horror at her captor. A Scot, most definitely, dark and enormous in the gloom. She could not see his face properly, but it was not that which scared her. It was what he said, as his hand came around her throat.
‘Don’t fight, and this will go easier for you. If you please me, I may just let you live.’
‘Let go of me. Stop it,’ she said. Her voice sounded far away. Giselle clutched at his hand as it tightened slowly.
‘Not until I’ve taken my fill, bonnie lass.’
‘No, please, you can’t…’ Her words were cut off as his mouth crushed hers and, though she beat at him with her fists, it had no effect. When his mouth moved to her neck, she tried to scream, but her throat was so dry from the smoke nothing came out. He bit into her, hard.
‘Animals,’ Agnes had said. This fiend was going to tear her to pieces, he was going to hurt her, he was going to…
‘Banan.’ The name was shouted out like a curse and had oceans of anger in it.
The man leapt back from her and turned, with his hand on his sword hilt. Over his shoulder, Giselle could see another man, silhouetted against the light coming in through the open door. God save her, she couldn’t fight two of them. The thought of what they might do made her feel sick.
‘What are you doing in here when the fighting is outside?’ the other man snarled, his anger making him seem even more fearsome.
‘Back away, Buchanan, this one’s mine.’
‘I say again, the fighting is outside. Let the girl go, now.’ His voice was steady but menacing all the same. He moved closer until the two men were toe to toe. The man called Banan still had her pinned to the wall by one hand, squeezing her throat all the while. Giselle tore at his hands as she felt her face swell and her eyes bulge.
‘Come on, Buchanan. Leave a man some sport. I won’t be long, and you can take your turn with her. I’ve already got her nice and docile, and I’ll even let you go first, if you like.’
A fist came out of nowhere and struck Banan hard enough to fell him. His fingers fell away from her throat, and Giselle gulped in great lungfuls of air, which set her to coughing violently. Giselle looked down. Her attacker was out cold, but she was not out of danger as the man named Buchanan took hold of her. With a rough hand, he pulled her outside, into a nightmare of flames, bodies sprawled and split open, dark with blood, people running and screaming and being cut down by men with swords and axes. Grey flakes of ash floated down through a murky dawn light, like deadly snow. Horses were squealing and running.
The Scot stared down at her, dark brows drawing together. To Giselle’s surprise, he put a hand up and swept her hair gently away from her face. He smiled as if the carnage around them was nothing.
‘I saw you on the tower. It was you, wasn’t it?’
‘What?’
He took her by the shoulders and squeezed them hard. His hands were wet with blood, his face covered in it.
‘Did he hurt you? Did he do anything?’
‘No…I… he didn’t have time. Please, just let me go.’
‘I can’t do that, lass. But what I can do is get you somewhere safe.’
‘No. Please. Let me go.’
‘What is your name?’ he snapped.
‘Giselle de Villers.’
‘Well, Giselle de Villers, that man on the floor in there is Banan MacGregor, and he is a vicious bastard. Sooner or later, he will wake up and come looking for you. Do you want to be alone with him again?’
Giselle shook her head.
‘So lass, it is a choice between Banan or me. Which is it to be?’
‘I suppose it’s you then,’ she stammered.
‘Aye, and, trust me, I am the lesser of two evils.’
‘Please don’t hurt me.’
He gave her a hard stare and, without replying, put his arm around her shoulders and steered a path through the carnage. Giselle cowered against his chest and tried to resist the urge to cling to him as the fear of what might happen next threatened to overwhelm her.