The door to Isobel’s chamber was open.
He saw it from the end of the corridor, a thin line of firelight spilling onto the stone floor, and was already moving faster when he pushed it wide.
Jane was on the floor against the side of the bathtub, knees pulled up, with one hand pressed hard to her cheek. The basin was overturned, water still spreading cold across the stone. When she looked up at him, her eyes were wet, and her breath was coming in short, ragged gasps. She shook so hard he could see it from across the room.
He crossed the room in three strides and went down on one knee beside her. “Jane.”
“He took her.” Her voice cracked. She pressed her lips together, tried again. “Malcolm. He said ye sent him and she didnae believe it. Me Lady kept askin’ him questions. She wouldnae gowith him, and then…” Her hand shifted against her cheek, and she flinched hard. “He hit me. Isobel ran to the door, and he caught her. She fought him. I heard it. I was on the floor, but I heard all of it, and I couldnae…” She stopped. Her voice broke fully. “I couldnae get up. She was right there, and I couldnae do anythin’…”
“Jane.” He put his hand on her shoulder and waited. “Look at me.” She pulled her eyes off the floor and found his face. “She fought him. Ye hear me? That matters. Are ye hurt beyond repair?”
She shook her head. Then winced. “Just me face.”
“All right.” He held her gaze for a moment, long enough for her to stop shaking quite so hard, and then he said, “How long ago did he take her?”
“I daenae ken how long I was on the floor before I could move.” Her voice was very small. “A while. Maybe a long while. I apologize; I should have…”
“Stop. Ye couldnae have stopped him.” He stood up. “Ye tried. That’s enough.”
He crossed to the tapestry, pulled it aside, pressed the stone, and the passage door swung inward. Cold air and the smell of earth came out of the dark. The lantern mount inside was still warm when he touched it. He straightened and turned, and his voice came out at a volume that had nothing careful in it.
“Donal. Gregor.”
Boots on stone in the dark, first one pair, then more—men rushing from the hall, stairwells, and east corridor, waking up at the sound of that voice because there was only one reason it came at that volume at such an hour.
Gregor came through the door half-dressed, still pulling his belt straight. He saw Jane, the passage, Alasdair’s face, and stood very straight.
Alasdair said, “Malcolm has taken me bride from the castle through the passage behind that wall. Get me six men with swords and a lantern. Now.”
“Aye, Laird.”
Another man in the doorway. “Get Moira. Jane needs her.” Gone. A third arrived. “Eastern gate. No one in or out unless it’s Fergus, Hamish, or me, lock it otherwise.” Gone. A fourth, a fifth, each one taking an order and moving before Alasdair had finished giving it. The castle pulled itself awake around a single point.
He was heading toward the passage when Lady Branwen entered through the doorway behind him. A shawl was wrapped around her shoulders and her walking stick was clutched in her hand. She looked at Jane on the floor, at the overturned basin, and at the open doorway to the passage. Then she turned her gaze to Alasdair.
“Malcolm took her through the passage,” he said. “I’m goin’ after them.”
Lady Branwen went straight to Jane and lowered herself beside her. Shetook the girl’s face in both hands. Jane flinched at the touch and then stilled.
“Ye’re safe,” Lady Branwen said firmly, her thumbs careful along Jane’s jaw. “Hear me, lass… ye’re safe. Ye did well.” Jane’s breath was still coming in pulls, but she looked at Lady Branwen’s face and held onto it. Then, Alasdair’s grandmother said it again, quieter, and kept her hands where they were.
Euan’s voice came from the doorway, small and uncertain. “What happened to Jane?”
Sarah came through the door behind him with her hand on his shoulder. She looked at Jane on the floor and at the broken basin and at the passage door standing open, and her hand on Euan’s shoulder tightened once.
“Go to Lady Branwen,” she said to Euan, steadying her voice. Euan went and pressed himself against his great-grandmother’s side without a word, and Lady Branwen put one arm around him and did not stop talking to Jane.
Sarah came through the door behind Euan and looked at the room, at the passage door, at Alasdair.
“How long?” she said.
“Too long.”
“Is she…” Sarah stopped. She looked at Jane on the floor, at the smear of water across the stone, and she set her jaw. Alasdair was at the passage door.
“Stay here. Keep the door locked once I’m gone.”
“Alasdair.” He turned. Sarah was standing with her arms crossed and her chin up. “She’s nae fragile,” she said. “Ye ken that.”