Chapter 58: Chapter Seventeen

ADA

I looked at him, trying to process the whole situation; it all seemed so surreal. In that moment, Ciaran unmasked the demon he had been hiding so well.

What man would agree to murder an infant? He was staring at me with his piercing eyes. I followed the length of his blade, which rested just inches above my child, down to the crib.

This was when I noticed the scar across his entire chest. I stared at it—it was so oddly shaped, like a shepherd’s hook. I knew that scar. I had heard about that scar before. “Kyra,” I whispered to myself.

“What?”

“Kyra,” I shouted at him, finding my voice again. “Tell me, Lord Ciaran, did you viciously rape a young girl and then kill her brother?”

“What did you say?” he asked me, completely confused. His sword lowered for a moment; he was caught off guard by my accusation.

“You heard me! Did you rape a young girl traveling with her brother, and then kill him, you…you monster?”

He just stared at me for a moment and then raised his sword again. The sword started to move toward the crib. I stood there watching it, as if everything was moving in slow motion.

My body tensed and I braced myself for what was about to happen. My child was about to be killed in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched an object fly by and meet Ciaran’s face.

Blood splattered everywhere. It took me a second to figure out what had just happened—a hatchet stuck out from the face of the lifeless body on the ground.

I looked around to see Padriac jumping off his horse. He ran over to where Ciaran’s body lay and stabbed him repeatedly in the chest.

Caxton followed on his horse, yelling at us to leave. This roused me from my trance, and I ran over to the baby, bringing him as close as I could to my chest.

“Padriac,” I exclaimed. “Padriac! He is dead.”

It took Caxton physically removing Padriac from Ciaran to stop him from stabbing the body. He must have heard our entire conversation. Why else would he waste time stabbing a dead man mercilessly?

“Padriac, we need to leave,” Caxton called. I wrapped up the items I had stored at the bottom of the crib in one of the blankets and threw it to him.

He placed it in the saddle bag while Padriac helped me over to where the horse was standing. I couldn’t help but look at Sable lying there on the ground.

If I left her here, she would surely be killed. If not here, then by Silas at the castle; he would accuse her of treason. I could not put her through that agony.

“We must take her with us,” I said to both of them. “We must! She is my friend and only death remains for her in Oranmore…please!”

They ultimately agreed, mainly due to our hurry. Padriac helped Caxton lay her body over his horse. We rode away from the camp to the place the men had all agreed to meet.

Once we were a safe distance away from the camp, we slowed our pace to a smoother trot. Cay fell back asleep after crying hysterically most of the way.

It still pained me to think his life was almost taken away from me, and I thanked Padriac for saving my son. In his typical fashion, he minimized his part in the rescue.

“I assume you heard what I shouted at that man about Kyra,” I said. Padriac sort of grunted in agreement. “Barra will be happy to hear you killed one of the men responsible.”

“Death will never avenge what happened to Kyra,” he responded, voice tight. I did not press on with that topic. We rode in silence for a little bit, until I tightened my hold around Padriac’s waist.

With my head pressed against his back, I gave him the best hug I could on horseback. He awkwardly put his hand on mine around his waist.

“I am so happy to see you, Padriac.”

“I am happy to see you as well, Ada. But I think it’s best we break this hug now. I wish to stay on Cayden’s good side.”

A few hours later, the horses slowed down as we arrived at the meeting spot. Padriac jumped off the horse to survey the area. Once it was clear, he came back to help me down.

It felt good to walk again. I had not ridden a horse that long for a while, and my body felt stiff from even that short journey. I took one of the blankets off the back of the horse and laid it on the ground.

Padriac and Caxton carefully placed Sable on top of it, and I worried her injury was more severe than I had anticipated. Caxton made a small fire while Padriac gathered water for us from the stream nearby.

They were delighted to find that my parcel contained a good amount of food. We divided it up amongst us, leaving enough to cover our journey back to the camp.

It must have been late afternoon when Sable finally started to wake. I hurried to her side to help her sit up slowly. She looked around for a moment.

Her memory must have come rushing back, because she started to panic.

“Where is Cay? Is he all right?” she asked, looking for the baby.

“He is fine. How do you feel?”

“My head is pounding. What happened?”

“Ciaran hit you over the head.”

“Why?”

“Because he tried to kill Cay.”

Sable looked at me like I was lying; she could not understand why he would try to harm him. Cay began to cry a little, and she looked behind us to see Padriac holding him.

She jumped up and started screaming. I stood, trying to calm her down.

“We have been taken by the pagans! Why are you not more afraid?”

“I actually prefer ~heathen~ over pagan,” Caxton said sardonically. Padriac laughed and then focused his attention back on the baby.

“Sable, please sit down, and I will tell you everything.”

“You know these men? These ~heathens~?” she asked in an accusatory way. Caxton made a mocking gesture thanking her for using his preferred word.

I motioned him to look away, trying to refocus her on me.

“Sable, please,” I said to her, but she was so angry. She ran away from us into the woods. I was about to turn and follow when Caxton told me to stay.

“We just recovered you, lass. It is best for us all if you stay here.”

“All right…let her go,” I said with a sigh, “but not too far.”

***

It was starting to get darker. I wondered where Cayden and the other men were, and I worried about Sable, who still had not returned with Caxton.

Padriac left me alone for a few seconds to circle the area. He came back, standing awkwardly near me, as if something was wrong.

“Did you see something?”

“No, no…”

“Then what?”

“I wanted to say I am glad I was the one to kill that man.”

“I’m glad you were there as well,” I said, missing his point.

He seemed annoyed by my comment, taking a seat next to me. He looked at me and blurted out, “Kyra and I are together.”

A smile spread over my lips. “That is happy news indeed.”

“Yes. It is.”

“I had hoped something would become of you two.”

“I wanted to tell you, because you’re the reason we’re together. Both Barra and Sayer know, but given the past six months, I had not the heart to tell Cayden.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” I told him, wishing to ask him more details, but I could already see how awkward he felt about the topic.

So I decided to go find Sable to persuade her to come back before night settled in. Otherwise, Caxton would force her to come back, and that would not help our situation.

I walked in the direction of where the two had gone. Caxton met me along the way and guided me to where she was sitting.

“Sable,” I said quietly. She looked up but did not say anything. Taking a seat next to her, the baby cooed when he saw her. “I’m sorry you are upset.”

“I am more than ~just~ upset. Why are we here?”