Chapter Nine – Candle by the Window

Duncan hesitated at the bottom of the stairs, unsure if he would be able to talk to Courtney now that he'd admitted to himself that he had feelings for her. He knew it was ridiculous and that nothing could ever come of it, but that didn't stop him from wanting her. He took a deep breath and started up the stairs. He stopped once he reached the second floor and gazed at Courtney chained up against the wall. She looked so hopeless with the chains and the gag and her swollen ankle. Duncan walked over to her and removed the gag from her mouth.

"Your brother is a fucking bastard," she spat. Duncan sighed.

"I know," he didn't even bother trying to defend Daniel this time. "I'm sorry." Courtney pursed her lips.

"Can you get these off?" she asked, shaking the chains attached to her wrists. Duncan shook his head.

"Daniel took the keys," he told her. Courtney groaned in frustration.

"Can you at least do something about my ankle?" she demanded. Duncan nodded. He looked around the room for something to bind her ankle and noticed some old faded curtains hanging over the window. He pushed aside the heavy velvet and behind it was a layer of what used to be white lace, although it wasn't white anymore. He ripped some shreds from it and took them back over to Courtney to wrap them tightly around her ankle. She winced as he did so and Duncan glanced up at her to make sure she was okay before continuing.

"Daniel's gone to get the ransom. You should be home by tonight," Duncan informed Courtney. Courtney simply nodded. Duncan finished with her ankle and sat down beside her, leaning up against the wall. This room was much the same as the downstairs room. There was a staircase leading down and a staircase leading up to another level. There were four windows, two of which were open. Courtney was chained by one of the open windows. There wasn't much else in the room, everything had obviously been taken when the people of the lighthouse fled the dragon.

"What do we do now?" Courtney asked.

"Now we wait," Duncan replied. Courtney sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the wall. Duncan studied her intently, trying to memorise her features. He knew this would be the last they'd see of each other and the thought filled him with dread. He sighed as he too closed his eyes and leant against the wall. He couldn't believe his own stupidity at falling for a princess. Even if she wasn't a princess he knew she could never see him as anyone other than the man who'd robbed her of her freedom, nearly gotten her killed and dragged her across the countryside. It was a hopeless case.

The pair was silent for a while until Courtney began to sing.

"Lights on the shoreline,

Search the faces of the lost.

Drowned by the moonlight,

I close my eyes and I hear your voice," she sang. The song was slow and sweet and melancholy and Duncan had never heard it before, but now that he had he never wanted it to end. Courtney had a beautiful voice and he felt he could listen to her sing forever. He opened his eyes to gaze upon her face as she sang.

"Leave a candle by the window,

And I will follow it to your arms.

Leave a candle by the window,

And I will follow it to your arms." Duncan really wanted to ask her what the song was but he didn't want to interrupt in case she stopped altogether.

"Sirens, sirens of the sea

Please bring him back to me.

Love, when you left me,

Did you not see the coming storm?

Your ship struck the shoreline.

Were you trying to sail back home?" Courtney's brow was creased and there was a sorrow in her voice like she had experienced the loss herself.

"A flame, ever burning

For I'll be waiting for your smile

Our love never fading

Never saying goodbye," Courtney finished the song and they sat in silence for another moment before Duncan could bring himself to break the spell.

"What was that song?" he asked. Courtney opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Candle by the window," she replied.

"I've never heard it before," Duncan stated. He was surprised as he had heard quite a lot of songs. Singing was a favourite past time of his mother and a lot of other people that lived in his street. It didn't cost any money and it made people feel good.

"No I don't suppose you would have. I wrote it, you see," Courtney confessed.

"You wrote that?" Duncan asked incredulously. Courtney nodded. "How?" It had never occurred to him before that people actually wrote songs… they'd just always been there. And if he had thought about it, he would have supposed songs would have been written by court minstrels, not princesses.

"I don't know… I just heard a story once about how this woman's husband died at sea and I really felt for her… and these words just came to me. I play the lute and Gwen plays the flute so we kind of just worked it out together," Courtney explained. Duncan shook is head in awe. This princess was constantly surprising him and with every new revelation he fell for her a little more. It was getting out of hand.

"Have you written a lot of songs?" Duncan asked.

"No, just that one." Courtney told him. "It's strange but I feel to write a song you have to have some really strong emotion in you. The woman who told me that story obviously loved her husband intensely. I've never felt that from anyone else,"

"But what about your own emotions?" Duncan wondered.

"I guess I've never really felt that strongly about anything or anyone," Courtney shrugged. It was true, she'd never felt attached to anyone really. She didn't have any siblings and her ladies in waiting were there solely for her amusement and she grew tired of them easily. She loved her parents but she didn't really feel any affection for them. She looked at Duncan, wondering if he pitied her but she couldn't read his expression. She gazed into his bright blue eyes and she thought for a moment she could write a song about them.

"You have a beautiful voice," Duncan whispered.

"Thank you," Courtney replied with a shy smile.

"Will you teach me the song?"

"Sure."


It was almost dark by the time Daniel returned. He raced up the stairs with the torch in his hand to find Courtney and Duncan still sitting on the ground talking. He walked quickly over to them and handed Duncan the torch before crouching over Courtney to unlock the chains.

"It's time to take her home then?" Duncan asked.

"No," Daniel replied shortly.

"What do you mean? Did you get the money?" Duncan pressed.

"No! The king is refusing to pay it!" Daniel snapped.

"Then what the fuck are we doing?" Duncan asked aggressively, standing up and putting the flaming torch in a holster on the wall. He was getting sick of Daniel not telling him things.

"We're moving her." Daniel replied. Duncan shoved his brother away from Courtney just as he got the last lock undone. He pushed Daniel up against the wall roughly, pinning him so he couldn't get away.

"Tell me what's going on right now," he growled. Daniel was winded from the force of Duncan throwing him against the wall, and shocked that his brother had finally snapped.

"They figured out where we are," Daniel choked out. "The guards refused to go near the dragon so the king is holding a competition to see who can rescue her. The prize is 1000 gold coins, which doesn't make sense since that's more than we asked for. Anyone who wants to enter has to report to the castle courtyard in Evershire by tomorrow at noon, so we have to move her before they find us." Daniel explained. Duncan let him go and he sank down to the floor, rubbing his shoulder where Duncan had shoved him.

"What good is moving her going to do? Where are we even going to take her?" Duncan questioned.

"I haven't figured that part out yet. But we need to make them think if they don't pay us then we're going to kill her," Daniel said urgently.

"No. We're not moving her. I've had enough of your crappy ideas," Duncan refused.

"Well do you have a better idea? Otherwise we'll be right back where we started, or even worse they'll catch us and string us up!" Daniel spat, standing back up.

"As a matter of fact I do have a better idea," Duncan replied with a smirk.

"Well don't hold out on us, what is it?" Daniel scowled.

"I'm going to rescue her," Duncan declared.


Ok I think this chapter was kind of lame sorry. Anyway the song is actually a real song by Karliene Reynolds and if you like celtic music at all or Game of Thrones you should check her out on youtube she has a beautiful voice. Hopefully the next chapter will be more interesting than this one was!