Chapter 37

Each day that Keelin was in captivity was agonizingly long.  Mordrid rode off into battles every so often and sometimes days would pass without her seeing him, much to her relief.  She never stopped hoping that he would be killed in one of these many battles, that the terrifying threat he posed would be snuffed out more quickly than a candle's flame, but her prayers in this respect were not answered.

            There was precious little for her to do but pray, hope, and worry.  When Mordrid was present he delighted in coming to visit her and describing to her in graphic detail the men he had killed on the battlefield, his slaying of King Arthur, and his plans for her and Rhain.  His tales frequently made her sick to her stomach but she always managed to keep control over her body until he parted.  Once he was gone, she would usually collapse onto her pallet and lay in a fetal position until the uncontrollable heaving of her body subsided.  These experiences always left her feeling both physically and emotionally drained.  She kept up a façade of bravado with Mordrid for as long as possible but she knew that he could see that he was wearing her down.

            On the days when Mordrid was not present, she occasionally had visits from other inhabitants of the castle.  To her intense distaste, the man who had tackled her back in the English forest was a frequent visitor, as he was the one who most often brought her meal trays.  On one occasion, the king and queen of France came to gawk at their prisoner and for the first and only time Keelin regretted not being able to speak French.  She would have liked to tell them what she thought of them and what Rhain would do to them when he arrived.  The French prince also came to see her on a few occasions and Keelin hated his visits almost as much as she hated Mordrid's.  The prince would always look at her with a lecherous stare and Keelin was certain that if the young man were not so afraid of Mordrid the prince would have had no qualms about taking whatever he wished from her.

            As time passed, Keelin began to think more and more about Rhain's coming to rescue her.  She was able to catch bits and pieces of information from time to time and she knew that the French had suffered multiple defeats at the hands of the Germans and the English.  It was obvious that it was just a matter of time before the two armies came marching into Paris.  Keelin was fairly certain that Rhain and Edwyn would know that she was being held in the Parisian castle but she knew that they would have no idea in which part of the castle she was being held.  She tried to think of what she could do to point them her way but the more she thought the more frustrated she became.  Her tower chamber held nothing but arrow slits and she was watched nearly every second of the day. 

While lying in bed one night, her head pounding from the tension of trying to think of something to attract the attentions of the English and German armies, Keelin tugged at her gown and heard it tear.  A wan stream of moonlight flowed into the chamber from one of the arrow slits and she held the tattered bit of her gown up to it.  She could see that it was not a very large piece but she felt fairly certain that it was large enough that it might be noticed from the ground.  She was extremely grateful that she had worn her red gown the day she had been captured rather than her cream gown.  The red fabric would stand out against the gray stones of the castle in a way that the cream never would have done.

Holding her breath for several heartbeats, Keelin waited for some sound of movement at the barred door that was the only entrance to her prison.  She heard nothing.  She could not see anything in the inky blackness beyond the bars of the door and so she waited several minutes and then held her breath again and listened.  Still nothing.  Holding her breath, Keelin moved stealthily to one of the arrow slits that was shrouded in shadow.  By pressing her eye to the slit and craning her neck downward, she could see a small slice of land below her.  Praying fervently that it was the front of the castle and not some obscure corner at the back, she managed to wiggle the piece of fabric through the slit and to wedge one corner of it into the loose mortar between two stones. 

By the time she had finished, her heart was pounding and she was breathing so loudly that she feared that everyone in the castle might hear her.  She stole soundlessly back to her pallet and laid down, waiting to see if anyone would come bursting into the chamber and rip the piece of her gown from the arrow slit.  She did not relax until the beam of moonlight had passed from one arrow slit to the next.

As the night gave way to day, Keelin found that her thoughts became more and more collected and more and more coherent.  She suddenly remembered that Alinda had been with her the day she had been captured and she felt the familiar thrill of dread race down her spine and somehow land in the pit of her stomach.  She could not imagine what had become of her friend.  It was a long, sleepless night, rendering Keelin even more tense when Mordrid strode through her door the next day.

"And how did you sleep, my lady?" he asked, with his mocking smile.

"You know very well that I did not sleep," she replied, her voice sharp.  "What have you done with Alinda?"  She tried her best to keep the fear from her voice.

A slow, oily smile slipped over Mordrid's face.  "I was beginning to wonder when you would inquire after your friend.  What sort of friend are you that it takes you so much time to inquire after the health of the friend that was captured along with you?  For all you know, she may be dead."

"Where is she?" Keelin demanded again.  She had known from the first day she had awakened in Mordrid's clutches that it was best to demand the exact knowledge that she was trying to extract from him.  She knew it was dangerous to allow herself to fall prey to his verbal games.

"She is here, of course, and is quite well.  In fact, I do believe that she has been longing to visit you.  I shall have her brought to you."  Mordrid moved over toward the door and spoke through the bars to one of the guards.

Keelin tried to conceal her surprise at the fact that Mordrid was going to allow her to see Alinda.  It seemed strange to her that he would be so eager to fulfill this request.  She began to feel an uneasy stirring in the pit of her stomach.  Perhaps he intended to harm Alinda in some way while Keelin watched.

            She did not have long to fret, however.  No more than three minutes went by before the door to her prison opened once again and Alinda moved forward into the chamber.  At first, Keelin could barely register her emotions, so great was her sense of shock.  Alinda was clean and meticulously groomed, dressed in a gown of sky blue silk that was at the height of court fashion.  Her hair had been brushed until it gleamed and then carefully arranged in a series of coils that ended in a queue that trailed along her back.  Keelin could not understand why her friend was so clean and richly dressed when she herself was in tatters, her hair a tangled mess.

            "Alinda?" she said, stepping toward her friend.  What happened next stopped her in her tracks and made her blood run cold.  Rather than moving toward Keelin, Alinda stepped over to Mordrid and placed her hand in the crook of his arm.

            "I am very hurt that it has taken you so long to inquire after me," she said, her voice mocking.  "Was I not telling you so yesterday, my lord?"

            "Indeed, my dear, you were," Mordrid replied, patting Alinda's hand with his own.

            Horror and realization dawned on Keelin all at once.  "Traitor," she whispered in Alinda's general direction.

            "Traitor to whom?" Alinda asked, unruffled.  "I have proven myself to be quite loyal to my lord."

            Keelin could feel the blood drain from her face as she glanced from Mordrid to Alinda and back again.  Mordrid had spent much time at court while she was growing up and he most certainly would have had the opportunity to interact with a great many of the castle's servants.  Her mind flashed back to conversations she had shared with Alinda and some of the strange things that Alinda had said.  Keelin was terrified to realize that she had told Alinda nearly everything regarding her fear of Mordrid and her fear that Mordrid would harm Rhain.

            "All this time?" Keelin asked.  For the first time, she felt the nearly uncontrollable urge to sob right before her mortal enemy.

            "Why do you think I sought you out?" Alinda inquired coldly.  "I watched you from the moment you came into the castle.  I knew what had happened to my lord and I knew that I wanted revenge against the woman who had caused his destruction.  When I began, I thought only of my own desire to avenge my lord's name but then he devised this masterful plan to avenge himself against both you and that sniveling lover of yours.  I watched you when you were a scullery maid and when your so-called king decided to find a better place for you, 'twas I who made certain he was informed that we were in need of a sewing woman.  I made certain that I was always around when you needed a friend.  I spied on you and saw you dance with vile Rhain at the ball for the Italians and I watched your meetings in the forest and on the battlements.  'Twas not until he returned from Germany and I saw how you reacted to the king's death and his coronation that I was certain of your feelings for him.  That was when I contacted my lord."

            "She is a clever one, is she not?" Mordrid asked.

            "Why, Alinda?  How could you do this to England?" Keelin asked, simply.

            The other woman regarded her with a look of pure hatred in her eyes.  "What do I care for England?  In England I have been nothing more than a servant to be spat upon.  England exiled the one man I have always loved.  England has been nothing more than a land of tyranny and suffering for me."

            "When the time of reckoning comes, you will suffer dearly.  I will pray for your soul," Keelin told her, feeling as though her heart would break.

            Alinda merely sneered at her.  "I shall see you in hell.  Save a place for me there, will you not?"

            Mordrid threw his head back and laughed.  "Ah, such a charming creature and such a creature after my own heart," he said, caressing Alinda fondly.  The woman fairly purred at his touch.  It sickened Keelin.

            "Come, my dear," Mordrid said.  "I believe we should leave the lady alone with only her thoughts to torture her."

            After Alinda and Mordrid left the chamber, Keelin collapsed on her pallet, wrapping herself into a tight ball, and sobbing as silently as possible.  The pain of Alinda's betrayal cut through her like a knife and was compounded by the horrifying realization of just how much destruction might be wrought upon England as a result of the maid's traitorous actions.  Keelin had been so certain that she had found a trustworthy friend in Alinda and it was sheer agony to know that Alinda had hated and despised her all along.  Through her perfidious nature, Alinda had been able to convince Keelin not to place her complete trust in her ladies and to always hold the amiable girls at arm's length.  She had made Keelin dependent on her, had convinced her against growing close to any other person and when Keelin had defied her and had become close to Rhain, Alinda had decided to use that to her advantage as well.

            Keelin berated herself for being so foolish.  She felt that the dangers that awaited Rhain, although not of her own making, were her fault.  Had she been wise enough to question Alinda's earnest overtures of friendship, had she acted with prudence, none of what had happened might have ever occurred.  Still, Keelin could not blame herself too harshly for she knew that her heart had been pure and that her desire had been most natural.  She had suffered a great deal and had been longing for the comfort of a friend.  It was through no fault of her own that Alinda had chosen to exploit Keelin's need in a most despicable manner.

            Slowly, the pain began to ease and Keelin's thoughts turned to those who had proved worthy of her love and she was reminded that she was not alone.  She may have been naïve enough to trust Alinda but she had also trusted Rhain and he had proven his worth to her many times over.  She knew that she would never again need for anything as long as she had the love and friendship of the man who had shown himself to be among the best of men.  What was more; she had the friendship and respect of Edwyn, whose heart was of the purest gold.  She had also gained the comfort of the love of the queen, who was as sweet and pure as the newly fallen snow.  Although she had never truly let them become close to her, her ladies had shown her much compassion during each and every day of Rhain's absence.

            The more she thought, the stronger she felt.  Her tears dried up and she sat up once again.  She would not allow Mordrid and Alinda to break her, would not allow them to cloud her judgment and compromise her ability to think of those she loved and of England as she planned her course of action.  She would stand tall and keep her wits about her and find a way to do all that she could to ensure the security of the country and people that she loved more than life.  Keelin had spent far too much of her life cowering in fear before Mordrid and she refused to cower any longer.  She would prove her mettle to him and show him once and for all that there was no place for such an evil person as he in the world.

            Her resolve firm, Keelin once again turned her thoughts to the English and German approach on the castle.  She hoped that they would be able to see the scrap of her gown so that they would know for certain where she was being held.  Turning her thoughts toward the events that might occur as they tried to free her, Keelin began to think of what she would need to help Rhain in any way that she could.  A weapon was very desirable and Keelin glanced around her, trying to find something, anything that she could use to defend herself.  Under cover of night, she prowled the tower but was unable to find any lose stones or anything else that would serve her well as a weapon.  Her mind turned to thoughts of her meal tray and she realized that the heavy pewter mug that was always upon it would do very well.  She decided that the next time her tray was about to be cleared away she would conceal the mug in her pallet and then create a diversion by attacking whomever served her.  In the chaos that would follow, she prayed they would not notice the absent mug.

            Opportunity presented itself the next morning when the filthy Frenchman who had kidnapped her entered the chamber with her tray.  When he set the tray down, Keelin snatched the mug and flung its contents in his face.  As he sputtered and cursed, wiping his eyes so that he could once again see, Keelin quickly shoved the mug beneath a mound of straw and blankets.  She then let out the most bloodcurdling scream she could muster, launching herself at the man and lashing out at him.

            The commotion brought two other Frenchmen rushing into the chamber.  Yelling loudly in French, they each grabbed one of her arms and did their best to pull her away from their companion.  Keelin put up a good fight, kicking, scratching, biting, and punching at them.  The commotion lasted for several minutes before the men were able to subdue her enough to allow a fourth man to enter the chamber and hold a cloth doused in a noxious liquid over her face.  The sickeningly sweet fumes seemed to go right to her head and Keelin could feel her limbs turn to lead.  As her struggles stopped, the other men released their hold on her, causing her to tumble onto her pallet with very little grace.  Her vision began to go black and Keelin tried to fight it but found that it was useless.  As she drifted off into unconsciousness, she was very grateful to feel the heavy mug digging into the flesh of her back.