"Put on my gown."
Seonaid's eyebrows rose at the snap of authority in the sister's voice. She wasn't at all surprised when Helen responded to it and immediately began removing her own clothes.
"We will switch clothes, then I shall show you a secret way out of here." Sister Blanche helped Lady Helen disrobe as she spoke. "Should we run into them, the habit may keep you safe. Men do not even really look at nuns. We may fool them with the switch."
Turning away as the women set about exchanging clothes, Seonaid moved to the door and listened for sounds in the hall. Aeldra followed, and they stood silent for a moment, listening. Then Seonaid suddenly glanced down at herself and frowned at the long gown and plaid she wore. Her outfit would hamper her movements if they encountered trouble, and it did appear trouble was brewing.
Gesturing for Aeldra to take her place at the door, Seonaid removed her plaid and used her dagger to cut a slice into the plain white shift she'd worn beneath the plaid. She cut a couple of inches below waist level, then tore the cloth all the way around her body until the bottom of the gown fell away to land in a soft pile around her feet. She then tucked the much shortened shift into the top of the plaid braies she had been wearing beneath the gown and plaid. Seonaid and Aeldra usually ran around in the plaid braies and a short tunic at home. They had only donned the gowns for their stay at the abbey to keep from shocking the abbess and nuns. But now that trouble had arrived, the nuns' sensibilities were less important than practicality. Should they need to fight or run, they could do both much easier in braies than long gowns.
Finished with her own garb, Seonaid quickly used a bit of cloth to tie her long black hair back, then took Aeldra's place at the door. She would keep watch while Aeldra made the same alterations to her own dress.
"Where the devil is everyone?"
Blake shrugged at Rolfe's muttered question. The gardens had been empty, as had the entry, the hall, and every other room they had peered into thus far. The abbey was as silent and vacant as a tomb. It was downright eerie, he thought, as he came to an empty side hall.
Pausing, he turned and peered at the men following him. Rolfe, Little George, the bishop, and twenty men-at-arms, curiosity and concern on every face as they peered about the inner sanctity of the abbey. He could not blame them. 'Twas not a place they were likely to see again.
Sighing, he shook his head and peered back toward the main hall.
"What is it?" Rolfe asked, looking back the way they had come.
"The chapel," Blake said. "I swear I saw the door close as I stood at the end of the hall."
"Aye, but we looked in there. It was empty."
"Hmm." He continued to stare up the hall. His instincts were telling him to check it again. A warrior quickly learned to rely on his instincts. Turning abruptly, he headed back the way they had come, pausing after only a few steps to order the men-at-arms to continue searching the passage for any of the abbey's inhabitants. When he continued on, he was aware Rolfe was following him, with Little George and the bishop close behind.
Seonaid straightened from peering into the hall when her cousin nudged her. Aeldra had finished repairing her clothes so that she too was no longer hampered by skirts, and Sister Blanche and Helen had finished exchanging garments and were moving to join them.
"Your gowns," Lady Helen said with surprise as she saw that they had changed their clothing as well. "You look so ... different in braies."
Seonaid smiled at the comment as she eased the door closed and turned to properly examine the two women. She could have said the same to them. Both of them had been transformed by the switch. With her hair hidden beneath the nun's habit and every inch of her body hidden as well, Helen had an ethereal beauty. She had been attractive before, but her beauty was somehow transformed to a pure and innocent sweetness. Sister Blanche, on the other hand, looked a perfect mess, her usually serene expression tense and pinched, her shorn head odd without its covering.
Seonaid glanced about, then moved toward the front of the room to snatch the pristine white cloth off the table holding the candles.
"What are you doing?" Sister Blanche hurried after her as the candles tumbled to the floor.
"Should anyone see the two of ye together, they would recognize the switch at once," Seonaid pointed out. "We must cover yer head."
"Oh." Sister Blanche reached up to self-consciously feel her own shorn head, but Seonaid brushed her hand aside and draped the cloth about her head. She then tied the fine linen beneath her chin, and paused to frown over her handiwork. Unfortunately, her efforts revealed how little knowledge she had of primping and fashion. Muttering under her breath, she fussed a bit, relieved when Helen nudged her out of the way and took over the duty. Once the Englishwoman had finished, Seonaid eyed the sister and nodded her satisfaction.
"Let us go. We must gather the blades from our rooms, then find the exit you speak of."
"The blades from your rooms?" Sister Blanche peered at her, bewildered. "But Mother Elizabeth took them."
"We took them back an' we needs must have them to escape."
"Nay, we cannot risk it," the sister protested at once.
"Would ye send us out with naught to protect us?"
Biting her lip, Sister Blanche peered unhappily about, then sighed. "I shall fetch them for you, then."
Seonaid shook her head. "I'll no let ye risk yerself for us."
" 'Tis my fault you are at risk," Sister Blanche argued. "Besides, they would not dare harm a bride of God."
Seonaid smiled slightly. "Ye look little like a sister right now, Sister."
The nun glanced down at her clothes with a start. "Oh, aye, well, but if I had any difficulty I could remove this." She gestured to the cloth on her head. "They would know I was a sister then."
Seonaid opened her mouth to argue, but Sister Blanche shook her head. "I will not argue with you. I am going and that is final."
"I shall go as well," Helen announced, hurrying to follow the sister as she moved toward the door.
"Nay!" Sister Blanche turned on her at once. " 'Tis not safe for you."
"They would not recognize me dressed in your clothes," Helen pointed out. "In truth, I shall probably be safer than you yourself. Besides, Sister, you surely cannot carry the swords by yourself. They will have to be concealed beneath your skirts, and two would be too awkward for one woman."
The words were true, of course, and Seonaid's lips twitched with amusement as Sister Blanche realized it herself and gave an unhappy nod.
Admonishing them to be quick and quiet about it, Seonaid told them where to find the swords and led them to the door. After pausing to listen for anyone approaching, she opened the door to let them out, then watched until they had turned the corner at the end of the hall. She had started to close the door again when a sound from the other end of the hall drew her eyes. 'Twas the first man she had seen, the fair-haired Scot. He had come around the corner at the end of the hall even as Helen and Sister Blanche disappeared around the other. She didn't think he had spotted the other women, but he had definitely seen her.
Cursing her bad luck, Seonaid slammed the door and turned to warn Aeldra.
*
Reaching the hall in question, Blake stepped into it, then paused in surprise. The hallway was as empty as it had been the first time he had walked down it, but a long-haired Scot now leaned out of the chapel door, his back to them as he peered toward the opposite end of the passage. Curious, Blake glanced along the hall himself and missed his opportunity to get a look at the fellow's face. The sudden slamming of the chapel door told him that his presence had been discovered.