In the morning, Mac arrived at the castle with the sole objective of finding the key to Ciarán’s room. Once she did, Hamish and Fergus would find fresh clothing and a razor for Mac to slip under the door to Ciarán. His full, untrimmed growth of beard would make him easy to spot if Clan Ross discovered him missing, so he would trim his beard to blend in with the visiting merchants on market day, when he would make his escape. The plan was a simple one. Mac would unlock the door and lead Ciarán out of the castle to meet with Hamish and Fergus. From there, Mac and Hamish would create a diversion so Fergus and Ciarán could slip past the guards at the gate. As long as Ciarán’s escape went undiscovered, the guards would be more concerned about who came into the castle than who came out. But all
