Page 6 of Tempting the Highland Captive

CHAPTERTHREE

Ron Kyall sat in his cell in stunned silence torn between laughing until he cried or loudly demanding to have the beautiful brown-haired green-eyed lass returned to him forthwith. In all his years he had never met a more enchanting, or delusional, creature. She had asked him to wed her. He could not think of a more outrageous proposal.

The lass is clearly mad. I can just see it now, the condemned murderer and the laird’s daughter. He did laugh then, a long low chuckle. Shaking his head, he laid down on his pallet with his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling, lost in his own thoughts. The lass had been stunning to behold, cold and distant as so many ladies were, yet he could see an intense fire burning behind her eyes that intrigued him. He could not say for certain whether it was born of desperation or madness, but he was inclined toward the latter. She would make for a fine tup in the heather though, aye?

He was not certain how long he lay there dozing in and out when the sound of approaching footsteps awakened him. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to find the McAlpine laird’s daughter staring down at him, her green eyes appraising him thoughtfully. “My Lady?” Ron stood in question. He had not expected to ever see her again the way the large red giant of a man had hauled her out of his cell so quickly.

“Master Kyall,” she began, in a determined firm voice.

“Ron,” he corrected.

The lass sighed and began again, “Ron, I am in need o’ yer services.”

Ron’s brows shot up to his hairline in question. Is she askin’ what I think she is askin’?

Seeing the look on his face, the lass blushed and shook her head. “Nothing untoward, I assure ye. I only need ye tae wed me, nothing more.”

Ron nearly choked on his own tongue. He had expected her to mayhap apologize for her previous insanity, but she had only come to reaffirm it. The lass had to be mad. “I dinnae ken what it is ye are tryin’ tae say, lass. Surely ye dinnae wish for a condemned prisoner as a husband?”

“I do.” She nodded firmly. She had a stubborn set to her jaw that Ron found amusing.

“Are ye daft, woman?”

“Nae.” She shook her head in denial. “Desperate, but nae daft.”

“Desperate?”

Sighing she moved to sit in the chair that the guard had brought in for her to use. Ron, taking her que, sat down on the small stool that was his only piece of furniture. “My faither is dying,” she admitted with a sad expression clouding her eyes.

“My condolences,” Ron murmured, truly sorry for the lass. To lose a beloved parent was a heart wrenching ordeal to endure.

She accepted his words of sympathy with an elegant nod of appreciation. “Once he is gone our enemies will nae hesitate tae attack what they perceive tae be a weakened clan. They, like my faither, dinnae believe that a woman can lead. My faither has ordained that I wed tae provide further protection for myself and the clan.”

“And how could I provide ye protection from here,” Ron motioned around his cell, “or dead?” He added this last part as coldly as he could to make her realize that his execution could come at any time.

“I dinnae wish tae have a man come and take over everythin’ that my family has built. I ken that I can lead. I ken it in my verra soul, but according tae my faither, I need the protection o’ a man’s name. If we were tae wed, I could still lead, but be protected by the notion that a husband does exist and could return at any time tae wreak vengeance on anyone who might try and lay a hand on me and mine.”

“And how would ye explain my absence?”

“I would say that ye are a soldier, a captain, serving on the Continent or in the Americas.”

Ron could not believe the woman’s audacity. She is a brave lass, I’ll give her that, but she is most certainly mad.

“Will ye do it? Will ye wed me?”

“And why would ye wish tae wed an accused murderer?”

“I dinnae believe that ye murdered yer own maither. As for the attempted murder o’ Michael Rossell, that is what gave me the notion tae wed ye.”

Ron’s brows rose even higher, something that up to that point he had not thought possible. “Why?”

“He is the enemy o’ which I speak.”

Ron met her eyes and saw the desperation that she had spoken of. His heart went out to her and her clan, but he could honestly say that he did not have anything to offer her, nor did he wish to get involved with anything that had to do with the Rossell clan. “Nae.” He shook his head. “I will nae wed ye.”

“I will pay ye.”

“And what would I do with money in here?” he asked, spreading his arms wide to emphasis the ridiculousness of her offer. “I am tae die, lass, and soon.”