Page 7 of Seduction in a Kilt

“But what about ye and the spy?” Knox asked, his usually calm demeanor agitated.

“Dinnae worry about me, I can take care of mesel’ and him,” Liam assured his friend, jerking his chin at the captive. “Get goin’, and I’ll follow as fast as I can, with him in tow,” he told his friend, glancing back at the captive.

“Aye, all right, I’ll go straight away,” Knox replied, gathering up his stuff hurriedly, including his hat, which he rammed onto his head before running for his horse. He stowed his things quickly in his saddlebag and then, in one fluid movement, leapt nimbly into the saddle. “I’ll see ye at the castle as soon as ye can get there, all right?” he said, looking back at Liam and the boy tied to the tree.

“Make haste,” Liam shouted to his friend, watching Knox ride off, to be

swallowed among the trees.

When the his friend had departed, Liam returned to the captive. Filled with a fresh sense of urgency, he grabbed him by the collar, shook him, and bellowed in his face, “Who are ye then? Are ye workin’ fer MacAlister, eh? Are ye alone, or are there more of ye spyin’ on us? Answer me!”

Infuriatingly, the lad would still not say a word, so Liam decided to interrogate him further and force him to speak. “Ye give me nae choice,” he told the lad before punching him twice in the ribs.

As soon as he had landed the blows, he regretted it, for the breath whooshed audibly from the skinny body, and the boy let out a grunt of pain. He sagged against the ropes binding him to the tree, moaning softly.

Christ, he’s weak, all right. Maybe I shouldnae have hit him so hard. I’d best be a wee bit more careful, otherwise I risk knocking him out completely, and then he’ll be useless fer information.

He kept firing questions at the lad, but to no avail.

“Why will ye nae answer me? Are ye deaf or stupid or what?” he demanded. By now, he hardy had any expectation that the lad would answer, since he had been stoically silent for so long. Thus, he was genuinely shocked when he finally did speak.

However, the boy volunteered no information, as Liam had hoped he would. Instead, he gasped out in a high, strained voice that sounded weirdly artificial, “I’m nae a spy! I was just after yer horse! What are ye gonnae dae tae me?”

The lad hasnae even dropped his balls by the sound of it, Liam thought to himself, growing more puzzled by the second about this curious captive.

“There’s only one thing I can dae since ye willnae answer me questions,” he replied.

“I answered yer question! I told ye, I’m nae a spy, just a village lad and a horse thief,” the prisoner protested again.

Liam shook his head. “I dinnae believe ye. So, if ye willnae tell me otherwise, and ye’re wearing that ring bearing the seal of the MacAlister’s, I can only conclude that ye are indeed a spy workin’ fer Carson MacAlister. Ye leave me with nay other option than tae take ye tae Castle Stewart fer a proper interrogation.” He saw the youth’s dark eyes fly wide with panic as he added menacingly, “Ye’re our property now.”