AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I will see her safe, Conall. You may rely on that.’
‘The worst of it is, Rory, when I was asking her, I really wanted her to say yes. I don’t quite know how I will bear her saying no.’
‘Go away awhile, Conall. Cool your anger at Cailleach, lick your wounds and come back and try again.’
Chapter Twenty-One
Rory knew he was spying but couldn’t help himself. He peered around the doorway to the kitchen, and there she was, peeling vegetables for the stew with the other women. Monnine was laughing and easy with them. He wanted to talk to her, but maybe she would just shy away from him as usual, and he didn’t want to take the smile off her face. It was lovely that smile. God knows he had tried being charming to make amends for his kiss, which usually worked for him, but she just seemed terrified. Rory had tried commanding Monnine to talk to him, but that had the same effect, so now he was reduced to seeking out his heart’s desire and admiring it from a distance. What the hell was wrong with him?
A manservant came up to him. ‘There are some men at the gates demanding to see the Laird.’
‘Where is Duncan?’
‘Out, don’t know where.’
‘Then I suppose it must be me, but tell them to wait.’
Distractedly, he glanced back at Monnine, and she must have heard him talking, for now, she was staring straight at him. She gave him a thin smile, and it made him pathetically happy as if he had earned a great prize.
‘Laird, they say they’ve come for that girl, Kenna,’ continued the servant and Rory’s smile quickly disappeared.
He hurried to the hall where a very unpleasant looking man stood before the fire, palms out, warming himself. Tall and heavy-set, he had the look of a fighter, a man who punched first and asked questions later. His hair was a dirty blonde, and when he turned at Rory’s approach, his eyes narrowed, and he sneered, not bothering with formalities or courtesy.
‘You are Laird Campbell?’ he lisped wetly, with an insolent toss of this head.
‘I am not. My name is Rory Mor Campbell, and you will state your business.’
‘I am here to talk to the Laird, or I will talk to the Laird’s son, for it is with him that I have the quarrel.’
‘You’ll talk to me or not talk at all. I say again, state your business.’
‘Very well. My name is Ross Moncur of Clan Moncur, and I have come for my sister, Kenna.’
Rory did not betray one bit of his shock or dismay at the man’s words. ‘What makes you think your sister is here?’ he said.
The man smiled, but there was no humour in it, and his mouth was a black gape, with almost all his front teeth missing. ‘Oh, she’s here alright. I have it on good authority, and I’ve seen her myself. Been watching this castle for some time now, just to make sure my information is correct. Did you think me a fool to barge in here and take the risk without being sure I would get what I want?’
‘Risk, you say?’
‘Let us speak plainly, for surely you know that Conall Campbell was a guest of my father for some time and…’
‘Prisoner.’
‘Aye, well, ‘twas my father’s notion to take him and nothing to do with me. I just follow orders like a dutiful son. Not my place to ask what or why?’
‘How convenient for your conscience.’
Ross Moncur narrowed his eyes and did not flinch. ‘When he left Sgathach Dun….’
‘Escaped. That is what you mean, isn’t it? Conall escaped your dungeon where you meant to starve and kill him.’
‘My father’s doing not mine,’ said Moncur, holding out his hands. ‘And it doesn’t excuse the fact that when he left, that wretch stole my sister away with him, an innocent girl of eighteen, to debauch and use her ill.’
‘That’s not how I hear it. Your sister went willingly. She told me so herself. Couldn’t wait to get away from Sgathach Dun and her awful family and, since my short acquaintance with you, I can see why.’
‘Insult me all you like, but I will not leave without getting what I want. Kenna has been led astray by the young villain. He has seduced and tricked her into betraying her family and abandoning her betrothed. Laird Donald Menzies of Clan Menzies has a claim to the girl as his bride to be, backed up by a marriage contract and such. Kenna belongs to him, and she must come back and be wed.’
‘And why must she do that?’
