“I’ll gently snatch a woman and not harm a hair on her, which, I remind ye, I have not, nor have I truly threatened ye. My only intention is tae prevent the butchery of hundreds, perhaps more, on the battlefield.”
“Ye speak as a leader, though ye are nae Laird Alex,” Katherine mused. “Were I tae surmise, I might come tae the conclusion that ye are the Captain of his Guard.”
He raised an eyebrow slightly, but the gleam in his green eyes betrayed him – she could tell he was far more impressed than he wished to let on. “Aye, I am Bryan Black, Laird Alex’s Captainand most loyal servant. yer intellect is quite remarkable, Lady Katherine. And yer manners are far more genteel than Romilly’s, I shall commend ye for that.”
“Again, I’ll remind ye that I shall not abide the slander of my sister!” Katherine countered hotly.
“Oh nay?” He crossed his arms, tilting his head mildly. “And how do ye intend tae express yer displeasure?”
“Aye, taunt a woman who’s bound and helpless,” she spat. “Thentell me of yer clan’s honor, and yer own. I’m sure Romilly receives the same hideous treatment in her confinement.”
At this, Bryan threw his head back and laughed. However, Katherine was surprised to hear no trace of cruelty in it. He seemed to be actually delighted, as though someone had told him the best joke of his life.
“What the blazes is so funny about that?” she demanded.
“Only that it is she who does the taunting, every time I visit her,” he explained jovially, “and I’m the one who generally feels helpless by the time she’s done with me. Ye really ought to hear some of the things she’s said to me, they’re downright unseemly! Cut me to the quick, they did!”
The corners of Katherine’s mouth twitched in spite of herself at the sincerity of his amused yet wounded tone. “She can have a tongue with a tang, at that,” she admitted sheepishly. “She has earned it through too many years of my father’s envenomed words dripping into her ear.”
“But ye would have me believe it was different for ye?” he challenged.
“Believe what ye will,” Katherine answered icily. “I am yer captive either way, it seems, and ye and yer laird will do as ye will with me. Ye claim ye have nae threatened me? Already ye lie, for upon taking me, ye informed me that I would remain unharmed ‘as long as I dinnae cause any trouble.’ What harm, then, wouldye visit upon me if I tried tae escape yer clutches? How far would ye go tae bring me tae yer laird as a prize?”
“I shall take yer feet, of course.”
The reply stunned her, and she blinked. “Eh?”
He shrugged casually. “Well, it seems like the easiest solution, does it not? How can ye run without any feet? Go on, picture it! Ye’d look ridiculous in the attempt.”
Katherine peered at him uncertainly for a long moment, then noticed the slow rising of the corners of his mouth, and once again, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
“Ye are joking,” she said flatly.
“Aye, I am.” His grin faded slightly, his gaze growing earnest. “Laird Alex and I agree that this scheme will only succeed if ye are kept safe from harm in every way, and that if there were the slightest risk of anything otherwise, it would nae have been prudent for us tae come and take ye at all. I’d prefer ye not test me by plotting tae leave my company at the first opening which presents itself, but ye may be assured that if ye do, ye will be dragged back alive and in one piece—though by no means happier with how ye shall be restrained the remainder of our journey, if ye take my meaning.”
“I suppose I cannae ask for anything fairer than that,” she conceded.
“I’m delighted tae hear it. Now, will ye have a drink from the stream? I wish tae cover far more ground before we stop for the night, and I will as soon ye not faint from thirst along the way. It will make it all the harder for me tae keep ye on the horse with me.”
“How very practical of ye,” she replied with a smirk.
As she got to her knees, Katherine asked herself why she was inclined to believe Bryan’s insistence that no harm would come to her. For that is the ultimate lure of an animal into a trap,is it not? Presenting a situation that appears harmless, so the creature will be baited into coming along without a fight?
Katherine had not received the tutelage Romilly had from their father in the ways of sizing up potential threats and enemies. The captain’s countenance seemed pleasant and amiable enough to make him seem like a good-natured fellow, rather than some cold-blooded or sinister sort. And when he’d promised her safety, there was no lying in his eyes, only a genuine desire to make the rest of their travels together continue without incident.
She thought she’d seen a glimmer of fascination in them. Perhaps even a touch of something else as well?
So she asked herself, could someone be talented enough in deceiving and manipulation as to fool her so completely? Could a man’s soul be dark and cynical enough to drape itself in such a convincing mask?
Perhaps. Katherine had never been face to face with danger before. She had nothing to compare it to. She had, indeed, walled herself off from it as much as possible in refusing to carry out the wishes of her father or sister.
Now, it seemed, she might be about to pay the ultimate price for that decision.
If only ye were here,Romilly, perhaps ye might be able to tell me, she thought bitterly.But if ye were, then likely none of this would be happening.
Katherine brought her hands together, filled her palms with the water, and brought it up to her lips. It was fresh and cool, and feeling it upon her skin began to soothe her nerves somewhat.
However, there was another disquieting thought which rushed and babbled in her ears along with the gush of the stream over its stones, constant and maddeningly insistent, no matter how she wished she might ignore it.
