Jamie looked between Duncan and Kuresh. “What do ye mean?”
“Dark skin. Black hair and eyes like the devil.”
“There is a fairy mound not too far from here,” Jamie offered. “But I doona think Kuresh is a bloody fairy—he’s too big and ugly.”
Kuresh stepped closer to their prisoner, the fire casting shadows across his face and body. “Ugly?”
“Doona come any closer,” Duncan said, obviously afraid.
Jamie had witnessed other people react to Kuresh and his russet-skinned brothers the same way, afraid of strangers, of the unknown. But Clan MacKay had welcomed the foreigners with open arms, because they’d shed blood to save his people. “He’s a giant that will crush yer bones and eat yer tender Munroe flesh if ye doona answer my questions quickly.”
The other MacKay soldiers laughed at Duncan’s expense.
“W-what do ye want to know?” Duncan lowered himself into a sitting position again, keeping a sharp eye on Kuresh.
“Why did ye follow Helen here? Why not stop her and alert her sire?”
“My uncle wanted to find out what kind of character the lady possesses.”
“Ye risk much letting her travel so far alone.”
“We stayed close. The lady was never in danger.”
Jamie frowned. The cold posed a threat to a woman who had always lived in sheltered comfort. “Tis the dead of winter.”
“Aye. And if I thought she couldna withstand the cold, I would have ordered my men to take her into custody. Twas of more interest to see where she’d go. Much to my surprise, she rode into the arms of her father’s greatest enemies.”
That made Jamie laugh. “Clan MacKay is hardly the worst of the earl’s rivals. Aye, there’s bad blood between us, but I can name three or four other clans more desperate for the earl’s noble head than the MacKays.”
“Aye?”
“Oliphants to start with.” Keely’s father had never recovered from the fact the Sutherlands had kept his only daughter a secret for five long years.
“Laird MacKay’s father-in-law,” Duncan said.
“Ye’re familiar with our history, then.”
“Only what I’ve heard from the earl and his sons.”
“I’m sure if ye listened to our version of the story, there’d be great discrepancies. Somewhere in-between is God’s indisputable truth.”
“Maybe,” Duncan said. “Regardless of truth, ye canna keep Lady Helen. My uncle is betrothed to her, and he’s eager to claim his bride.”
The idea of letting Laird Munroe touch Helen infuriated Jamie. “It doesna matter to me,” Jamie said. “The lady has requested sanctuary, and Laird MacKay has granted it.”
Duncan frowned. “Ye know what this means?”
“Aye, ye’re coming with us.”
Chapter Four
The arrival ofLady Helen had been a surprise. But when Jamie sent word back to Alex that he’d captured Laird Munroe’s nephew, he never expected the welcome he received as he rode through the gates with his prisoner. Hundreds of kinsmen and tenants filled the bailey, all curious to see Duncan Munroe.
“What are ye going to do with me?” Duncan asked as Jamie tugged him from the saddle.
“I am not the man to make that decision.” Jamie turned his prisoner around and freed his hands. “Since ye are the nephew of a laird, I will treat ye with respect. But doona take advantage of my kindness. If ye try to escape, I’ll bind ye hand and foot.”
Duncan nodded. “I understand.”
