The cart stopped suddenly, and Adam wasted no time jumping out, his boots hitting the ground heavily. What appeared to be a farmer and his young son met him at the back of the cart, their hands held high in surrender.
“No need for violence, Master MacKay,” the father offered.
“How do ye know my name? And why am I here?” Anger seeped from every pore of Adam’s body, and as the mental fog continued to lift, though the ache in his skull didn’t subside a lick, he was ready to do whatever was necessary to make his way back to the woman he loved.
The older man bowed, his son keeping close watch of Adam. “Two men came to us and paid a handsome sum to keep ye quiet and drive ye south of yer lands for as long as we could.”
“The wine?”
“Aye,” the son answered, visibly shaken. “Moira sat in the back with ye and kept feeding ye the tincture of wine and nightshade.”
“Son of a…” Adam launched himself at the lad and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, lifting him off the ground with one hand. “Do ye not know nightshade is a deadly poison?”
“Put him down,” a feminine voice commanded from behind.
Adam, recovering from his fit of rage, slowly lowered the boy back down to his feet. Then he turned to the lass, equally angry at her. “Ye are the cause of me troubled sleep then?”
“Nightshade is deadly only at certain doses, sir. What I gave ye merely kept ye asleep.”
“Are ye a fookin’ witch?”
Bravely, the girl offered him a small smile. “A midwife—learning to be one.”
Adam stared at her for a long moment, then covered his face with both hands. These people had wronged him, but who had paid them to do their bidding?
“We were charged to protect ye,” she said. “To let no harm befall ye at the cost of our lives. But the silver we were paid will make all the difference for me mam and little brother, both sick with the flux.”
“Who gave ye orders?”
The lass gazed at her father with trepidation.
“If ye do not tell me…” He hoped he didn’t need to complete the threat.
“English soldiers.”
“Ye sold yer souls to Sassenachs?” This news broke Adam’s heart, for the day any Highlander betrayed their own for English silver, ’twas the day Alba would fall. “How long have I been riding in this cart?”
“All night and half a day,” the father answered.
Time was a luxury Adam didn’t have. “Unhitch the horses,” he said. “The lad and I will ride north.”
Chapter Sixteen
It had not been easy for Kali to sit at Laird MacKay’s high table in an overly crowded great hall with her father, Lord Nelson, and English guards in attendance while she awaited the moment to publicly apologize. Nay, it went against her nature. But she’d agreed only for the opportunity to spend time with Ariana. A precious gift and possibly the last chance Kali would get to see her sister again.
Now, sequestered in the women’s wing of the new tower in the keep, Kali, Ariana, and Adam’s youngest sibling, Yvaine, huddled tightly together on the canopied bed, speaking quietly, as two maids were in the next chamber, possibly spying on them for the laird.
Kali clung to her sister’s hands for dear life. “Why would ye ever agree to marry Laird MacKay?”
Ariana frowned at Kali. “Don’t ye know?”
Kali gazed at Yvaine with regret. “Anything I say against yer sire isna meant as an insult to ye. Please forgive me if I hurt yer feelings. But I canna hold back the truth.”
Yvaine placed her hand on Kali’s shoulder and offered her a wan smile. “I have known for a long time that me Father has been cruel and unfair to our people.”
Kali looked at the young girl with respect and a bit of pity. For she knew what it felt like to be without a mother and saddled with an ungracious father. “Do ye know everything that has happened here?”
“Only what me maids gossip about. And what Adam has told me.”
