Then, Gregor’s gaze flickered away from Thomas, a flash of guilt in his eyes, and Thomas knew that the man knew exactly what he’d done.
“I’ve done naething else wrong,” Gregor said, tilting up his chin.
Thomas swallowed down a surge of anger. It bubbled up inside him, like a cauldron boiling over. “Ye attacked a woman,” he said, his voice low and restrained. “Ye would have forced her against her will.”
“It wasnae against her will.”
“I saw ye, man! I saw her trying to escape! She says herself that ye attacked her. Do ye lie to yer laird?”
Gregor pressed himself against the bars of his cell, his knuckles standing out white as he gripped them.
“Ye are a good and noble man, Me Laird. Ye dinnae understand what women like that are like. She says that she wasnae willing, but—”
“I saw it,” Thomas interrupted.
He was glad, now, that the solid iron bars stood between him and Gregor. He wasn’t entirely sure what he would do if he could get his hands around Gregor’s neck. Squeeze, probably.
Gregor swallowed hard. “What does it matter, Me Laird? I’m a good soldier. Reliable. If she hadnae been a healer, it would have nae mattered, after all.”
Thomas’s arm shot out, grabbing Gregor’s neck through the bars. The man gave a spluttering noise of surprise, his eyes widening. He grabbed at Thomas’s wrist, but the burdock salve still sat on his skin, slippery and sticky, and he could not get any purchase.
“I am the Laird here,” Thomas said tightly. “I dinnae permit men to hurt women like that, nay matter who the man is and who thewoman is. If ye were my own brother and she was the lowliest peasant lass, I would still see ye in here to answer for yer crime. I haven’t decided what ye punishment will be, but I think ye will be here for a good, long while. Make yourself comfortable and think about the sort of man ye have become. And who kens? I might visit again soon.”
Gregor swallowed thickly, clawing at his arm in a panic. Abruptly, Thomas released him, pulling back his arm. Gregor sucked in a long, wheezing breath, crumpling to the straw-covered ground.
For a moment, there was only the sound of Gregor’s raspy breaths and the steady drip-drip-drip of water somewhere.
“That’s what I came to tell ye,” Thomas said finally, wiping his hand on his breeches. “That ye will not be released anytime soon. I’ll make an example of ye.”
Gregor glanced up at him, his eyes red-rimmed and full of hate. “I ken things about that woman.”
Thomas, who was about to turn away and walk back towards the light and civilisation, paused and glanced back.
“What did ye say?”
Gregor gripped the bars of the cell, hauling himself to his feet. “I’ve seen that woman before.Emma.”
Thomas blinked. “She made nay mention of ye.”
“Aye, well, she wouldnae. She doesnae ken me, exactly, but I ken her. I ken where she comes from. I ken what she’s done. She worked in a disgusting wee pub, the sort of place where ye justkenthat a lassie like that would need to sell herself, just to—”
“That’s none of me concern, or yers,” Thomas interrupted. “I dinnae care what Emma did before she came here. She’s a healer, and that’s all I care about. I dinnae want to hear her name in yer mouth. That’s all.”
He turned to go once again but stopped in his tracks as Gregor began to laugh.
“I used to watch her, ye know. She’d go about her business, and nay one was allowed to touch her. But ye could watch, ye know. I could make a lot of trouble for her. I could tellhimwhere she is.”
Thomas glanced over his shoulder, reluctant to give Gregor’s ramblings any credit. “Him?” he echoed.
Gregor grinned wide, revealing a missing molar at one side of his mouth, his gums red and unpleasant. “Oh, aye. He’d give a pretty penny to find her again.”
Thomas narrowed his eyes.
It was clear that Gregor wanted to be asked more questions, but Thomas’s patience—already stretched paper-thin—was all but used up.
“Do ye know what I think, Gregor?” Thomas said, his voice deceptively soft. “I think that all this is the ramblings of a man backed into a corner. I dinnae know what, or who, ye profess to know, but I will tell ye this. Ye are going naywhere. Ye won’t do any more damage to Emma or anyone else. So, I suggest ye resign yerself and maybe consider what has led ye here in the first place. Eh?”
He turned around and strode away down the corridor. Gregor called after him, one high-pitched, panicked “Me Laird!” but that was all.
