He ignores this, and with a reptilian smile, declares, “We Campbells have different punishments for different crimes. Tell her.” He nudges Callum. “Tell the lass what happens when, say, one is caught cattle rustling.”
Callum’s face is a complete blank.
Keep it together, I want to whisper to him. Just let Hamish get to the end of this sadistic little game and maybe he’ll leave us alone.
When Callum’s eyes finally dart to me, I try to communicate everything in a two-second glance. He must understand, because after a moment, he mutters, “Cattle reivers get nailed to a post.”
I shudder. “For how long?”
“As long as it takes to die,” Hamish says with a smile.
“That’s barbaric.”
Hamish snickers. “So innocent? Tell our delicate Rose what the penalty is for adultery. Which fate did Gregor MacGregor enjoy?”
Callum glares at Hamish as he snarls, “Hanging.”
“Just so. Now, tell the chit what the punishment is for stealing.”
Callum goes still.
“Tell her.”
He mumbles something incoherent, and Hamish scowls. “Louder.”
Callum rasps, “The bog.”
Hamish brightens. “To be precise, the thief has his hands tied behind his back and is tossed into a peat bog.”
An image of Callum drowning in a bog enters my head, and for a split second, my control slips, anguish cracking from my throat.
It’s a huge mistake.
Hamish’s attention snaps to me, suspicion dancing in his eyes. “So troubled you are. And why shouldn’t you be? The stable boy keeps risking his life to protect you. I wonder, why does he protect you? He claimed you were daft, yet your tongue’s sharp enough to cut cloth. So whoareyou?”
I force myself not to look away. He’s just trying to get a rise out of me. He’d never toss Callum in a bog for something so stupid as picking an apple. I’m the one who ate most of them, and anyway, that tree was loaded with apples.
No, there are guys like this in every era. Obnoxious, swaggering blowhards who think talking big makes themlook tougher than they are. I keep my expression blank as I say, “I told you already. My name is Rose.”
Hamish’s mouth curls, but there’s no humor in it. “So you did. And yet it brings more questions than answers. I shall have the full truth yet.”
Hamish backs away slowly, his eyes locked on mine. He lifts his hand, running a slow finger over his lips, like savoring a taste.
His languid smile turns serpentine. “This isn’t over.”
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Ascream rips me from sleep. Raw and jagged, like an animal in pain.
I jolt upright, pulse hammering, trying to make sense of the darkness.
“They took him,” Donag wails. “’Tis Gregor all again.”
Just her nightmares.
My breath steadies, and I flop back onto the cot with a groan.
