“You’ll be telling me now, though,” Jamie said coldly, his eyes narrowed. “From what clan do you come?”
Sheena paled, searching frantically through her mind for a name, a name he could not easily dismiss. “I…I am a MacEwen.”
“From the landless MacEwens?” he asked scornfully.
She flinched, but answered, “Aye.”
Jamie laughed. “And you say you’re no’ a beggar? ’Tis what the MacEwens are now they’re dispossessed, beggars and thieves. No wonder you were reluctant to admit who you are.”
Sheena had had enough. She took the ridicule to heart and jumped to her feet, her temper soaring. “The MacKinnions are thieves, as well, and murderers!” she said heatedly. “I dinna see anything so proud in that!”
Jamie came to his feet, and Sheena panicked. His eyes smoldered, and his fists were clenched. She expected him to throttle her. Colen had risen, too, confirming that she was in deep trouble.
“What do you know of the MacKinnions that you can make such a charge?” Jamie demanded furiously.
Choked by fear, she tried to speak but couldn’t. Her eyes grew wider until, finally, she fled the hall.
She was mindless of pursuit. She just had to get away. She ran through the nearest doorway, which brought her into the courtyard outside. In the bright light of day came the thought of complete escape, of never having to see that man again. She ran toward the gatehouse.
The portcullis was raised, and Sheena had only a moment to be grateful before the shouts of the gatekeeper came to her. She ignored him and ran on, but she couldn’t ignore the other voice, the one she was running from. It was shouting her name, close behind her, so close, too close….
A hand gripped her arm like a steel manacle, pulling her back, and she felt her heart stop beating. So overwhelming was her fright, she fell into a black void, doing what she had never done before. She fainted.
Chapter 14
“She’s coming around, I think.”
The female voice drew Sheena back. The voice held a measure of kindness, and she opened her eyes quickly to find the speaker. The woman was sitting on the bed beside her. Her face matched her voice—the warm smile, the concern in her hazel eyes. Hazel—like his.
“You’ll be fine, lass. You gave my nephews quite a scare.”
Sheena didn’t answer. The woman continued to smile as she removed a wet cloth from Sheena’s brow. She was an older woman, with hair more orange than red.
“Who are you?” Sheena asked.
“Lydia MacKinnion. And the lads tell me you’re Sheena MacEwen. Och, and such a bonny lass you are, Sheena. I hope our Jamie wasna too rough in bringing you here. You fainted, you see.”
The thought of being in his arms, even unconscious, sent a chill through Sheena. “He…he carried me here?”
“That he did, and sent for me in a hurry.” Lydia chuckled. “The laddie’s never had a woman faint on him ’afore.”
“Nor have I ever done so ’afore,” Sheena tried to explain. “I…I dinna know what came over me.”
“No matter, as long as you’re all right.”
“James MacKinnion is your nephew?”
“Aye, I’m sister to his father, Robbie. Or I was,” she corrected, and her eyes suddenly took on a faraway look. “My dear brother is gone from us now. He was a good laird, Red Robbie was, no’ like our father who…who…”
“Take my aunt back to the north tower, Gertie.”
Sheena stiffened at the sound of that voice. She had believed she was alone with the old woman. But James MacKinnion and Colen both moved forward as a servant helped Lydia to her feet and escorted her from the room. Seeing the vacant look that had overtaken the older woman, Sheena forgot her own predicament for the moment.
“What is wrong with your aunt?” she asked Colen.
But it was Jamie who answered. “She has spells that come on her suddenly. It happens whenever she thinks of her father. She was witness to his murder, you see, his and her mother’s.”
“How awful!” Sheena gasped.
