When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, too quiet. “I’m no’ here to bring you back, Sheena.”
Confusion took over. “I dinna ken.”
“You’re my wife—that hasna changed. But I’ll no’ be shamed by you again. You’ve abused me for the last time, Sheena. I dinna want you back.” His mouth was a grim line. “That should make you happy.Icertainly have failed to make you happy, Lord knows.”
She felt a tightness in her chest, and her vision blurred. “You…you’re letting me leave?” she said softly, close to choking on the words.
“Nay, Sheena.” His voice was overly tight, as if it was all he could do to keep it under control. “I forbid that. You’re a MacKinnion now, and you’ll live on MacKinnion land. I’ll have a dwelling built for you. You’ll live there—alone, as is your wish. You can tend the land or no’. Whichever, I’ll see you dinna starve.”
She was incredulous. “Jamie, you canna mean this.”
“I didna think I would ever say such a thing. But you’ve said from the beginning that you wanted naught to do with me. Finally, I believe you.”
Sheena fought to keep back both tears and fury. How could he?
“You keep me as wife, but mean to deny me what that entails?” she stormed. “You think you can?”
“I know I can.”
“I refuse! You canna treat me that way!” she cried. “I’ll be going back to my father.”
“You’ll stay!” he thundered. “I’ll give you thiswarning just once. You go home to your father, and I’ll tear his tower down piece by piece to find you. Heed me, Sheena MacKinnion, for I’m through with threats!”
Jamie had said all he was going to. He grabbed her horse’s reins and rode off at a furious pace, her mare galloping along behind. The yellow-gold of Jamie’s hair and the green and gold of his plaid became a blur as Sheena’s tears came.
“Och, now, hinny, there’s nae need for that.” Jannet put her arm around Sheena and led her back inside their home. “Sir Jamie will be relenting, yer’ll see. He’s a temper is all, just like the auld laird, his father. But it willna last.”
“Last!” Sheena echoed. “He’s been in a temper since the day I met him.”
“And has there been a reason for that?” Jannet asked wisely. Seeing the two of them fight with so much emotion had told her what she’d suspected was true.
Sheena didn’t answer. She was devastated. She tried to tell herself that the ache she felt was only because of Jamie’s anger, and because she wanted to go home and he was stopping her. But that wasn’t the whole truth, and she knew it.
As Jannet tried to soothe her, insisting Sheena stay with them until Jamie came to his senses, all she could think of was that Jamie had left her, had ridden off and left her. And she didn’t even know what had happened in Angusshire between the clans.
Chapter 39
Sheena curled up by the fire, wrapped in her cloak and in a plaid lent by Jannet. It wasn’t terribly windy outside, but there was still a draft running along the floor where she lay. At least she wouldn’t be sleeping on the cold dirt floor, for there was a narrow strip of plank on the ground, the covering of a store.
Sheena had been surprised, never having seen a store inside a crofter’s hut, but Roy explained that he had dug it for his wife. Jannet was from the south, where hot summers necessitated a cool place for keeping cream, butter, and fresh game. She had talked Roy into digging the hole before she learned that summers in the Highlands were not so hot as what she was used to.
Sheena was glad to have a smooth surface to lie on, even if sleep did elude her. Roy and Jannet were long since fast asleep in the far corner, Roy after securing the outside and checking his goats and sheep, Jannet after grinding meal for the following day.
They had been so kind to her, assuring her that Jamie wasn’t as terrible as he seemed and that everything would work out for them. She was to remember that prophecy later.
She wasn’t sure what they were, those first swirls of smoke. They seeped in through the roof, and she was staring right at them without comprehending. Impossible. Yet she had to believe it when flames appeared, eating a hole in the thatch.
Her first instinct was to flee, but that was stifled when she recalled the recent raid in which Jock’s and Hamish’s homes were fired. It could only be another raid. Sheena cursed the bastards for sneaking up on them, hoping to catch them all asleep. It was a dastardly thing to do, so devious, lacking any measure of honor.
Sheena was trying desperately to keep from panicking as she watched the hole in the roof getting bigger. They couldn’t leave the hut—or could they? Could the raiders have started the fire and then ridden on? Or were they still outside?
A torch fell through the roof, and she quickly smothered it with the plaid. A torch! That was how the fire had started. So itwasa raid! Jannet screamed, having wakened to a nightmare, and Sheena turned to see Roy grabbing for his weapons. She was sickened. She couldn’t bear the thought of kind Roy going out there to meet his death. Yet they would all die if something wasn’t done quickly.
She ran to the window, praying that the raiders had gone on. But outside, in the glow from the fire, she saw five mounted men. They were just sitting there, waiting. Waiting until everyone inside had been burned alive.
At first the faces were a blur. All she could see was the color of their plaids.Her colors. Her mind would not accept what her eyes saw. But then she saw faces a little more clearly. She was such a fool not to have guessed before. William! That was William’s face!
Part of the roof fell in, and Sheena screamed, stopping Roy as he was about to open the door. She rushed to him, pulling him back with all her strength.
