Page 2 of The Return of the Heir

She stared into her captor’s hostile face. “He hardly cares enough for me to go to such trouble.”

A wicked smile came to the man’s lips. “He would if he knew a MacDonald, his most hated enemy, had taken something that was his from him.”

“Why would you do something like that?”

“Men have gone to war over far less.”

Gwendolyn blinked hard to stop the tears that threatened. “You mean to start a war with the MacLeods?”

“Not until you steal the Fairy Flag, their most valued treasure, and give it to my clan. We will use the luck of the Fairy Flag, and any magic it contains, to smite our enemy once and for all.”

Gwendolyn had been shown the Fairy Flag shortly after her arrival at Dunvegan. Norman MacLeod had taken her to the drawing room where the MacLeods kept the flag, hanging between the seaward-facing windows. He claimed the length of magical silk had been given to the MacLeods by a daughter of Oberon, king of the fairies. The fairy princess had imbued the flag with the power to overcome an enemy or a hardship when it was unfurled and waved three times. Doing so would bring the fairy legions to the flag bearer’s aid.

The legend also claimed the magic of the Fairy Flag could only be used three times, after which it would return to where it came from, taking the flag bearer with it. The flag had already been put to the test twice before when the MacDonalds invaded with overwhelming numbers. At the waving of the Fairy Flag, the tide of battle turned and the MacLeods were saved from destruction.

As the memory faded, Gwendolyn stiffened. “Why would I give you anything that might help you win such a war against the MacLeods?” The MacDonalds had killed her clan and left her and her siblings orphans.

Her captor leaned in closer as the knife bit deep once more. “Because if you don’t, you and your siblings won’t live to see another sunrise.”

“How can I trust you have them in your possession? Am I simply supposed to take your word for it?”

A hint of a smile pulled up the corners of his lips. “Somehow, I knew you’d want proof.” He reached into his sporran once more and withdrew a length of pale blond hair with the ribbon Arabella had worn earlier still tied about it and placed it in Gwendolyn’s hand. Next, he removed a lock of hair that was the same golden brown as her brother’s.

Gwendolyn clenched her fingers around the proof that he had her siblings, the two people she loved most in this world. “Why capture me? Why fake my death?”

“I’ve seen the way Alastair MacLeod looks at you. You are important to him. And by taking you away from him on the day he believes you will become his, I hurt him, I hurt the entire clan. Only they will not know it was I who took you from them. I’ll make it look as though you chose to end your own life rather than marry Alastair MacLeod.”

Bile rose up in Gwendolyn’s throat. “Isn’t taking me from Alastair punishment enough?”

“The punishment hasn’t even started.” Her captor released the blade at her throat but in the next moment he reached up and grabbed a handful of her hair.

Gwendolyn cried out as he tugged at the length then sliced through a section of her golden-blond hair. With a satisfied smile, he released her and clutched the strands of her hair in his fist. Gwendolyn’s hand lifted to the blunt section of her abused hair.

“Now that you have the means to falsify my death, let me and my siblings go. We will leave. We’ll go far away. No one will ever find us.”

“I’ll put you where no one will find you,” he said with a terrifying smile. “But first, while everyone is crowded into the chapel, you must go and steal the Fairy Flag. Quickly, before you are missed.” He grabbed her arm and shoved her in the direction of the castle.

“Nay. If you want the flag, you’ll have to steal it yourself.”

“If I stole the Fairy Flag, I would be forced to eliminate the guard who stands vigil beside it day and night. Is that what you want? To kill one of your soon-to-be kin?”

“You think I can talk the guard away from his duty to steal the flag for you?”

Garrick gave her a slow nod. “You’ve proven yourself to be a clever girl over the years that you’ve lived here. Why else would a nobody from a distant clan be marrying the heir to the MacLeod chiefdom?”

Gwendolyn glared at her captor. “I did not manipulate him if that is what you are insinuating. Besides, the Fairy Flag was given to the MacLeods by the fairies. Will the magic work for anyone else?”

“No one knows the answer to that question, because no one but the MacLeods have ever used the Fairy Flag. But even if the magic does not work for us, our possessing the flag will keep the MacLeods from using it when we do finally attack.”

Agony rocked Gwendolyn. Her wedding day was over. Her life as she had known it was over. If she stole the Fairy Flag from the MacLeods, and gave it to their enemy, she would forever alter the course of the Clan MacLeod.

“Enough stalling,” Garrick growled. “Do what I ask or there will be dire consequences for you and your siblings.”