Page 48 of A Rogue and a Noble Lass

“Ye can fight all ye want, but it will nae bring ye anything but pain. Ye are mine now, Beitris, and one by one I shall pluck the lives of yer kin away just like the legs on an insect. I will bring their heads tae ye and I will watch ye weep over every one of them, and once ye give me a son then I shall be done with ye. Ye can join them in the hell ye hae wrought.”

Beitris glared at him. Her hands twitched. How she longed for a bow and arrow. At the present moment, though, she only had her words.

And she knew just what to say. She remembered her father talking about Abigail. She remembered Logan speaking about his distant father and kind sister. There might have been some truth amid the lies.

“Abigail would hate ye for this,” she hissed.

Warnock’s face transformed. For a moment, the smugness was replaced by surprise, and then it shifted to a deep, vengeful anger.

“Ye dinnae get tae say her name!”

Warnock brought the cudgel crashing down with all his might. It smashed the ground next to her head. The impact was deafening. Beitris clamped her eyes shut and turned her head sharply, fearing that the next blow would crush her skull. Warnock panted and hissed. His long eerie fingers were curled around the thick cudgel. He groaned as he lifted it again, but then simply spat on her.

“I tire of looking at ye. But dinnae worry, I will nae send ye tae the pit again.”

He lifted the cudgel in the air, gesturing for the guards to come and get her.

“I’ll never become yer bride! Ye are gaeing tae die. Ye are a blight on the Highlands, but we will soon be rid of ye!” she yelled so loudly that her throat became raw. She glared at Warnock, who slunk back towards his throne and drew his cloak over his head, disappearing into the shadows once again.

Beitris writhed helplessly as the guards dragged her over an uneven floor. Sickness twisted in her gut and as the guards dumped her in a cold, dark room, she fell to her knees and coughed up the contents of her stomach, sparse as they were. Although her protestations had been belligerent, she wasn’t sure if help was coming. Logan might well have killed Ryan now and caused untold damage to her clan. And even if her family did come, would they arrive in time?

A cold shiver crawled across her skin because she knew that Warnock could come at any time to claim her, torturing her with his old, evil body. She ran her hands through her hair, tearing through the knots, frustrated that she had allowed herself to be captured.

It was all Logan’s fault.

Beitris slumped against the side of the bed as she gathered her strength. She let her tears blur her eyes again. It was only after her tears had dried that amid the shadows beneath the bed, something caught her eye. She reached through, and her hands curled around an old book. She pulled it out. The pages were tattered and well-read, the cover layered with thick dust. She coughed as she placed it on the bed and flicked it open. She saw a dragon carrying a princess away and a knight volunteering to kill it.

Beitris curled her lip as she gazed at the pages.

She had never been one to rely on other people to rescue her, and she took this story as a timely reminder that she was not some helpless princess—she was a knight too, and she would have to find a way to rescue herself.

19

“W

e cannae gae that way. I tell ye, he is leading us intae a trap,” Allan said, reaching out a gloved hand with a pained expression on his face.

Logan stood mute, head hanging low, lips pursed. Where the soldiers used to look at him in awe, reverent of his skill, they now glared at him with betrayal in their eyes. His shoulders had been bruised by being shoved time and time again, and he bore it all with silence. He could have killed them all, wagering that he would have decimated their numbers before they killed him, but he kept his sword sheathed and his hands by his side.

He would not raise a sword until he saw his father again.

There was a treacherous path winding along a mountain path and another path that led into a forest. Logan directed them towards the former, and Allan was proving himself a coward by refusing to listen.

“Allan, ye cannae stand against every direction,” Elliot said. “It is only slowing the journey down.”

“I will nae send our men intae certain death,” Allan protested. “He is making a mockery of the trust Da showed him. If we gae that way, we will all fall.”

“It hae been a long day of riding for all of us. Let us make camp before we make any decisions. We hae made good time, and we will be nae good tae anyone if we arrive at the Keep exhausted,” Keith said, standing in between the two brothers. He spoke in a reasoned tone and placed one hand on their shoulders. “And in the meantime we can send scouts along either path. They will tell us what danger awaits.”

Allan seemed mollified by this. He flicked his hand through the air and brought four scouts, who paired off and went down the different routes. The men started to make camp. Fires were lit, and the warmth pushed back the chill for a time. This part of the Highlands was bleak. Grey clouds scudded across the sky, covering it entirely so it was impossible to tell if it was day or night. The trees were like silent, dread guardians, spreading long shadows across the ground that might well have swallowed someone up.

Boar and other game soon sizzled over fires and meat started to be handed out. Logan’s stomach grumbled, but he clenched it tightly and tried to ignore the hunger. He wasn’t going to eat, and he didn’t deserve to eat, not after what happened to Beitris and Brody. He had half a mind to ride off on his own and strike at the Keep himself if he hadn’t been sure that half a dozen arrows at least would puncture his back. There were people watching him at all times, and while he had more attention on him than ever before, he had never felt so alone.

Out of the corner of his eye, Logan noticed someone coming towards him. He tilted his head, ready to brace himself for a punch.

“Here,” he held out a plate filled with meat, more than Logan had been given during the entire journey.

“What’s this?” Logan asked.