Across a Dark Highland Shore (Hot Highlands Romance Book 2) by Jameson Kelly

Author:Jameson, Kelly [Jameson, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2015-03-13T07:00:00+00:00

15

The prisoners had the attention of everyone in the hall.

Their clothing was ragged and blood-stained, their faces dirt-smudged.

“Sweeting?” Leith said. “Isobel, do ye ken the prisoners? Can ye confirm they are MacKinnon?”

Isobel stood and walked over to them. “Aye. They are both of clan MacKinnon.”

“To whom does the child belong?” Leith asked.

“Dunna be afraid Tomas,” Isobel said. The boy’s sky-blue eyes were wild with fear as he looked at her, uncomprehending. She turned back to Leith. “He is fatherless. He is the son of a woman named Margaret. A bare hill forms the whole of their possessions, and the sheep eat over it. He is a villager. Many of them are starving now, as the clan and the keep is in chaos. His father has been dead for three summers.”

Leith’s eyes narrowed. “And the other, the man who calls ye ‘Sweeting’?”

Isobel felt a flush creep into her cheeks and hoped that Leith would not notice. “He is also MacKinnon, but he was no’ part of the mob that tried to burn me at the stake. Neither was Tomas.”

Rory’s mouth gaped. “They tried to burn ye at the stake, Isobel?”

She nodded. She could not help herself and reached out to touch his cheek softly, in friendship. “Ye were probably the only true friend I e’er had, Rory. Wynda was no friend. She cheered with the others, eager to burn my flesh.”

Rolph stood, twirling his dagger point in the wood of the table. “It makes no difference whether they are starving. Or that the boy is fatherless. This man, Rory, and this boy, Tomas, are both thieves. What they did was inexcusable. Go ahead, ask the boy what happened. He willna say a word. He willna defend himself because he canna. He hasna said a word since we captured him and brought him here. And neither has this Rory. Their silence speaks to their guilt.”

Rory laughed with boldness. “And who would believe any tale we told ye now, here, deep inside the Maclean castle, surrounded by our enemies?”

Isobel was surprised at how much Rory had changed since she’d last seen him several summers ago. He had been a thin, gangly youth then, with the first dusting of gold beard on his square chin, and clumsy, eager hands. He had grown into a tall, muscular man. He was quite handsome, in a different way than Leith, his green eyes still devilish and defiant. His hair fell to his shoulders and was a tawny gold, his nose hawk-like, his lips firm. He had been away fighting and reiving for many months and they had rarely seen each other in that time.

Isobel pinned Rolph with a firm gaze. “The boy doesna speak because he canna hear, Rolph. He was born that way. He has ne’er heard the sound of the sea hitting the shore, or the melancholy cry of a gull, or a single word from someone’s mouth, whether scolding or praise. He couldna tell ye what happened because he canna hear. He doesna speak. He is frightened.

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