Read Online One Man's Love by Karen Ranney - Free Book Online Page A

much like the emotion he felt on the battlefield, a visceral rage that masked his will to survive.
    “What exactly does that mean, Sergeant, that she’s a Scot?” he asked carefully, expunging from his voice any hint of emotion.
    “Well, you know how they are, sir,” the man said. “They’d do anything for a bit of bread and such.” He grinned at Alec, an expression no doubt meant to convey masculine understanding. It had the effect of making Alec wish he were wearing his sword.
    Leitis turned and faced him. Her face was pale, except for the mark of Sedgewick’s blow darkening her skin. He frowned at it, suddenly irritated by her foolishness.
    “The men stationed here haven’t seen a woman for months,” he said sharply. “Did you give no thought to your safety?”
    She didn’t answer his question, only asked one of her own. “Are you the new commander of Fort William?” she asked, her voice little more than a whisper. “The Butcher of Inverness?”
    He nodded once.
    She took a deep breath. “I am Leitis MacRae,” she said. “You have my uncle here,” she said. “I have come to ask for his release.”
    “Have you?”
    She still possessed the devil’s own arrogance. Who else would demand of him concessions when a hundred men surrounded her and her puny group of rescuers?
    He spun around and led the way through Gilmuir, more in an effort to organize his thoughts than a wish to have privacy for their meeting.
    The four of them followed him, glancing occasionally at the ruins of Gilmuir and whispering among themselves. Did they mourn the old castle’s death, or did they simply condemn the invaders?
    A blue and ebony horizon loomed, touched only here and there with a tinge of pink. Night came with reluctance to this land of sweeping shadows. But then, dawn was birthed with as much difficulty.
    A stubborn land, one that mirrored its people well.
    He stood with his back to them, ostensibly looking out over Loch Euliss where it flowed into Coneagh Firth. In actuality, he was thinking of the girl he had known, of five summers in which he had been first shy and then daring around her.
    He turned and surveyed them.
    Leitis stood in front of the group, her face carefully expressionless. So as not to anger the Butcher of Inverness?
    “My uncle is an old man,” she said. “Hamish sometimes forgets what year it is.”
    “Or the fact that Scotland lost its rebellion?” he asked dryly.
    “Yes,” she said simply.
    The others aligned themselves behind her, as ifthey looked to her for guidance. She should not be here at all, let alone leading a misfit group.
    “So I am to pity an old man,” he said. “What are you offering in exchange?”
    “We have nothing,” she said shortly. “Your soldiers have slaughtered our cattle and trampled our crops.”
    He folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the half wall.
    “Therefore, you are relying solely on my compassion.”
    “Isn’t that the definition of it?” she asked. “To give without thought of recompense?”
    “I am the Butcher of Inverness,” he said. “Am I supposed to have such sensibilities?”
    She looked away, then glanced back. “Perhaps you should,” she said firmly, her mouth in a thin line. As if, he thought, she were scolding him.
    “I promise that he will never play the pipes again,” she said in the silence.
    “I could achieve that guarantee with his hanging,” he said bluntly. “Do you also pledge obedience?”
    “Mine,” she said, nodding.
    “And that of your clan?”
    Her lips thinned as she looked down at the gravel path. “I have no right to speak for anyone else,” she said reluctantly. “But I can promise that I will not disobey English laws.”
    “For this paltry promise you wish your uncle’s safe return?”
    “No,” she said, looking up. “I also want the safety of my village guaranteed.”
    He faced Loch Euliss again. As a boy he’d stood here many times marveling at the view before him. Below