Highland Savage

Highland Savage by Hannah Howell

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Authors: Hannah Howell
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Annie.”
    “Nay, ye dinnae need to ask for it,” she said. “’Us just that I have ne’er heard ye curse so much,” she suddenly grinned, “or so verra colorfully. This situation almost demands a mouthful of curses, I am thinking.”
    William smiled faintly and then looked at Lucas. “Ranald hates Katerina. If the mon truly believes she survived, he will tear apart all of Dunlochan to find her.”
    “Why does he hate her so much?” Lucas asked,
    “Because she told him nay ,” said Annie. “E’en worse, he kenned that she probably didnae say nay to ye.”
    “And since ye seemed to be most serious in your wooing of her,” continued William, “there was a chance ye and Katerina might wed. Ranald kens that fool council would approve of ye and that will take away what power Agnes has granted him. If Ranald gets his filthy hands on Katerina, she will die and it willnae be an easy death he gives her.”
    “Then we had best make verra sure the bastard doesnae get her,” said Lucas.
    It took some persuasion, but Lucas finally got William and Annie to go to bed and allow him to stay with Katerina. Lucas pulled a rough-hewn chair up to the side of the bed, rested his feet on the bed, and studied Katerina. Her father had obviously been a cold, hard man and made his disappointment over her not being a son all too clear to her at times. Her half-sister was apparently a vicious little witch and had undoubtedly made Katerina’s life a misery as often as possible. Now she had people trying to kill her so that she could not claim what was hers by right of birth, something that should never have been in doubt. Lucas felt sympathy for her despite his reluctance to do so.
    Sipping his wine, he decided it was time to search out the whole ugly truth. He refused to believe he was completely wrong about Katerina, but thought he might find something that would make it easier to forgive her part in the beating he had suffered. Lucas suspected he was close to forgiving her anyway, but some justification for doing so would be a comfort, would make him feel less like some lovesick fool.
    He also needed as much information about Dunlochan, Ranald, Agnes, and the battle for the right to rule Dunlochan as he could get if he was going to keep Katerina safe. Even though he did not want to look too closely at what he might still feel for her besides desire, he knew he could never let her come to harm. Recalling the look upon Ranald’s face as he had struggled to get to Katerina, Lucas knew William was right. Now that Ranald knew that Katerina was still alive, the man would never stop hunting her. It seemed that Lucas was soon to get the hard, fierce battle and bloodletting he had argued for.
     
    “What do ye mean she is still alive?”
    Ranald looked at Agnes, idly thinking that her usually soft, sweet voice could sound painfully shrewish at times. “Just what I said—she is alive. I saw her hair when thehood of her cloak slipped down.”
    “A lot of people at Dunlochan have fair hair.”
    “Nay like Katerina’s. ’Twas her, Agnes, and arguing with me o’er it willnae change that. We need to plan what to do next. Both Murray and your sister are alive and that means a lot of trouble is soon to come our way.”
    Agnes watched her lover pace her solar, a tankard of ale clutched tightly in his big hand. Ranald was not a very handsome man, his features too coarse and his nose too large, but he was big and strong. He was also mean and devious, two things she admired in a man. Her husband had possessed neither quality and had quickly bored her. Neither did her sister and so it puzzled Agnes that Katerina could have fooled them for so long.
    The fact that Sir Lucas Murray was still alive both pleased and dismayed her. Lucas was a man who made her mouth water and her stomach clench with lust despite his rough manners. She had been enraged when he had shown no interest in her, but had continued to woo Katerina. Even though she had ordered

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