Highlander's Ransom by Emma Prince

her mind and she redoubled her efforts to escape his grasp, this
time with fear as her motivation. She let out a wordless scream that was edged
with terror. He was going to consummate the marriage right here on the floor.
He was going to rape her.
     
    Robert struggled to understand the change in her for a
second, then realization dawned on him and he instantly released her hands and
stood up and off of her. He had deceived her, forced her into a marriage, and
now she thought that he would force himself on her to complete the union. The thought
disgusted him, but she didn’t know that. She scrambled to her feet and away
from him, putting her back into one of the corners of the cottage. She panted,
eyes still wide with fear, but also with a glint of determination and fight in
them.
    He held up his hands in front of him, gesturing that
he would not advance on her. “Let me explain,” he said again, this time with
caution.
    She stood there panting for another moment,
occasionally brushing a stray strand of light brown hair from her eyes.
Finally, she nodded.
    “You have now met your betrothed, and I hope you
recognize him for the vile excuse for a man that he is,” he began. He waited
for a response from her, but she just continued to stare at him with a guarded
look. “As I told you before, he makes a living by leeching away the lives of
others. He profits on warmongering. You have heard of the Battle of Roslin?”
    She nodded again, still remaining silent.
    “I was there. Roslin is my home, and as Laird, the
land and people are my responsibility. I was also there for the negotiations
attempting to prevent war. That was when I first met Warren. He lied to the
king and the English gathered there that several Scottish chieftains plotted a
secret attack. That lie, along with the falsified documents he made to accompany
it, set Longshanks—your King Edward—on a warpath. Only a few months after
negotiations broke down, I was fighting for my life and the lives of my people
on my own land. We were victorious, but many of my men died, and the land took
years to recover.”
    He paused, letting her process his words.
    “Warren was there on the battlefield at Roslin. Just
as you saw him do yesterday, he turned and ran when it became clear that his
side would not be successful. I vowed on that day to do everything I could to
make him answer for the lives he cost with his deceit.”
    “And you will dole out your punishment for Warren on
me?” she asked, her voice filled with bitterness.
    “Nay, Alwin,” he said softly, taking a slow step
toward her so as not to frighten her. “Believe me when I say that I do not
desire to hurt you, and I wish there had been another way besides this.”
    “Did you know that I would be in that wagon? Did you
attack us intentionally?”
    “Nay, though I have been working in that area on and
off for several years,” he said honestly. “I have been conducting
intelligence-gathering missions around the borderlands, trying to learn all I
can about an impending war, and doing everything in my power to thwart it.”
    “Why? Do you truly hate the English so much?”
    He paused, considering the hurt underlying her
question. “The English have done much wrong to Scotland, but nay, that is not
the reason for my actions.”
    “Then why?”
    He held her eyes with his. “Peace. We have all lost
far too much to the feuding between our countries. My clan, and most others as
well, long only to rebuild, start families, and grow prosperous for the next
generation. We fight because we must, but our goal has always been peace. And
freedom from the threat of invasion and usurpation.”
    Alwin sank down to the floor, all the fight seeming to
go out of her. “But why did you have us married? How does that bring peace?”
Her sudden exhaustion and deep grief tugged at him, but he maintained his
distance, both physically and emotionally.
    “Warren will want you back, if for no other reason
than to save face. I