Highlander's Ransom by Emma Prince Page A

plan on negotiating a ransom with him for you.”
    A look of horror transfixed her features. “You would
hand me over to him for money ?” He could see the fury building in her
again, but this time it ran deeper. Before he could speak, she went on. “And
that must be why you’ve arranged this little wedding ceremony as well. You
wanted my dowry, and somehow you knew that my father would only pay it out
after a marriage.”
    “Alwin, let me explain—”
    “No! Your actions already have! You’re just like them !”
she shouted. She pulled her knees into her chest and huddled in a ball in the
corner. Tears of rage and betrayal began flowing down her cheeks. “All you want
is money, and all you see in me is a pawn for you to control! Don’t touch me!”
The last was screamed as he took several steps toward her, reaching out to
soothe her.
    Robert felt desperation claw at him in response to her
words and tears. He had to get through to her. She could hate him if she
wanted, but she had to know his real motives and intentions. He knelt in front
of her and took her arms in his hands, giving her a little shake.
    “Listen to me, Alwin. You must listen. I won’t ever
let Raef Warren touch you again. I said I would negotiate a ransom payment from
him, not that I would give you over to him. If he has to shell out a huge
ransom, then that money can no longer be used to fund his warmongering. And as
for your dowry, that money too would just be going to Warren. Think of the
lives that will be saved if all that money cannot be used to wage a war on
Scotland.”
    He knew she had heard him, but she burned him with a
gaze filled with betrayal and hate.
    “Even if I believed all that you have said,” she said
bitterly, “I will never forgive you for the wrong you have done. You have taken
away my choice and my freedom. You have made me a pawn, a bargaining chip for
your own schemes. And in that way, you are just like my father and Raef
Warren.”
    He let his hands fall from her arms. His chest
squeezed in fear at the thought of her hatred of him. He tried to push the
feeling away, though. One lass’s loathing was worth the lives of hundreds,
perhaps thousands. He had to live with his betrayal of her, and her justified
abhorrence of him. That was his burden as Laird and leader of his people.
    “I cannot change your mind, then,” he said curtly,
standing. “We continue north in an hour’s time. Be ready.”
     
    Chapter 16
    Burke could hear Alwin’s angry shouting from where he
stood several paces from the cottage. The men, who had been slowly readying
their horses to resume their travel, turned to him with a spectrum of curiosity
and concern on their faces. He returned them to their tasks with a wave of his
hand, but Paul, who stood at his side, gripped his forearm and stared at the
door.
    “Is everything alright, Burke?” he asked.
    “Aye, it’s fine, Father. Just a newlywed’s quarrel,
I’m sure,” he said through clenched teeth. Robert had done it this time. He
understood his friend’s motivations, and knew that he sought the greatest good
for his people, but damn the man for hurting an innocent lass in the process.
To make matters more complicated, Burke had noticed the way the two of them had
been drawn to each other like magnets from the start. Their eyes followed each
other when their bodied weren’t plastered together atop Dash. Robert had even
seemed to soften somewhat, showing her kindness and being considerate of her
comforts, what little they were, along this harrowing journey. When Alwin had
been struck by the bastard Warren, Burke had seen a protective side to Robert
that he had never revealed before. And though he did not know Alwin well, he
guessed that she didn’t let just any man wrap her in his arms and allow herself
to fall asleep against his chest.
    The shouting had died down somewhat, but Burke could
still hear their voices coming from inside. He secretly hoped that Alwin
wouldn’t bend under