mummer.
Playing along , Yvette turned to the red-bearded Hamish. “Given that I am a devout Christian woman, I have naught to fear from earthbound demons.”
“Brave and beautiful,” Hamish complimented with a roguish twinkle in his blue eyes. He then turned to his chieftain and said, “Ye’ve done well, Iain, in finding yerself so brawn and bonny a lass. Verra well, indeed.”
Ignoring the remark, Iain took another swig from the flask bei ng passed between his kinsmen.
On the verge of informing Hamish that she was Iain MacKinnon’s prisoner not his lady love, Yvette instead turned to her captor and said, “I am curious to know if your clan stands with Robert the Bruce or against him?”
Without hesitating, Iain said, “I owe allegiance to the Bruce. As do all true and loyal Scotsmen for he is now our sovereign king.”
“ And what of King Edward?” she prodded.
“ Longshanks is naught but a festering boil on the arse of Scotland,” Iain brusquely replied, several of his kinsmen raucously chiming in with similarly crude remarks. “But being a Sassenach, ye would know better than I.”
“I know no such thing ,” Yvette asserted. “I met the king but one time.” A meeting that occurred during the spring that she and her late husband attended Edward’s Whitsuntide court. And though she’d taken a strong dislike to the English monarch, she wouldn’t go so far as to label him a ‘festering boil.’
“ And what did ye think of Longshanks?”
Stunned that Iain would deign to ask her opinion – most men cared little for a woman’s viewpoint, deeming it inconsequential – she was momentarily rendered speechless.
Several moments passed before she finally found the wherewithal to say, “I found King Edward to be a cruel and brutal man. Moreover, he is driven by an insatiable need to conquer all in his path; whether that be a country, or a queen, or the horse he rides upon.”
“And the devil take him, he means to conquer Scotland next!”
“ Yes, I believe that he does,” Yvette concurred, suspecting that she wasn’t telling Iain anything that he didn’t already know.
Abruptly turning his back on her, Iain turned his attention toward Hamish. “How much longer ‘til the meat is cooked?”
“As ye can see , it still has a bit to go,” the burly giant responded, spearing one of the smoldering slabs and holding it aloft for Iain’s inspection.
“Aye, so it does,” Iain agreed as he rose to his feet. “That gives me plenty time.” Wrapping a firm hand around Yvette’s elbow, he then said in a stern tone of voice, “Come wi’ me, woman.”
Leery of his intentions , Yvette balked. “I am perfectly comfortable where I am,” she told him, refusing to rise to her feet.
“When I give an order, ye’re to obey. Without question,” Iain snarled, hauling her upright.
Yvette clenched her teeth against the pain that immediately radiated down her left side as she was brusquely jostled about.
“Och, the lass is in fer it naow,” one of th e MacKinney brothers opined. “My backside is already aching jes thinking about it.”
Angered that Iain’s kinsmen were clearly privy to whatever fate now loomed on the near horizon, Yvette glared at the fiend who still held her arm in an imprisoning grasp. To her consternation, Iain appeared as forbidding as the lofty mountain peaks silhouetted against the night sky.
“I demand to know why I must accompany you.”
“Earlier today, ye tried to escape from me. What’s more, ye disobeyed me,” Iain informed her. “Because I canna let either transgression go unanswered, I must now mete out yer punishment.”
“ But I didn’t disobey you!” Yvette screeched, twitching like a fish caught in a net.
God’s teeth! Surely the woman knew this moment would arrive?
The previous night he’d warned her that he would punish her severely should she attempt to escape.
Tightening his grip on Yvette’s arm, Iain pulled his captive
Playing along , Yvette turned to the red-bearded Hamish. “Given that I am a devout Christian woman, I have naught to fear from earthbound demons.”
“Brave and beautiful,” Hamish complimented with a roguish twinkle in his blue eyes. He then turned to his chieftain and said, “Ye’ve done well, Iain, in finding yerself so brawn and bonny a lass. Verra well, indeed.”
Ignoring the remark, Iain took another swig from the flask bei ng passed between his kinsmen.
On the verge of informing Hamish that she was Iain MacKinnon’s prisoner not his lady love, Yvette instead turned to her captor and said, “I am curious to know if your clan stands with Robert the Bruce or against him?”
Without hesitating, Iain said, “I owe allegiance to the Bruce. As do all true and loyal Scotsmen for he is now our sovereign king.”
“ And what of King Edward?” she prodded.
“ Longshanks is naught but a festering boil on the arse of Scotland,” Iain brusquely replied, several of his kinsmen raucously chiming in with similarly crude remarks. “But being a Sassenach, ye would know better than I.”
“I know no such thing ,” Yvette asserted. “I met the king but one time.” A meeting that occurred during the spring that she and her late husband attended Edward’s Whitsuntide court. And though she’d taken a strong dislike to the English monarch, she wouldn’t go so far as to label him a ‘festering boil.’
“ And what did ye think of Longshanks?”
Stunned that Iain would deign to ask her opinion – most men cared little for a woman’s viewpoint, deeming it inconsequential – she was momentarily rendered speechless.
Several moments passed before she finally found the wherewithal to say, “I found King Edward to be a cruel and brutal man. Moreover, he is driven by an insatiable need to conquer all in his path; whether that be a country, or a queen, or the horse he rides upon.”
“And the devil take him, he means to conquer Scotland next!”
“ Yes, I believe that he does,” Yvette concurred, suspecting that she wasn’t telling Iain anything that he didn’t already know.
Abruptly turning his back on her, Iain turned his attention toward Hamish. “How much longer ‘til the meat is cooked?”
“As ye can see , it still has a bit to go,” the burly giant responded, spearing one of the smoldering slabs and holding it aloft for Iain’s inspection.
“Aye, so it does,” Iain agreed as he rose to his feet. “That gives me plenty time.” Wrapping a firm hand around Yvette’s elbow, he then said in a stern tone of voice, “Come wi’ me, woman.”
Leery of his intentions , Yvette balked. “I am perfectly comfortable where I am,” she told him, refusing to rise to her feet.
“When I give an order, ye’re to obey. Without question,” Iain snarled, hauling her upright.
Yvette clenched her teeth against the pain that immediately radiated down her left side as she was brusquely jostled about.
“Och, the lass is in fer it naow,” one of th e MacKinney brothers opined. “My backside is already aching jes thinking about it.”
Angered that Iain’s kinsmen were clearly privy to whatever fate now loomed on the near horizon, Yvette glared at the fiend who still held her arm in an imprisoning grasp. To her consternation, Iain appeared as forbidding as the lofty mountain peaks silhouetted against the night sky.
“I demand to know why I must accompany you.”
“Earlier today, ye tried to escape from me. What’s more, ye disobeyed me,” Iain informed her. “Because I canna let either transgression go unanswered, I must now mete out yer punishment.”
“ But I didn’t disobey you!” Yvette screeched, twitching like a fish caught in a net.
God’s teeth! Surely the woman knew this moment would arrive?
The previous night he’d warned her that he would punish her severely should she attempt to escape.
Tightening his grip on Yvette’s arm, Iain pulled his captive
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