Ede walked alongside her. Feeling the stares of Rolf ’s people, Meghan was comforted by the kind woman’s support. Several faces she recognized from yester eve’s crowd, but those seeing her for the first time looked surprised, as if she were a strange apparition. What tales had they heard? Not all looked askance, though. Many studied the dirt at their feet, appearing shamed.
RISK EVERYTHING
85
She caught her breath. The guard led her to stand not twenty paces from the whipping post. Rolf, his back to her, talked with his silver-haired friend. Alpin, by name, she remembered. Garith stood on Rolf ’s other side. Alpin spied her first and trailed off into silence. His pale blue eyes widened as he studied her.
Rolf spoke to him. When he did not answer, Rolf turned to see what distracted his friend. A scowl soon covered his face.
“Bring the woman and be quick about it.”
Rolf ’s angry face boded ill for her. Her scalp crawled.
Would she be able to remain silent after the first stroke of the lash? Or would she scream, shaming herself ?
“I knewed he would be angry for havin’ to wait,” the guard hissed at her; then he shoved her the last few feet to his master’s side.
Without the added height her boots provided, Meghan was a finger width from reaching Rolf ’s chin. She stiffened her back and stared up at him, eye to eye.
Rolf stared back. Slow and deliberate, his gaze left hers to travel over her hair flowing about her shoulders and down her back. He studied her face. His gaze stopped to examine every mark. When his silvery eyes looked at her neck, she pulled the top of the shirt to cover more of the nasty rope burns there. That drew his stare lower, for her sleeves had fallen back and bared her bandaged wrists. She lowered her hands so the shirt again covered them.
Saints! She could do nothing about her feet encased in the bulky wool stockings, other than to hunker down on her heels to hide them. Hell. She was twitching as much as her sister-by-law Elise did when Connor glowered at her for some slight misdemeanor. Be damned to Rolf. She firmed her jaw and straightened her shoulders.
“If ye think me such an unsightly mess to look at now, ye will find me far worse if that whip is meant for me,” she warned.
Garith gasped and looked at his brother. Rolf graced her with an even bigger frown. “Nay. Not for you.”
86
Sophia Johnson
His eyes narrowed and he added, “Yet.”
He must have remembered her taking her knife to him.
Aye. ’Twas that for sure, for he stared into her eyes to force her to acknowledge she understood. He fixed her with a glare until she nodded at him.
Three men stood there, each with a guard behind them.
They were the same men who were with him in the bailey earlier when she and Ede heard the commotion. To guard them? She spied the lout who accosted her during the night and scowled at him. Hard. Unwavering. She would ne’er forget his face.
“I have summoned you to tell me what befell you last eve.
What did this man take by force from you?”
“Is he not Sir Alpin’s man?” Had Rolf not seen her bound and tethered, no man would have tried to force himself on her.
Even hampered as she was, she had stopped him from taking that which he had been intent upon. She would fight her own battles. One day, she would avenge herself.
“Aye, but you have not answered the question.” Rolf waved his arm toward the man, irritated.
“He took nothin’ from me.” She glared up at him. “No man will take aught from me by force and live to see the sun rise the next morn.”
“Then how came you by the bruise on your face, the cuts on your lips?” Impatient, he shifted as he awaited her answer.
“I fell against the crate.”
He did not believe her, for his eyes narrowed, his lips thinned in anger. When he reached to feel over the crown of her head and found the swollen lump there, she winced.
“Aye, and sure you did. I ken you gained this lump when you bounced back
RISK EVERYTHING
85
She caught her breath. The guard led her to stand not twenty paces from the whipping post. Rolf, his back to her, talked with his silver-haired friend. Alpin, by name, she remembered. Garith stood on Rolf ’s other side. Alpin spied her first and trailed off into silence. His pale blue eyes widened as he studied her.
Rolf spoke to him. When he did not answer, Rolf turned to see what distracted his friend. A scowl soon covered his face.
“Bring the woman and be quick about it.”
Rolf ’s angry face boded ill for her. Her scalp crawled.
Would she be able to remain silent after the first stroke of the lash? Or would she scream, shaming herself ?
“I knewed he would be angry for havin’ to wait,” the guard hissed at her; then he shoved her the last few feet to his master’s side.
Without the added height her boots provided, Meghan was a finger width from reaching Rolf ’s chin. She stiffened her back and stared up at him, eye to eye.
Rolf stared back. Slow and deliberate, his gaze left hers to travel over her hair flowing about her shoulders and down her back. He studied her face. His gaze stopped to examine every mark. When his silvery eyes looked at her neck, she pulled the top of the shirt to cover more of the nasty rope burns there. That drew his stare lower, for her sleeves had fallen back and bared her bandaged wrists. She lowered her hands so the shirt again covered them.
Saints! She could do nothing about her feet encased in the bulky wool stockings, other than to hunker down on her heels to hide them. Hell. She was twitching as much as her sister-by-law Elise did when Connor glowered at her for some slight misdemeanor. Be damned to Rolf. She firmed her jaw and straightened her shoulders.
“If ye think me such an unsightly mess to look at now, ye will find me far worse if that whip is meant for me,” she warned.
Garith gasped and looked at his brother. Rolf graced her with an even bigger frown. “Nay. Not for you.”
86
Sophia Johnson
His eyes narrowed and he added, “Yet.”
He must have remembered her taking her knife to him.
Aye. ’Twas that for sure, for he stared into her eyes to force her to acknowledge she understood. He fixed her with a glare until she nodded at him.
Three men stood there, each with a guard behind them.
They were the same men who were with him in the bailey earlier when she and Ede heard the commotion. To guard them? She spied the lout who accosted her during the night and scowled at him. Hard. Unwavering. She would ne’er forget his face.
“I have summoned you to tell me what befell you last eve.
What did this man take by force from you?”
“Is he not Sir Alpin’s man?” Had Rolf not seen her bound and tethered, no man would have tried to force himself on her.
Even hampered as she was, she had stopped him from taking that which he had been intent upon. She would fight her own battles. One day, she would avenge herself.
“Aye, but you have not answered the question.” Rolf waved his arm toward the man, irritated.
“He took nothin’ from me.” She glared up at him. “No man will take aught from me by force and live to see the sun rise the next morn.”
“Then how came you by the bruise on your face, the cuts on your lips?” Impatient, he shifted as he awaited her answer.
“I fell against the crate.”
He did not believe her, for his eyes narrowed, his lips thinned in anger. When he reached to feel over the crown of her head and found the swollen lump there, she winced.
“Aye, and sure you did. I ken you gained this lump when you bounced back
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