Page 9 of Intrigued By A Highlander (Highland Revenge Trilogy #2)

CHAPTER 9

“ I see they remember you,” Knox said as they entered the small clan village, most everyone turning to stare and whisper amongst themselves.

Dru grinned. “Maybe it’s you that draws their attention. You are too big to miss. And if I’m not mistaken, those are smiles I see on several of the young lasses’ faces. You’ve got some admirers there.”

“Behave, Dru,” he warned in a harsh whisper.

She kept smiling, though annoyed. “I always do.”

How could those women smile at Knox with her in his arms? Did her appearance make it seem that she wasn’t worthy of him? That she was nothing more than an urchin he was helping, which probably made him even more appealing to the women.

Knox eased his mare to a stop in front of the stone keep where Chieftain Liam stood.

“Good to see you, Knox,” Liam greeted. “And I’m pleased to see that you caught the lying little lass who stole my hound. Now, she’ll get the punishment she deserves.”

His three sons stood nearby, nodding in agreement with their da. Two were a good five to eight years older than Ethan’s eleven years, and they were thickly built but nowhere near the rotund size of their da.

“Liam, is that anyway to greet Knox when he has been so helpful to us,” Lady Agatha scolded, approaching her husband.

“Knox is always welcome here. Even more so that he caught that thieving little liar,” Chieftain Liam said with a satisfied grin.

Knox lifted Dru off his mare and reminded with a scowl for her to behave before he turned to face Liam.

Knox looked directly at him. “The woman you call a thieving, little liar is my wife.”

Shock struck the chieftain silent but not for long. “Good, Lord, Knox, how did you get stuck with her?”

“A tale in itself, but she is my wife, and I demand she be respected,” Knox said.

“Of course, she will be,” Lady Agatha said.

Liam turned a glare on his wife. “She called Ethan a liar and stole Zain.” His head snapped to Dru. “Where is Zain?”

Dru let her tongue loose. “Where he won’t be harmed by you or your lying son.”

Ethan stepped forward, a smug sneer on his face. “You’re the liar.”

“I saw you give the hound that piece of meat,” Dru accused.

“Liar!” Ethan shouted. “I gave him an oatcake.”

Silence fell around them at the lad’s admission.

Dru stood grinning, pleased she thought quickly of a way to get him to admit his guilt.

Chieftain Liam’s eyes flared with anger as he looked at Ethan. “You lied to me and had me beat Zain for no reason at all?”

“You ignored me and took him everywhere with you,” Ethan cried. “I’m glad Zain ran off with her.”

“You will be punished for this, Ethan,” Liam warned.

“I’ll gladly feel your fists if you pay half the attention to me that you paid to Zain.” Ethan turned to Dru, tears in his eyes. “Don’t tell him where you took Zain.”

“Your da will never hear it from my lips,” Dru said defiantly.

“Zain is mine. You’ll tell me or?—”

Knox stepped in front of his wife. “Or what? You have other hounds.”

“He certainly does,” Lady Agatha said. “Now come inside with your wife and we will sit and talk.”

“First, I will see to my mare,” Knox said.

“Aye, I forgot you see to her yourself,” Lady Agatha said with a nod. “While you do that, I’ll take your lovely wife inside and get her some food and drink. Join us as soon as you’re done.”

“My wife comes with me,” Knox said.

“Nonsense, Knox,” Lady Agatha said. “No one is going to harm her.” She looked at her husband smiling, though her eyes warned. “Isn’t that right, Liam?”

Liam appeared ready to protest, but one look at Knox’s imposing size had him saying, “Aye, no harm will come to her here.”

“Or anywhere,” Knox added, his eyes glancing over the lot of them.

When Liam’s response wasn’t forthcoming, one of his sons said, “Tell him, Da.”

“That’s for me to decide, Lyle,” Liam snapped.

“Then make the right decision, Da. You heard what’s happening. We may have need of Knox. Tell him his wife is safe anywhere from us.”

Knox took an abrupt step forward, startling Liam enough to stumble back, but Knox grabbed his arm before he could tumble.

“What’s happening?” Knox demanded, then released Liam’s arm.

Liam didn’t hesitate. “Word spreads that Phelan is demanding that anyone who knows anything about Lord Torrance’s half-sister Autumn better tell him, or they will suffer for it.”

“He’ll ransack villages if he even thinks someone is lying to him,” Knox said and realized why his son had spoken and looked to Lady Agatha. “You know something about Autumn.”

“I knew her mother, not well, and only for a short time,” Lady Agatha said. “But this is no place to discuss this. See to your horse, Knox, and join us in the Great Hall when you’re done.”

“Your word, Liam,” Knox said with a hard glare.

A stern look from his wife and a warning look from his two older sons had Liam saying, “Your wife is safe from us… anywhere.”

“You have our word,” Lyle said, and his other brother nodded, agreeing.

Knox turned to Ethan. “Their word is your word as well.”

“Why would I harm her?” Ethan snapped. “She did me a favor taking that hound.” With that he turned and ran inside the keep.

With a whispered warning from Knox to his wife to watch her tongue, he turned and walked off with his mare.

“Come, dear,” Lady Agatha said. “A solid meal and a warm drink will do you good.”

It did sound appealing and Dru gladly followed her.

Once inside, Liam ordered his sons, “The two of you in my solar.” Then he turned to his wife. “Send Knox to my solar when he arrives.”

Lady Agatha shook her head at her husband as he left the room, then turned a soft smile on Dru. “Sit at a table by the fire and warm yourself while I go speak to the cook. I won’t be long.”

Lady Agatha was barely gone when Ethan stepped out of the shadows.

Dru didn’t wait, seeing the anger on his face, she threatened him. “I’ll kick your arse good if you try anything with me.”

“I’ll be punished because of you,” he said on the edge of tears. “It’s all your fault.”

“Not likely,” she said, seeing anger in his teary eyes that warned he might do something foolish and since he was prone to foolish action, she prepared herself. Unfortunately, she had no intention of holding her tongue. “It’s your own foolish doing.”

Ethan leaped at her, swinging his clenched hand. She easily stepped out of his way and gave him a shove as he did.

He landed on his knees and quickly got to his feet.

Dru had her fists up ready to fight.

He threw a punch. She swerved her head, and he missed, while she came up with her fist and connected with his jaw.

“You need to practice your fighting skills, letting a woman beat you,” she said foolishly since it fired him up and he landed a wild punch to her jaw, sending her stumbling back.

He came at her again, but this time she was quick and lowered her head to ram it into his stomach and they both went crashing to the floor. Dru managed to land on top of him and with fists and hands flying she got control of him.

“Are you an idiot? Your family gave their word I wouldn’t be harmed.”

“I don’t care. My da is going to punish me and no doubt hate me more than he already does.”

“So, you blame others for something you can change yourself? That’s pathetic,” She pushed off him and stood. “You got yourself a bloody nose and for what?”

He sneered. “And you got yourself a bloody lip and I’m glad.”

“Truly? And what do you think your da will do when he sees my lip.” She shook her head. “Forget your da, it’s Knox you should worry about.”

Ethan paled.

“Didn’t think that far ahead, did you?”

He stared at her blankly.

“That’s your problem, you don’t think,” Dru said, cringing at the taste of blood in her mouth.

“I do too,” he argued.

“Nay, you don’t. Your da takes pride in his hounds.”

“More than me.”

“Then show interest in your da’s hounds, true interest, so that he teaches you how to command them and you can share his pride in them together and he can be proud of you for taking on the challenge.”

“His hounds can be nasty.”

“Only when necessary or commanded. Otherwise, they are just like you, wanting attention, rubs, hugs, told they’re doing good. Do that and you’ll win them over in no time. Continue to lie and do things that shame your da and you risk losing his respect and your honor.”

As if something heavy had just been dropped on his shoulders, they sagged slowly. “It’s too late. I lost his respect by punching you and dishonoring his word.”

He was close to tears again and though he had wronged her, she couldn’t help feeling sorry for him, and a bit frightened. There was no telling what Knox or Ethan’s da would do to him.

“Leave it to me when they all return and agree with whatever I say, understand,” Dru said, and Ethan nodded.

Lady Agatha hurried into the room with a smile that turned to complete horror when she looked at her son and then at Dru. “Oh, no, no, no, noooo.” She ran from the room.

“Remember, agree with everything I say,” Dru reminded Ethan quickly, and he nodded again.

Chieftain Liam, his wife, and two sons came charging into the Great Hall the same time Knox entered.

The fury on Knox’s face when he saw the blood on his wife’s lip had Ethan stepping closer to Dru.

“What happened here?” Knox demanded with such anger that Dru could have sworn it caused the room to shiver.

Liam and his family were too stunned or too fearful to utter a sound.

It didn’t matter, so Dru spoke up. “You’re not going to believe this.”

“For both your sakes, I better,” Knox said.

“Well, it all started with a rat?—”

“A rat?” Lady Agatha said, glancing around. “You promised me you got rid of them, Liam.”

“I thought I did,” Liam said.

“Go on, Dru,” Knox said skeptical.

“The fat rat scurried right out in front of me. I screamed, and Ethan,” —she turned and patted his shoulder— “came to my rescue while I jumped up on the table. Unfortunately, I lost my balance and tumbled off the table.” She looked at Ethan again, who was nodding furiously in agreement. “Ethan tried to help me, and we both went tumbling. We went down hard. I hit my lip on the end of the table and Ethan smacked his nose on the edge of the bench. The rat got away.”

“That’s quite a tale, Dru,” Knox said, walking over to her.

“And every bit the truth. Right, Ethan?” Dru said and turned, seeing that Ethan was as pale as a ghost. She nudged him.

He spoke so fast all his words ran together. “Right.Right.ItallhappenedjustlikeDrusays.”

“Oh, my goodness and here I thought—” Lady Agatha shook her head.

“You should have asked me before you took off, Agatha,” a voice called out from a dark corner.

“Did you see it all, Da?” Lady Agatha asked.

A slim, elderly man stepped out of the shadows. “I saw the whole thing, every bit of it.”

Dru turned and she could feel panic rise in Ethan beside her. “Good, someone to confirm what I said.”

Knox looked from Dru to the elderly man. It was quick but he caught it. An exchange of sorts between them.

“She’s right. It was a fat rat, and Ethan did a good job, trying to help her,” the elderly man said.

You could hear the sincerity in Ethan’s voice when he said, “Thanks, Grandda.”

Servants carrying jugs and platters of food entered the Great Hall.

“Everyone sit and eat before any matters are discussed,” Lady Agatha commanded. “Knox, you and your lovely wife join us at the dais. And you too, Ethan, for paying heed to your da’s word and trying to keep Dru safe.”

Knox took hold of his wife’s arm when she went to walk past him and whispered, “Later, you will tell me the truth.”

“Come, Dru,” Lady Agatha called out. “I have water and a cloth so you can clean your face and Ethan can wash up as well.”

Dru smiled at her husband and hurried to Lady Agatha.

The elderly man stepped beside Knox. “Your wife has a kind and good soul. You are lucky to have her.” He chuckled. “Remember that the next time she gets herself into trouble.”