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Jamison’s heart was pounding against his ribs as he struggled to stay on an even keel. “Where… where did ye find her?”

Horace’s dark eyes twinkled in a sickening fashion.

“I bought her,” he said. “The wench is English. She is the one who told us about Four Crosses. I bought her but I will give her tae ye. I’ve had me fill of her.

She’s a bit skinny for me tastes but ye may think otherwise.

She might be prettier if she cleans up a bit, but know that she’ll take ye in any hole ye want tae put it in.

She makes up for whatever she lacks in appearance that way. ”

He winked lasciviously and the urge to throttle the man swept Jamison. But he kept his fists clenched behind his back. Still, dark and dirty hatred filled his mind, knowing what the man had done to Madeline.

“So ye treat her like an animal,” he said, his voice tight with rage.

But Horace didn’t sense the rage. He was thinking about the food waiting for him back in the common room. “She is an animal,” he said, moving away from the door. “Have yer fill of her, Man Mountain. Let yer friends have a little when ye’re done.”

He fled before Jamison could say another word, heading out to the common room where there were more things of interest for him.

Jamison immediately opened the door to the small chamber, shutting the door quietly behind him and bolting it.

He went straight to Madeline, kneeling down beside the chair and reaching out to remove her gag.

“If I remove the gag, ye canna make a sound, Madeline,” he whispered urgently. “Do ye understand?”

Madeline had started to cry, weeping through the gag. She was saturating it with saliva and tears. Jamison had his hand on the cloth, fingering the knot it had been tied into behind her head, but he hadn’t removed it yet. He wanted to make sure she understood to remain quiet.

“Madeline, please,” he said softly. “I’ll remove this for ye but ye must promise me ye’ll not cry out. If ye do, I’ll have tae put it back again. Do ye understand, lass?”

Lass. He’d called her that before and it had inflamed her.

Much as she used to call him Gael and it inflamed him.

Words both of them had hated, meant to taunt one another in days past. But she didn’t seem to react to the term she’d professed to hate and, taking a chance that she wouldn’t scream, he untied the gag and removed it.

Spitting, sputtering, she began to cry deep, heart-wrenching sobs.

“I’m sorry,” she shrieked softly. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please help me, Jamison. Please.”

He felt a huge amount of pity for her. This girl who had betrayed her own family and who had been nasty and aggressive the entire time he had known her now looked like a lost child. No more arrogance, no more aggression. It was a pathetic sight.

Looking her over, Jamison could see that she was badly bruised.

Her face was bruised, both ears purple, and her nose had a bump in the middle of it, dried blood around one nostril.

Gently, he untied her bound wrists before lifting his hands and cupping her face, turning her from side to side to get a better look at the damage.

It was extensive. He could only imagine how badly her body was abused. It made him ill to think on it.

“Ye needn’t worry now,” he said softly. “No one will lift a hand tae ye again, I swear it. Are… are ye hurt bad elsewhere?”

She simply nodded, hanging her head in shame even as he tried to inspect the damage.

“I ran away,” she sobbed, talking quickly and fearfully.

“Amaline released me because I forced her to. I was afraid of having my head cut off by Lord de Lohr. Then I ran to find Evon’s men because…

because you killed Evon. I wanted to make them hate you, Jamison. I truly did.”

He knew all of that. “Better men than those rebels hate me,” he said, trying to make light of it. “And I killed Evon because he was going tae kill yer sister. I couldna let that happen.”

Madeline nodded. “I know,” she sniffed, eyeing Jamison as he tilted her head to get a look at the bruising on her neck.

“But… I loved him. I thought Evon and I were going to be married. He promised me that we would marry as soon as Four Crosses was captured and that we would command the fortress together. He told me… he told me he loved me, too. He told me so many things and, like a fool, I believed him. Do you know what I discovered? That he already had a wife. His brother told me that Evon had been married for two years!”

She was weeping again, ashamed and so very sorry for her actions, but Jamison couldn’t bring himself feel complete and utter sympathy for her.

Her actions and the results were of her own doing and from what he’d seen, she had been very cold- blooded in the way in which she had defended her sister from Evon.

That wasn’t something he could really forgive, not with Havilland involved.

But no matter how he felt about the girl, it didn’t stop him from feeling pity for her in the way she had been treated by the Welsh.

She was battered, bruised, and abused, and purely out of respect for Havilland, he would tend to her.

He had a feeling Havilland would have wanted him to.

No matter what the woman had done, she was still Havilland’s sister.

What he did, he did for the woman he loved and for no other reason than that.

“Life brings about difficult lessons at times,” he said simply. There wasn’t much more to say to the very harsh lesson she had learned. “I’m going tae get some hot water and wash away some of this blood. I’ll send for a physic as well.”

In a panic, she reached out and grasped him with her bloodied fingers. “Nay,” she breathed. “Please do not leave me! He will come back!”

He patted her hands. “Not tae worry,” he said. “Bolt the door from the inside and only open it for me. Meanwhile, pull yerself over to the fire and get warm. Have ye eaten?”

She shook her head unsteadily. “Nay,” she said. “I… I cannot remember when last I ate.”

He gently removed her hands from his arm, pulling her over to the hearth and pushing her down so she was sitting on the warm stone in front of it. “Stay there,” he said, “and for pity’s sake, dunna leave this room. I will return as soon as I can. Do ye understand?”

Madeline nodded her head, her battered body shivering and twitching. “Aye,” she said. He was just lifting the door latch when she called out to him again. “What are you doing here, Jamison? Why aren’t you back home with Havi?”

He paused, looking at her. He didn’t want to tell her everything; it wasn’t her business, anyway.

“Listen tae me,” he said, changing the subject.

“The man that brought ye here– Horace– believes me tae be a Welsh ally, so ye mustna say anything tae the contrary. Is that clear? If he doesna believe that, it could go badly for all of us.”

Madeline nodded solemnly. “I will not tell him anything, I swear it.”

Jamison looked at her pointedly. “Not tae say I dunna believe ye, but ye’re not known for yer trustworthiness. When I say dunna tell him, I mean it.”

Madeline lowered her gaze, looking like a scolded dog. “I will not,” she said again. “I… I just want to go home. I should not have done what I did… I was stupid. Do you think Havi will let me come home?”

He just looked at her. “I am trying tae ensure ye have a home tae return tae,” he said. “For the time being, ye’re going tae remain here and stay safe. I have some things tae do.”

“But…!”

“I willna argue with ye,” he cut her off. “’Tis best this way, Madeline. I dunna want tae worry about ye, so ye’ll stay here for a time. Now, I’ll return with water and food. Bolt the door when I leave.”

With that, he was gone and Madeline stiffly stood up, moving to the door and bolting it just like he’d told her.

She stood there for a moment, hardly believing that he had found her, the one man she’d hated so desperately.

It didn’t make any sense as to why he was here in an inn, some nameless structure in some dirty Welsh town.

She didn’t even know where she was, to be truthful.

She’d spent the past four days living such a hellish existence that being saved by Jamison Munro was surely a miracle from God.

The very man she’d hated so much for killing Evon was, in fact, her savior. There was great irony in that.

And great relief.

Aye, Madeline was sorry for what she’d done, feeling foolish and idiotic that Evon had taken such advantage of her.

She’d let him. She’d been led by her foolish heart.

But no longer. After seeing what the Welsh were capable of over the past four days, she was coming to see Four Crosses and her family through new eyes.

Perhaps it had taken a fall of this magnitude for her to realize just how wrong she’d been.

She wasn’t sure if Havilland would ever forgive her, but she’d spend the rest of her life trying to make it up to her.

God had already given her one miracle. Perhaps with time, He’d give her another.