Free Bewitching the Knight: (A Medieval Time Travel Romance) by Diane Darcy Page A

and Jerry didn’t turn up, they might simply be written off as victims of foul play.
    If she really had traveled through time, if this actually was the 13th century, could that mean Ian MacGregor, her Ian MacGregor, was Laird? Doubtful. The guy had only been laird for three or four months.
    Was she going insane? Was she buying into this madness?
    She was pulled to a stop in front of the freshly dug hole, deep, but small in diameter.
    She swallowed hard. There was no way this could end well.

    ~~~

    Three men set a debarked tree pole in the hole, then gestured her forward.
    She fought as the man at her back pushed her. “Let go of me! You have no right.”
    Three men subdued her and she didn’t stand a chance. They quickly tied her to the pole. Wood and straw were briskly shoved around her feet, scraping and poking at her legs. It seemed like everyone in the village helped. Again, the phrase out of the frying pan and into the fire came to mind. These people truly were going to burn her.
    She felt her body break out in a cold sweat as she glanced helplessly around at the pressing crowd. She realized she was crying, her lips and chin trembling. They couldn’t do this. People just didn’t do this. “I...I demand to see Laird MacGregor. Laird Ian MacGregor.”
    The men stacking wood seemed to pause. Several looked toward the old man, Willie, who shook his head. “Listen not to the tricks of this Jezebel.”
    Did that mean they knew him? “Please, stop this. You’re making a huge mistake. Huge.” She saw a man holding the crown up to the sunlight, watching the gold and the jewels sparkle. As it was Ian MacGregor who’d buried the crown under the monument, and if she’d actually traveled through time using the thing, maybe Ian MacGregor was the draw? Maybe he really was here? Tourney winner, champion; if anyone could save her, he could. A desperate girl could hope, right?
    A man walked across the square with a burning torch and fear made her voice shrill as words spewed out of her before she knew what she was going to say. “I was sent here by King Alexander III to deliver The Crown of Scotland to Laird Ian MacGregor, a man who protected the king and has earned his trust. If you kill me, if you prevent me from delivering not only the crown, but the message whispered to me directly from the king, he and Laird MacGregor, together, will burn this village and everyone in it to the ground!”
    She glanced around, unable to tell if her words were making an impact. Had the man with the torch slowed? “Every single one of you will die when it is discovered what you did here this day. You don’t like my hair? My clothes? Well, the king certainly does. And he trusts me to run his errands. Go and get Laird MacGregor and see if I’m lying. When he sees the crown, he’s going to bring anguish down upon all your heads. Do not infuriate the king, and do not shame MacGregor when he doesn’t follow the king’s instructions.”
    Every one of them had stopped what they were doing to stare between her and the crown. The man with the torch stood frozen off to the side, worry in his expression.
    Fear tightened some of the faces in the crowd. Then the murmurs started.
    She needed to press while she had the upper hand. “Now! I want to see the laird now. It’s my right, by way of the king!”
    Again, she looked at the man with the torch, then, not knowing what else to do, looked up at the sunny sky and prayed for rain.

Chapter Five

    Ian’s muscles strained as he used the now-damaged kitchen knife to hollow out more of the beam, while at the same time keeping his balance on the ladder.
    “Laird MacGregor?” The voice was faint, as was the knock.
    He stilled. He was sure he’d bolted the door, and none would dare enter with him inside, but he hurried down the ladder to the archway of his bedchamber. Unbolting the entry, he looked out. “Aye? What is it?”
    The young girl kept her head bent, but he heard her swallow. “Lady