Free Highland Stone by Sloan McBride Page A

"Besides, me màthair would have me flogged if I took another whilst me bride-to-be slept within Dunvegan."
    Laughter rumbled through the men.
    "Me thinks to taste that new piece, Kara," Jamie offered.
    Alaxandar halted his horse and turned on his cousin. "Steer clear of her, cousin, lest ye be wanting to face me."
    Jamie's unrestrained anger showed but Alaxandar wasn't worried. He'd best Jamie MacLeod in any chosen arena. It had been so since Alaxandar had turned thirteen summers.
    "Saving her for yourself? Mayhap ye should choose better who ye spend your nights with. I would not so gladly take an enemy to me bed."
    "Then why did ye say it?"
    "I dinna say what I planned after," Jamie sneered.
    "Enough!" Alaxandar roared. "Keep your distance, cousin." Alaxandar kicked his heels into the stallion and rode off with dirt flying behind him.
    Alaxandar slowed the animal some distance away. Cuilén came alongside him.
    "Ye should give the beast a rest."
    "Aye," Alaxandar replied.
    "I wasna talking about the horse."
    Alaxandar leveled his eyes on his brother. His anger wasn't directed at Jamie either, but at himself. He didn't like the way Kara got under his skin and into his head until he no longer felt like himself.
    "There be something about her," Cuilén said.
    "Aye."
    "She 'tis hiding something."
    "I know." Alaxandar sighed.
    "She needs to take care. In these times, there be those," Cuilén paused, "who would look to strangers to blame for what be going on."
    "I tried to talk to her, but we end up…" He didn't want to tell his brother what he'd done last night, what she'd almost allowed him to do. He'd taken many willing women, but this was more.
    Cuilén coughed before saying, "I think ye should know."
    Dread filled Alaxandar when his brother didn't finish. "Know what?"
    "I, uh, promised to take her riding today."
    "What? Ye know what happened the last time the woman got out."
    Cuilén laughed. "I brought that up, but it dinna sway her. Do ye think she was to blame?"
    "Nay. She wouldna have fought them." Alaxandar shook his head. "'Tis no jest. She drives me mad."
    "I noticed."
    "I shall take her on the ride."
    "She willna be happy."
    "Aye. Pick a horse and have it readied. Me horse needs a breather afore we leave."
    "Ye sure ye can manage?" Cuilén asked amusingly.
    Alaxandar growled.
    * * * *
    The sun sank low in the sky and the men had not returned. Kara worried. If it became too late, Cuilén would not take her riding. Desperation clawed at the edges of her sanity. She hoped to scour the countryside and find a way out of this nightmare. Alaxandar ripped off the only bra she had, so the small stone was tucked in her skirt pocket. "Don't start thinking about last night again.You need to stay focused," she whispered.
    On the verge of losing her mind, she'd begged Katherine for something to do. So, here she sat in a small room with the women of the keep, mending shirts. Some of the women dyed cloth and others cut out shirts to be sewn. Every once in a while she'd catch a glimpse of Eleyne ripping out stitches and redoing them. The stubborn girl obviously had little patience for this sort of thing.
    "I agreed to make Ilysse's gown," Katherine told Leelah. "I will begin right away."
    Leelah nodded. "Aye."
    "I can help," Kara said, not believing she'd actually volunteered. "I've spent hours sewing with my grandmother and stitch a neat seam."
    "Your help would be welcome, Kara. Many thanks."
    "No problem. It will keep me busy."
    A young boy appeared in the doorway. "S'cuse me, milady." The boy fidgeted on the threshold.
    "You may enter, child."
    He dashed forward to Kara. "Cuilén says your horse be ready.
    Kara looked on his chubby round face and chocolate brown eyes and smiled. "Thank you."
    The youngster spun on his heel and ran out.
    "If you'll excuse me, I'll just go freshen up." She hurried to her room and brushed her hair with the wooden comb Maeve had loaned her. She ran a wet rag over her face, pinched her cheeks and took