Free My Cursed Highlander by Kimberly Killion Page A

heavy weight pressed against Viviana's chest as she listened to the men mount their steeds.
    "M'laird—"
    "The dog stays," Laird Kraig cut Remi off with a tone that demanded finality.
    "Meghan would not be pleased with ye," Remi said outside the window.
    Viviana didn't know who Meghan was, nor did she care. She curled into a ball on the velvet seat and swallowed her cries.
    "The dog is nigh hairless. He is conditioned to the heat," Laird Kraig continued to defend his actions. "He will never make it through the mountains. The weather will kill him, and ye well know it. And who will console her when the beastie dies?"
    "Ye should be the one to console her. 'Tis your duty as her husband, but as ye are not shaping up to be a verra good husband thus far, I would have consoled her." With the rattle of harness Remi spurred his mount ahead.
    The crack of a whip made her jerk and set the carriage in motion. Viviana sniffled and pulled her knees tighter to her chest. Her eyelids slid shut and she tried to remember a time when she didn't feel so alone.
    The palace gates squeaked open then shut behind them. Soon, Viviana heard Giotto's bells at Santa Reparata. She crossed her forehead, her lips, then her chest, with the sign of her religion and wished she could have visited her sister one last time.
    Farewell, Fioretta. I will keep you forever in my heart.

 
     
     
    Chapter 7

     
    "What in the name of Zeus?" Taveon squinted to see better through dusk's pink light and watched the carriage bounce up and down. They'd traveled as far as the outskirts of Modena without event before an odd quiver took hold of the carriage. How could one wee woman cause such a commotion? "She is completely wowf?"
    Remi sidled up beside him. "Mayhap she needs to stop."
    "Can she not poke her head out the window and simply say, 'M'laird, I have need to stop?'"
    "Mayhap 'tis of a personal matter and the lassie is modest," Remi suggested.
    Taveon studied Remi's odd expression, trying to figure out what he knew that Taveon did not.
    "My Meghan does a little jig when she is in need of privy time. 'Twas always worse when she was carrying."
    "What are ye speaking of?"
    Remi directed his blinking eyes upward. "M'laird, ye have relieved yourself thrice this day. M'lady hasnae left the carriage even once."
    The lines of confusion smoothed on Taveon's face when understanding set in. Did Viviana think him such a brute that she feared asking for time to tend her personal needs?
    He didn't want to know the answer to that question.
    He kicked the enormous black stallion and trotted up beside the carriage to peek through the window. Viviana clasped her bouncing knees and the pained look on her face told him she was, in fact, in a world of need.
    Why had he been so thoughtless? The least he could have done was give his new wife a chamber pot. "M'lady, do ye need to stop?"
    " Sì. Sì. " Her head bobbed up and down in time with her legs.
    "Monroe, stop the carriage."
    The wheels rolled to a stop on the dirt road, but the shaking carriage continued to fill the air with a cacophony of creaks and screeches. Taveon dismounted, opened the small door, and assisted Viviana to the ground.
    "I will be but a moment, m'laird." She raised her skirt and hastened forward pulling out of his grasp.
    Taveon lunged forward and caught the back of her gown to save her from falling into the ditch. "Ye cannae just go traipsing off into the timber, woman. Ye are blind."
    "You need not remind me of my flaw. I am fully aware of my limitations."
    This certainly presented a problem he hadn't foreseen. Taveon led her into the woodland what he felt was a respectable distance from the road, and set her beside a thick oak. "Go."
    The look of horror on her face was laughable; jaw dropped, violet eyes wide and unblinking.
    He turned around and crossed his arms over his chest. "There. My back is to ye."
    "Have I not suffered enough humiliation at your expense?"
    He knew she referred to their wedding and had