“Are you a witch to be feared?”
She looked up and he felt the smouldering heat of her anger. “Are you like all the others, my lord? Eager to use my gifts when it suits your purpose, then resorting to cruel names to brand me different?”
He reached for his goblet, avoiding her eyes. Her words were too close to the mark, and shamed him. But he’d be damned if he’d ask forgiveness of this… this tart-tongued female.
“We waste time talking, woman. We’ll eat, and then you can return your attention to my son.”
Allegra shivered as cold settled into her bones. Whatever tenuous truce they’d attempted, it had dissolved like the wisps of fog that often drifted over the Enchanted Loch until banished by the sun.
The man across the table was once more the demanding lord. And she, like it or not, his unwilling captive.
***
Highland Sword
Harlequin Historical #654 – April 2003
Acclaim for USA TODAY bestselling author Ruth Langan
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“…characters so incredibly human the reader will expect them to come over for tea.”
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RUTH LANGAN
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ISBN 0-373-29254-6 HIGHLAND SWORD
Copyright © 2003 by Ruth Ryan Langan
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Scotland-1540
Chapter One
Mystical Kingdom-1559
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Preview Of THE BETRAYAL
Prologue
Mystical Kingdom—1547
About Ruth Langan
Prologue
Scotland-1540
The pewter sky was boiling with clouds threatening. rain. A chill wind ruffled the tall grass growing across the meadow. The weather didn’t deter the populace from enjoying market day. Those on foot cast a wary. eye on horse-drawn carts and hay wagons vying for space along the narrow roads leading to Edinburgh.
Nola Drummond, a young widow, threaded her pony cart through the crowd. Her mother, Wilona, was seated beside her. Inthe back were Nola’s three little daughters, sitting atop the bundles of dried herbs, skeins of yarn and baskets of eggs, which the women sold at market. Crowded in beside them were Bessie, a withered old crone with a hunched back, and Jeremy, a fat little troll dressed in a tiny top hat and frock coat. Both Bessie and Jeremy had been shunned by others before being taken in by this family.
“Look, Mum.” Six-year-old Allegra pointed to the crowd of people gathered around the banks of the loch.
When their little cart drew closer, they could see women and children weeping as they stood watching a group of fishermen hauling the body of a young lad from the water.
Nola reined in the pony, bringing their cart to a halt. She and Wilona, helped five-year-old Kylia and three-year-old Gwenellen to the ground before starting toward the others.
Unable to control her curiosity, Allegra was already out of the cart and running ahead. Once she’d reached the shore, it was an easy matter to inch her way through the crowd until she could see and hear everything.
“Nay! Not my Jamie.” A woman threw herself upon the body of the lad, her voice hoarse from sobbing. “I’ve already buried my man, and three of my babes. Jamie is all I have left in this world. Oh, no. Please. Not my Jami
e, too.”
One of the fishermen laid a big hand on the woman’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Mary. But the lad is gone. We were too late to save him.”
A wave of terrible sadness swept the bystanders. Even the fishermen, hardened by years at sea, could no longer hold back their tears as the woman gave in to a fit of sobbing.
Caught up in the emotion of the crowd, Allegra crept forward until she was standing beside the distraught woman. Before anyone could stop her she knelt and placed her hands on the lad’s chest.
At once she was seized with a violent tremor as the icy shock was absorbed into her fingertips and passed through her body. The water of the loch had been cold. So very cold.
Shivering, Allegra looked up at his mother.
“Your Jamie isn’t dead.”
“What are you saying?” Caught between surprise at the child’s boldness and a need to believe, the woman narrowed her eyes on her.
“He isn’t dead. He wants to come back to you, but he needs help.”
With jaws slack, the crowd watched in horrified fascination as this wee stranger pressed her palms hard against his chest.
Water spilled out of the lad’s mouth. His mother let out a scream, but Allegra didn’t seem to hear. She was like one in a trance, her gaze fixed on him with such intensity, her green eyes seemed to burn with an inner fire.
It was a shocking image. This tiny lass, like some wild creature, fiery hair falling in tangles to below her waist, ignoring the cries of the crowd as she began to speak to the lad in an ancient tongue that even the oldest among them had forgotten.
When the words ended she bent low, pressing her mouth on his.
Suddenly his body began to twitch.
“What trickery is this?” someone shouted.
“Take the lass in hand and spare this poor mother.”
But before the crowd could react, the lad’s body gave a violent shudder and his. eyes opened.
“Oh, Jamie! Sweet heaven.” His mother let out a cry, sweeping him into her arms and crushing him against her chest. “It’s my Jamie. Back from the dead.”
As the crowd surged forward, Nola pushed her way through and caught her daughter by the arm, hauling her roughly aside. “Get into the cart now, Allegra.” Nola’s eyes darted with nervousness. “Hurry now, child.”
Up ahead, Allegra could see her grandmother already bundling Kylia and Gwenellen into the back of the cart, where she hurriedly covered them with furs.
As soon as Allegra and her mother climbed up to the seat of the cart, Wilona flicked the reins and the horse took off at a run.
Allegra glanced from her mother to her grandmother, who wore matching looks of fear. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Nay, child. But there were many watching. You’ve been warned that we’re not like others.”
The little girl hung her head. “I’m sorry. But Jamie’s mother was crying. And in my head I could hear him crying, too. He wanted to come back to her. He said as much.”
Nola gathered her daughter close and hugged her.
“You did nothing wrong, Allegra. But there are some who don’t understand our gifts.”
“Why?”
“Because they’ve forgotten the ancient ways. They’ve turned away from the healing powers within their hearts.”
The little girl looked solemn .as she folded her hands in her lap. ‘‘I’m glad we haven’t turned away from the power.” She closed her eyes and leaned against her mother, giving in to the weakness that laid claim to her.
Nola sighed and glanced over her daughter’s head to meet her own mother’s shadowed gaze. “I hope you’ll never have cause to regret it, Allegra.”
The midnight moon was obscured by heavy clouds that swirled in an angry sky. A lone rider clattered over the cobblestones of the courtyard. The sound of his approach had the hounds leaping at the barred door.
Wilona slipped out of bed and hushed the animals before throwing the latch and peering into the darkness. Her unbound hair, laced with gray, spilled around a face stiff with concern.
Recognizing the man as a distant cousin, she opened the door wider and stood aside. “What brings you here at such an hour, Duncan?”
“There’s talk at the tavern, Wilona.” He fidgeted with discomfort, unable to meet her eyes.
His gaze skimmed over the troll asleep by the fire. The creature was rumored to have slept under a bridge until rescued by these good women. At a footfall on the stair he looked over and saw Bessie, the old crone who was thought to be a seer. She, too, had been an outcast until she found refuge in this place.
“You risk too much by allowing the lasses to display their gifts to the world.”
“Allegra has always had a tender heart. We couldn’t stop her. Would you rather she’d let the lad die, Duncan?’
The man flushed. “I don’t pretend to understand how you and yours come to possess such powers. Nor do I hold with those who say it’s the mark of the devil. But I fear for you, Wilona. You go too far when you take in misfits and otherwordly creatures.” he nodded toward Bessie, who eyed him in silence.
“She was turned out by her people. She had nowhere to go.”
He sighed. “These are troubling times. You know that music, dancing and all manner of frivolity are the devil’s own works. There are those who intend to go to Edinburgh on the morrow to report this unholy. deed. You and yours could be sent to Tolbooth Prison, or worse, the lot of you could be put to death.”
“What would you have us do, Duncan? Become like others, cruel and uncaring? Turn our backs on our precious gifts? Gifts that can benefit others? You well know that we’ve never used our gifts for our own profit.”
He gave a bleak shake of his head and started toward the door. As he pulled it open and stepped out into the night he paused. “This visit never happened. You never heard from me. If pressed, I’ll admit that we are distantly related, as are all from the ancient clan Drummond. But I’ll not subject my wife and children to the anger of a mob thirsty for blood.”
Wilona nodded. “I understand, Duncan. And I’m sorry for whatever trouble this brings upon your head.”
After bolting the door she turned to see her daughter standing in the shadows. “You heard?”
Nola nodded. “Aye.”
“We feared this day would come.” The older woman’s spine stiffened. “For the sake of the lasses, we must return to the Mystical Kingdom, and we must leave now, so that there is no trace of us on the morrow.”
“But the isolation? It was the reason we left.” At Nola’s words the older woman held up a hand to silence her. “Indeed. But isolation if preferable to the dangers we face here.”
“What of Bessie and Jeremy?” Nola watched as the troll sat up and rubbed sleep from his eyes.
“They are welcome to come with us if they choose. Bessie?”
The old woman nodded. “Jeremy?”
The little troll got to his feet and began to pull on his frock coat.
While Bessie and Jeremy prepared the cart for a journey to the Highlands, Nola and Wilona carried the sleeping children to a nest of furs in the back. As silent as a summer breeze they set off, with the hounds running alongside.
Before the morning sun had risen, the cottage lay empty. The mother, daughter and three granddaughters, as well as a troll and a hunchbacked crone, had left without a trace.
Some said it was a certain sign that they’d aligned themselves with the devil, and had descended into darkness. Others spoke in whispers about a land in the Highlands that had long been home to their clan. An enchanted land, where those with special gifts would be free to practice their mystical powers, away from the prying eyes of disbelievers.
Chapter One
Mystical Kingdom-1559
“Allegra, you’ve worked long enough.” Kylia wiped a strand of coal-black hair from her cheek and paused beside the garden row where her sister was busy hoeing. “Now come fishing with me.”
“How I’d love to. But I’ve a
nother row to see to.”
“It will keep. And you’ll feel so fresh and cool when you splash barefoot in the stream with me.”
“Aye. I’d like that.” Allegra mopped at the sweat that beaded her brow. “As soon as I finish here, I’ll join you.”
“Promise?”
“I do.”
Kylia smiled, for the pleasure was always greater when shared with her sister. As she swung away, her youngest sister, Gwenellen, came racing across the meadow, followed by Jeremy. Though he’d once been known as a fierce troll, exacting payment from all who crossed his bridge, Jeremy had found contentment here in the Mystical Kingdom.
“Allegra. Jeremy and I have found a marvelous berry patch in the forest.”
The little troll nodded. “They’re the sweetest yet” His voice resembled that of a frog croaking. “Come with us and help us pick them, Allegra.”
She shook her head. “First I have to finish my chore. Then I promised Kylia I’d fish with her. But if you two are still in the forest when I’ve finished with all that, I’ll help.”
Gwenellen shot her sister a pixie smile. “Here. Let me finish your chore right now.” Before Allegra could stop her she clapped her hands and chanted, “Be gone, weeds. Do as I wish.”
Almost at once a shower of seeds fell from the sky, followed by a net filled with fish.
Gwenellen looked around in dismay, then lifted her head to shout, “Not seeds. Weeds. And I didn’t say fish, I said wish.”
Allegra was convulsed with laughter. “Oh, Gwenellen. You really need to practice your spells.”
“I suppose I do.” Her younger sister’s frown turned into a smile. “Well, it looks like you’ll have to weed your garden after all. But when you’re done, promise you’ll join us?”
“If you’re still in the forest picking berries.” Gwenellen nodded. “We’ll probably still be there.
You know we always eat one for every one we drop in my basket.”
Allegra laughed as she glanced at Jeremy patting his round tummy. “I know. Just try not to eat so many that you can’t make it back in time to sup.”