Marti Talbotts Highlander Series 1 - Anna Rachel u Charlet

could kill Blair to free you from your ties to the Highlands.”
    “So Blair is in danger because of me. Even all of you are in danger because of me. I am sick at heart. I am only sixteen, Anna, why has this happened to me?”
    Anna went back to brushing her hair. “I do not know.”
    “Is there nothing I can do?”
    “I can think of only one thing and I pray we do not have to kill a lad to do it.”
    “Have you ever killed a lad?”
    “Not yet, but deep down inside I am furious enough to.”

    Blair promised Charlet he would return the next day, after the noon meal, and he was right on time. H is hair was washed, his clothes were clean and even his horse had suffered a bath. Kevin stood on the landing and waited until Blair dismounted, handed his reins to a waiting boy and climbed the steps. Then Kevin nodded. The boy raced to get the horse into the stable, the drawbridge began to rise and a guard of ten MacGreagors ran across the courtyard to face Blair.
    Blair glared at Kevin.
    “I would tell you this inside, but I fear you will break everything and everyone in it. Charlet is gone.”
    On the outside, he was calm and collected, but on the inside , he was a raging bull screaming to get out. “Gone where?”
    “I cannot tell you.”
    “Tell me this, has she married another lad?”
    “Nay, she loves you and she will come back...I hope.”
    “Why can you not tell me where she is?”
    Kevin puffed his cheeks. “Because you will go after her and she does not want you to stop her.”
    Blair closed his eyes. “She has gone to England.”
    Lying to a man bigger than even he, did not sound like a good idea, so Kevin nodded. “If you promise not to break anything, I will pour you some wine and try to explain. However, know this; you are not leaving here for the next two days at least. I intend to let her get all the way into England where you cannot find her before I let you out.”
    “Does Thomas know you are keeping me?”
    “Not yet. I suppose I will have to go to war with him over you. Did I not warn you Charlet has the power to start a war?”
    Blair finally smiled, “Aye, you did.” His rage had turned to hurt, disappointment and finally fear. He was losing her and he could feel it.
    “By the way, my men will be guarding the hidden doors in the wall. Come, I have more to tell you.”
    Inside, the two men chatted about Kenna, the lairds who came to marry Charlet and all the blond e hair that turned to red. But Kevin could see Blair was hardly listening. He saved the bad news for last. “Charlet is the King of England’s niece. She is first in line to the throne.”
    Blair slumped against the back of his chair. He closed his eyes, ran his fingers threw his hair and rocked forward. Then he grabbed the goblet, drank until it was empty and set it down. “I was worried because I cannot make her mistress of a clan. How do I ask her to give up the throne of England? What kind of man would do that to the woman he loves?”
    “Y ou are a better lad than most.”
    Blair’s eyes were closed, he was rubbing his brow and he was mumbling. “...choose me over the throne of England? There is not a hope in hell.”
    Kevin felt bad for Blair and tried to think of some comforting words. “Anna went with her. I swore I would never let her go again, but my wife is a determined woman when she wants to be and I am powerless to stop her. They have a guard with them and they will be safe.”
    Blair didn’t hear a word Kevin said.

    It was another boring day in the King of England’s court. The king’s heavy crown was crooked and he was slouched over with his head propped up on one hand. Then there came a commotion in the back of the court and he heard a woman yell.
    “I will see the king now!”
    The king stood up and tried to see who it was. First , he saw flaming red hair and then he spotted Anna. “Let them come!” he commanded.
    Both women wore English gowns and Charlet was still glaring at the guard when Anna pulled her away by the elbow. She stopped midway to the king and began to curtsey.
    But not Charlet. She marched straight up to the king and stopped only two feet from him. “I would honor you with a curtsy, but I am too furious to do it.”
    The king smiled. Her mother once said the same thing. She was just as lovely as Anna said and he stared at her face for several moments. Yes, he could see his sweet sister’s resemblance in her child.
    Charlet sneered, “Which of these mules is your