Marti Talbotts Highlander Series 1 - Anna Rachel u Charlet

she finally reached out, he turned her palm up and dropped a beautiful blue stone into her hand. Then he closed her hand and held it between both of his. “This stone belonged to my mother and she told me these words: ‘God condemns the soul of a lad who hurts a woman or a child.’ If any lad hurts you ever again, you are to give this stone back to me and I will kill him. Do you understand?” He waited for her slow nod and then released her hand. Then he stretched out on the grass and began, “I will not lie, Anna was badly beaten and we thought she would die.” He saw Catherin grimace when he began to tell her the extent of Anna’s injuries, but it was better than letting her believe the beating was far worse.

    In the Keep , Anna was healing and becoming more attractive by the minute. She often went outside for a walk and when she didn’t seem to want company, Katie watched her from the window. Every once in a while, Anna would walk to the closed drawbridge , and then just stand there looking at it. Kevin wanted her kept inside, but saying no to Anna was the hardest thing Katie ever had to do. She decided if Anna looked like she was going to climb the wall, she would take her out an d face her brother’s ire later.

    Be sensible, Anna told herself. Kevin was trying to protect her, not imprison her. For days, no one had come or gone except small hunting parties and men hauling water from the moat. She reasoned , if she were imprisoned, so were the rest of them , and they didn’t seem to mind. Kevin told her she could only go out when it was safe. Did that mean her father had gained an army som ehow and was heading this way? Surely , someone would have told her if that were true. Then why was the bridge always up? Try as she might , she could not help but feel she was a prisoner again.
    She decided to continue her walk before someone thought she was daft. How many times had she stood in front of her father’s courtyard gate trying to will it to open so she could ride Threcher? The older sh e got the less often it opened.
    She thought about planting flowers around the Keep . That was something else she wasn’t allowed to do at home. In fact, there were no plants or flowers anywhere in the manor. She didn’t know how to plant flowers and every time she asked someone in the hold to show her how to do something, they did it for her. It seemed like they wanted her to be utterly useless and it annoyed her.
    She was suddenly standing there looking at the bridge again and Katie was right beside her. She didn’t mean to sound angry, but she couldn ’ t seem to help it. “What could be taking so long?”
    “It has only been a few days.”
    “Thirteen miserable, frustrating days. I thought I could survive anything, but I am not so sure anymore. I am as worried about Kevin and the men, as I am about my mother and sister. Sometimes , I do not want to love your brother, it is too painful.”
    Katie smiled. “You might not feel that way once you discover all his faults.”
    “Such as?”
    “Well, he snores when he is too tired.”
    “I will not be bothered . I do not intend to sleep in the same room.”
    “I see.” Katie wasn’t sure how to handle this situation. “Are you afraid of him?”
    “A little. I do not want to...my mother sometimes...”
    “Come, we will sit on the steps. ‘Tis a beautiful day and we must enjoy it before the rains come.” Katie led the way and waited until they both got comfortable on the steps. “My brother is a good lad. He blames himself for what happened to you and he will not force you into his bed.”
    “Good.”
    “Anna...”
    “How many people has Kevin killed?”
    Her question caught Katie completely off guard. “I do not know. Our lads never tell us such things and the women are wise enough not to ask. MacGreagors do not find pleasure in killing for any reason, and often need time to accept what they have done. When a lass asks, her husband may leave and not come home for days.”
    “Have you ever seen Kevin kill someone?”
    “Someone? Kevin has never killed a lass in his life. I have only seen him kill one lad and the lad deserved to die. He was torturing animals. We kill animals when we need the meat, but we do not torture anything or anyone. Kevin warned him not to do it three times, but the lad disobeyed.”
    “Did Kevin believe the man would torture more than animals?”
    “Aye, he did. There is an evil in some lads. Our father told of a man our