The Highland Laird (Lords of the Highlands #8) - Amy Jarecki Page 0,68
made a public spectacle of you, Dunollie will not be able to stay away.”
She instantly tensed. No! “If you believe a man as important as Ciar MacDougall will come for a blind woman, you have greatly overestimated his affection for me. I am merely a friend, the sister of his closest ally, and that is all.”
“Hmm. I think not. Take the woman to the officers’ hold.” Wilcox clapped his hands. “On the morrow you will be locked in the pillory and disgraced. Let us see how long it will take for MacDougall to rescue you. After all, isn’t that what Highlanders pride themselves on—honor, duty, loyalty? Those virtues are commendable, though the only problem is that their meaning is displaced among you Scottish folk.”
Emma balled her fists, her face hot, as two dragoons grasped her elbows and escorted her off the galley. The iron gate screeched as they led her through. She counted seven steps, reminiscent of the night she’d stolen inside and rescued Ciar. Oh, the irony of returning with her wrists bound and facing utter humiliation come dawn.
The sweet scent of horses and hay wafted from the barn as they crossed the grounds to the same cell where Ciar had been held.
One of the dragoons shoved her inside. “I’d try to sleep if I were you, ’cause tomorrow you will have no rest at all.”
Emma held out her hands. “Will you not take these off?”
“Orders are you must be restrained at all times, else you might escape like an evil sprite.”
After the door slammed shut, Emma’s eyes stung as she slid down the wall. Whatever was she to do? What had happened to Ciar? Why hadn’t he come? And Albert. Good heavens, Nettie, please take care of Albert.
Collapsing into a heap, she let the tears come. If only Ciar had taken her to Dunbarton. Why in God’s name had he left her alone?
The mere thought made her chest heavy, her throat close. Emma’s capture was her own fault. She’d refused to go stay with Archie and Nettie.
Curses, I’m as stubborn as my brother!
She should have listened. But she’d been so happy, she’d falsely believed the illusion that no one could touch her while she hid in the cellars of the ruined castle. Oh, how wrong she was. And now if Ciar received word about her abduction, no doubt he would try to rescue her.
Lord, no! Please, Ciar, please. Stay away.
At some stage, Emma cried herself to sleep, and she didn’t awaken until the guard opened the door. “Up with you, wench. You have a big day ahead.”
“Is there not anything to eat?”
“Prisoners are fed once a day. You’ll receive yours after sundown.”
Good heavens, she was hungry and thirsty. “A cup of water then, please.”
Liquid sloshed. “Did you not see the bucket and ladle?”
When the guard raised a full ladle to her mouth, Emma drank, then wiped her lips. “Forgive me, I have not seen anything in two and twenty years.”
“Just as well,” he said. “’Cause you wouldn’t like what you’ll see today.”
The water in her stomach churned with a sickly, simmering swirl. Though she might be afraid, she did not care what the crowd might say or do, as long as Ciar stayed safe and kept away until he had the evidence he needed to clear his name.
Soldiers marshaled her out the gates and up the rickety wooden steps to the pillory.
“Good morning, Miss Grant,” said Governor Wilcox, his tone sardonically displeasing. “I hope you slept well.”
Emma rubbed a kink in her neck but kept her lips tightly closed.
“I am here to offer you one last chance,” he bellowed loudly enough for all to hear. “Tell me where the scoundrel Ciar MacDougall is hiding, and I will remove your irons and release you this very day.”
She scoffed. “I cannot tell you where he is because I do not know.”
At least she told the truth on that count. Though Ciar had gone to Dunbarton to find Riley, Emma doubted he was still there. Perhaps Riley hadn’t been at the fort. Perhaps the sentinel had been transferred to another post. Whatever the reason, Emma refused to believe that Ciar was in trouble. And if she knew anything about the man, he would never give up until he proved the truth.
With luck, she prayed, he was far away from Fort William and would never learn of her capture.
“Very well, then, enjoy my hospitality,” Wilcox said.
Emma held her head high, standing regally as a dragoon removed her manacles.