Entrusted to a Highlander (Highland Promise Trilogy #2) - Donna Fletcher Page 0,113

to work. I had to contend with him for five long miserable years, then you returned wed to Arran and the promise made to me vanished in an instant.”

The news that her father had been poison shocked her and had her asking, “What was taken away from you?”

“The Clan Macara,” he said and Purity cringed when she heard him take a fist to a table and the wood crack. “All of this was to be mine. You were to be my wife and the clan given to me. That was Wolf’s promise to me. But we couldn’t find you. No matter how much we searched we couldn’t find you. Of course, I didn’t plan on having you as a wife for long just as I don’t plan for you to survive much longer tonight. You would have been poisoned as well, then I would have brought the woman I love, who patiently waits for me at our homeland, and wed her.”

She’d been wise remaining in the woods the last five years and even wiser wedding Arran before returning home.

“What if Brynjar and Arran don’t fight?” she challenged, hoping her husband might see the truth before it was too late.

“Then he’ll return home to find a Northman’s spear in his beloved wife, and Quiver, and your annoying animals dead. I wounded your dog and Quiver just enough for them not to cause me any problems while I found you. Your father never got to suffer like I wanted him to. His death was quick and more painless than I intended. But given the circumstances, I had no choice. You, however, will pay for the misery your father caused me. You will watch me kill that useless archer, your dog, and that annoying cat before your turn comes. Now come out here and get that cat of yours to come to you.”

King. He hadn’t found King.

“He may not even be in here,” she said.

“He’s here. I saw him. Now come out. I want this over. I’ve wasted far too many years here, listening to your father tell me that he would make sure Wolf never got this land and that my kind were nothing more than savages.” Freen laughed. “And what does he do? He goes and marries you to the worst savage of all. I can’t wait to be rid of all of you. Hopefully, one day Wolf will see how unwise it is that his sister remains wed to Royden and he does what he should have done from the start—kill him and wed her to a Northman so that all the surrounding land belongs to us.”

“Never,” she said.

“Enough!” he shouted. “I want done with this now.”

“So you can discover our bodies like you did with Wolf’s warrior and Orvin, though you made certain my father sent you to speak with Orvin so it didn’t appear odd that you found another dead man. Then there was my father. You found him and quite fast and no one gave thought to it.” That’s what she had missed. She hadn’t paid enough attention to the discovery of the murders themselves or she would have realized Freen had been the one to discover all three bodies, something that would have definitely seemed odd to her.

“I knew you would be a problem as soon as I met you. You weren’t the shy, obedient lass your father spoke of with such disdain. You’re a confident, determined woman that posed far too much danger to me.”

His remark about how her father felt about her hurt, though she didn’t want to let it, but that Freen thought her confident and determined gave her the courage to do whatever was necessary to survive until help came in one way or another.

“I’ve had enough,” Freen shouted.

His fast footfalls let her know he was headed her way and she remained crouched down and moved as fast as she could. It was a game of cat and mouse around the tables until…

Purity let out a yelp when his hand reached over the table and he grabbed her braid. He yanked it, forcing her to her feet.

“I’ve got you now,” he said gleefully and grabbed her by the arm before releasing her braid and dragging her across the table to stand in front of him. He didn’t waste time in pulling her alongside him as he walked, and her heart pounded viciously in her chest when she saw where he was headed. On top of one of the tables laid a Northman