Highland Barbarian (Highlander Series) by Ruth Ryan Langan Read Free Book Online Page A

go along?”
    Meredith peered inside. Angus and Holden sat across the table from Brice. Angus was arguing with his friend. She could not see his face, but she could hear the note of protest in his voice. “The MacKenzies are not the only ones who will kill you on sight. Do not forget, old friend, that you have incurred the wrath of the MacAlpin clans as well. You have their woman.”
    “Their leader,” Brice corrected.
    “Leader?” It was another man, tall, red bearded, who had ridden with Brice on the morning raid.
    Meredith saw Brice’s head nod. “With Alastair MacAlpin dead, she is now the MacAlpin.”
    There was a murmur among the dozen men at the table. Jamie, seated on Brice’s left, looked impressed. “Why, she’s no bigger than I am. How can a helpless female be leader of her clan?”
    “Helpless?” Brice gave a mirthless laugh, recalling her attack of the previous night. “Never let the looks of a woman deceive you, Jamie lad. The lady is far from helpless.”
    Though Brice’s words were more amused than irritated, Meredith was more impressed by what she’d heard before that. She stood back, pondering all that had been said. Brice Campbell did not sound like a man who had knowingly murdered her father. Nor did it sound as though Angus or the others had anything to do with that terrible act.
    Obviously Gareth MacKenzie had been wrong. But why had he seemed so certain that Brice Campbell was guilty?
    When she returned home she would confront Gareth. But for now, there was only one thought. She must elude her captors and make her way back home.
    Brice and the others looked up as she entered. The hounds circled about her ankles, then settled down once more by the fire.
    Beneath the bulky shawl, she was wearing the filmy white confection. Her wedding gown. Brice felt a swift pang of remorse. How she must hate him for altering forever the course of her life.
    He stood and held a chair as Meredith seated herself beside him.
    “You may serve, Cara,” he called.
    The young serving wench came forward with a tray of steaming meats, followed by other servants bearing trays of warm bread and biscuits and platters of sweet puddings.
    Meredith’s stomach was in knots. The very thought of what she was about to undertake had her hands trembling, her insides turning over. But she must eat all she could in order to sustain her energy for what lay ahead.
    Brice watched as she loaded her plate with meats and breads. Each time he looked away, she slipped some of the food onto her lap and hid it among the folds of her gown.
    Jamie, busy feeding the hounds who lurked beneath the table, thought it amusing that the lady’s hands were also working beneath the table. Odd that she had befriended the hounds so quickly.
    “So ye be the MacAlpin now, lass?” A burly man in coarse woolen garments addressed her.
    “Aye.”
    “Alastair MacAlpin withstood many an attack from the English,” he said, tearing off a strip of meat with his hands. “He was a clever warrior.”
    “You knew my father?”
    “We met from time to time. He sat on the king’s Council, as did Brice’s father. The Campbell clan and the MacAlpin clan were part of the king’s own guard.”
    She knew that. Knew also that there had been little trust between the Highlanders and the Borderers. She’d been raised to believe that the Highlanders were a breed apart from other Scots.
    “Then you know that my father was a man of peace.”
    “The English who raided his lands would not agree with you, lass. The man was the devil himself when his land or people were threatened.”
    “Aye,” Brice added. “He wielded a sword with the best of them. But the lass means that Alastair MacAlpin argued for peace among the clans. He said it was our only weapon against the mighty English.”
    “Some would call his cry for peace a cowardly act.”
    Meredith’s hand balled into a fist. “What would you know about the world beyond your fortified mountains? Do you know