Highland Savage by Hannah Howell Read Free Book Online Page B

and that angered him. Part of his reason for returning to Dunlochan was to make her suffer for her part in what had happened to him. It hardly made sense to then start worrying that she might get hurt. A desire for her that he could not kill had obviously rattled his wits.
    “Where does Ranald hide when he isnae chasing ye or grinding the people of Dunlochan under his boot?” he asked even as he noticed that the passage they traveled in was beginning to slowly wind upward. He struggled not to think too much on how deep in the earth they were.
    “With Agnes, of course,” Katerina replied after sternly telling herself it would be childish to ignore the man when he had asked a very reasonable question.
    “They openly commit adultery?”
    “Weel, they arenae rolling about in the heather for all to see, but they arenae really secretive. Agnes declares herself a widow e’en though near everyone about here kens verra weel that her husband fled her side. They also ken that no one has actually brought word that the mon is dead.”
    “And no one acts against her or Ranald for sinning so openly?”
    “Wheesht, dinnae ye sound so verra pious,” Katerina murmured, casting a fleeting glance at Lucas over her shoulder.
    “My family frowns upon such a thing, true enough, but I was speaking of ones like the men on that council, or the women who consider themselves the righteous ones. Every village has some of those and they dinnae abide anything that e’en hints at sin.”
    “Ah, aye, those women. Nay, few here speak on the matter aloud. The fear Ranald likes to breed in people has spread wide and settled in deep and hard. There are many who see Agnes as being just as bad, just as dangerous, as Ranald. So, nay, naught is said and naught is done, e’en when Agnes turns her lustful gaze upon another mon, and then another, and then—”
    “I believe I understand. Although I am a wee bit surprised that Agnes would dare to be unfaithful to Ranald. It could prove verra dangerous.”
    “Oh, he doesnae like it, but he can have no power in Dunlochan without her. He isnae faithful to her, either. Ne’er was. Ranald feels it his right to take any woman he wants. I worry about Annie at the alehouse. Ranald wants her, but, so far, he has not taken her as he has others.”
    Although Katerina did not say the word rape , Lucas had no trouble understanding that that was what she meant. He had a deep loathing for men who brutalized women. It was just another reason to make very certain that Ranald did not escape justice. Lucas was a little surprised that Agnes had anything to do with the man, but he was beginning to realize he had misjudged the woman. For reasons he could not understand he believed most of what Katerina said about her half-sister. The only thing he doubted was that Agnes could be as cunning as Katerina believed her to be. The few times he had dealt with the woman he had certainly not gained any sense that there was much intelligence behind Agnes’s big blue eyes.
    The insidious thought that some of Katerina’s anger at Agnes might be due to the fact that the woman was bedding Ranald slipped into Lucas’s mind and he inwardly cringed. Despite all he suspected Katerina of, he found that hard to believe. The ugly surge of jealousy that gripped him at the thought of Katerina and Ranald together surprised and dismayed him. Lucas did not want to care who Katerina gave her favors to.
    A soft noise yanked him from his dark thoughts. Instinct ruling him, Lucas grabbed Katerina by the arm, yanked her back, and shoved her between him and the rocky side of the passage, even as he drew his sword. Someone was moving stealthily toward them down the passageway. Katerina and her men had been safe within all the caverns and passages for a full year, but it only took one mistake to steal that safety away. The man who came into view a moment later was tall, almost too thin, and looked as alarmed as Lucas had briefly felt. Lucas did nothing to