The Firebrand by May McGoldrick Read Free Book Online Page B

will not end with a kiss...summons or no.”
    She remained still, her back to the wall of the cabin. Her face was flushed, but she continued to remain silent. As he’d expected, all the fight had washed out of her. Wyntoun eyed her with amusement, pushing back thoughts of his own physical reaction to this untamed beauty.
    He pulled the map from his belt and placed it with the letter inside the leather pouch. Adrianne continued to watch his hands, but still she didn’t move.
    “Do you want to hear why I was sent after you?”
    He glanced at her and saw her eyes flicker back from a spot across the cabin floor. Following her gaze, he located the small dagger that he’d knocked from her hand earlier. She was no quitter, he thought with grudging admiration.
    He walked over and picked the weapon up off the floor and turned on his heels. Returning to her, Wyntoun held the dagger toward her with the hilt pointing out.
    “Take it.”
    She stared at the weapon in his hand for a moment in surprise. “Why?”
    “You are here on a ship with a crew of men who love three things—a bloody fight, a goodly drink, and a lusty wench. You’ll need to protect yourself, I’d say.”
    Her hand reached up and encircled the hilt.
    “And I am giving you this, not because I want to lose any of my fine crew, but because I trust you to use it only when you must. Oh, and not on me.”
    Her eyes—alert and blue enough to stir any man’s blood—narrowed, lying her calm exterior. He watched her tuck the weapon in the waistband of her skirt. She was more confident with that weapon than many a man he knew. He looked up at the cut section of her dark tresses, falling so seductively across her brow.
    The drama! She’d cut her hair to be certain that those who found the remnants of the cage would suffer with regret. Her only means of escape had been to climb up the single rope and over the beam to the castle wall.
    She was a dangerous opponent. He would need to use all the finesse he could muster to keep her off balance.
    “Your mother has been captured by the English king’s men.”
    Her body snapped to attention at his sudden news.
    “I was visiting my friend William Ross at Blackfearn Castle when the letter arrived. It came soon after his wedding to your sister Laura.”
    She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
    “I have a great deal of information for you. So if you’ll promise not to murder me with that wee dagger of yours, I’ll tell you what I know.” Granted, he thought, it was a poor enough effort at lightening the mood. He watched her move away from the wall and sink down onto the chair by the table. The stunned look on her face didn’t change.
    “My mother,” Adrianne croaked, her voice barely a whisper.
    “She is alive and will stay alive if Henry’s demands are met.”
He saw her fingers tremble as they reached up again and clutched at the torn blouse. “And Laura...she’s married.”
    “Both of your sisters are married. Catherine has married John Stewart, earl of Athol. As I was leaving Blackfearn, a messenger brought word that she is bearing their first bairn.”
    “A bairn,” she whispered. She turned her face away from him, but not before he spotted the glint of tears in her eyes. “Tell me...tell me more about my mother.”
    “All I know is from the ransom letter that was sent to William Ross and from there to Athol.”
    “What did it say?”
    “The letter came with an offer of exchange.”
    “Exchange for what?”
    As Adrianne continued to clutch at her shirt, he considered acting as an honorable knight, the concerned host, and offering her dry clothing of his own to wear. But the look of entreaty in her eyes told him that she would have nothing to do with any of that until she knew the rest of his news.
    “Treasure...in exchange for the life of your mother. Before they light the fires of Midsummer’s Eve, you and your sisters must produce a certain treasure.”
    Her voice was barely a whisper.