Ruth Langan - Highland Sword

It wasn’t an image he’d invited, but now that it was here in his mind, he couldn’t seem to get past it.

He set down his goblet and stared at her in a way that had her heart thundering. Then he blinked and the look was gone. Or had she only imagined it?

She bent to her food. After several bites of mutton she looked up and smiled. “This is grand. I think it may be as good as my gram’s.”

“I take it that’s meant as a compliment?”

“Aye. My gram can make biscuits that melt in the mouth, and cook fish from the loch that would make you weep.”

“Has she taught you her secrets?”

Allegra shook her head. “She tries. But she often complains that, though my sisters and I have many gifts, cooking isn’t one of them. Then there is Jeremy. He’s a little troll who lives with us, because he had no other home.”

“I’ve heard trolls are nasty creatures.”

She shook her head. “Jeremy isn’t like that, though he may have been at one time. Now he simply enjoys the beauty of the Mystical Kingdom.”

“What of your sisters? Are they healers, too?”

Allegra looked down. “We are all gifted, though in different ways. I’m the best healer, though the others can manage simple wounds. Kylia can also see the past, and on occasion, look into the future. What’s even more impressive, she can look into a man’s heart and see good or evil. Then there’s Gwenellen…” Just the thought of her youngest sister had Allegra smiling. “She has not yet discovered her gifts, though I’m certain she will in time.”

Merrick seemed most interested in Kylia’s gift. “You say your sister can look in a man’s heart. What if she sees both good and evil?”

“She would see both, but would not judge him. Kylia is far too sweet to ever judge another.”

“And what of you, Allegra?” The name rolled off his tongue like honey and startled him for a moment, for it was the first time he’d said it aloud. His tone softened. “Are you sweet like your sister, or are you a witch to be feared?”

She looked up, and he felt the smoldering heat of her anger. “Are you like all the others, my lord? Eager to use my gift when it suits your purpose, then resorting to cruel names to brand me different?”

He reached for his goblet, avoiding her eyes. Her words were too close to the mark, and shamed him. But he’d be damned if he’d ask forgiveness of this…this tart-tongued female. “We waste time talking, woman. We’ll eat, and then you can return your attention to my son.”

Allegra shivered as the cold settled into her bones once more. Whatever tenuous truce they’d attempted, it had dissolved like the wisps of fog that often drifted over the Enchanted Loch until banished by the sun.

The man across the table was once more the demanding lord. And she, like it or not, his unwilling captive.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.