Page 40 of Taken By the Ruthless Highlander
“Aye, Felix,” Ryder said. “Perhaps now is a good time for ye to meet my wife.”
“Nay.” Felix chuckled.
He eyed Morgana with an uncertain expression. It was clear from the confusion on his face that he was having a hard time picturing her as the lady of Clan McKenzie while she was wearing her brother’s clothes.
“Well, I’ll be damned. I have to admit, ye do make a handsome lad.”
“Enough,” Ryder snapped, his annoyance spiking. “I’ll nae have anyone else see her this way. We’re goin’ back to the castle, now.”
“I’m nae goin’ anywhere,” Morgana insisted. “I came here to find out where my sister is stayin’. I cannae go back to my family without answers.”
“Aye, ye are,” Ryder grunted as he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her from the shadows of the alleyway. “I’ll nae have ye wanderin’ around this town lookin’ the way ye are. Ye dinnae ken the sort of evil that lurks in the hearts of men. It’s too risky for ye to be here on yer own. Nae to mention the fact that ye’re Lady McKenzie. This isnae how a lass of yer status should behave.”
Morgana started to protest, only for him to shoot her a glare, daring her to challenge him in front of his friend. Trying to keep her emotions from her voice, she struggled against him.
“If ye didnae want to be seen with me, then let me go and get the information I need,” she pressed. “Ye dinnae understand—my sister is missin’.”
“Aye, and ye may think me cold-hearted for nae carin’ about her at the moment, when our problems are here and now,” Ryder said. “We need to get ye back to the castle and into somethin’ more respectable, before the village turns on us and I see ye hangin’ from the gallows. Even at my best, I could only take on three—maybe four men at the same time. I dinnae want to have to protect ye from the whole town.”
“Funny how that seems to be the fate I was dealt.” Morgana chuckled darkly at the thought. “But if ye hadnae dragged me out of the tavern, I would have had the information by now.”
“Highly doubtful,” Felix interjected with a snicker. “Everyone kens that the things ye hear in a tavern are only a fraction of the truth.”
“It doesnae matter. We’re leavin’,now. Felix, ye ken where to find me, but I’ve got to take her home before all hell breaks loose.”
“Aye.” Felix nodded.
Just then, the tavern doors flew open. Three men stumbled out, their laughter filling the alleyway.
Ryder’s eyes narrowed as his grip on Morgana’s arm tightened. “Ye’ll play yer part and nae say a word, do ye understand?” he hissed.
The threat in his voice sent an icy chill down her spine.
“Her voice is too high-pitched to pass off for a lad,” Felix mumbled as he stepped up to her side.
“Nae a word,” Ryder warned again.
Together, with Felix on her left and Ryder on her right, they marched out of the alleyway and strolled to the stables of the blacksmith. Her boots squelched in the mud as she walked.
How she wanted to turn around and head back to the tavern. She felt as if she were giving up by walking away.
“Now that?—”
“What did I tell ye?” Ryder growled, shifting his gaze to Felix the second they stepped into the blacksmith’s stables. “Ye’re to keep silent.”
“But there’s nay one here,” Morgana argued.
“Ye dinnae ken that,” Felix interjected, his voice tight as his eyes lingered on the shadows in the rafters. “Ye’d be surprised by the hidin’ places one finds when they want.”
Morgana jumped as Ryder’s hand landed on her shoulder. He nodded his head toward his horse. “Get on.”
Before she could get a single word out, Ryder hoisted her up by the waist and lowered her into the saddle. She held the horn as he climbed in behind her.
“I expect yer answer by mornin’,” Ryder said to Felix as he turned the horse around.
Questions swirled around in Morgana’s head as Ryder squeezed his legs against the horse’s flanks. With merely a kick, the horse responded and bolted out of the stables.
“Who was that?” Morgana asked, once the darkness enveloped them.
