Page 45 of The Highlander's Auctioned Virgin
CHAPTER 12
Elinor walked into the surgery,where Katherine already awaited.
“Good grief, M’Lady. Ye gave us all a scare.”
Elinor sat on one of the tables in the surgery, where wounded soldiers or ailing children were usually laid.
“Katherine, I promise ye, I am nae injured.”
“That, M’Lady, will be for me to determine, nae the other way around,” Katherine responded. “Are ye all right?”
“What have I been saying since I got here?” Elinor threw her hands up in frustration. No one was listening or even trying to listen to her. “I wasnae injured.”
“Where were ye the entire night?” Katherine asked as she examined her left hand first.
She didn’t release her hand until she was utterly satisfied that there were no bruises or cuts that would linger too long.
“As surprising as this may be for ye, I was in the cabin.”
Katherine cocked her head. “The cabin?”
“Ye ken, Simon’s cabin.”
Katherine threw her head back as realization dawned on her. “Oh,thecabin.”
“Aye.”
“And what is this I hear about ye deciding to marry him? Ye ken, when I heard the news, I thought something terrible must have happened. He had managed to corner ye and threatened to kill ye, did he nae?”
“On the contrary,” Elinor whispered, “he was quite the gentleman.”
“The gentleman?”
“Aye.”
“Ye ken we are talking about the Hound here, do ye nae?”
“I am well aware, aye.”
“So he must have done something to bewitch ye at the cabin.”
“Nay. He was just the clear winner. I am just as surprised as ye are.”
“Elinor,” Katherine muttered as she checked her legs for bruises and cuts, “the whole point of this auction is for ye to find a man who is sturdy of heart and can protect ye when danger comes. I can see the protection part, but ye have lost me with the heart part.”
“I ken.”
“He’s a killer,” Katherine whispered, as if it were a secret.
“Ye think I daenae ken that?”
“Logically, he shouldnae be able to pass the tests,” Katherine continued.
“But for some reason, he did. I have nay choice, Katherine. I set up this auction. I invited the lairds. I chose to decide how to get married, and now I must abide by me rules.”
Silence fell on them as Katherine checked her feet for injuries.
Elinor was right. There were no bruises. Not any that she could see.
