Page 90 of Bride of Ice
“Ten?” Her heart sank. “’Tis Ian’s age.”
“I suppose so.”
“And Morgan defended you?”
“As best he could. We were both wee lads. But o’ course, him bein’ the son o’ the laird…”
“They had to do his bidding.”
“Aye.”
For him, the scars might be old and long healed. But to Hallie, the wrongness—and her outrage over it—was fresh.
She didn’t know what they did in the Highlands to lads who perpetrated such diabolical deeds. But if she were his laird…
She squeezed all the water from the sponge in one cold fist. Revenge began to crystallize in her veins as she dreamed up fitting punishments for the kind of brutes who would dare raise a lash to a helpless lad.
Narrowing icy eyes, she asked, “Where are these men now? Did they come with you? Are they staying at Creagor?”
Chapter 24
Amazed at the serious tone of Hallie’s question, Colban craned his neck to look up at her. Retribution rang in her voice. And the cold fire of justice burned in her eyes.
“Who?” he asked. “The ones who did this?”
“Aye.”
“Why do ye ask?” he ventured.
“They should be brought to justice,” she said, scowling. “Stripped of their lands and armor and made to…to herd sheep in the hills.”
He nodded, biting his lip to keep from smiling at a Lowlander’s idea of punishment. The fact that she was up in arms over what had been done to him, that she wished to right that wrong, even after all these years, melted his heart. He was pleased beyond measure that the warrior lass wanted vengeance on his behalf. But he didn’t want her to think the mac Girics let crimes—even those against a harlot’s son—go unanswered.
“They were banished from the clan the next day. Sent away.”
“Sent away where?” she persisted.
“Why do ye want to know?” he said with a lift of his brow. “Do ye intend to chase them to the ends o’ the earth?”
“Maybe.”
He grinned. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint ye, my fierce avengin’ angel, but no one knows where they went. They were ne’er seen again.”
She nodded, but he couldn’t miss the hint of regret in her eyes. The lasswantedto punish his abusers. Even though he’d recovered from the incident—even though the unwanted foundling had emerged a champion—Hallie wanted to heal the scars of injustice.
That touched him deeply.
It also reaffirmed the wisdom of forming an alliance with Rivenloch.
The lass who would one day rule the warrior clan was devoted to justice, protective of honor, loyal to what was right and fair. She would not let good deeds go unrewarded. Nor would she let wrongs go unpunished.
She was the last person he would want as an enemy.
Indeed, the more time he spent with her, the more he realized she would make a good friend. Despite their thorny beginnings, the willful lass was beginning to grow on him.
Hallie was hardly cold and unfeeling, as Isabel maintained. After all, she didn’t mind his scars. She didn’t blame him for the circumstances of his birth. And now that she’d managed to get him into the tub, she didn’t even seem to be that bothered by having to scrub his back.
While she was feeling so amenable, he thought he could tell her about his idea.
