Page 153 of Highland Spy

“Stop this,” the king hissed.

“No. I know how you’ve worked against him.” She looked at Connor when she finished the sentence. “With Murdoch.”

Connor ceased struggling and his body tingled as if he’d just been doused with water from the loch in winter.

Murdoch.

Connor looked to King James, but the monarch would not meet his eye.

King James shifted backward, almost cowering behind Cora, and shot an accusing finger toward Ariana. “Arrest her. Arrest the witch.”

Soldiers shoved past Connor to do their master’s bidding. Connor tried to lurch to the side, to do what he could to protect Ariana.

But it was no use. They surrounded her and she did not bother to fight.

Damn it, why didn’t she even fight?

But he knew the answer.

It wasn’t just Cora. It was him.

She knew that by accepting the blame herself, he would be free.

He watched her face through the bustle of activity. The manacles were unclasped from his wrists and snapped onto hers.

I’m sorry, she mouthed. I love you.

The words embedded themselves in his heart like a wickedly thorned burr. His body tightened with the need to fight.

As if sensing his intent, several guards grabbed him and held him back.

They took Ariana from him then. She walked calmly, with the authority of a queen.

And she did not look at him again.

Connor stared at her until she disappeared from view. “What will happen to her?” He unleashed his rage in a roar of words.

The king gave Connor a shrewd look. “Her hooks are in deep with you. She has truly bewitched you.”

No mirth showed on his face. Connor had known of the king’s paranoia against witches—there were many in Scotland who shared his fears—but never had he witnessed such a powerful man with such a dangerous fear.

“What will happen to her?” Connor asked again, more calmly this time.

“The same as what happens to all witches, and all other traitors against the crown—she’ll be put to death.” The king glanced out the window, where the day’s sunlight was beginning to fade. “In the morning.”

Connor had expected the answer, but it was still a gut punch. Ariana was slated to die.

For having saved him.

He wanted to bolt from the room and race after the soldiers who took her. A quick sword thrust to both their necks and she’d be free.

But he knew it wasn’t that easy. After those two guards there would be dozens more. No amount of training could make those odds work in his favor.

He would need time to form a plan, and he’d have until morning.

“Forgive the barbarous nature of my threat earlier. It was wrong to obtain your sister, though I imagine you understand such things better than most.” The king motioned to Cora to step down.

She cast a hesitant look at him before running off the dais and into Connor’s embrace. He curled her trembling body in his arms. Her eyes and cheeks were wet with tears and she stared into his face with a wide, frightened gaze.