Page 107 of Highland Ruse

He righted a chair and set it to the floor with a hollow clack. “Have a seat, Lady MacKenzie.”

Torra’s body trembled, but she managed to stagger to the seat and collapse into it. Delilah slid him a look of gratitude. Even her patient demeanor seemed ruffled from the ordeal.

He regarded Percy. “Please go get some ale for Lady MacKenzie from the kitchen.”

“Um…” Percy’s face went red and she twisted her long, slender fingers.

“Percy is to stay here.” Sylvi pushed herself off the wall. “I’ll go.”

Percy settled a touched Torra’s shoulder. “I’ll make you a tea to calm you.”

The nod Torra gave was one of cultured politeness, the sort one would expect from a laird’s daughter. For all the time the woman had been in the dungeon, a part of her still had not been broken.

“I saw her. The white-haired woman.” Torra squeezed her hands together and placed them over her heart. “I saw her. She’s going to kill me.”

“The white-haired woman is going to kill you?” Delilah asked, her voice patient as ever.

Torra nodded and began to cry in snuffling sobs. “She’s here. She’s going to kill me.”

“We willna let anyone kill ye,” Kaid reassured her. “Describe this woman to me.”

Delilah put her hand on Kaid’s. “I need to get back to the solar. Claire went to get me food, and I fear she’ll worry since I’ve been gone so long.”

He nodded and was hit with the urge to let his lips brush over hers before she left. But now was not the time, nor the place. Instead he watched her as she gracefully strode from the room.

Percy appeared beside them and passed Torra a cup. The wet spicy scent of steeped herbs filled the room, and a curl of steam rose from the concoction.

“Drink this to calm yourself,” Percy said. “It tastes like flowers, and I’ve added some honey for good measure.”

Torra immediately sipped the tea.

Kaid’s patience began to ebb. “Who was the white-haired woman?”

“Her.” Torra turned to him. “She locked me up. She told me not to tell anyone he’s a bastard. She told me she’d kill me.” Her voice was thick with emotion.

Kaid shook his head. “I willna let her kill ye, but I need to know who she is.”

Torra nodded. “The one who locked me up, the one who told me she’d ki—”

Kaid put up a hand and the rambling ceased. “Who is she to have done this to ye?”

“Seumas’s grandmother,” she said.

“Seumas MacKenzie, ye mean—yer bastard brother?” Kaid asked.

Torra looked down at the tea. “Yes. She locked me up,” she said miserably. “She said she’d kill me.”

“And ye saw her here?” he asked.

Torra nodded toward the open window. “In the courtyard.”

Alarm spiked through Kaid. MacKenzie’s grandmother was at Ardvreck Castle.

Percy settled a hand on Torra’s shoulder again, the gesture soothing. “No one will hurt you now.” Her easy reassurance sent fresh tears rolling down Torra’s cheeks.

“I was just down in the courtyard. I dinna see anyone out of the ordinary.” He combed through his memory and shook his head.

Percy motioned to the tea and Torra obediently took a sip. “She left,” she said after she’d swallowed. “Through the other side of the courtyard from where ye were.”