The Passion of London [Highlander's Love #1]

Chapter 14

Smoke tickled her nose, a tightness in her blood flow in her wrists that finally stirred her. Realizing that she was now strapped to a pole, bleary vision took a while to clear for Evie to frown as she noticed one shoddily constructed hut and a dying fire in the front of the entrance, where a tough, hulking looking male sat staring at her as he peeled what appeared to be a piece of fruit.

"Who are you and what do you want from me?" she managed to spit out, despite the having her kirtle half torn from the bottom, with hair falling like a badly constructed birds nest. 

Her eyes shot daggers at her captor, who apparently wasn't even phased. Biting into his freshly peeled, not so fresh fruit, his leer made goosebumps appear involuntarily on Evie's bounded arms as he got up and stalked nearer. She made an attempt to back away, futile since she was tied to a tree really, but Evie was now reacting on pure instinct as her captor got closer. With dirty blond hair falling messily around his face, eyes as blue as the clear sky above them, the back of her mind mused that he could possibly look quite enchanting under any other situation. But given their circumstances, the blue eyes seem to merely hide thundercloud.

Two more steps before he got to her, and Evie had by then squeezed her eyes shut in an involuntary act of self-preservation, when a loud call of "Tamhas!" made the crunch of gravel which had spelled out Evie's impending doom stopped. Even the girl managed to crack open her eyes, just in time to see a girl of about her age but with her captor's hair fly out one of the hovels with a scowl and a threatening spatula wielded in her right arm, her walk punctuated with a limp that left Evie curious. 

"Leave her be, ye promised no harm shall come!"

The male crunched his fruit and scowled, standing there as the newcomer came to stand dangerously close to him. "I did no such promise, Ammi."

"We didna come oot here to harm anyone, brother! Please, where did she even come from." The girl appeared quite distressed as she hurried over to untie the ropes that bounded Evie's wrists together, much to the girls' delight. She hissed once the rough material was taken away from her, rubbing the reddened skin and watching with much amusement when the girl dressed in serviceable brown, apparently name Ammi, returned to admonishing who Evie was guessing to be her brother.

Evie smiled in amusement as the two argued, but couldn't resist her curiosity. "Why... exactly did you bring me here?"

"Because we need food, Sassenach, and ye look like ye fetch a hefty price."

Evie raised a brow, not sure if she was comfortable at being likened to what sounded like cows. She had to admit though, her father would probably have paid a fortune for her safety, but now didn't seemed like a proper time to confirm their ideas. "Is... this your home?" She asked in uncertainty, looking at the lone hut. Didn't Highlanders live in clans?

"Ammi was..."

"The Kincaid clan do not care for rulebreakers. I broke them, and Tamhas here is just accompanying me. Food is scarce these days though, but we needn't resort to blackmailing." 

"Winter is almost here, Ammi. You can't expect us to freeze!" he argued in return. By then, Evie had got to her feet, and was now genuinely concern for the two. "He is right Miss... Ammi?"

"Amhuinn Kincaid is my full name, but it is a mouthful, so Ammi is just as well." she smiled, a sweet thing that had Evie's heart going out to her. How could someone so small and so sweet be so threatening to her brother? The siblings shared the same eyes as well, although Ammi's was just a shade or two darker then Tamhas's, sparkling like the ocean as she limped up to Evie and picked up her wrists.

"Och, I do wish I still have my box of herbs with me. I would've been able to soothe this in a jiffy."

"You're a healer?" Evie asked in curiosity, Tamhas wandering off to sharpen his blade. Ammi nodded, turning to face Evie with a smile. "I was training to be part of Kincaid Castle's staff, until-"