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“You’ve been talking to Ned Gowan,” I said, beginning to feel a little dizzy again. He nodded. “Aye, I have. I thought it might come to this, ye ken. And what he told me is what I thought myself; the only way I can legally refuse to give ye to Randall is to change ye from an Englishwoman into a Scot.”
“Aye,” he said, nodding at my expression. “Ye must marry a Scot. Young Jamie.”
I turned to Jamie in sudden panic. “I can’t marry you! I don’t even know your last name!”
“You have my name and my family, my clan, and if necessary, the protection of my body as well. The man willna lay hands on ye again, while I live.”
I had always been an enthusiastic amateur birder. If I were marooned here ’til it suited my overbearing, domineering, pig-headed jackass of a husband to finish risking his stupid neck, I’d use the time to see what I could spot.
I was cruel sometimes, to the other lads, not meanin’ it, just not able to resist if I thought of something clever to say.”
Despite the unsettling ill-wish, I slept well, secure in the dual protection of a bolted door and Jamie’s arms.
“I’ve told ye before, Sassenach. Everything ye think shows on your face.” “Bloody hell,” I said.
“Aye, I believe ye, Sassenach. But it would ha’ been a good deal easier if you’d only been a witch.”
“Jamie!” He turned at my exclamation. “You didna know?” he asked curiously. “That we were coming here? No, of course not.” I felt mildly sick. The hill of Craigh na Dun was no more than a mile away; I could see the hump-backed shape of it through the last shreds of the morning mist.
Half-conscious, he reached to smooth my hair away from his nose; I felt the sudden jerk as he came awake to realize that I was there, and then we overbalanced and crashed together onto the floor, Jamie on top of me.
“In the morning, I’ll take ye home.”
“I thought you liked children.” “I do. My father liked me, when I wasna being an idiot.
Not for the first time, I regretted the fact that there were no real witches. Had I been one, I would have turned him into a toad on the spot. A big fat one, with warts.
I choked down my rage and tried reason yet again.
So take one last bit of advice: when in doubt, eat.”
