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displayed. After he’d wiped the bowl with the last of the bread, she rose and took the tray. “Will you sleep, now?”
    He nodded, eyes already closing.
    â€œGood, you need the rest to restore your strength. Swear you won’t be so foolish as to leave till you’re healed.”
    His lashes lifted, his expression hard again. “I’m not going till I’ve got my rubies back.”
    May you never find them, Kara thought, but that was selfish. “Mayhap they fell out of your purse down by the river.”
    â€œNay. They were stitched into it. Someone cut the threads and helped themselves to the treasure and stitched it back up.”
    â€œMayhap you did it yourself while in the grip of the fever. You were not in your right mind when we found you. We could go out and look for these stones if we took enough men to guard against a MacGory attack.”
    â€œYou said the river bordered your land. Do these MacGorys dare raid so close to your territory?”
    â€œAye, they are a lawless bunch, as fierce as the wolves whose hides they wear into battle. Rumor has it they were driven out of the Highlands and seek a place from which to raid and pillage. They’ve set their eyes on Edin Valley.”
    â€œAre you strong enough to defeat them?”
    Kara shook her head. “Thus far Edin’s natural defenses, the mountains and the pass, have kept them at bay, but one day that will not be enough. They grow stronger, bolder and more numerous, while we grow fewer and weaker. Too many of our men have fallen in battle.” She bit her lip to still its trembling. “I fear we will soon be a clan of women.”
    Duncan grunted. “Can you not buy men to protect you?”
    â€œWith what? We are a poor clan, living simply off the land that has been our home for generations. But we will not give up without a fight. If you were to advise us...”
    â€œMe?” He scowled. “I am through fighting other people’s wars. Besides, what could one man do against so many?”
    â€œI do not know for certain, but you figure somehow in Edin’s future. I saw a vision in the Beltane fires this spring, and—”
    â€œVision.” He glared at her contemptuously. “’Tis blasphemy to even think such things.”
    â€œWhy?”
    Â 
    â€œBecause it is. All things are in God’s hands.”
    â€œI agree,” Kara said quickly. “Father Luthais and I have discussed it often. He said such things are mentioned in the Bible and read me the stories of Saint Peter and—”
    â€œExactly. Saints have visions. Ill kempt lasses do not.”
    â€œIll kempt?” Kara looked down. “My skirt and bodice are made of the finest wool our women can weave.” She spotted a small stain where her knee had ground into the mud while she tended his wound. Covering it with her hand, she went on. “My clothes are clean, as are my hands and face. How am I ill kempt?”
    â€œI did not mean you were dirty, only untidy. Your hair flies about in a most unseemly manner instead of being confined to a braid and covered. And...and you are tanned where a woman’s skin should be pale. Why, even your nose is freckled from the sun.”
    Kara self-consciously wiped at the offending spots. “Fergie teases me about them, but they don’t wash off.”
    â€œLadies of quality bleach them or cover them with flour.”
    â€œReally?” The inference that she was not quality stung nearly as much as being called unkempt. “It sounds messy.”
    â€œBut ladylike.” He closed the subject by shutting his eyes.
    Kara tried not to feel hurt or rejected. Duncan MacLellan was not at all the gallant savior she’d imagined. Still if they were to survive, the Gleanedins needed a champion. They needed Duncan. Somehow she had to convince him to help. “Tomorrow or the next day, we could ride out and I’ll show you Edin