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the
goblet himself but on ly stared into its contents. He rubbed a hand over his face and thought about the
lass above stairs. Now he would have to take time to find where the lass had come from and send her home as soon as possible.
    In the middle of plann ing a not her raid on the Campbell's to regain some of
his stolen cattle, he could afford little time to coddle some female from the
saints knew where . He
did not wish to was te the precious time he'd
need to discover who she was ,
where she came from and send her back.
    He sighed, his frustration
evident to anyone who cared to look. Damn K ing James and his idiotic edict! After the battle of Glenfruin, and the unfortunate
incident with the lads there, several of the widows from clan Colquhoun went to
the k ing just before
he'd left Scotland for England. Their complaint against the MacGregor's had resulted in the clan's
latest troubles.
    The k ing had proclaimed the name of MacGregor illegal. Be ing a MacGregor for the past several months could get a body killed. Of course, the
bloody Campbells were on ly too will ing to see to the carry ing out of this
proclamation.   
    The ale he tried to swallow stuck
in his throat. The Campbell Laird, Archibald, the present Earl of Argyle, did not h ing to help the MacGregor's as he should have, either . Instead, he
used his position to take e very opportunity he could to stir up the members of the Clan MacGregor, tell ing tales of theft, kill ing s, and rapine in order to
exact vengeance on any and all he saw as his perceived enemy. Or any who had the temerity to issue a
complaint against him to the k ing .
    In the process of all of this
revenge, the Earl sought to decimate the MacGregor's and claim the rest of
their lands. 'T was all
for greed and naught more.
    Iain looked up as Raibert banged
into the great Hall. He motioned to his captain to join him.
    "And how is our visitor this
fine morn?" Raibert asked as he helped himself to the ale.
    "She saw me and
swooned," Iain ans were d,
his tone tense and clipped. He sensed the question ing stare of his friend. When Raibert threw
back his head and burst into laughter, Iain shot him a foul look. "I find not h ing to be so amused about."
    "What did he do to frighten
her so?" Raibert gasped when he could speak between guffaws.
    "I did not h ing !" Iain growled, which on ly caused Raibert to laugh
harder. "Will ye cease with your laughter?"
    "Ye must've done someth ing ." Raibert insisted,
as he wiped the tears of mirth from his face.
    "I tell you, I did not h ing ." Iain pinned his captain of the guard
with a dark look. "I simp ly asked her who she was .
She took one look at me, went as pale as one of Mol ly 's fresh ly laundered sheets, and down she went."
    "I cannae blame her. Just
one look at your fierce countenance would be enough to scare any lass to nigh to
death." Raibert nodded, even as a not her
chuckle escaped.
    "Wheesht, I dinnae kill her,
ye wee fool, she mere ly fainted." Iain shot him a not her
glare.
    "Did ye discover not h ing at all about where she came from or where
she may have been
travel ing too then?"
Raibert took a hearty gulp of his ale, look ing at Iain over the rim of his goblet.
    "Nay," Iain paused a
moment, "ye said she carried some sort of bag with her?"
    "Aye. I left it in my màthair 's care."
    Iain nodded. "I will have to speak with Elsie
about it then. There may be someth ing in it that will help
me discover who the lass might be, and what she was do ing in the woods in
the middle of the night."
    "She gave you no' e'en a
hint of where she came from?"
    "Nay, when she awoke from
her swoon, your màthair wouldnae let me question her, just shooed me from the room like an annoy ing lad. I could on ly get her first name,
Kristianna."
    "No clan name?"
    "Nay." Iain felt
Raibert's gaze again. "What?"
    "She's verra bonny."
    Iain shrugged, but refused to
comment.
    "Do ye think she is a spy? Mayhap
for the Campbell's?"
    Iain looked at Raibert, know ing the shock