Wild Hearts by Virginia Henley

was almost dawn, he knew the family would be eagerly awaiting his return. They were curious as monkeys and could not bear to be excluded from anything. He entered the brightly lit chamber with his burden and asked Shannon, the eldest and the one who always assumed authority over the others, "Which room did you make ready?"
    Her eyebrows arched in surprise. Any prisoners previously brought to the castle had been secured in the barracks wing, where their men were housed. Shannon, hands on hips in her favorite challenging pose, tossed her magnificent mane of red curls and simply said, "None! She's a prisoner, isn't she?"
    He shot her a glance that made her step back in alarm. "Christ Almighty, must I see to everything myself? I'll put her in the chamber above mine." He strode up to his own chamber, followed by the rest of the family. He shouted orders as he went. "A fire, fresh rushes, clean linen. Get the bloody servants and plenish this chamber. Alexander, fetch some wine!"
    He laid her in the middle of the bed, and they gathered about to look their fill and satisfy their curiosity. Tabby looked up at the sea- of faces. Even in her dazed condition she could see they all belonged to the same family Their faces were strikingly handsome, their heads crowned with blazing hair that almost lit up the room. Fifteen-year-old Alexander, not yet a man, felt the first pull on his heartstrings, and he was instantly enraptured as he knelt to proffer her the goblet of honey wine. Tabby looked into the boy's worshipful eyes, noticed his smooth; unshaven face, and instinctively knew she had nothing to fear from this quarter, at least Tabby's eyes moved to Shannon. A flamboyant beauty with a magnificently curving body and generous full mouth to match. "How much will she bring us?" Shannon asked.
    "Twenty thousand in gold," Paris said flatly.
    Tabby's eyes widened in amazement, then she thought she hadn't heard him right. Either that, or this wasn't really happening, it was just a dream.
    Damascus cried,. "Ha! Who would pay such a sum? She looks like something the cat dragged in." Tabby looked at Damascus when she spoke, and thought her the most delicately sculpted creature she had ever seen.
    Alexandria said sweetly, "You will have to forgive Damascus— she's in shock. Up until tonight she thought she was the prettiest female in Scotland."
    Tabby looked at the young girl and saw that when she smiled, the serious little face was transformed into a beauty all its own. Tabby tried to smile back at her, but one step beyond exhaustion, she could only lay back and survey the faces that surrounded her. For sixteen years she had been totally ignored by the world, then, in an explosion of destiny, she had been married and kidnapped in a single day, and had, like a fairy princess, become the heroine of an adventure that thrust her to the center of everyone's attention. She giggled before she began to laugh wildly.
    Shannon flung at Paris, "Hysterical, or worse. Another madwoman is all this castle needs!"
    Paris held her eyes for a moment, then admonished quietly, "She's a young lass, like yourself Shannon. Have you no compassion?"
    Shannon, wise in the way of men, thought, My God, he's soft on her, and made no reply.
    Paris moved swiftly to the bed, took the goblet from Alexander and put it to Tabby's lips. Instinctively, she shrank from him, fear springing back into her eyes.
    "Drink. It's honey wine made from heather." He tipped it into her mouth, and she was forced to swallow it or choke. "Everyone out! Postpone your dissection until tomorrow. When she is rested, you can have at her, and then I hope to Christ she can give as good as she gets."
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 3
     
    It was almost noon when Mrs. Hall awakened her mistress. As soon as Tabby saw the comfortable, familiar face, she sat up and clung to the older woman, "Mrs. Hall, thank God. How did you get here?"
    "Behind a great lout of a Borderer o' course. Woke me hours before dawn. I made sure