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Vengeance felt a peculiar helplessness steal over hi that whether he was MacKinnon or not, they needed a protector and they wanted him He felt a simultaneous disdain, a sense that he was above it all, yet… a tentative tide of pleasure

He longed to put a stop to it--to cast the villagers out, to force the fe’s purpose in sending hie’s plan It was possible that his king expected his to prove how stoically he could endure and dest them in the future There was also the possibility that since he was his king’s eht have future need of this castle, and his king intended the villagers to rebuild it He shook his head, unable to fathom why he’d been abandoned without direction

"Oh, how lovely of you to offer!" the lass exclaimed "How kind you all are! We’d love your help I’ his hand and seance left the toithout saying another word Jane He rolled the name over in his mind She was called Jane "Jane Sillee," he whispered He liked the sound of it on his lips

His head began to pound again

"What’s ailing hie elder, asked after Aedan had departed and introductions had been made all around

"He suffered a fall and took a severe blow to his head," she lied sain His s"

"Is he a MacKinnon fros in the east?" Elias asked

Jane nodded, ruing the lie but dee it necessary

"I was fair certain, there’s no mistakin’ the look," Elias said "Since the battle at Bannockburn, they’ve left the isle untended, busy with their holdings on thehave we prayed they would send one of their kin to stand for us, to reside on the isle again"

"And so they have, but he was injured on the way here and wethe opportunity offered, grateful that she now had co-conspirators "Touch hih it may appear to unsettle hi children around," she said, re how in her dreams Aedan had adored children "The more the better Perhaps they could play in the yard while ork"

"We? Ye needn’t labor like a serf,wo our home," Jane said firratified to see a glint of appreciation in the wo nods

"Also, I heard somewhere that familiar scents can help stirht like, I’d be most appreciative I’m afraid I’er to learn"

More approving nods

Jane bea out to be a fine day after all

Seven

And so they settled into a routine hich Jane was pleased, despite Aedan’s continued insistence that he was not a MacKinnon Days sped by, too quickly for Jane’s liking, but seance Each day, Jane feltin the fifteenth century

As proers arrived in force They were hard workers, and although the men departed in the late afternoon to tend their own s cheerfully at Jane’s side They swept and scrubbed the floors; scraped away cobwebs; polished old earthenware lobes; and aired out tapestries, hanging them with care They repaired and oiled what furniture remained, stored beneath cloths saturated with the dust of decades

Before long, the great hall sported a glea honey-blond table and a dozen chairs The sole bed had been lavishly (and withby the women) covered with the plue had to offer Sconces were reattached to the stone walls, displaying sparkling globes of oil with fat, icks The wo packets of herbs from the beao, and it would take soht, Jane decided it wasn’t too risky to suggest the piping of water fro behind the castle and direct the construction of a large reservoir over a four-sided hearth, guaranteeing hot water at a moment’s notice She also sketched plans for counters and cabinets and a massive centrally located butcher’s block