Only when theyre unfaithful, he jested cruelly, but Tina was not jokingshe was deadly serious My answer is no, and thats final, she declared.

He threw back the furs and quit the bed. He lit the candles and began to throw on his clothes. She could see and feel his anger He meant to leave, even though it was the middle of the night and hed been home less than three hours.

In the candle glow her hair was an aureole of flame. Her hands brought the fur up to her throat as if she could protect herself with it. He dragged her from the bed with one powerful hand. Im not asking, Im telling ye. He towered above her, then suddenly his magnificent, weatherbeaten face, so brutally handsome, laughed down at her. He bent her backward in his arms. I am your destiny. When I come next, Ill fetch the priest.

Chapter 25.

Oh what care I for my goose-feather bed, with the sheets turned down so bravely-o?

Tonight I will sleep in a wide open field, Along with the raggle-taggle Gypsies-o.

The chamber was suddenly very cold after he had left, as if he had taken all the warmth with him. Tina climbed back into bed and huddled beneath the fur. The wind and rain made her shiver, although he was the one riding out into it. It would take more than inclement weather to stop Black Ram Douglas. Curse him! Curse him!

Was it possible that he loved her? Perhaps she could take her revenge sooner than she had thought. Nay, he hated her, and she him, yet somewhere at some point love and hate must meet, just as Heaven and Hell were but two sides of the same coin.

Her mind dashed about like quicksilver going over her alternatives. She would leave. She would go home to her father. The thought of her mother and Beth made her search elsewhere. Donal and Meggie were at Castle Kennedy, not much more than thirty miles off, on the coast. Then she thought better of it. She had seen Black Ram Douglas in a temper and didnt envy the man who stood in his way. Poor Donal had been no match for him before.

Suddenly she stopped shivering. She knew exactly where she would go: the Haugh of Urr. She would do it with panache!

As Ram rode deep into the borders with his men, he ignored their curses and grumbling at being routed out of bed hours before dawn. He never noticed the sheep huddled together for comfort against the drenching rain.

He was too deep in his own thoughts. Bloody females!

To a woman, kindness meant weakness, and they despise you for it and put a knife in your back. A clout round the ear wouldnt be amiss. Nay, an inner voice rose up. Tis you who are at fault. Do ye ever bring her a bauble, a jewel? Do ye ever pay her a compliment, or thank her for the shirts she embroiders? Do ye ever praise her for the meals she has her Mr. Burque prepare special? Do ye ever play a game of chess or dice with her, or talk with her? Do ye ever share yer fears or yer victories with her? Do ye ever tell her how much she means tae ye, except in the throes of passion?

He treasured the memories of the afternoon theyd spent fishing. He wanted someone to share his life with, and he knew he had found her. He longed to share everythingthe laughter, the tears, the wild moments, and the quiet ones. Blood of God, did she really fear him?

Fear hed poison her? It was untenable. The mere thought of aught happening to her knotted his gut.

Hed turn back now and beg her to wed him, not issue his orders. He sighed. He knew he was far too blood- proud ever to beg for anything in this world. He wanted her to be the mother of his children. What splendid sons and beautiful daughters theyd make together! A fear rose up. Hed never had a child. Other men scattered their bastards to the wind, but no lass had ever come to him in tears because she was in trouble He mastered the fear. Valentina would bear him childrenhe knew it as well as he knew the sun would rise and set.

Once they reached the sea, Ramsay was kept too busy for introspection. They took the horses aboard the Revenge, then slowly patrolled the coast of the counties of Kirkcudbright and Dumfries all the way up the Solway Firth to the point where Scotland joined England. They ate aboardship, then disembarked to patrol the borders of Roxburgh.

They found the lairdship of Armstrong burned out and most of them fled north. There was little they could do, so they pressed on, hoping to catch the English raiders red-handed. At Rowanburn they got their wishonly some of the animals had been rustled, and a dozen men, drunk with bloodlust, were raping women and girls upon the ground beside the bodies of their dead fathers and husbands. Not one of them escaped the wrath of Douglas!

The thing that infuriated Ram was the fact that they were soldiers in uniform. Once his men had dispatched the raiders, they wasted no time. Without hesitation Ram Douglas led the way across the border deep into Liddlesdale. When four men herding a large flock of sheep saw the Scots borderers in pursuit, they abandoned the animals and rode hell for leather over valley and dale The terrain was treacherous with rock and bog. English army horses were no match for the sturdy, sure-footed garrons.

The borderers herded the four men together as if they were sheep, totally surrounding them so there was no chance for escape. The look of sheer panic on their faces showed clearly they feared they would get their necks stretched, which was the penalty for rustling.

If they had known what was in store for them, they would have begged to be hanged. The dark eyes of the Scots sought those of their leader as every moss- trooper reached for his dirk. Lord Vengeance nodded imperceptibly, and they closed in on their prey, pulling them to the ground for what was known as a prinking It was an age-old Scots tradition for a detested enemy.

Each borderer took his turn, stabbing with his dirk.

Each wound was superficial though cruelly painful.

However, by the time seventy such wounds had been inflicted upon every part of the body, the unfortunate victim had usually bled to death, screaming in agony and begging to be dispatched. The fourth and last man babbled everything Douglas wished to know before he received the merciful coup de grace. The information confirmed Rams suspicions: The English garrison was in Carlisle. The commanding officer Lord Dacre.

They rode back into Scotland, and Ram called a meeting of all Scots border wardens. They met at the Earl of Both-wells impregnable Hermitage Castle. Any other than a borderer would never have found it, let alone gained entrance across the hazardous bogs. The Hermitage was a massive pile of gray, forbidding stone, its great hall so large, it took two walk-in fireplaces to heat the place. As the Homes of Wedderburn rubbed shoulders with the Hamiltons, Bruces, Kerrs, and Elliots, Bothwell filled their trenchers with roast oxen and their leather horns with October ale.

The wardens of the east marches, Lindsay and Hay, told sickening tales of the English crossing the Tweed, not merely to loot and pillage but to destroy Scottish shipping and impress their crews and to commit atrocities against women and children. They had discovered a large garrison of soldiers at Berwick. They all knew formal protests had been made by the King of Scotland to the King of England, who had paid lip- service to the treaties by promising to suppress border banditry or restore the prizes taken by pirates. But now the border lords had proof that it was not bandits or pirates but Henry Tudors army and navy that harried their land and their people.

Bothwell spoke. The fuckin whoreson is nobbut a greedy bairn, no yet twenty-one, but hes set his voracious sights on Scotland an willna be satisfied until its all-out war.

The first thing James should do is send that bloody traitor Howard packing back tae England, said Patrick Hamilton.

Ram swept him with a look of contempt but kept his peace. Ram could afford to be generousTina was his.

Home of Wedderburn, however, quipped, Politics makes strange bedfellows.

Kerr, who knew naught of Patricks affair with the Howard girl, said, Hamiltons right, and while James is ridding himself of vermin like Howard, he should pack his whore of a queen back tae her brother.

Before the meeting broke up, two things were decided.

The English garrisons in Carlisle and Berwick would be raided to learn their strength and numbers, and one of them would have to inform the King in Edinburgh that the borders were already at war. They were unanimous in their choice: Douglas was the one who had James Stewarts ear.

On the voyage home an English vessel made the mistake of firing on the Revenge Ramsay thought it a waste to sink the tall, unwieldy ship when he could easily outmaneuver and capture it. Why waste cannonballs when they could board her, claim the cargo, then sell the vessel? Some of the crew was still alive when Hotspur stood in command on the quarterdeck, and he leniently put them ashore at Silloth on condition they report that they owed their miserable hides to Lord Vengeance.

Ram was in high good humor when he sailed into the mouth of the Dee and stopped to pick up the priest from Kirkcudbright. He fancied taking his new wife to Edinburgh to show her off to the court. His mind was full of plans They could sail up to Ayr, where he could sell the six vessels hed taken as prizes. Hed take Valentina home to Doon so she could tell her family of their marriage, then they could sail up the Clyde to Glasgow and ride to Edinburgh. It would be a honeymoon trip, far more romantic than a hard ride overland of more than a hundred miles.

He put the priest in the capable hands of his steward, then went straight to the bathhouse in the barracks, whistling his head off. The castle servants looked at him askance, keeping a wise silence. News of Tinas departure two days since had swept Castle Douglas like banefire, and they dreaded the explosion they feared might be strong enough to blow them all to kingdom come.

Ram was starved for a glimpse of her and went upstairs to seek her out. He was disappointed to find the large, master bedchamber empty and went out upon the high parapet walk to see if he could see her below. He had become so accustomed to returning home to her, it felt like a part of himself was missing when her golden eyes and flaming hair were nowhere to be seen.

He was about to go in search of her when his eye fell upon a note upon his pillow. A cold finger touched him, for suddenly, without reading it, he knew she was not there. As he unfolded the letter, he thought shed probably gone off for a visit to Castle Kennedy with her new sister-in-law Meggie, and a wave of disappointment swept over him When he began to read the letter, however, his feelings underwent a drastic change. He blinked in disbelief as his anger blurred the words upon the page, and he had to read it again to credit what she had written.

Douglas, its over, Ive gone. Please see that Ada and Mr.

Burque have safe return to Doon. She had signed the missive Flaming Tina Kennedy.

The little bitch! Just like thatno explanation, no nothing.

A filthy word dropped from his lips. Its over, he quoted.

By Christ, its over when I say its over, and not before!

She had had the audacity to sign it Flaming Tina Kennedy. Hed drag her back by her flaming hair, then tan her arse till she couldnt sit fer a week! If she set her will against his, hed show her who was master. She would learn to obey him if he had to put her under lock and key!

The logs were neatly stacked by the fireplace, and he aimed a vicious kick at them with the toe of his boot.

One hit the beautiful pink granite so sharply, a large chip flew off. Curse her! Curse her!

He flung open the chamber door, bellowing for Ada at the top of his lungs. He entered her room without knocking, and the little maid, Nell, screamed and hid herself in a wardrobe. Ram brandished the letter in Adas face. Where is she? When did she leave? Ill kill her! he ground out.

Adas face was pale, but her lips were firm and her voice steady as she confronted him. My Lord Douglas, it will avail you naught to browbeat me.

Browbeat ye? Ill flay ye alive! he growled, grabbing her shoulders most ungently.

I told her how angered you would be, but it was like waving a red flag at a bullit only made her more determined to leave.

Where is she? Tis obvious she didna go home tae Doon, or she wouldha taken ye with her. Has she gone to Donal?

I dont know where she is, lied Ada.

Rams hands tightened painfully upon her.

Lord Douglas, if you strike me dead upon the spot, it will not restore her to you.

Her cool reasoning penetrated his fury. He flung her from him. How long has she been gone? he demanded.

Two days, she said quietly.

Two days? He cursed, his gut knotting. The goddamned Frenchman will tell me where she is. Ill truss him on one of his bloody spits and roast him alive!

If she wouldnt tell me where she was going, you dont really believe shed confide in her chef, do you? she reasoned.

Why in the name of Christ didnt Colin mount a search when she hadnt returned by nightfall?

Likely because he has more intelligence than to interfere between you and one of your women, she dared to reply.

One of my women? Is that what ye think Tina is? he asked incredulously. Ive dragged the bloody priest here from Kirkcudbright tae wed us! he shouted.

Thats why she left, Ada explained.

The logic of it all eluded him. I must be thick in the bloody head. I dont get it.

She is Lady Valentina Kennedy Have you no notion of the enormity of the insult when you offered her only a hand-fasting rather than marriage? Added to that was the fact that Rob Kennedy had to pay you to take her A woman with her pride and spirit was bound to avenge such humiliation As her words hit home, he felt as if hed received a blow to the crotch.

This is her womans revenge, Ada explained.

Ram Douglas was in turmoil. He was unused to explaining himself to a woman He knew he could extract Tinas whereabouts from Ada, but at what cost?

If he behaved brutally to her servant, it would not advance him in her eyes, nor his own.

He went back to his own chamber and slammed the door in frustration He picked up a decanter of whisky and lifted it to his mouth, taking a long pull on the fiery liquor. The burning sensation in his gut gave him perverse pleasure, and he raised the decanter again At least he was certain of one thingshe hadnt gone running to Patrick Hamilton. Hed been at Bothwells Hermitage. A damned good thing too If she had hung a pair of horns on him, Hamilton would be a dead man Then hed kill her! Hed choke the bloody life out of her!

He took another swallow, then heaved the decanter against the stone wall of the chamber Christ! Hed never, ever told a woman he loved her before Never even let his guard down in the presence of a female Bitches every last one! It was possible she had gone to Court, but somehow he doubted it There was only one place she could have gone and that was Castle Kennedy Shed gone so that he would go chasing after her. Well, hed be in no hurry Hed get a good nights sleep. Hed stop for her on his voyage to Ayr with the ships he was taking to sell But hed be damned if hed marry her now. She was expecting him to run after her and beg her to wed him Well, she could whistle! Hed let the hand-fasting run its course before hed humble himself again by baring his heart to her. If the little vixen liked playing vindictive games, hed oblige her. He was very good at games.

Ram was so restless he prowled about the chamber like a caged animal. He absently ran his hand over the thick fur of the lynx pelt and fingered the finespun material of her nightgown. He lifted it to his face and absently rubbed it against his freshly shaven cheek. The fragrance that stole to him aroused him. He flung the thing from him and picked up the objects from the nighttable, carefully weighing them in his hand, then setting them down before he was tempted to pitch them across the room.

His eye fell upon a red paper flower, and he picked it up and began to crush the petals when he noticed the writing upon it: Haugh of Urr Suddenly he went ice cold. His heart froze within him. She had gone to the Gypsy. He knew a moment of madnessa blinding flash of fury that consumed him. In that instant his love turned to hate. With deliberate hands he removed his knife from its sheath, took a whetstone from the mantel, and honed its blade to a razor-sharp edge.

Heath and Valentina were fighting, something they had never done before. Their barbs flew hot and furious, deliberately wounding each other. Tis sheer male arrogance! You have been wintering in England for as long as I can remember, but now that I demand you take me with you, suddenly you decide youll winter in Edinburgh instead.

Are you deaf as well as stupid? he demanded. England is unsafe! Why the hell have you suddenly got a maggot in your brain to go to England?

I never thought you, of all people, were a sniveling coward! she taunted.

His eyes blazed. Me a coward? Tis you who are running away like a scared rabbit!

She let go of her anger and tried another tack. Oh Heath, dont you see? If Im in England, Im safe from him. Im even safe from the king who ordered this ridiculous blood-bond between Kennedy and Douglas.

What exactly do you mean, safe from him? You tell me he has never harmed you, and in fact his only crime is wanting to marry you. And he damned well ought to marry you after hand-fasting you! Youre blind, lasscant you see marriage to someone as strong as Douglas is the best thing that could happen to you?

You care nothing for me! You care only for your own damned neck.

He looked at her with exasperated tenderness. Dont ever question my love, tis unworthy of you, Tina.

She flung herself in his arms and sobbed against his shoulder. You dont know him, Heath. Somehow hell find out where I am, and hell stalk me relentlessly until his property is restored. He thinks he owns me! You must be able to understand the anathama of that. To a Gypsy, freedom is life itself! I must be free to decide my own fate. Hell come, hell come, she insisted.

He stroked her hair to soothe her. Im not afraid of Black Ram Douglas. Before dark descended he had the chance to prove his words.

Ramsay Douglas rode onto the flatland of the River Urr, where the Gypsies were camped. He did not come at a wild gallop, as his nickname Hotspur suggested; rather his speed was slow, sure, deliberate; his expression grim and implacable.

Tina was nowhere in sight, but he knew she was living with the Gypsies because Indigo was corralled with the other horses. Heath saw him come, watched him dismount and tether his horse. Heaths long, firm strides carried him toward Douglas, away from his caravan, where Tina was safe.

The two swarthy men confronted each other like dogs with hackles raised. The savage expression on the face of Black Ram Douglas would have daunted a less courageous man. Heath spoke first. Ye can depart in peace or depart in piecesthe choice is yours.

The challenge was too insulting for one as blood-proud as Douglas With a snarl that bared his teeth, he palmed his knife and lunged toward his rival. Heath did not underestimate himit wasnt their first encounter. Heath had drawn his knife by the time Ram launched himself through the air. The initial impact sent the two men sprawling in the dirt, locked in mortal combat. One look into Ramsays eyes had told Heath this would be a fight to the finish.

Douglas courted death this night. They smashed and battered each other with their left fists and jabbed and tore with their knifehands. The two were well matched, both young and at their physical peak. Both could endure a great deal of punishment without impairing their ability to destroy an enemy. Douglas wore a leather jack, Heath a sleeveless leather vest. Both garments were slashed open across the heart; both men were bleeding from superficial wounds.

With powerful arms locked, they rolled about the ground, scattering sqawking chickens and barking dogs and frightened, excited children. They rolled into a cooking fire, setting their long hair ablaze, then rolled away from the embers back into the dust, which smothered the flames effectively.

The screams of the children brought Tina to the doorway of Heaths caravan. The excited cries of, A fight! A fight! sent her heart into her throat. She picked up her skirts and ran as fast as she could past the caravans and cooking fires to where the dark silhouettes of the combatants rolled over and over in the shadows. Fear for Heath at the hands of Douglas filled her heart until she thought it might burst. She screamed at them to stop, but it was as if neither of them could even hear her. Because of her, one was going to kill the other. She should never have come, never made Heath vulnerable to the black hatred of Douglas!

She could see how well matched the two were as each inflicted damage yet avoided receiving a fatal knife thrust. She was crying now, begging them to stop, but they would not. The mens concentration upon each other was so intense, nothing else in the world existed for either of them. The thing that tipped the scales was Rams black, unadulterated hatred and jealousy for his rival. With one large boot clamped down upon Heaths thigh, his powerful hand clamped about Heaths throat, Ram raised his knife arm high in preparation for the death plunge.

Valentina, uncaring for the danger, recklessly threw herself between Heath and the knife. Heath is my brother! she sobbed hysterically. Rams knife was deflected toward his own midsection. It jammed against his belt buckle, and the blade snapped in half Ram sat back on his haunches staring down in horror at the girl he had almost impaled.

Her eyes had gone from golden to smoky amber in her distress, and he shook his head to clear his vision of the red mist of hatred that clung like cobwebs. Ram filled his lungs with air, and her words penetrated his brain Your brother? he repeated blankly.

Yes, yes, Heath is my brother, you uncivilized swine!

Ram Douglas wiped the sweat from his eyes. Youre Rob Kennedys bastard? he asked the Gypsy.

Heath nodded. Aye, Kennedy is my father. My mother died in childbirth. She was Old Megs daughter.

As they all got to their feet, Tina was the only one who hadnt gained a measure of control over her emotions.

She slapped Douglas across the face. You are a bigger bastard than Heath will ever be! You are a savage, brutal animal!