Marti Talbott's Highlander Series, Book 1

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In the Keep, Anna was healing and becoming more attractive by the minute. She often went outside for a walk and when she didn't seem to want company, Katie watched her from the window. Every once in a while, Anna would walk to the closed drawbridge, and then just stand there looking at it. Kevin wanted her kept inside, but saying no to Anna was the hardest thing Katie ever had to do. She decided if Anna looked like she was going to climb the wall, she would take her out and face her brother's ire later.

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Be sensible, Anna told herself. Kevin was trying to protect her, not imprison her. For days, no one had come or gone except small hunting parties and men hauling water from the moat. She reasoned, if she were imprisoned, so were the rest of them, and they didn't seem to mind. Kevin told her she could only go out when it was safe. Did that mean her father had gained an army somehow and was heading this way? Surely, someone would have told her if that were true. Then why was the bridge always up? Try as she might, she could not help but feel she was a prisoner again.

She decided to continue her walk before someone thought she was daft. How many times had she stood in front of her father's courtyard gate trying to will it to open so she could ride Threcher? The older she got the less often it opened.

She thought about planting flowers around the Keep. That was something else she wasn't allowed to do at home. In fact, there were no plants or flowers anywhere in the manor. She didn't know how to plant flowers and every time she asked someone in the hold to show her how to do something, they did it for her. It seemed like they wanted her to be utterly useless and it annoyed her.

She was suddenly standing there looking at the bridge again and Katie was right beside her. She didn't mean to sound angry, but she couldn't seem to help it. "What could be taking so long?"

"It has only been a few days."

"Thirteen miserable, frustrating days. I thought I could survive anything, but I am not so sure anymore. I am as worried about Kevin and the men, as I am about my mother and sister. Sometimes, I do not want to love your brother, it is too painful."

Katie smiled. "You might not feel that way once you discover all his faults."

"Such as?"

"Well, he snores when he is too tired."

"I will not be bothered. I do not intend to sleep in the same room."