Highland Lover Read Online Free PDF Page A

but lacking the touch and
    strong instincts Keira had been blessed with. Keira had the sight. Alana only had a bond with her
    twin that occasionally stirred dreams and strong intuitions. Although neither of them had a bad
    temper, Keira was the gentler one, the sweeter one. Alana knew her tongue could be as sharp as a
    knife’s edge. Although she knew it was nonsense, knew she was as beloved by her family as Keira
    was, Alana occasionally felt that, as the second born, she had entered the world in Keira’s shadow
    and had never left it. She sighed, dismayed by her own foolishness.
    “That was a mournful sound, lass,” Gregor said. “Are ye sure ye arenae troubled?”
    “Nay, I am just thinking on how long we must wait until we may try to escape,” she lied,
    embarrassed by her thoughts.
    Gregor did not need to see clearly to know he was being lied to, but he did not press her. “Weel,
    what say ye to a game of chess to pass the time?” he asked, leaning back against the wall and
    tugging her along with him.
    “Aye, I am prepared to beat ye soundly yet again,” she said. “Ye may make the first move.”
    “How gracious ye are,” he drawled, suspecting her confidence was warranted, as he had not won a
    game yet.
    He closed his eyes, pictured his much-prized chess set in his mind, and struggled to decide upon his
    first move. If he was very lucky, he might take longer to lose this time. His victory could then be
    found in keeping them both well occupied during the too-long wait ahead of them.

    Alana lay sprawled on top of a cursing Gregor and struggled to catch her breath. It was obviously
    going to take them a while to learn the trick to it all, to gain the strength and balance to act as one while she stood upon Gregor’s shoulders. Her only consolation was that he was not any better at it
    than she was. He could hold her up well when she stood still, but the moment she attempted to
    move the heavy iron grate, he lost that control. The first three times she fell he had caught her easily enough. This time, however, even that had gone wrong.
    “I think four times is enough for tonight,” Gregor said, trying to will away the pain in his head,
    which had hit the hard ground with enough force to bring him perilously close to unconsciousness.
    “I concur,” Alana replied in a voice still hoarse and unsteady after having all the breath knocked out of her. “Mayhap on the morrow, betwixt meals, we should practice moving about whilst I am on
    your shoulders.”
    “Might be wise.”
    Forcing herself to move off him, Alana sprawled at his side. “We need to learn to move as one—
    one verra tall person.”
    Gregor briefly laughed. “Aye. Holding ye up there isnae so hard. Standing as steady as the floor
    whilst ye struggle to move that cursed grate will require some practice. Do ye think ye can move it
    aside?”
    “Aye. ’Tis heavy, true enough, but I can do it. I must needs figure out how to push it aside without
    toppling us is all. There is a trick to it, I am certain of it.”
    “Fine, then. On the morrow we will practice moving with ye on my shoulders and ye can try to
    puzzle out what that trick is.”
    “And then, after we sup, we try again?”
    “Aye. And the next night, and the next, until we get it right.”
    “Oh joy.”
    Chapter 3
    “I can almost hear it laughing at me.”
    “’Tis a lump of iron, Alana,” said Gregor. “It cannae laugh.”
    “’Tis a lump of iron that has defeated me for three nights. ’Tis laughing.”
    Gregor almost laughed and then winced as Alana touched one of the many bruises he had acquired
    as she got onto his shoulders. He knew she also suffered from their many stumbles in their efforts to escape, but she was stubborn. In truth, Gregor had the distinct feeling that each failure only made
    her more determined. He was the one who put a stop to their efforts after several tries each night, if only out of fear that one of them could be seriously hurt if they did not