The Love Slave

The Love Slave Read Free

Book: The Love Slave Read Free
Author: Bertrice Small
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presence of a priest. They could have said anything and Sorcha would have known no different for she could neither read nor write. The priest told her that Gruoch would be Ian Ferguson’s wife as soon as her womanly flow began. Regan would then go to a convent on the west coast of Scotland to devote her life to God. The matter settled, the MacFhearghuis dismissed the cleric and raped the widow MacDuff, keeping her locked with him in her bedchamber for three days while he had his way with her. Nine months later she birthed him a son.
    In the years that followed, Alasdair Ferguson visited his leman on a regular basis, as her growing family attested to, but he would not marry her, nor would she have had him if he had asked. Three times Sorcha MacDuff had gone in secret to theold witch woman in the glen, paid an exorbitant fee, drunk a disgusting potion, and aborted her violator’s offspring. When he learned of her deeds, he had sought out the witch, hung her from a tree, burned her cottage, then returned to Ben MacDui and beaten Sorcha MacDuff so badly she’d been unable to arise from her bed for a week. After that she bore his bastards without complaint, but she could not love them.
They were Fergusons
.
    Outside, she heard the blare of a hunting horn, and then the hall door burst open to admit Alasdair Ferguson in the company of his two eldest sons, Ian and Cellach. Sorcha MacDuff arose slowly. Her time was quite near. “My lord,” she greeted him quietly, signaling the servants to bring food for the men.
    “I’ve brought a stag,” Alasdair Ferguson said by way of greeting, and kissing her mouth in a show of proprietorship, he seated himself at the board.
    The servants scurried to bring him wine, bread, and meat. They knew he was not a patient man.
    Ian and Cellach Ferguson seated themselves next to their father and began to stuff their handsome faces. They had not bothered to greet Sorcha MacDuff. Reaching out, Alasdair cuffed the nearest of the pair.
    “Hae ye the decency to greet the lady Sorcha properly before you eat her food, ye pair of uncouth cubs,” Alasdair growled at them. “ ’Tis her home yer in and her table at which ye sit.”
    “ ’Tis Ferguson property,” Cellach said surlily, rubbing the spot where his father’s hand had made contact with his skull.
    With a roar, the MacFhearghuis leapt to his feet and knocked his second son onto the floor. “ ’Tis Ferguson land because I made it so,” he said, “but before it was Ferguson land it was MacDuff land, and Ferguson or MacDuff, it is this lady’s home. Ye’ll mind yer manners in her presence whether I’m here or nae.” He gave the young man a kick. “Get up, and go eat in the stables where ye belong.”
    Cellach scrambled to his feet. “I dinna know why ye dinna gie me Gruoch to wife instead of Ian. Then I would hae had my own lands,” he said.
    “Aye,” his father rejoined, “and ye’d be looking to
my
lands, ye would, ye greedy little beggar!” He aimed another blow at the boy, who this time skillfully ducked it, running out of the hall. Then he turned to his eldest, but Ian was quickly on his feet, bowing to Sorcha MacDuff and thanking her for her hospitality.
    Reseating himself, Ian said, “And how are the bairns, lady? They all appear to look well. My sister Sine grows prettier every day, I’m thinking. ’Tis nice to hae a sweet wee sister.” He took up a joint of meat and bit into it.
    “Yer father’s bastards seem to thrive,” Sorcha MacDuff answered him pleasantly. “All my bairns do, thanks be to God.”
    “About my lass,” Alasdair Ferguson said, “I want to take her back home wi’ me. I’ve nae a woman in the house but the servants. Sine’s a Ferguson, my only daughter. ’Tis time she took her place. There’s nae shame to any of our bairns for I’ve acknowledged them all.”
    “Take her, then,” Sorcha MacDuff said. “Take all yer other bastards too, my lord They’re nothing to me. I’ve my

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