Chapter 294

"Stop this at once!" Joanna shouted with a deep, furious voice. Her mother would've been proud of the way the towering Scots all stopped and stared at her.

"Well now, there's the lassie! Saved me the trouble of going in there after you." Ewan laughed, the sound cold and cutting. A flicker of apprehension coursed through her as she stared him down. "Get her."

Two men took a step forward. Joanna had to work fast. "I have no intention of running, so you can stay right where you are."

The men stopped and looked at Ewan, uncertain. Ewan sized Joanna up and nodded for the men to step back. "You have courage, lass. I'll give you that."

"And you have a code of honor, do you not?"

Ewan glanced at his men before he met her gaze. "Aye. What of it?"

"I should like to challenge that honor."

Ewan threw his head back and laughed. "You?"

"Yes, me." Joanna had not been raised to be a cowering fool, no matter how much she quaked with fear on the inside.