Page 18

Chapter Seventeen – Colin

“Well?” Connor said as I finished reading the response to my offer of an alliance to MacLeod.

“It will be war,” I said, throwing the missive on my desk then slamming my fist against the wood.

Connor arched a brow. “Did that help?”

“Aye. Nae. Possibly?”

“Ye kenned MacLeod would likely nae agree to an alliance, despite yer having wed his daughter.”

I nodded. “Aye, I kenned it.”

Colin eyed the missive on my desk. “’Tis unlike ye to allow yer anger to overcome ye.”

It was. I stood and went to the window that overlooked the courtyard. Below, there was Freya practicing with the dagger as she had done dutifully since our first lesson two fortnights ago. My chest tightened oddly, as it had been doing more and more lately when I was looking at her. With a start, I realized my anger was for her. I knew her father had attacked our home, but once again he would trade his daughters for power. I was angry for her.

I turned slowly back to Connor. “I offered more than a simple alliance.”

“What?” Conor asked, sitting upright now. “What did ye offer.”

“I sent another raven a sennight ago and offered to send Vanora and Freya back to him if he would confess before the king that it was his men who had attacked Dunscaith, so that the king would end this war for Eilan Donnan and send troops to us to hold the castle.”

“I thought ye said ye would nae do that,” Connor sputtered. “Was that even wise to offer to send the lass back to him? Have ye gone soft? What if she had a vision that could aid him in defeating us?”

“I thought about it, and if MacLeod were to confess that he broke the treaty, and then go to war with the king, which he’d have to do as the king would then be backing us to hold Eilean Donnan, the other highland clans would turn against MacLeod. They’d nae want to court the wrath of the king. I saw I could send them back, and my marriage has nae yet been consummated, so…”

“Ye have gone soft.” He pointed at me. “She has made ye soft.”

“Nay. I simply did nae wish to be yet another man who used her.” And having her here, spending so much time with her, was feeling more like a curse than a gift. I wanted her. But I did not want to desire her. I feared soon I’d want other things—like her trust for more than a bedding. What of my vow to Magy then?

“I can nae believe ye offered to send them back without even speaking to me!” Connor bellowed.

Just then I saw a flash of bright red in the crack of the open solar door, and I cursed the ill timing. “I see ye, Freya, so ye might as well enter.”

Slowly the door creaked all the way open, and she stood, eyes wide, chest heaving, skin rosy and glowing and her hair in tumbling waves. A primitive desire to protect her from the truth rose up in me.

“Ye offered to send my sister and me home?” she asked.

“Aye, in exchange for a confession from yer da that it was his troops that attacked Dunscaith and broke the alliance.”

“My da can nae confess to what he did nae do,” she said, nibbling on her lip. I had no desire to have the same argument we’d been having, so I stood silently and waited for her to speak. “He will nae have peace?”

“Nay,” I said.

She frowned. “Did he say anything else?”

I watched her. She was wringing her hands in front of her. “He said he looked forward to giving me a slow, torturous death.”

She bit her lip so hard that she winced and released it. “If my da had captured yer sister, and he offered to release her for ye confessing to something ye did nae do, would ye confess?”

“Aye,” I said without hesitation. “There is nae anything I’d nae do to protect my sister.”

Her shoulders drooped, and she nodded. “War will come here.”

“Aye.”

“Many will die,” she whispered.

“Aye,” I agreed and the knowledge was a like rocks in my stomach.

“I would… I would offer a bargain to ye.”

I felt my eyebrows arch in surprise. “What sort of bargain?”

“Return my sister to my da, so she’ll nae be in danger during the attacks, and I will sleep with ye.”

Her words rendered me speechless. She backed up a pace so that her back was pressed against the door, and she wrapped her arms around her waist. A primitive desire to shield her from physical harm as well as harm to her feelings rose in me. I did not want to think about what it might mean. I couldn’t, so I shoved it down. I could feel Connor’s stare drilling into me. “I will return yer sister, but nae for the price of yer submitting to me when ye do nae truly want it.” No matter how much I needed the marriage consummated, I would not lay with Freya, knowing she had submitted for fear of her sister’s safety.

“What is yer price then?” she whispered.

“I will send yer sister home, and if she discovers the truth of the attacks on Dunscaith, she agrees to send us a raven, so that ye may ken ye can trust me. Is there a way she could do this?”

“Aye,” Freya said with a nod. “Our lady’s maid can sneak out a raven.”

“Do we have an agreement?”

She tried to press further against the door, but there was nowhere left to retreat. “Aye. Let us find Vanora and tell her the plan.”