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Jocelynn wanted to tell Isabell that Owain would never harm her.

She wanted to protest that she trusted Owain as much as she trusted her own father, but.

.. She’d thought that he wouldn’t harm Ashlynn either.

She’d thought that telling him about her mark would be enough for Owain to call things off.

She’d never thought that he would confront her sister directly, much less that he would murder her sister for being a witch.

Ever since then, she’d carried a small doubt in her mind that, one day, he might do the same to her.

That was part of why she’d worked so hard to please him, to help him gather the allies he needed and the accomplishments his father demanded so that he could keep his position as heir to the Lothian throne.

She’d worked hard to please him in other ways, capturing his eye and holding his attention, even teasing his body far more than a proper young noblewoman should.

Her face heated in a combination of embarrassment and deep shame as she thought of all the times she’d sat in his lap, feeling his manhood rising under her skirts while she gave Owain the very best plans she’d been able to form in her constant efforts to secure their future.

Most of the time, she was able to believe that he cared for her.

That he was coming to treasure her, maybe even more than he could have ever treasured Ashlynn.

But Confessor Eleanor had often reminded her that the time she’d spent with Lord Owain was only now catching up to the amount of time that Ashlynn had spent with him over the course of two years of infrequent visits while the Lothian lord had formally courted the Blackwell heiress.

"You know," Isabell said softly, pulling Jocelynn out of her spiraling thoughts. "Before Owain arrived in Blackwell City, I received a letter from your sister."

"What?!?" Jocelynn said, startled enough that she jumped up from her chair, knocking it over and nearly tripping over her skirts in the process.

"When? How?" she asked, gripping the edge of the table for balance like it was the only source of stability in a world that pitched beneath her feet like a ship at sea.

"She must have sent it shortly after she arrived in Lothian March," Isabell lied, bending the truth ever so slightly. She knew that the letter had been sent after she escaped from Owain Lothian but if she revealed that, she would have to reveal too much more, and she wasn’t certain how much Jocelynn knew about Owain’s attempt to murder her sister.

"She told me, and these are her words exactly, ’my husband-to-be isn’t to be trusted around women, and neither are his knights. ’"

"After that," Isabell added, choosing her words with great care.

Confessor Eleanor asked her to share the truth, but some truths felt too dangerous to share carelessly, no matter how much she wanted to wrap the distraught young lady in her arms and give her the love that a caring mother should.

"She said that she expected that I would encounter Lord Owain sooner or later, and when I did, she asked that I watch over you.

Your sister loves you very much, you know. "

"A letter?" Jocelynn said, her voice suddenly tight. She straightened her shoulders, a flash of defensiveness crossing her face. "Ash would have told me if she really had concerns. She, she shared everything with me."

Her fingers trembled as she smoothed her skirts, clinging to this image of her older sister like a lifeline.

The older sister who taught her how to sneak out of Blackwell Manor, who showed her where the cooks stashed extra pastries and other treats that they could take for snacks on their adventures.

The older sister who had shared everything with her, no matter how silly her younger sister’s questions were.

That sister wouldn’t have held back fears about Owain.

.. not when her wedding to the Lothian Lord was so important to their entire family. Would she?

"Perhaps you misunderstood her meaning, or..." Jocelynn started to say but the words died on her lips as the inescapable truth pressed down on her. Of course, Isabell hadn’t misunderstood. If her sister was the smartest person she’d ever known, then Master Isabell was surely the second.

The two had shared so many moments discussing Ashlynn’s ever-growing collection of books or the things that Master Isabell had learned at the universities across the sea that it was impossible that the engineer would misunderstand her sister’s meaning.

And if what Master Isabell said was true then... then...

Jocelynn’s face drained of color, leaving her lips bloodless and pale. A cold sweat broke out across her forehead as her breathing became shallow and quick. The room seemed to tilt around her, and a rushing sound filled her ears, drowning out everything but Isabell’s words echoing in her mind.

-THUMP-

Jocelynn’s knees buckled, slamming into the ground as she collapsed under the weight of Isabell’s words.

Her sister had tried to send a warning? No, not a warning, or at least not one that was meant to reach Jocelynn’s ears.

Ashlynn had meant to arrange protection for her in Blackwell City during Owian’s visit and.

.. and perhaps after that as well. And she’d done it because. ..

A soft sob escaped Jocelynn’s lips as she realized why Ashlynn would send such a warning.

Her sister was always perceptive. She’d spent hours watching their father hold court and even though she was rarely allowed to speak during the proceedings, she’d seen every sort of person who came before the Count with grievances.

She’d seen men who had been wronged, men who told lies with smiles on their faces.

.. and men who had committed horrific crimes and unspeakable acts of violence over things as petty as the loss of a prized bull or the favor of a maiden.

Ashlynn knew people better than someone as homebound as her should, so when it came to Owain, Ashlynn had surely noticed his pride.

.. and his temper. Even though their time together was limited to a few extended visits, they’d also exchanged countless letters for two whole years.

Ashlynn must have had plenty of time to come to an understanding of Owain’s strengths. .. and his flaws.

"She knew," Jocelynn said softly as Isabell knelt beside her, taking the young lady in her arms without regard for the difference in their stations.

"She knew how dangerous it was to marry him and she, she did it anyway.

Sweet Lord of Light, she knew," Jocelynn sobbed.

"But she never said anything to me.... Or to Mother and Father. She knew..."

"Your sister has always wanted to find ways to help your family," Isabell said gently as she stroked the young woman’s back.

"She told me once that she never expected to marry anyone, but that she would happily marry Lord Owain and move so far away from the sea because it was a way that she could finally give back to the family that had given her so much. "

"I think your sister felt deeply burdened by something," Isabell said, thinking of the way Ashlynn would occasionally grow quiet during their conversations. At the time, Isabell had believed the rumors that Ashlynn had a frail constitution and that the things she couldn’t do stemmed from an inability to exert herself, but over the years, that explanation had made less and less sense to her engineer’s mind.

"I think Lady Ashlynn felt guilty for needing your family to do so much to care for her," Isabell said carefully. "So she was willing to do anything to repay that feeling. Especially if it meant that you didn’t have to take up a burden in her place."

"She did, she did. All that," Jocelynn said through powerful sobs that shook her body. "She, she asked you. Asked you to protect. Me. And I. I... It’s my fault," she said, raising her head to look at Isabell with seafoam eyes that overflowed with tears. "It’s. It’s all my fault."

"Hush now," Isabell said, gathering Jocelynn into her arms. "Anything that happened, it is the fault of the people who did it," she said softly. "You don’t need to carry the blame for things you didn’t do."

"No, no, you don’t understand," Jocelynn insisted, staring at Isabell with red, puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "It’s my fault. I’m the one who told Owain about Ash’s mark. I’m the one who told him that she was a witch!"