Her hands tightened around the cup. "There's nae much tae tell."
"Isnae there?”
The question pierced something tender inside her. She shouldn't answer. Shouldn't reveal the one thing that could be used against her.
But looking at him, seeing genuine interest rather than calculation in his eyes, the words spilled out before she could stop them.
Her voice softened at the thought of Nessa. "Me sister's fourteen. Sweet, trustin’. Too innocent fer the world we live in." She paused, her fingers working themselves on her lap. "When our maither died, Nessa didnae understand why Mama wouldnae wake up, why she'd stopped smilin' at us."
Liliane's throat tightened. "I had tae explain that the fever took her, but that wasnae the whole truth. Mama had been sufferin’ fer years until her body just... gave up."
She glanced up at Tòrr, not sure what to make of the sympathy she saw in his yes, before looking down at her hands.
"Even before our Ma passed, I had become everythin' tae Nessa. Maither, sister, protector. I taught her tae read, showed her which herbs could soothe a headache, held her when she had nightmares."
"Ye care fer her deeply."
"She's all I have left that matters." The admission cost her, but she couldn't take it back now. "Our maither died when Nessa was little. Since then, I've been... I've tried tae be everythin’ she needs."
"Before the auction, Munro threatened tae send Nessa in me place if I refused tae comply. That's why I agreed tae be sold, tae protect me sister." She continued.
Tòrr was quiet for a long moment, something hard and unreadable flickering across his face.
"I understand that burden."
"Dae ye?"
"Aye.”
She stared at him, seeing him clearly for the first time, not as the laird who'd bought her, but as a man who understood the weight she carried.
"Did ye try tae refuse?" Tòrr leaned back in his chair, as he asked quietly. "The auction."
Liliane's laugh was bitter. "Of course! Ye think I didnae tried?" She wrapped her arms around herself. "I told me faither I wouldnae dae it. That he could beat me, lock me away, but I wouldnae stand on that platform tae be sold like cattle."
"What did he say?"
Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "He said if I didnae comply, Nessa would take me place."
Tòrr went very still.
"She's fourteen, Tòrr. Fourteen." Liliane's eyes glistened. "He dragged her intae his solar, made her stand there while he told me exactly what would happen. How he'd dress her up, parade her before those men, sell her tae the highest bidder. And she—" Her voice cracked. "She looked at me with those trusting eyes and said she'd dae it if it meant I could stay safe."
"Christ. The bastard. I could kill him right now."
"Believe me, I’ve wanted tae dae that so many times. But aye, that’s why I agreed. What choice did I have?" She turned awayfrom him. "I've spent ten years protectin' me sister from him, from his rages, from everythin'. I wasnae about tae fail her then."
Tòrr moved closer, his hand hovering near her shoulder but not quite touching. "Ye didnae fail her, Liliane."
"Didnae I? She's still there, under his roof, while I'm here." Her shoulders shook. "And now that his plans with me have failed, what's tae stop him from?—"
"I willnae let that happen."
She whirled to face him. "Ye cannae promise that."
"I can." His voice was steel. "And I will."
Their eyes met and held, before she nodded, letting out a loud sigh. "It's exhaustin', isnae it?" she whispered. "Always being strong. Never allowin' yerself tae break."
