"She's alive." Cailean's voice was low and gruff. "Our intelligence was correct; Ashkirk has named her Lady O'Sullivan and gifted her yer father's lands. But we all ken that the False King's magnanimity always comes with a cost."
"She's been taken to Blackthorn Castle as a ward of the king," Eoin explained softly. He reached out and took Breana's hand. "It seems he's… found her a husband. To take the burden of ruling from her womanly shoulders, so the word he's spreading says. A kindness, even despite her father's betrayal of the throne."
"A husband!" Maeve exclaimed. "Well, there we have it, then. All Nessa ever dreamed of was a husband approved by me father and the king. It isnae ideal, but it may work in our favor. If we can manipulate the situation, we could even have her wed tae a clan that's already on our side, or one we think we can turn. This doesnae need tae be a disaster."
Neala narrowed her eyes, studying Eoin's and Cailean's faces. "Nay. There's more."
Cailean nodded, his expression grim. "Ye misunderstand, love," he said. "She isalreadybetrothed. The king has already selected a man for her who will ultimately help him gain more power. Yer sister is betrothed tae be wed tae his own son, Ansel. The very man I let go free."
The shock doused Neala like a bucket of ice water, and her veins froze, her pulse feeling like it had almost stopped.
"To Ansel?" she whispered.
And then all hell broke loose.
Chapter Three
Everyone started talking at once,a cacophony of sounds that made it hard to pick out individual voices. Breana's face drained of all color, and she stood up to grab the letter from Cailean's hands. He gave it to her and she quickly read it, and then stumbled backward into Eoin's waiting arms.
"Nay, this cannae be happenin'," she gasped, her words strained, panic pulsing through each word. "It cannae! This is me fault, I did this. I should have agreed tae go and rescue her when we had the chance. Eoin!"
"Bastard. Bastard!" Eoin growled. "As if ye havenae suffered enough. Damn the king and damn his son too."
But it was Maeve who transformed the most in an instant. Maeve, whom Neala had so far noted as one of the calmest and most put-together people she had ever met, was wild-eyed and frenzied as she jumped to her feet and paced back and forth. "This cannae be happenin'. It cannae. I dinnae care how foul Nessa has been, we cannae leave her in the hands of that monster. I'm goin' tae Blackthorn Castle. Now."
Despite herself, Neala bristled. It felt wrong to hear Maeve say those words when the last thing Ansel had done for them was an undeniable act of kindness in letting Neala go.
Even Cailean looked alarmed at Maeve's reaction. He put a placating hand on her arm. "Me love," he said, "Be reasonable. Did ye nae counsel me tae be cautious in the exact same situation just days ago?"
"Reasonable!" Maeve snapped. "Neala was never in danger! She's a trained White Sparrow, and she was here as a spy. She was never in danger of being bound tae that devil for the rest of her life. Nessa is an untrained daughter of a Laird who pampered her for her whole life. Ansel Ashkirk willdevourher."
Cailean grimaced. He did not look like he disagreed, but he was obviously trying to calm the sisters down. "He let Neala go. Ye told me that yerself. Argued with me about it even."
"Aye," Eoin said darkly. "And sometimes I'll let a fish go from me net when I fish down by the river. It doesnae mean I'll spear a hundred more."
Maeve nodded frenetically. "We dinnae ken why Ashkirk let Neala come tae us. Given what we ken of him, it may be part of a wider plan. Perhaps it was even at his father's command. But what Idoken is that wecannaeleave Nessa in his claws."
Cailean turned his gaze to Neala, and she saw a beseeching tone behind that look. Cailean, too, agreed that this was terrible, but he also needed to get control of the situation. "What say ye, sister?" he asked. "Ye're the most acquainted with the man."
"I say we approach yer council," Neala said, trying to remain calm while her heart was threatening to choke her. "And see what they have tae say. If we're gonnae act, we need tae have input from everyone."
Cailean squeezed Maeve's shoulder. "She's right. We need tae consult the others. We're already missin' Darren and Fergus, and Kier is back at Bruce Castle. We cannae go runnin' off without informin' them."
Maeve's expression was thunderous, but she nodded. "Let's go, then. Now."
The council room was bare, stripped of the portraits left by the occupiers but not yet redecorated by the newly-reinstated McNairs. Nevertheless, the core members of the rebellion who were present in McNair Castle sat around the table as Cailean explained the situation to them.
Neala stood next to Ewan and Hamish, the two men who had once been under her father's employ and had come to be leaders of the rebellion. She felt a great deal of affection toward the pair of them, and she enjoyed the way that they fussed over her. They'd given her identical huge smiles when they saw her walk into the room, but those smiles had faded as Cailean had described the letter, and both men now looked deadly serious.
Senan was here too, the man who had helped raise and train Cailean and who had rescued Maeve and taught her to fight. He was watching the whole situation with a keen eye, his expression impassive. Neala hadn't met him before she had come to McNair Castle, though she knew that he had once been a close friend of Morag's, and still exchanged frequent coded letters with the White Sparrow leaders.
Finally, in place of Kier, Darren, and Fergus, Ferda had invited herself as a representative of the Bruce Clan. Nobody even tried to argue with her. She had more than proven herself an essential player in the rebellion despite the fact that she was not a warrior, and even now, her arm still in a sling, she looked fierce.
"...so it seems that Nessa O'Sullivan is tae be wed tae Ansel Ashkirk within the next few weeks," Cailean concluded. "And since me wife and sister-in-law rightfully believe we cannaestand back and allow such a thing tae happen, we must decide what tae do about it."
Maeve immediately started insisting once again that they march on Blackthorn Castle immediately, but Ewan spoke up.
"Forgive me, Maeve, but that isnae gonnae work," he said. "We already discussed this when we found out about Morag and Anne, and again when Cailean wanted tae rescue Neala. We're simply nae ready for an all-out attack."
