“I’m sorry I didnae make him suffer more,” Caden said darkly.
A shadow had flashed across his face that she had never seen before. She almost did not recognize him.
Sure, he was threatening and brooding, but this was different. A side to him she did not understand.
“He should have begged me for mercy,” Caden growled.
Ava gasped, then clamped her mouth shut. This was not the man she had come to know and respect.
“Caden…” she trailed off, pulling the blanket up to her chin.
“He seduced and killed me sister, Ava. He almost killedye.” He clenched his fists and shook his head.
They fell silent for a long moment.
Ava just wanted him to keep talking, so she could figure out how to fix whatever was wrong. She tried a different means of getting him to open up.
“At least now ye ken that it wasnae Joanna who set the castle on fire that day.” Ava tried to soften his mood with what she saw as a blessing.
Caden shook his head, as if he was not listening, or at least, he did not agree with her. She pressed on.
“Now ye ken that she loved Nathan and didnae try to kill herself in despair. It wasnae love that ruined her,” she pressed. “It was Kilmartin’s hunger for revenge.”
“Aye. Nay, maybe she had nae lost her mind enough take her own life, or her child’s, but caring did drive her mad. She begged Kilmartin to marry her, she ruined her life. Caring did kill her, in a way,” Caden sighed and turned toward the basin, tossing the rag into it. “I almost lost ye because I cared. And Nathan.” He clenched his fists, and chewed at the side of his cheek.
This was not like her husband. At all.
“I daenae understand. Ye saved us because ye cared, did ye nae?” Ava tried to sit up, but the pain in her shoulder kept her down.
“I was distracted, Ava.” Caden shook his head in shame and started pacing.
“What distracted ye?” she asked, more confused than ever. “I thought we had a lovely time.”
“We did, and that’s the problem I was having a good time when I shouldnae have been.” His pacing made her anxious. “I missed the signs of an attack. Nay one would have snuck up on us if I had been focused. If I did me duty…” He stopped and looked her square in the eye. A deep breath lifted his shoulders. “None of this would have happened if I didnae care.”
Her chest tightened. Confusion and exhaustion fogged her mind. She pushed herself to the edge of the bed to clear her head, which only pounded harder.
“Oh… I…” She swallowed. She only had so much fight in her.
She braced herself before putting it all on the line.
“I thought that after today’s revelations, we might be able to start over… spend more time together… and maybe?—”
“Nay.” Caden’s tone was final. “I almost lost ye because I wasnae careful. Because I cared about ye when I shouldnae have. I willnae risk that again.”
That was it then. His walls were back up, and she was sure this time she could not reach him.
“Ye saved us because ye cared.” She repeated slowly as she furrowed her brow.
He was not making any sense. Why was he not fighting for her?
“I daenae understand ye.”
Caden’s face hardened. “I’m a very simple man, lass. Me duty to me family and me clan comes above all.”
Ava felt like she had been slapped across the face.
The room fell quiet for several minutes, before she bravely asked, “And yer duty to yer wife?”
