“Ye will not eat?” he asked.
“Every place is taken.”
A brow lifted, as he knew what a pitiful excuse that was. “Did ye have a pleasant visit with Godfrey this morning?”
“Are you spying upon me?” she asked immediately. The moment she spoke she regretted it.
“Should I spy on ye, Alana? Have ye changed yer loyalties, again?”
Her fists clenched. “I thought I had proven myself at Slioch!”
“Ye did—fer a time. But yer a Comyn and yer a witch. Sit down.”
It was a command, and the man next to Iain leaped up, glancing uncertainly at her as he did before hurrying away.
“He fears ye,” Iain said with some surprise.
Alana slid onto the bench. Iain handed her his mug of wine, signaling Meg for another one. Alana gulped half of it down. “I told you yesterday. Men do not desire me—they fear me.”
Iain’s gaze narrowed. “If ye only have the sight, why would they fear ye?”
She faced him entirely, her temper rising. “For the same reason that you do not trust me—because they assume I have other powers!”
He stared at her for a moment, then sipped his wine. “What did Godfrey have to say?”
“Angus was there—did he not tell you what we spoke of?”
“He said Godfrey was in tears. He said ye cried, as well, and there was fighting and shouting.”
“I betrayed our friendship. But you know that. Godfrey is angry with me. I do not blame him.”
Iain studied her. “Ye still care for him.”
“I have lost a friend, but yes, I do.” She recovered some of her composure. “Will you send a ransom note, soon? I do not think it right that he is imprisoned because of me.”
“I will send a ransom note by the end of the week. Of course, when I am gone, ye could free him.”
“Is this a trap? He is your prisoner of war.”
Iain swirled his wine, then looked right into her eyes. “Yer mistress here, and when I am gone, ye will answer to no one.”
She flushed, looking back at him, thinking of his behavior toward her last night. She had awoken feeling like a common castle maid. She thought about what he had just said. She had not even considered freeing Godfrey when Iain left. “I do not feel as if I am the mistress of Brodie.”
“Bruce gave ye Brodie in return fer yer fealty, after ye served him well. No one can change that—except fer the king. Ye’d have to commit treason, Alana.”
She stared down at her wine. She could not lose Brodie now, not when it was all she had and it had only so recently been given to her. “I will not betray Robert Bruce.”
“That is good to hear,” he said.
“And when do you plan to leave?”
“In a month or so—after I make fortifications to the south wall. Are ye anxious fer me to go?”
Did she want him to leave? His being at Brodie now, with so much tension between them, was so painful. “I don’t know.” What she wanted to say was that she wanted their love back.
His stare was hard. “Ye have avoided me this entire day.”
She started, unable to look away. She thought about the previous night and said, slowly, “Yes.”
