“No. I did not seduce you. You thought to punish me, I think, by taking me as if I were some harlot—and not the woman you love.”
“I did not take ye aside to discuss last night!”
She inhaled, shocked and taken aback.
He flushed.
A terrible silence fell. She finally said, “I know you are very angry—that you feel betrayed. But my only betrayal was to avoid telling you about my father, because I was falling in love with you. I am not a spy.” She hesitated. “One day, you will believe me.” She thought of her sister Alice. “I only hope that when that day comes, it is not too late.”
For a moment, he was silent, his gaze unwavering. “We must speak of Brodie, Alana.”
She wet her lips. “Why do you ask about Brodie’s defenses?”
“One day I will command Nairn. Brodie will be significant to me, then.”
“How?” she cried. “It is a tiny place!”
“I will provision it well, and use it as my first line of defense for Nairn,” he said.
She instantly understood his strategy, which did not bode well for her home. “Brodie ismyhome. It belonged to mymother.By right, it should be mine—not Duncan’s, not his son’s.”
“Is that a warning?”
“Will you attack Brodie?”
“I am asking the questions, Alana. How many men does Duncan keep there?”
She hugged herself. He coveted Brodie now. She imagined Alice as his wife, as the mistress of Brodie. She could not bear to think of Alice in her home. “I cannot say, because I do not know.”
“Ye do not know, or ye do not wish to tell me?” he asked skeptically. “Ye spy for us now, Alana. Ye must tell me everything ye can about Brodie’s defenses.”
“Iain, do not make me do this! Brodie is my home! Surely you can understand that. And we are lovers, still.”
“I dinna know what we are, Alana.” He tugged on her mare’s reins, leading it forward and looping the reins about the saddle. Their interview was over. He wished for her to mount.
She stared at him as he held her horse, her vision blurred. Impatiently, he turned and looked at her.
“What will you do when you find out that I am not a spy? That my only sin was that of fear?”
His eyes widened.
“Will you still hate me?” she asked.
He breathed hard. “I dinna hate ye, Alana. But I dinna trust ye.”
She was so dismayed. She lifted her skirts out of the snow and walked over to him. He took her by the waist and lifted her effortlessly onto the mare. Alana picked up her reins.
“Make certain ye have the answers I seek in two days. Send Ranald to the woods here at noon.”
She would never tell him the precise nature of Brodie’s defenses, she thought. He would have to discover that himself. “Even though I am Sir Alexander’s daughter, I love you, Iain.” She nudged the mare with her heels, to go over to Ranald and out of the forest. Brodie sat atop the adjacent hill. “God keep you, Iain. God keep you safe in this war. I could not bear it if anything happened to you.”
“Wait.” He stepped up to her and seized the mare’s bridle. His gaze wasn’t angry now; it was searching. “I will always care that yer a Comyn,” he said harshly. “Always. For even if ye truly love me, ye will care for yer family and it will always strain yer loyalty.”
She gasped for breath. “What are you saying?”
He stared deeply into her eyes, as he had not done since learning her identity. He finally said, “If ye did not come to me at Concarn to spy, if ye came because ye truly love me, then mayhap I could forgive yer deception.”
Iain released her bridle. “Go.” He hit her mare on the rump.
