She had taken sides in this war now.
“So yer awake.”
Alana almost jumped out of her skin, not having heard Iain approach from the back side of the tent. She smiled, but nervously. Would they discuss what she had done? Would they speak of her having asked for him in marriage? Would they discuss his eventual marriage to someone else?
His gaze moved slowly over her. “Ye slept well,” he said. “After we finished lovemaking, ye did not move once the entire night.”
She blushed. “I do not think I have ever slept as deeply.” She hesitated. “Are you angry with me?”
“Why would I be angry?” He touched her cheek and winked, lewdly. “Ye ken I am very pleased today.”
She blushed again. “You know that is not what I meant.”
“I am not angry, Alana.”
She did not know if she truly wished to raise the subject of their relationship—and future—now.
“And ye? Are ye pleased? When we take Brodie, ye will be her mistress again.”
“I am pleased,” she answered. “When will we take Brodie, Iain?”
“Ye lust for power as much as I do.”
She did not smile back. “No. I lust for my own power, and for what is mine, by birthright.”
“Yer father is a fool, to be led by the nose by his wife, to have abandoned ye. He could have three fine daughters. Instead, he has two.”
She started, hurt by his words, because they were the painful truth. “He is weak, Iain.”
“’Tis the same to me.” He shrugged. Then, “Bruce is moving his army to the west tomorrow. I am taking my men east.”
“To Brodie?”
“Aye, Alana, to Brodie.”
She found it hard to breathe. “I must come with you. Iain, Godfrey is in command, he is my friend.... Surely I can convince him to surrender to you.”
“He will hardly think to surrender, if he learns ye have betrayed his father and Buchan, and that in surrendering, Brodie will become yers.”
Alana was aghast. “Surely you are not planning on leaving me here, while you go back to Brodie!”
“War is no place for a woman, even one as bold as ye. I will send ye into the care of my brother, on Islay. Ye will go tomorrow. And I will march for Brodie at dawn. I hope to attack Brodie before anyone ever learns of yer treachery.”
Alana was shocked. “I am not going to your brother, and I am not going to Islay! I have to come with you. I cannot allow you to attack and destroy my home!”
“Brodie has no defenses. I can take the castle easily enough. And Alana—ye have no power to allow me anything.”
She flinched. “Of course I have no authority to tell you what to do, and what not to do. I can help, Iain. I can persuade Godfrey to surrender without a fight. Why destroy Brodie if you do not have to?”
“Alana. I need to know about Godfrey—and Lady Fitzhugh.”
Alana froze. Her grandmother was at Brodie—and she could be held hostage and used against them.
“Would yer friend, Godfrey, hurt yer grandmother?” Iain asked harshly. “He is Duncan’s son.”
Alana seized his arm to remain standing. “No. Godfrey would not hurt her.”
“Then why are ye as white as a corpse?”
