“--ye open a window,” Torcall completed.
“And when the windows are closed to ye?”
“Ye tear open the roof,” Torcall completed.
“And when the roof is sealed from ye?”
“Ye dig open the ground.”
“And if all fails?”
“Ye face yer attacker like a raging cornered bull, for ye are a warrior.”
Dirk nodded and said no more. There was nothing more to be said.
Rannoch came back into the room moments later with his mother. She had composed herself but was still teary. A jailer was behind them.
“Yer time is almost up,” he informed them, and so, they began their goodbyes.
“Ye will be safe?” his aunt asked just before they left?”
“Aye,” Torcall grinned. “Just as I cannae go out, naught can come in.”
His aunt smiled beside herself and painfully exited. The last person to leave was Dirk. He didn’t have more words. Instead, his eyes held one command—remember.
Torcall nodded to himself, and once he was alone, he began to muse.
“When the doors are closed to me, I open a window. And when the windows are closed to me? I tear open the roof. And when the roof is sealed from me? I dig open the ground. And if all fails? I face me attacker like a raging cornered bull, for I am a warrior.”
Had he given up too easily?
* * *
Ceana was sure that she hadn’t heard them well. She wasn’t sure. She was positive. She looked from her mother to her sister and then to her father.
“I am sorry,” she said. “I didnae hear ye.”
“Yer da and I have gotten ye betrothed.”
Ceana looked at both her parents as though they had gotten two heads. Then she fixed on Alina, a look of betrayal and disappointment.
“Ye knew about this?”
Alina looked away, unable to say a word.
“Oh, come on, Alina. Ye must be able to tell yer sister when somethin’ is for her good. Scott is a nice man. Ye will like him.”
“I will nae marry him,” she whispered. “Ye cannae make me.”
They couldn’t make her. They wouldn’t force her.
“Ye do nae have a choice in this matter, dear lass,” her mother said. “I will do anythin’ to protect ye and save ye from anyone. Even from yerself!”
“I do nae need savin’,” Ceana yelled in panic. “I do nae need saving. Ye never ken what I need. I need to be left alone.”
“Alone so ye can continue to think of that man? He will ne’er marry ye. He is about to die, and even if he wasn’t, he wouldnae still.”
Her mother’s words cut deep.
