“Nay—” Ceana lifted a hand. “I do nae want to hear a word from ye. Ye have made yer stance clear.”
Alina stood, fixated and searching for a lie in her sister’s words. But she found none. Suddenly, she felt ashamed. All along, it had been about whether Torcall was wrong or not. It had been about if he could kill or not, but she had been looking at it from the wrong perspective. It wasn’t about Torcall or about what he could do. It was about Ceana and what she had said.
“Then let me take it back,” she said simply.
Ceana froze as though she hadn’t heard well.
“Ye have had me back all me life,” Alina implored. “I couldnae ask for a better sister, and I have missed ye horribly. I ne’er listened to ye, and I apologize. I will nae say I believe ye suddenly, nay. I will nae insult yer intelligence so. But I will tell ye that I will do what I was supposed to do the first night if ye let me. Listen.”
Ceana didn’t want to give in to her sister’s words, but she missed her greatly even as she looked at her.
“I am sorry, Ceana. Nae for labeling Torcall a murderer but for nae listening to ye. I want to, now. If ye will let me.”
“I heard the scream that night,” she started. “I was up because—because I was upset with Torcall. I had accused him of the murders myself.”
Alina was shocked. She never knew that her sister had even considered the possibility of Torcall killing those girls. Perhaps she had been wrong about Ceana being besotted past the point of common sense and reason.
“I heard the scream, and I ran out through my window. Faither heard it too and ran ahead of me. When I got there, Faither was in front and with Torcall. It was Faither who told me he hadn’t killed her. I had my suspicions, but I got there and saw that the bandages on her were from his shirt. His sword was unbloodied, and the woman had been stabbed by a sword. He looked so distressed and in pain.
The woman had been bleeding for a long time. I ken this because there was already a blood pool. Our home was far enough from where she was killed that, from the time of the stabbing till we arrived, gave enough time for the murderer to run away if he so wished, but Torcall hadn’t. If he had killed her, he wouldn’t have waited. His horse wasn’t too far. Have ye seen his horse? He’s fast. No one would have caught him. He could have hidden. He wouldn’t have bandaged her with his own clothes. He wouldn’t have had a clean blade. He didn’t kill her.”
“But ye didn’t see who killed him.”
“Nay,” she shook her head.
“By the gods, if what ye say is true….” It explained her father’s guilt.
“It is,” she said firmly.
Alina sat down. She looked from her sister to her palms, and when she couldn’t sit anymore, she stood up.
“Why would Faither keep quiet?” she demanded. “Why would he let an innocent man die?”
“Don’t ye see?” Ceana asked quietly. “The clan is desperate for a killer. Aside from what we saw, there is no real evidence. They will nae take our words as they are too intent on finding someone guilty. If the clan chief’s brother doesn’t arrest someone, he would have to step aside. If it continues, there will be a lack of trust in the clan chief.
If Faither had opposed them without strong evidence to back his claims up, he could have been named accomplice. They would have come for us. He couldnae take a risk as great as that.” Ceana said although she couldn’t belie that she was defending her father.
Alina nodded her head. It was clear.
“So ye believe me, then?” Ceana asked, almost too scared to hope.
Alina closed her eyes and considered, but she wouldn’t. “I believe everything ye say, and I am nae longer assured that Torcall is the killer, but he is nae off me list. A man who can kill will nae have problems putting together a scene.”
Ceana wanted to argue, but she didn’t. Her sister didn’t know Torcall as she did. Her sister hadn’t been there, and she hadn’t seen his eyes as she and her father had. But Alina had listened, and she had not doubted her words. She needed nothing else.
“Thank ye.”
Ceana walked to her sister and hugged her. It was great not to be at odds anymore.
“I do nae want an innocent man to die,” Alina said.
“Neither do I.”
“What can be done?”
“Naught,” Ceana said sadly. “I have lain awake many nights, and there is naught, and now ma brings this up.”
Alina knew what Ceana was speaking about.
