"Are you sure? Didn't you warn me that you might not come back?"
His eyes scanned her face, and he seemed to realize something was truly wrong. Aware of the men patrolling around them, he took her arm and drew her toward the garden tucked around the far side of the tower, where they could not be overheard.
Turning her around to look at him, he gave her a stern look. "What's this about, Anna?"
She lifted her chin, hating that he made her feel like a recalcitrant child. "Iknow."
"What do you know?"
A sob rose in her chest but she tamped it down. Her words came out in a rush. "I know the truth. I know why you're here. I know you were the one who saved me in Ayr. I know you're working forthem." She practically spat the last, unable to say it. He was working for her family's mortal enemy.
His face was still--too still, his features schooled in perfect impassiveness.
Her heart sank. Tumbled. And crashed to the floor. The lack of reaction was more damning than a denial.
"You are overwrought," he said calmly. "You don't know what you're saying."
"Don't you dare!" Her voice shook, the emotion burning in her chest erupting in anger. "Don't you dare lie to me! I saw you catch the spear this morning and break it over your knee. I've seen something like that only once before. Surely you remember coming to my rescue that night? A rebel spy pretending to be a knight? You took an arrow in your shoulder for it." She wanted to rip off his mail and force him to deny it. "It's the exact same place you have a scar."
She paused for a denial, half-hoping for an explanation, but silence filled the dead air between them.
"I saw the map, Arthur. The map you let me believe was a drawing. It was taken off an enemy messenger." She eyed him challengingly. "Perhaps I should call my father and let him decide."
His mouth thinned in a white line. He grabbed her elbow and brought her closer to him. "Lower your voice," he warned. "Just an accusation like that could get me killed."
She sobered, her anger dissolving a little, knowing he spoke the truth.
He steered her toward a stone bench and set her down. "Don't move."
She bristled at the order. "Where are you going?"
He gave her a hard look. "To tell them I will be delayed."
Twenty-two
Think! Damn it, think!
Arthur took his time in the stable informing the men of his delay, while trying to calm the fierce rush of blood pounding through his veins. But every primitive instinct of self-preservation had kicked in, in response to the danger.
The worst had happened. He'd been discovered. Anna had figured out the truth.
He cursed his damned fool of a brother for tossing that spear--which had very nearly succeeded in skewering his head--and himself for being so careless with the map.
His mission had just gone to shite, and unless he could think of a way to explain, there was every chance he wouldn't live to see another sunrise. He couldn't think about what his failure might mean to Bruce. If he didn't warn them, they would be marching into a trap. A MacDougall victory could turn the tides of war once more.
Though Arthur didn't sense anything, his hands were on his weapons as he exited the stables, half-expecting Lorn's soldiers to be waiting for him. But Anna hadn't gone to her father. Yet. She was waiting for him on the bench where he'd left her.
He breathed marginally easier as he strode back across the courtyard, but still wasn't sure what he was going to say.
It wasn't just his mission and his life at stake. If there was ever going to be a chance for them, he needed to make her understand.
She didn't look at him as he approached but stared silently out into the darkness, her face a pale mask of anguish.
He sat down next to her, never having felt more helpless. He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her it would be all right, but he knew it wouldn't. He'd betrayed her. It didn't matter that it couldn't have been helped.
"It's not what you think," he said softly.
Her voice was thick with emotion. "You can't imagine what I think." She turned to him, her big blue eyes blurred with unshed tears, and he felt a stab of pain in his heart so sharp it made him flinch. "Tell me it isn't true, Arthur. Tell me it's all a mistake. Tell me you aren't what I think you are."
