“The Abbess did not want him in the dungeons,” she said at last. “He’s in a specially secured room. My soldiers will take him there and guard him.”
“I’ll go with them.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Una bit her lip and took a step forward, forcing Astrid to meet her eyes.
“I’m not what I was when ye knew me first, Astrid,” Una said softly. “I’m a warrior now. Ask Thomas. Ask anyone. This man is my responsibility.”
Astrid frowned. “How can that be?”
“It’s… It’s a long story. But I’d like to keep an eye on him, if ye don’t mind.”
There was a long silence after this. Una was suddenly struck forcibly by the realization that this woman, her friend, was notjusther friend anymore. Astrid was Lady Kenneth. She was powerful. She wassomebody.
Somehow, Una guessed that it was Astrid’s permission she’d need to get, rather than Kai’s. When she glanced at her brother, his gaze slipped away from her.
“Very well,” Astrid said at last. “Go and see him settled, then go to yer own rooms. Once ye have rested, we’ll eat in the Great Hall.”
“Agreed,” Thomas spoke up, as if reminding everybody thathewas in charge of their excursion.
Una breathed a sigh of relief, nodding. She turned to Struan, who stood directly beside her.
“Now, I thought that yer Abbess had said that I would have the freedom to choose for myself,” Struan murmured, his voice low enough that only Una could hear, leaning forward to put hismouth close to her ear. “This doesn’t feel like much of a choice, does it? I suppose she was just a liar, like all her kind.”
Una jerked away from him. “Byall her kind, do ye mean nuns or women?”
He blinked at her. “Neither.”
“Then what… ah, forget it. I have no time for yer games. I will be the one to decide what happens to ye, mark my words. And if ye dare speak another word to Astrid, much less make her feel uncomfortable like before, I shall make ye sorry.”
He let out a low, long chuckle. “Goodness, how jealous ye are. Angry about me paying attention to other women, eh?”
Una rounded on him, grabbing a fistful of his shirtfront just below his collar.
“I can assure ye,” she hissed, “that I feel nothing for ye but hatred. Pure, bloody hatred. Do ye understand me?”
He blinked slowly, like a cat, and tilted his head, grinning.
“If ye say so.”
She shoved him backwards. “I do say so. Now shut up, and don’t talk to me again. I don’t want to hear yer voice, and nor does anybody else.”
At that moment, a group of Kenneth soldiers hurried forward and grabbed Struan, hustling him none-too-gently into the darkness of the Keep. Una made to follow, but Kai hurried forward, stepping in her way.
“I’d like us to spend some time together, if ye don’t mind,” he said, his voice low and a little tight. “I… I don’t see much of ye these days, lass.”
Una gave a wry smile. “Ye have never seen much of me. Both of us never had a chance. Ye, taken by Laird Kenneth, and me, taken by Laird Dickson. What a pair of unlucky siblings we are, eh?”
Kai gave a wry smile. “Maybe our luck is turning.”
“Maybe it is,” Una responded brusquely and hurried away into the Keep, catching up with the soldiers.
They were moving quickly, almost dragging Struan with them. At one point, he lost his footing, no doubt from having to struggle along on numb, painful legs, but the soldiers swore at him and hauled him upright.
“Nobody touches him,” Una called. “He’s my responsibility.”
The group went deeper and deeper into the Keep until Una suddenly feared that they were going to take him to the dungeons after all. It was a relief when at last they stopped in front of a wide, heavy wooden door, studded with iron knobs and secured on the outside with locks, bolts, and more. The lead soldier struggled with the locks, cursing to himself, but finally managed to push it open.
