“Anyway,” she continued, her voice strained. “I learned gradually. My skills, such as they are, have served me well over the years. There, ye are done. Let me put a wee dab of this poultice on yer cut. It’ll help with healing.”
Her fingertip swiped across his skin, the savory scent of medicinal herbs filling the air. Struan was still looking at her, and she found that she couldn’t meet his eye.
“There,” she said brusquely, wiping her hands off on a spare cloth. “All finished.”
She hesitated, about to get to her feet, and found herself looking at him once more.
“Laird Dickson was—is—a danger to all of us,” Una stated, holding his gaze. “Even to his bairns. Even to ye and Kyla.”
Struan closed his eyes at the mention of his sister. “Una…”
Once again, her name in his mouth made Una shiver. She told herself it was a draft running through the cold room.
“I know ye hate Kyla,” Una pressed on, not sure where the words were coming from, “But?—”
“I dinnae hate her,” Struan burst out. That muscle was tick-ticking away in his jaw again. “I dinnae hate Kyla. I never could. The thing is, I always wished… I wished that she could have taken me with her.”
There was a silence after this. Una found that she couldn’t look away from Struan’s face, his profile turned towards her. His brow was heavily furrowed, his jaw tight.
“Cowardly to hear, eh?” he murmured, with a harsh laugh. “A grown man, a warrior, wanting his baby sister to save him. She escaped, and now her life is a good one. She’s earned it, but…” he trailed off, but it didn’t matter.
Una knew what was coming next.
“Ye resent her for being the one who escaped,” she whispered.
He flinched, turning to face her properly.
She gave a wry smile, but the corners of her mouth kept fighting to turn downwards.
“My brother, Kai, escaped, where I did not,” she explained, her voice wavering just a little. “I suffered for so many years, and he was just… just free. Well, not as free as he could, but it was nothing compared to what I went through. And now he is married to a wonderful woman, and he’s Laird Kenneth, for heaven’s sake, and I just… I just wonder what my life would have been if we’d gone together.”
His gaze rested on her face. She felt that if she looked up and met his eye properly, something would happen. She didn’t know what. She didn’t intend to find out.
It seemed to take a lot of strength, but Una abruptly hauled herself to her feet, turning away from him.
“Kai and I have a difficult relationship,” she said tightly, “but it improves every day. It improves because we both want it to improve. Ye and Kyla need to be no different. Now, ye have a trial of sorts coming tomorrow. I am going to argue for ye to be released.”
Struan made a choking noise. “What? Released?Me? What for?”
She hurried over to the door. The air seemed to fill her lungs better out here. Somehow, when Struan was near her, she couldn’t quite breathe properly.
It’s because I know he’s a threat,she told herself sternly.It is my instincts keeping me alive.
This is only my duty.
“Well, if ye dinnae want to die anymore, then ye have something to lose that ye care about,” she responded bluntly.“Yer life, and yer sister. That’s leverage for us. It’s time for ye to help us.”
He sat on the edge of his bed, eyes large in the darkness, and she could not make out their expression.
“Ye want me freed?” he said at last. “Ye are going to have me freed?”
For some reason, those words made Una uncomfortable. She cleared her throat and turned away, already closing the door.
“I can do nothing but argue in yer favor,” she muttered. “It’s up to the council whether ye will be freed or not. It is them you’ll have to convince.”
The door closed with an echoing bang, and Una stood in front of it for a moment or two, out of breath, staring at the iron-studded wood.
Chapter 8
