Kai’s information would be no good, but it didn’t matter. Struan had answered honestly, and yet he hadn’t given anything away. He wasn’t a traitor.
The triumph he’d expected to feel, however, did not come. Struan only felt a dead heaviness in his gut. He found himself thinking of Una and the wide-eyed way she’d stared up at him after he kissed her, and all the satisfaction Struan felt at fooling Laird Kenneth disappeared at once.
“When this is over,” Struan said, mostly to drive out the unsettling feelings in his head. “I’d like to go to the training fields. Unless, of course, ye would rather me sit around in the Keep, eating all of yer food and growing slow and flabby.”
Kai glanced up from his scribbling and lifted his eyebrows. It stung Struan that hehadto ask permission for something he would have just taken for granted.
“Very well,” Kai responded brusquely. “Not today, though. We have too much to discuss today. Tomorrow, maybe.”
Struan’s heart sank, but he kept his cool.
“Whatever ye say, Laird Kenneth,” he responded smoothly, fighting to keep his voice cool.
Just a wee bit longer,he promised himself.Just a little longer.
Thump.Thump. Thu-Thump.
Una danced around the straw dummy, hung up from the ceiling to make a punching bag. Her knuckles were growing sore, and her shoulders ached, but she forced herself to keep going.
Behind her, the door opened, letting in a ray of light and a blast of fresh, cold air. Una ignored it, delivering a few more blows.
“Ye seem a wee bit preoccupied there, Una.”
She flinched, dropping her fists.
“Kyla?”
Sure enough, Kyla stood by the door, smiling weakly. She was pale but seemed otherwise healthy. Astrid stood beside her, the hem of her long, green velvet gown trailing in the straw covering the floorboards.
“We wanted to talk to ye,” Astrid said smoothly, stepping forward. “Today has been a strange and upsetting day, aye?”
“Ye could say that again,” Una mumbled.
She was doing her best not to think about the kiss. The idea that he would kiss her at all was unbelievable, and the fact that she had just stood there—stood there and not even knocked his teeth down his throat for doing such a thing—was hard to stomach. She’d walked away with her head spinning, her knees weak, and the memory of his lips on hers. She could still taste lavender, although she was sure it must all be in her head.
It was all a mistake. All of it was a mistake. What good could possibly come of associating with a man like him? He’d only hurther. And besides, she loathed him! She’d loathed him—or told herself that she did—for a long time.
Kyla came towards her, smiling hesitantly.
“I wanted to thank ye, first of all, for yer help with Struan. I know many people feel differently, but he’s my brother. I don’t know how I could go on if I had to watch him be executed. I often think that if I hadn’t escaped my father, I would be just like him, too.”
“But we are concerned,” Astrid added, striding over.
She stood just a little too close to Una, smelling strongly of rosewater. Una reminded herself, as she often did these days, that while Astrid was her sister-in-law, she was also Lady Kenneth. That position must come before all others.
Una cleared her throat, shaking out her shoulders. Behind her, the straw dummy still swung slightly, its rope creaking. Una did not like the sound, as it reminded her of a hanged man.
“Concerned?” she echoed. “I don’t understand.”
Astrid’s jaw tightened. “Sometimes it seems that ye are overeager to defend Struan. Ye are… Ye are a wee bit too kind to him. Arguing his case, getting him better treatment. Abath, for God’s sake!”
“I promised the Abbess—” Una began but was cut sharply off.
“I don’t mean to make any sort of accusation,” Astrid continued, holding her gaze. “But let me warn ye that developing feelings for Struan Dickson will only end in pain. And yer death, most likely.”
Color rushed into Una’s face. For a moment, she couldn’t formulate words.
“Feelings?” she gasped, clenching her fists at her sides. “How can ye say such a thing? Have ye any idea what I’ve suffered at Dickson's hands?”
