That’s all I have to say to you. I have watched you grow, Una. Not from a child, but from a terrified, traumatized woman, a victim, into a powerful warrior. Whether we meet again or not, know that my blessing goes with you and the other lasses.
The letter ended abruptly, with only the Abbess’s signature scrawled at the bottom. Swallowing hard, Una laid down the letter, composing herself. She glanced around and saw that Kylawas eagerly reading her letter with tears in her eyes, while Freya and Senga talked in low voices.
Before she even knew what she was doing, Una was on her feet. The others glanced at her.
“I have something to do,” she choked out when Freya lifted a quizzical eyebrow. “Tell me, how do I get to the dungeons?”
Chapter 16
Animal in a Cage
The dungeons at Keep Grahame were more humane, at least, than the other dungeons Struan had known. They were less damp than the cellar under the convent, althoughthatwas hardly meant to house prisoners at all.
The dungeons at Keep Dickson, of course, were the worst that Struan had ever seen. When he was younger, he’d assumed that all Keeps had dungeons like that, with torture chambers and cells so small a person couldn’t stand up or lie flat in them.
He knew now that he was wrong, for all it mattered.
His cell at Keep Grahame was small but large enough to stretch out or stand up in. It was dry, with a stone bench along one wall. He’d been offered a thin pillow and a blanket. There was a bucket underneath to relieve himself, a drain in the corner to pour it out, and that was all. His food had been brought on a wooden tray, which the jailor demanded back as soon as he’d finished eating.
He was allowed to keep the earthenware jug of water, at least. He sipped from it now and then, sprawled out on the stone bench, watching a rat scuttle along by the drain.
When he heard footsteps approach, he never imagined for a second that they were coming for him. He certainly hadn’t imagined that it would beher.
For an instant, Struan felt as though he were frozen, staring across the length of his not-very-large cell, staring at Una. The woman he had come to care for. The woman he’d lied to. Lied to and been believed.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
“Come to make sure I’m uncomfortable?” Struan said at last, giving a harsh laugh. “What with Kyla’s babe, I shouldn’t have thought ye would need to worry about me. If it’s a boy?—”
“Aye, aye, if it’s a boy, it could supplant ye easily. But I can’t help but feel that Kyla could supplant ye by herself if she wanted.”
He smiled grimly. “Not while I’m alive. But ye planned to take care of that, didn’t ye? I was yer wee project, but now it’s time to move on. Kyla abandoned me, and so will ye. Ye just opened yer eyes to what I truly am.”
She lifted her chin, taking a step towards the iron bars separating them.
“Oh, aye? And what’s that?”
He grinned mirthlessly. “An animal in a cage. A wolf ready to pounce on its prey”
She didn’t smile back. “I truly cared about ye, Struan.”
The words seemed to make his soul smart. Struan ignored it.
The feeling will pass,he reminded himself.If not for ye, at least for her.
“If ye cared about yerself, ye would leave me,” he snapped. “Have I not been clear? I feel nothing for ye. Now get away from me before I take ye down with me.”
She said nothing and did not move. Abruptly, Struan swung his legs off the bench and strode over to the bars of his cell.Gripping the bars until his knuckles stood out white, he leaned forward until the cold metal touched his forehead.
“Being near me is like swimming too close to a whirlpool,” he whispered softly. “Ye may feel brave, but what about when the current sucks ye in and down? What then, eh?”
A muscle jumped in her cheek.
“But ye aren’t a whirlpool, are ye, Struan?” she responded, her voice even. “Ye are a man. Just a man.”
Just a man.Had anybody ever described him that way? Struan jolted back, unable to help himself, and knew then that he’d given away his careless advantage.
“I tried my best to resent ye, after what ye said about me,” she said, almost thoughtfully. Her eyes were black in the gloom, her skin glowing white.
