“And what if they aren’t? What if they care nothing for me? What if—”
“You’ll never know unless you ask.”
Was it possible? Did her clan have feelings for her? It was hard to believe. Certainly, here had been kind looks and whispered thanks, but nothing that suggested they knew her uncle was an evil man Nothing that told her they would take up arms against him if she only asked.
“They know you who you are,” he whispered into her ear. “How could they live with you, see you, and not love you?”
She pulled back. “That is a ridiculously romantic notion. I thought you were a sensible man.”
“And I thought you were a woman with magic.”
“I’m not.”
“I’m not either. But I’ll wager we can make everyone believe it.”
“But—”
He cut off her questions with a kiss. And when they separated, he looked her straight in the eye. “First, you must believe you are worth defending.”
She snorted. “Of course, I am. Why do you think I traveled all the way to London if not to find a man who would fight for me?”
“And I will. But first you must fight for yourself. You must believe that your people will see you for who you are.”
That was a step too far for her. Ever since her father’s death, her people had been distant with her. Or perhaps it was her mother who had clung too tightly to her. The woman had been overprotective and let no one near. Eventually, everyone stopped trying. And then when her mother disappeared…what? They were out of the habit of talking to her? Of sharing anything beyond the most general of topics?
“I can see how lonely you have been,” he whispered.
She hadn’t thought it. Her life had been a constant series of tasks mingled with fears. Take care of this task. Don’t let her uncle near there. Don’t laugh too loud or appear too friendly with anyone. Day after day until she collapsed into bed and slept. Alone. Untouched. Unloved.
So much so that the only person she thought to find when she ran was Sadie, a girl from a different clan who she’d been friends with years before. It wasn’t until London that she had begun to realize how good it was to laugh with a friend. In London, she had passed entire days without worrying what might make her uncle angry.
Her breath caught on a sob. “You have to kill him,” she said. “Otherwise, he’ll find a way to make you disappear, too!”
“Ach, lass,” he said in an awful Scottish accent. “I’m terribly difficult to make disappear. Better men than him have tried.”
“You sound like a sick cow,” she muttered. Then she sobered. “I mean it,” she said. “He will find a way.”
“I know,” he returned, as he stroked her face. “And now you must trust me. Your people know you better than you think. They will come around with the right encouragement.”
“What kind?”
He stroked his lips across hers. “Tomorrow,” he whispered.
“But—”
His kiss was deep and clever. By the time he was done, she had lost all memory of their discussion beyond her usual fears and his vague reassurance. It was enough, she decided. For tonight, it was enough.
Together, they returned to bed and the pleasure to be had there.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Reuben had takena great many risks in his life. They ranged from the childishly stupid (a leap from a moving horse over a fence made of spears) to the brilliantly lucky (several businesses managed by people of questionable competence). Never had he felt the stakes more than when arriving without his men at one of the tiny crofts well inside her uncle’s land.
He and Iseabail were alone and on horseback. After much discussion, they had agreed upon a plan. She didn’t think it would work. Indeed, she had repeated that they would fail, and so he would need to hold off her clansmen long enough for her to gut her uncle. She didn’t seem to care if she lived or died afterwards so long as her uncle’s reign ended.
He was trying an approach that would not make his new wife a murderess.
He didn’t give them good odds, and that made everything more frightening. The cost of being wrong was unthinkable. His own death would be bad enough, but if he died and she survived…well, that would be a fate worse than death.
