Her face paled, and she drew her knees up.For a long moment, it appeared as if she was trying to gather courage.Mairead moved beside her and took her hand.‘Don’t be afraid.No harm will come to you.’
‘I’ve always been afraid,’ Orla said quietly.‘And I despise myself for it.None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been so afraid.’Her gaze passed over to Balor, and it held only regret.
Balor sheathed his knife and came to sit with her.‘Did Fergus pay the Normans to take Liam?’
She held her silence, as if trying to find the right words.Then she shook her head.‘These men weren’t the same Normans who took Liam.’She swallowed hard.‘They…were sent by your real father, Balor.To find you.’
His posture went rigid, his jaw tightening.In the shadows of the mound of hostages, Mairead sensed his fury.‘I don’t need to be found by the man who hurt you.’
Tears rolled down Orla’s face.‘You don’t understand.I—’
‘I don’twantto understand,’ he shot back.‘I have no father.I never did.’
‘You do,’ she whispered.‘And your father didn’t—he didn’t violate me.I loved him.’Tears rolled down her face, and she admitted, ‘Everything I did was to protect you.’
‘You did nothing.’His words were cool, emotionless.‘Except look the other way when Fergus raised his fists to me.’
Orla flinched, as if the words sliced her to the bone.‘I was afraid Fergus would suspect the truth if I tried to defend you.’
An uneasiness crept within Mairead.‘Does he know about…your lover now?Is that why he imprisoned you?’
Orla bowed her head.‘When the Normans came, he…learned some of it.Not all.’She rubbed her raw wrists and then swiped at her tears.‘I am sorry for being a coward, Balor.You’re right.I should have stood up to him sooner.’
His mother took a deep breath.‘I couldn’t…let Fergus see what you meant to me.I had to keep you at a distance to protect you.But I have always loved you, Balor.I swear it.’
Balor stood and retreated to the entrance.It was clear to Mairead that he didn’t believe her.His face might as well have been made of stone as the afternoon sunlight silhouetted him against the shadows.‘I don’t care.’
Although his words were cold, Mairead could see the unrest beneath his eyes.Despite his callous words, she suspected they were far from the truth.These words held years of hurt, years of abandonment.And he had every reason to be angry with Orla.
He folded his arms across his chest.‘The only thing I care about is finding Liam MacEgan.Tell me where the Normans took him.The ones Fergus paid.’
Orla rested her head against her knees, as if she realized her son was lost to her.Words meant nothing and could not undo the years of neglect.An ache caught within Mairead’s heart, and her own eyes burned with tears.
‘At a ruined fortress near Banslieve,’ Orla said at last.‘Fergus paid another group of Norman soldiers to take Liam there a few days ago.’
Mairead’s heart pounded, for she had been to Banslieve before.It wasn’t far from her uncle Connor’s lands, but it was at least a full day’s journey by sea.
‘Fergus wants to claim my father’s throne,’ Mairead predicted.‘And if my brother is far away…’ Her words drifted off.
‘Then Liam can do nothing to stop Fergus,’ Orla finished.She cast another look at Balor, but her son’s gaze remained hardened.
Though she knew there was nothing that would console him, Mairead went to his side and took his hand in hers.She couldn’t blame him for the tension in his body, the barely concealed fury.
But for the first time, she’d caught a glimpse of his ruthless nature.The sort of man who could cut an enemy down without remorse.And she didn’t know how she felt about it.
‘Thank you for telling us,’ she told his mother.
But Orla didn’t speak another word.Silent tears slid down her cheeks, and she clasped her hands together, not moving.
Then Balor turned his back on her and left.
* * *
They barely managed to get a boat into the sea before MacEgan soldiers emerged in the distance, approaching Dunmalus on horseback.
Balor kept the sail down, rowing out into the open water with Mairead, who crouched low in the boat.Better if they believed he was a fisherman out alone.They couldn’t see who he was from this distance.As he cut through the waves, he emptied his mind of his mother’s revelation.He didn’t want to know about the Norman who had sired and abandoned him.
His muscles strained as he rowed, keeping his gaze fixed upon the shore.The MacEgans had surrounded Dunmalus.He wished Fergus had been there, but he was glad Kenneth was not.
