“I know what ye wanted,” he said. “Ye wanted me to believe we were bound in marriage, while you were still making up your mind about whether ye had to marry the heathen.”
“In the end, I did choose to marry you,” she said. “I made my pledge before your clan—”
“Aye,afterI was made chieftain.” He was so angry his vision blurred.
“I said those vows because I wanted ye for my husband.”
“That was your worst deceit—ye made me believe that ye wantedme.” He pressed his thumb to his chest as he spoke.
“I did want you,” she said. “Idowant you.”
“What ye wanted was a chieftain for a husband,” he said. “No second son would do for Lady Sybil Douglas, pursued and flattered by all the powerful men at court.”
“I didn’t want to marry a chieftain,” she said. “I wanted to disappear.”
“Ha! Ye didn’t want to be my wife until I became the MacKenzie,” he said.
“You’re twisting everything!” she said, clenching her fists.
“Ach, you’re a Douglas through and through.” He spit on the floor. “You’ve no true loyalty, no heart. All that matters to ye is power and position.”
“Ye said ye loved me. How can ye believe such things about me?” She gripped his arm, and what he knew were false tears filled her eyes.
“I loved the woman ye pretended to be,” he said. “Ye played me for a fool, just like your brother did.”
He could not be in the same room with her another moment. When he started toward the door, she clung to his arm, and he shook her off.
“Don’t leave like this,” she pleaded.
“Ye got what ye wanted. You’re a chieftain’s wife,” he said from the doorway. “You’ll find that cold comfort at night.”
***
Rory slammed the door so hard it shook the room. His harsh words rang in Sybil’s ears as her knees gave way and she sank to the floor. She felt as if she had shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, each piece sharp and brittle.
Would she ever feel whole again?
She drew her knees up, buried her face in her arms, and wept as she had not wept since she was a child. Her strength drained out of her like water through a cracked jug.
She had prided herself on always rising to every challenge. Nothing had defeated her before. Even when her brothers deserted her and left her to the queen’s mercy, she had not broken. Instead, she had taken the biggest risk of her life, trusting her fate to a stranger by riding off with him.
Once again, she was alone with nowhere to go. She could not return to her former home and the life she’d left, yet how could she stay here when Rory did not want her?
Rory did not want her.
After devoting so much effort to avoid being wed to a man she did not want, she found herself bound to a man who did not want her. She would have laughed at the irony if she was not weeping so hard. She rocked herself and wept until she had no more tears left as she waited, hoping Rory would return.
But he did not come.
CHAPTER 31
Rap, rap.
Sybil did not bother lifting her head. The knock on the chamber door was too light to be Rory’s. The servant was bound to go away.
Rap. Rap. Rap.This servant was persistent.
“I’m resting,” Sybil called, her voice coming out as a croak.
