Page 76 of Desire's Ransom
“Nay, just an older sister. She never chased me.”
“Where is she now—your sister?”
There was a hesitation in Gray’s voice. “She’s…she’s gone. I don’t know where. The last time I saw her was the night…the night I joined the woodkerns.”
“Six years ago?”
“Aye.”
Ryland wondered if she realized what a strange coincidence that was. It was six years ago that Temair O’Keeffe’s older sister had fallen from the tower.
As he stared up at the night sky, the stars began to shift as his eyes rearranged them into different patterns, altering his perceptions. A curious tingling began at the back of his neck as his thoughts likewise coalesced into a shifted reality.
Questions crept in to tease at the edges of his mind.
Questions that made his breath catch.
Questions that created new patterns like the stars in the sky.
They were wildly improbable questions. And yet…
He tried to keep the tension from his voice as he asked her, “Is Gray your real name?”
“What do ye mean?” Was that panic he heard?
“Is it the name you were born with?”
“’Tis…the only name I go by.” It was an evasive answer. “Because o’ my gray eyes,” she explained.
“What about your last name?”
“I…don’t have one.”
“You don’t have one?”
“Not that I can remember.” She yawned.
He didn’t believe that for an instant. If she’d only left home six years ago, she could certainly remember her last name.
On the other hand, maybe it was common among outlaws to discard their last names. Cambeal had done so with his, saying he didn’t wish to bring shame to his family.
“What about your sister?” he asked. “What’s her name?”
Gray was silent.
When he glanced over at her, she was asleep.
He was half-tempted to shake her awake and interrogate her further. But he supposed the outlaws wouldn’t look kindly on that. Her wolfhounds would look even less kindly.
Hope and the unimaginable battled in his brain.
Was it possible Gray was actually Temair?
Part of him was sure it couldn’t be true. Cormac claimed his daughter had run away only a few days before. Certainly the chieftain wouldn’t lie about that. What possible reason could he have for deceiving Ryland?
Still, it was curious that no one else had seen Temair in all that time, that, according to rumor, she’d been locked away for six years.
It was difficult to argue with the evidence staring him in the face, even if it was only guesses and fragments.
