Page 87 of Desire's Ransom
“Nay.”
“Nay?” He puzzled over that. “Then how…”
“She didn’t just disappear that night. Sheran away.She ran away and never returned.”
He fell silent.
Indeed, it was so long before he spoke that she began to wonder if he’d heard her. When he finally found his voice, his manner had changed. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully, as if he were afraid of breaking them.
“I see,” he said. “So the chieftain—he lied about her disappearing just days ago?”
“Aye. I’m afraid Cormac O’Keeffe sent ye to chase a ghost.”
“But why? He signed an agreement with the king, promising his daughter in marriage.”
“A daughter he didn’t possess.”
“Surely he wouldn’t make a promise he couldn’t keep. Violating an agreement with the king? He might as well sign his own death warrant.”
“Oh, he planned to uphold the agreement,” she said, “with an imposter.”
“An imposter?” he scoffed. “How would he manage that?”
“Ye forget. Temair hasn’t been seen there—by anyone—in six years. Her looks could have changed a great deal.” She lowered her voice to a bitter whisper. “And even if someone suspects the imposter is not his daughter, Cormac has ways o’ frightenin’ theclanninto silence and submission.”
He nodded. He must have seen enough of Cormac to believe her. “How can you be so sure this woman isnotthe real Temair?”
Part of her wanted to end the farce and tell him,BecauseI’mthe real Temair. But she would gain nothing by it, only a return to living under her father’s rule. So instead she said, “Aife has seen the woman claimin’ to be Temair with her own eyes. There are…differences.”
“Still,” he argued, “it makes no sense. Why would he use an imposter? ’Twould be surrendering his bloodline. He might as well simply hand over his holding to the crown.”
She hesitated. She was reluctant to share so much with the man who was meant to usurp her claim.
On the other hand, betrayed by his men, Ryland was stuck with the woodkerns now. Since he wasn’t going to reign over O’Keeffe, she might as well tell him.
“He planned to get her with child himself.”
After a shocked silence, he exploded with, “What?” Then he spat out a curse. “He meant to bed my bride and make me believe the babe was mine?”
She nodded.
“But surely the lass would never stand for that,” he argued. “Sooner or later, the truth would come out.”
“So ye would think, wouldn’t ye? But that’s not always the way o’ things. I’ve seen it before. Lasses who suffered in silence. Who wouldn’t speak up for themselves.” The hatred Temair harbored for her abusive father made her blood boil. As she spoke, she felt her tongue getting away from her. But she couldn’t seem to stop it. “Out o’ fear, they wouldn’t lift a finger in their own defense. Or confide in anyone who could help them. Or take the hand that was offered to her, even when I…”
She broke off. Unexpectedly, her words had conjured up the haunting image of her sister. Beautiful, innocent Ailleen. At the mercy of their vile father. Violated. Damaged. So broken and suffering that she was compelled to take her own life.
In her mind’s eye, Temair saw her sister falling. Over and over. And there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing but feel remorse for notsomehowsaving her.
She felt suddenly overwhelmed, sick with sorrow. She staggered, and a sob escaped her at the horrible memory.
“Are you all right?” Ryland clasped her shoulder in concern.
All at once, she couldn’t breathe. Her throat ached with unspent tears.
What was wrong with her? She’d thought she was past everything. She’d thought her feelings were shut away, locked safely deep inside, behind that wall of stone.
But now the horror lurking in her soul surged like a river threatening to burst through the wall.
