Chapter 17
Her knees buckled at the sight of Isla pressed up against her husband, and Fennella had never felt pain like she had at that moment.
It was as if someone had reached into her chest and pulled out her still-beating heart, casting it aside for the wolves.
Her husband, the man she had just started to trust, had betrayed her.
“Fennella,” he breathed, his eyes wild. “Lass.”
Fennella could tell that he was drunk, barely able to hold himself up, which gave her pause from lashing out at him. Turning to the other person in the hall, she tightened her jaw. “Get the bloody hell back to your room.”
Isla’s eyes glittered with triumph as she did so, shutting her door behind her and leaving them alone.
“Fennella,” Aleck said in a softer tone, starting toward her. “’Tis not—”
“Hush,” she stated, her throat tight. “Come, let’s get you to your bed.”
Not theirs. She wasn’t sure if it would ever be theirs again.
He accepted her help and she got him to their bedchamber, giving him a small push for him to sit on the bed.
She could barely look at him, yet when he reached out and encircled her wrist, Fennella found herself meeting those green eyes.
“Lass,” he said softly, his thumb rubbing across the soft skin on the inside of her wrist. “Ye have tae believe that I would never kiss another woman.”
“I do not know what to believe,” she said softly, his touch tearing her in two.
“Know this,” he replied, bringing her wrist up to his lips. “I dinnae want another woman except mah wife, mah love.”
Fennella sucked in a breath. His love. He was calling her his love. In another time, she would have found herself giddy with the thought that he was in love with her.
But tonight had destroyed their fragile bond, even if he had been set up by the woman.
“’Tis easy to throw that word around when you have been caught,” she said softly, tugging her hand out of his. “Go to sleep Aleck.”
“Nae,” he breathed, scraping his hand over his face wearily. Suddenly he looked older, more tired than she had ever seen him, and her heart squeezed in her chest at what he was going through. “I’ve got more tae say.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Fennella shot back, putting some distance between them, her arms wrapped about her for comfort.
“It does,” he stated, his eyes flashing. “I love ye lass. Can’t ye see it?”
Her heart flipped in her chest and she turned away, shaking her head. “Go to sleep Aleck.” He wasn’t going to remember this conversation when the sun rose, and she refused to accept that he was telling the truth. Didn’t people tell lies when their tongues were loosened with ale?
He didn’t love her.
She stood with her back to him until she heard his first snore, turning to find him sleeping sitting upright, his head slumped against his chest. The sight was both heartbreaking and full of emotions she didn’t want to admit to herself, but it didn’t stop her from pushing at his massive shoulders until he lay down on the bed, mumbling her name as he gripped his pillow tightly.
Fennella allowed herself to touch his face, memorizing it in case she would be forced to leave this keep. Even though Isla had been the one to make the move on Aleck, it didn’t mean that Aleck would be strong against her wiles for long.
No man likely could.
Which meant that their marriage would be over, and Isla would take her place next to Aleck and give him an heir, even if it was his brother’s bairn.
And all Fennella would be left with was a broken heart.
Threading her fingers through his hair, Fennella allowed this moment of weakness with her husband. He had barged into her heart and promptly taken it over. She was dangerously close to loving the Scot, a prospect that now had nothing but hurt with it.
Was this how her ma had felt when her da had gone out and lain with other women? Was this what it meant to care for someone that was only meant to hurt in return? Fennella had not wanted to wed for that very reason, yet here she was, becoming her ma.
Fennella stared down at her husband’s sleeping face, conflicted at what she should feel, and what she did feel for the man before her.
Aleck was not one to hurt someone intentionally, but he had hurt her deeply tonight by not sharing in what he had been involved in, about the raids and capturing of prisoners.
It meant he did not trust her enough to divulge that information and that hurt far more than watching him kiss Isla, even if it was briefly.
“Oh Aleck,” she whispered, tracing his strong jawline with her finger. “What is going on between us?”
He didn’t answer and Fennella wasn’t sure if he would have the answer.
The next morning, she crept out of the room before Aleck even stirred, not wanting to face the consequences of what had happened the night before. Her heart was still too tender.
Despite her better judgement, Fennella stole to the dungeon, the smell of unwashed bodies and dank reeds reminding her of her brother’s keep.
There were no guards posted and for that she was grateful as she moved from cell to cell quietly, until she found one that was occupied.
A man sat in the corner of the cell, one leg drawn up to his body, his face battered.
Fennella gasped as she thought about the swollen knuckles of her husband’s hands, wondering if he was the one who had punished this prisoner.
Drawing close to the prison bars, she cleared her throat. “Who are you and where do you hail from?”
The prisoner chuckled, followed by a raspy cough. “Is this never ending? I have already said everything I am going to say.”
So, Aleck did know more about why they were here and who they were. “I am the lady of this keep,” she stated, drawing to her full height. “I demand to know what my husband does.”
The prisoner eyed her through the swollen slits on his face. “I wager you give him quite the fight lass.”
She brushed aside his retort, wrapping her hands around the bars. “Tell me.”
He sighed. “Mcpherson sent us tae raid the borders and ensure that we weaken the Campbell defenses.”
Fennella froze. Dearg had sent them? She did not recognize the man before her, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t telling the truth. He didn’t have much reason to lie. “He’s coming, isn’t he?”
“Aye,” the man said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. “He’s been waiting.”
Alarm threaded through Fennella. If her brother was coming to attack the clan, then she had to warn Aleck so that he would be ready.
And if Dearg had been waiting like the man was swearing to, then he would have built an army that he thought he could win with. “Thank you,” she said, though she felt no remorse for the man.
“Yer really the lady of the keep?”
“I am,” she stated.
“Then I would suggest ye look tae others within the keep that have the same intentions mah lady.”
Fennella turned away from the cell then, her heart hammering in her chest as she climbed the stairs back to the main level of the keep. He did not need to tell her anything else. She could figure it out well enough on her own.
But the bigger concern was that she would have to face her husband and tell him of what she learned, what they would have to prepare for. Her own brother was going to attempt to take both her home and her husband away from her.
Her husband had not been truthful with the information he had learned of from the prisoner. Did he know that Dearg was planning on attacking? Fennella doubted as much. If he did, then he would not be getting soused and professing his love for her.
Fennella’s steps slowed as she thought about his words just one night past, the words that had kept her awake far longer than she had intended. Did he love her?
What were her feelings if he did? He had asked her once if she was happy with their marriage, and she hadn’t answered him.
That question still remained unanswered in her heart. She thought she could trust him, that he was different than her da or any other man she had encountered.
But he had withheld secrets from her and even if his intentions were honorable, he should have told her that he knew her brother was attempting to kill members of their clan.
Of her new home.
Fennella leaned against the cool stone wall, her heart in turmoil. She was going to tell Aleck what she had learned. She had to. There were innocent people that would be killed if she didn’t.
And likely Aleck would go to war over this information. He would be fighting her brother and Fennella didn’t know what she thought about that. Dearg had been a tyrant, a monster, but some of those men would also be the ones that she had grown up with.
Men her husband would slaughter.
A tear escaped down her cheek and Fennella brushed it away. It would not be Aleck’s fault. He had not forced Dearg to fight, nor her marriage to Aleck. Dearg was greedy and if he did regain control of this clan, he would be nearly unstoppable to half of Scotland.
Which meant they had to stop him. He could not win this war.
Straightening, Fennella forced her feet to walk up the stairs, heading toward their bedchamber.
It was time to tell her husband what she had learned.