He bowed his head. “I know. And ye must know that I’ll not hold ye to any betrothal.”
She snorted. “I should think not.”
When had he come closer? Or hadshegotten closer to him? Some of the panic was fading away now, and Freya was feeling more like herself.
It was over. Laird Grahame was gone. He wouldn’t bully the McInnes Clan—or any clan—ever again. She wouldn’t be forced to marry him. She wasfree.
Now what?
“If ye don’t wish to remain here,” Brendan said, “where will ye go?”
She swallowed. “I-I don’t know. I’d go back to the convent, but… I said some things to Senga, Astrid, and Kyla that I wish Ihadn’t. They were so kind to me, and I was so ungrateful. I can’t go back.”
Brendan chewed his lower lip, gaze fixed on her. It made her shiver to have him look at her like that.
“They’d forgive ye,” he said at last. “I went to the convent to find ye, before I came here. Senga told me that there’d been sharp words, but she said that she’d argued with her friends before, and they always made up. They’ll have ye back, Freya. In fact, I think ye should go back, at least once, to set things straight with them. They are yer friends, lassie. They said so.”
To her horror, she felt tears pricking at her eyes. “But the things I said…”
“Forgiveness covers all sorts of things, Freya,” Brendan said firmly, although there was a softness in his voice. They were about ten paces apart now, and Freya was not sure how the distance had been breached. Had she come to him, or did he come to her?
Did it matter?
“I’m sorry I lied to ye,” he confessed at last, voice quiet. “I should have told ye the truth, but I could never pick the right time to say it.”
She swallowed, looking away. “I overreacted, I am aware of that. I was upset because ye hadn’t trusted me because I… because I wanted ye to trust me.”
“I wanted to trust ye too, lass, I just… Och, I was afraid. I’d already fled my duty once before, and I?—”
“Ye didn’t flee yer duty,” she interrupted. “Ye did what ye had to, Brendan. And now, ye can make it all right.”
He glanced up, meeting her eyes. For a moment, the air seemed to crackle between them.
I still want him, more than anything. I think I… I think I love him.
Her throat tightened, and she had to look away.
“I don’t have a place here,” Freya said, her voice quiet. “Even if ye did win me in a duel.”
He gave a snort, taking a few steps closer. They were almost face to face now, close enough for him to reach out and take her hand.
“I didn’t win ye. I only freed ye, Freya. I love ye, lassie. I think ye must know that by now.”
“Not exactly. I mean, ye did tell me to go.”
Pain tightened his face. “I… I thought I was doing the right thing.”
She smiled wryly up at him. “Perhaps it was. Perhaps yer bad luck has moved on to me.”
He shook his head. “No, Freya. The truth is, I’ve considered ye as mine for longer I’d care to admit. I want ye tostay, Freya. I want ye to marry me. Not in whatever awful role my father had planned for ye, but as my equal, my partner. As the Lady of the Keep.”
She looked up, slowly, meeting his eyes. His gaze was fixed on her, intent and hungry andhoping, and she felt her heart skip a beat.
“I don’t know if I can,” she murmured.
“I’m not offering anything easy, Freya, ye know that. It’ll be difficult. I’ll have to work hard to undo the damage my father has done, to say nothing of winning the trust of my clansmen and of other lairds. But I can do it. And if I have ye by myself, I feel as though I can do anything. I’ll never lie to ye again, lass. Not about the smallest thing.”
She reached up, hesitantly, taking his face between her palms.
