Page 178 of Forbidden

“No.”

“Will you accept your duty as my wife?”

“Yes.”

Amber swayed, fighting the savage emotions that lay beneath the Norman girl’s rigid control.

“Amber?” Duncan said.

She didn’t hear. All she could hear was the vast scream of betrayal that filled Ariane’s core.

“Amber.” Duncan’s voice was sharp.

“She is—telling the truth,” Amber said raggedly.

Then she let go of Ariane’s hand, for she could no longer bear the grief and fury that filled Ariane’s soul.

It was too like Duncan’s.

“Daughter, are you all right?” asked Cassandra.

“What she feels is—bearable.”

Ariane looked at Amber with dawning outrage.

“You know,” Ariane said tightly. “You know. Cursed witch, who gives you the right to harrow my soul?”

“Silence,” Cassandra said savagely.

She walked swiftly to the two women, her scarlet robes burning vividly against the black of Ariane’s clothes and the gold of Amber’s.

“All that has been harrowed is Amber,” Cassandra said. “Look at her and know that whatever black fires burn you in secret have also burned her.”

Ariane went white.

“Know also that whatever your secret is,” the Learned woman continued, “it is secret still. Amber touches emotions, not facts.”

Silence stretched while Ariane gazed at Amber, seeing the pallor of her face and the strained line of her mouth.

“Emotions only?” Ariane whispered.

Amber nodded.

“Tell me,” the Norman woman said. “What do I feel?”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Nay. I thought I no longer had feelings. What do I feel?”

It was the tone of simple curiosity that jarred Amber into replying.

“Fury,” Amber whispered. “A scream never voiced. A betrayal so deep it all but killed your soul.”

Silence stretched and stretched.

Then Ariane turned to Duncan with contempt flashing in her narrowed eyes.

“You have forced me to share what I have hidden even from myself,” she said. “You have forced her to endure what she never earned.”