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“Neither did ye.”
His eyes lifted to hers. “Would ye, if ye were in my position? She is the reason my mathair left. My heart aches every day, as I long to see her again.”
“Where did she go?”
“No one kens. I think she went back to her home from childhood.”
“I’m sorry,” said Fia. “But ye canna blame Caitlin for yer mathair leavin’. She is just a victim of circumstance.”
“That’s no’ the way I see it.” He stood up and paced the floor.
“Mayhap ye should try to be kinder to her. After all, ye are both sired by the same man.”
“Dinna tell me what to do.”
She stood as well. “Does no one mean anythin’ to ye, Alastair MacPherson?”
“What do ye mean?” he asked, as if he were clueless as to what she meant.
“First ye shun yer own sister, and then ye condemn yer best friend to death, accusin’ him of doin’ somethin’ he didna do.”
“Ye dinna ken that. Or do ye ken what happened to the crown?”
“Stop it, Alastair,” she said, getting very upset with his obstinate behavior. “We arena talkin’ about the crown. I am referrin’ to somethin’ that is much more important than a piece of metal.”
“What do ye mean?”
“I am talkin’ about feelin’s for those people who mean somethin’ to us in our lives. I am talkin’ about love – somethin’ ye just canna seem to understand.”
“Love makes a man weak,” he told her, continuing to pace. “And what I do is none of yer concern.”
“Is that right? After all, I am yer prisoner to be traded away like naught more than an object. Well, let me tell ye, Alastair MacPherson, ye are a cold, cruel man to treat people this way. I thought our kisses meant somethin’ between us, but now I see it was only part of yer plan to benefit yerself. Everythin’ is all about ye. I am tired of it. Ye need to think of others for a change.”
“I am thinkin’ of others. How can ye say that? I do things in the best interest of my entire clan.”
“Do ye?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “Is it for the better of yer clan that ye shun yer sister and condemn an innocent man to death?” She turned and headed toward the door.
“Fia, wait!” he called out from behind her, but she didn’t stop. “Ye dinna understand.”
“Nay, I guess I dinna, and never will.” She stopped with one hand on the door and tears filling her eyes. “When ye saved my life, I thought I owed it to ye to save yers in return. But now I see it was a mistake. Had I kent I’d be in this position, I would have left ye to bleed to death in the secret garden and never batted an eye.”
Fia ran from the mews, wanting to be alone, wishing more than anything to be back with her sister and cousins once again.
She entered the stables and threw herself down in the hay of an empty stall. Feeling weak and helpless, she cried herself to sleep.
“Fia, you need to concentrate,” said Imanie, snapping her fingers in front of Fia’s face. “Don’t let situations and hardships distract you.”
A cloud surrounding Fia diminished and Imanie came into full view.
“Imanie, ye’re alive,” said Fia, not understanding how this could be.
“No one can consider themselves alive when they are only going through the motions of life and doing nothing about it.”
“I dinna understand.” Fia wasn’t sure if this was a dream. But if it was a dream of the past, she didn’t remember Imanie ever telling her this before. “Am I asleep?”
“You are asleep as well as everyone else who considers themselves a victim of circumstance.”
“Are ye talkin’ about the fact I am Alastair’s prisoner and canna escape?”
