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“I would never make up such a horrid story. I am sorry, Alastair.” She reached out and covered his hand with hers.
“What is this secret group?” he asked, staring out over the wall as he spoke. A muscle ticked in his jaw as he tried to hold back his emotions.
“It is called the Followers of the Secret Heart. It is a group of women chosen by the queen, trained to be strong and to help their country and their people in secret.”
“Ye’re sayin’ my mathair did this?”
“I dinna ken.”
“And ye and yer cousins? How could ye be trained or even chosen by the queen when she has been dead for years?”
“Imanie trained us. The queen chose us as children to be trained when we were of age. When my grandfaither was on his deathbed, he gave us the queen’s crowns and these heart brooches because it was her wish.”
“Fia, this is all so hard to believe.”
“I’m sorry, Alastair, but it is all true.”
“What about the crown? What did ye do with it? I ken ye had a hand in its disappearance.”
This part wasn’t going to be easy. Still, she couldn’t keep it a secret any longer. “I gave it to Lorraine to give to a friend.”
“Lorraine had a heart-shaped brooch, too. I want to talk with her.” He stood upright as if he meant to go.
“Ye canna talk with her because Finn just told me she is dead.”
“Dead?” A shadow covered his face. He looked down at her in a scolding manner. “What else are ye no’ tellin’ me, lass? Are ye in some kind of danger?”
“Lorraine was found dead on the road, and with nothin’ at all but the clothes on her back. It is thought that bandits stole from her and then killed her. It is all my fault.” Fia tried hard to hold back the tears, ready to break down at any moment.
Alastair must have noticed because his demeanor suddenly softened. “It is no’ yer fault, Fia.”
“But it is. I gave her the crown because . . . because . . .”
“I ken why ye did it.”
“Ye do?” she asked in surprise.
“Aye. Ye were my prisoner, and ye did no’ want me to have the crown. I canna blame ye. After all, Brohain had his eye on it for a long time. I had half a mind to hide it myself so he couldna find it.”
“Alastair, that is no’ exactly why I did it.”
“It doesna matter. It is over now.” He pulled her into his arms and ran a soothing hand up and down her back to try to calm her.
“Are ye angry with me?”
“I’m no’ angry at ye, Fia, but I wish ye would have told me and no’ kept it a secret.”
“So – it doesna matter to ye that I wear this brooch and all that it stands for?” She looked down to the pin and rubbed her fingers over it, trying to find strength.
“Imanie is dead and so is Lorraine. Fia, I dinna want ye involved in things that are dangerous.” He took her hands in his and looked her in the eye. “Promise me that as my wife ye will stop doin’ anythin’ in secret that has to do with this group.”
Part of Fia wanted to rebel and tell him that she would never agree to this. But she hurt so bad from hearing that her actions caused Lorraine’s death that she never wanted to feel this way again. In trying to keep harm from those she loved, her clansmen and both her countries, she lost a friend who was willing to risk her life for the good of so many others.
“I see now that things are no’ as I thought they would be with bein’ a member of this group. I mourn the passing of Imanie and feel as if Lorraine’s death was my fault. I promise ye, Alastair, that as yer wife, I will give up livin’ a secret life. I will no longer go behind yer back and do things that might endanger my life or the lives of others.”
“Guid,” he said, kissing her on the head. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”
“However.”
