She stormed away from the window, out of her bedchamber, and down the stairs, but as she strode toward the castle door, Marsaili came through it. Her sister’s eyes widened when she looked at her. Anger coiled inside Lena. She marched up to Marsaili and pointed a finger at her. “Ye!” she hissed. “Ye are my sister! I’m supposed to be able to trust ye! I—”
“Yecantrust me!” Marsaili interrupted. “I was coming to tell ye what has occurred. Just this instant was the first I was able to slip away since yer husband summoned me this morning.”
Lena felt a bit of her anger dissipate. She grabbed Marsaili by the arm and dragged her out of the doorway and into the empty great hall. She shut the door behind them. “Tell me,” she commanded. “Why did Alex call for ye?”
“It is as I thought,” Marsaili said, her face pinching with regret. “Alex means to join forces with the Steward, and he intends to take me with him to the Stewart hold.”
“Nay,” Lena said, incredulous. She felt as if a hand were squeezing her heart.
“I’m sorry, Lena,” Marsaili said, stepping toward her.
Lena scrambled away. She did not want comfort right now. She wanted answers from her husband’s lips. And she planned to get them. “Tell me exactly what he said to ye.”
Marsaili nodded. “He informed me that he kenned of my betrayal, my son, and what my da is doing. And he said that he would help me learn where my son was being held, but that I must help him first.”
Lena tried to quell the furious beat of her heart, but it was impossible. “Did he say how ye should help him?”
“Aye.” An uneasy look crossed Marsaili’s face. “He said I needed to accompany him to the Steward and make it clearly known that Alex was forced to marry ye and that he and the king had a terrible fight over it.”
Through the roaring din of disbelief, Lena heard herself ask, “Do ye ken where he is?”
“Lena, I’m sorry!” Marsaili wailed. “I did nae wish to be correct about him, and I dunnae want to accompany him, but I must find my son.”
“Please,” Lena said, struggling to contain her mounting anger. “Just tell me where he is. I wish to speak with him.”
“I believe he’s in the solar with Donald.”
Lena nodded and pushed past Marsaili to go to the solar. Tears blurred her vision as she walked, but she blinked them away. She would not appear the sniveling, brokenhearted fool when she confronted Alex, though she was most definitely reeling. He’d told Marsaili he’d not wanted to marry her. She knew he’d been hesitant, but she could not believe Alex did not love her as he had claimed. All his actions and words since they had been wed told her differently. She was sure that whatever he was hiding from her was driving him to lie to Marsaili, and to have nightmares, and to keep walls between them. It could not go on! He would destroy them, and she was going to fight with all she had to save the love she had found.
She intended to simply barge into the solar and demand answers, but when she got near the door, angry voices drifted from the room. It might very well be that the best way for her to learn her husband’s secrets was to eavesdrop. Disregarding the slight niggle of guilt, she crept forward and pressed her ear to the door.
“Ye damn fool!” Donald roared, making Lena flinch. “The Steward will kill ye if he discovers what ye are about! Why must ye be stubborn? Why nae use yer wife to aid ye?”
Lena sucked in a sharp breath. Alex needed her help, but he was refusing to turn to her.
“Nay,” Alex bit out, his voice cold, hard, and unyielding. “I will nae risk Lena’s life simply to make the king’s task easier for me.”
It was making more sense now. Alex was not betraying her at all. He was doing all in his power to protect her! A mix of happiness and fear lodged in her chest. What was she being shielded from, though?
“Task?” Donald sputtered. “Task? It is nae simply ataskthe king set to ye, and ye well ken it. The king asked ye to play the traitor!”
Lena drew back in shock but quickly pressed forward once more when Alex began to speak again.
“The king asked me to obtain the names of two lairds who secretly joined the Steward’s cause and who still support him,” Alex said, the words punctuated with irritation.
“By asking ye to play the traitor!” Donald refuted. “Ye ken as well as I do that the MacLeod and many others will question yer fealty, and while the MacLeod may nae try to cut ye down, someone who dunnae feel the same sense of fealty from yer past may well attempt to kill ye before the truth can be revealed. And King David forced yer hand in marrying the MacLeod lass—”
“And I’ll thank him for that to my dying breath,” Alex interrupted.
“I ken that, Alex. I ken how ye feel about yer wife without ye saying it. I ken why ye wish to protect her. But I tell ye that ye are risking yer life to do so.”
“Then let it be so,” Alex roared. “I will nae ask Lena to venture to the Steward’s hold with me to court my enemy’s attention and make them think she is interested in a liaison, merely so I may learn the traitors’ names. I will nae risk her life or her safety. I’d rather die by the Steward’s own hand than put Lena in harm’s way.”
“Having yer wife’s help would be best,” Donald insisted. “I dunnae see the Steward welcoming ye into his inner circle simply because Marsaili Campbell attests to the fact that ye have had a dispute with the king and wish to join forces with the Steward.”
“If he dunnae, I will have to find another method.”
“Perchance the Campbell lass can charm one of the men into telling her the lairds’ names, if ye will nae ask yer wife to do it.”
