- Annabel, wait! You said you'd make her stop. - I need you to know something before we leave.
- Say it, but be brief, because...
- I didn't come to interrogate your mother, but to get you arrested for treason and conspiracy. - I fired.
Annabel frowned.
- Treason? Like treason? - Annabel laughed. - She's crazy, but she'd never be able to betray anyone.
I took a deep breath before I started telling you everything Bruce had discovered. I saw the shock growing in her eyes as I reported it all. Annabel listened quietly and attentively, horrified by the whole story.
- Are Aila and Aideen the daughters of King Phillipe? - she asked in shock.
- Yes. - I answered by putting my hands on his shoulders. - I didn't want you to know this way, but I don't see any other way out. You're not Loch's daughter either. He only served as a decoy to cover up a Machiavellian plan that Ravenna had been working on for years.
Annabel put her hands on her chest and stared at me. Her beautiful blue eyes reflected the pain she was feeling. There was a mixture of anger and fear that joined the tears that stubbornly shed.
- Who... - She swallowed it dry. - Who's my father?
- Roy MacGregor! - ...I answered without beat around the bush. - His mother was always in love with him and continued to meet him even when she returned to be Phillipe's lover.
- No! Roy is my uncle!
- I'm sorry, but it's not! Actually, he was raised by his grandparents when his parents died.
- You're lying! - she screamed. - Loch is my father!
- No, Annabel! Unfortunately, Loch never had children with Ravenna. She bought it to keep up appearances and so no one would suspect the real fatherhood of you. That's why she's the one who makes the rules at Inverness.
I watched as Annabel leaned against the wall and slowly slipped to the ground. She stuck her face in her hands and started crying.
- You lie! I can't be the daughter of the man who disgraced the life of my dearest sister!
- I wish it was just a nightmare, but it's true.
I approached her trying to hug her, but Annabel shied away by pushing me.
- Don't touch me! - she screamed before she ran out into the hallway.
- Annabel, don't run away! You're in danger if you go with Ravenna! - I screamed. - Annabel! Come back with me to Dunhill!
Grumbling, I ran in the same direction as Annabel. The corridor was long and well lit by torches. She wasn't very fast, but she knew the way and I didn't. It left her with a huge advantage over me. We walked the corridor for about ten minutes and even lost sight of it for a few seconds until I saw the exit. Each step of mine made my head spin and I was happy to have reached the end of that tunnel. I stopped abruptly when I hit the wide courtyard of the entrance. He was surrounded by some Scottish soldiers, armed with beasts and swords. Two of them hit me until I got on my knees. I looked at Annabel who was trapped in the arms of one of the soldiers.
- Well, well. - Ravenna came up the part of the hill that led to the lake. - Then we have a little traitor!
She passed her daughter and stroked her face slapping her next. Annabel screamed.
- You're just like those bastards! - she whispered cold. - I should have kept her away from those two, who only caused me trouble.
- Ravenna, you bastard! - said taking a break.
She had a laugh.
- You know how much I was worried when you picked that useless bastard for a wife? - she laughed at me. - It took a tremendous amount of work to fake anger so he wouldn't suspect a thing. Stay with a woman who's already been touched? Your ego is just the size of the moon.
She put her fingertip on my chin and lifted my face so that I could face her. There were at least six men in the siege and I didn't know how many more were hiding in the boat that was waiting for them at the small pier or the surrounding area.
- You monster! - he said between his teeth. - She stole a girl's life and convinced her that she was guilty of everything she had been through.
- But she was to blame! - Ravenna shouted out giving a squeeze on my head wound. - If she hadn't opened her mouth, at this point I'd be parading in court with all the pomp I deserve and Roy would be on the throne instead of that old fool.
I growled when I heard her talking about my father.
- Why didn't you use Aila? - I fired. - She was the firstborn. No one would contest her birthright.
- Aila was an outsider. Roy could never touch it. She tried to kill him when she found out about Aideen. - she said between her teeth. - Because of that useless girl, I missed my chance to go back to court.
- You knew all this time that Aila was dead. - I shook my head. - She must have been relieved.
- Of course I did! - she fired. There was no remorse in his tone of voice. Ravenna was cold as ice. - I was relieved when I received the
