Alarr touched her face, understanding that she wanted a private conversation with Feann. She was more likely to gain what she wanted if he allowed it. ‘So long as you are safe.’ He beckoned for Rurik to join him. Then he leaned down to kiss her, knowing it would irritate the king. She embraced him, and then he stepped back. ‘We will await you near the stables.’
Breanne waited until they were gone, and the soldiers followed. Her foster father paced across the dais without speaking, but she could read his frustration in every step. Her mood matched his own, but she waited for him to speak.
‘You cannot give yourself to a Lochlannach enemy.’ He faced her, his expression forged in anger. ‘He cannot be trusted any more than Sigurd could. He will use you and set you aside.’
She took a breath and chose her words carefully. ‘I trust him.’ Her answer was a silent defiance, and she stood her ground.
He looked as if he wanted to fly into a rage, but he gathered his control and regarded her. ‘What is it you want, Breanne?’
‘I want justice for what was done to Alarr and his family. You must pay the corp-dire for your vengeance. You killed his bride,’ she shot back. ‘An innocent woman died at the hands of your men, as well as his father.’
A thin smile stretched across his face. ‘But I did not have the honour of killing Sigurd. When I reached the longhouse, he was already slain.’
‘You caused Alarr’s injuries,’ she continued. ‘It took him over a year before he could walk again.’
‘I could have taken his life,’ Feann answered. ‘Instead I allowed him to live. Which was a mistake, now that I look back on it.’ Her foster father steepled his hands. ‘Had I cut him down, you would not believe yourself bound to him.’
Breanne fell silent, wondering what to say to him now. He would not listen to reason, and he was behaving like an overprotective father.
But he had lied to her, letting her believe her mother was dead. Treasa was her only living blood relative, and he had kept that knowledge from her, all these years. She wanted to confront him over it, but something held her back. Right now, she didn’t trust him, and she decided it was better not to reveal that she had met with her mother.
Feann stood, his face a mask of stiff rage. ‘Breanne, let him go. You can never wed a Lochlannach.’
‘Why not? Because then I cannot wed a man of your choosing?’ A look of guilt flashed in his eyes at her accusation, and she pressed again.
‘Or is it because your only claim to Clonagh is through me?’ she ventured. Perhaps Feann wanted to choose a weak man as her husband, one whom he could control. She was beginning to wonder if greed had played a role in his secrets. If so, he would not want a Lochlannach on the throne beside her.
‘Clonagh is under King Cerball’s rule,’ Feann said. ‘The lands became his by right of conquest, after your parents’ treason. I have only governed them on his behalf.’
‘Treason according to whom?’ she demanded. ‘It sounds as if King Cerball accused them of treason in order to gain possession of my father’s kingdom.’
Feann sighed and sat down once again. ‘You’re wrong, Breanne. Cerball did not seize the land with the intend of keeping it. I was asked to protect Clonagh until you came of age. You were to marry a man loyal to Cerball. But now, your actions have changed that. What man will want to claim you now?’
She was beginning to realise the far-reaching implications of staying with Alarr. Both Feann and Treasa wanted to use her for their own gains.
‘You must leave him,’ her foster father said. ‘If you do, it is possible that you may regain all that was lost.’
‘And what of Alarr? He will never regain all that he lost.’ Her voice cracked, revealing her own frustration. ‘But that doesn’t matter to you, does it?’
‘No.’ Feann drew closer to her, his eyes hardened into stone. ‘His fate means nothing to me.’
Breanne was beginning to realise the depths of his hatred. Once, she had believed that Feann had held affection for her, that he had thought of her as his true daughter. She had done everything to please him, trying to shape herself into the person he wanted. But now, she could no longer deny the truth.
‘I don’t matter to you either, do I?’ It broke her heart to realise that all these years, he had never thought much of her. He truly didn’t care that she had been sold into slavery. Her only use to him was for a marriage alliance.
For a moment, his steel gaze seemed to relent, but he said only, ‘Think of your duty, Breanne.’
‘I have,’ she whispered. And duty be damned. She would no longer allow her life to be twisted as everyone else wanted. This time, she would make her own decisions and be herself, not the woman others wanted her to be. ‘I only wish I had seen you for what you are sooner.’
With that, she walked away, tears filling up in her eyes. She crossed past familiar faces, people she had once believed were her friends. But they, too, were controlled by Feann. A true friend would have greeted her, welcomed her home. And although she had worked among them during the past few days, she realised that there would always be a distance between them. She was not a MacPherson and never would be.
When she reached Alarr, he seemed to sense what she wanted—an escape before she released the hold on her emotions. Without asking he led her mount forward and helped her atop the saddle.
‘Where are we going?’ Rurik asked.
‘You are staying
