CHAPTER 30
Rory felt like a caged animal as he paced the chamber. He’d been taken for a fool by Sybil’s slippery, smiling brother.
“Ye knew from the very beginning when I showed ye the parchment that it was no binding contract,” he ranted. “And ye knew I didn’t know it was false.”
He had no right to take Sybil away with him. Kidnapping a bride was not uncommon in the Highlands, but a man ought to know when he was doing it.
At least Sybil had the grace to look guilty.
“Why did ye not tell me?” he shouted. “Why?”
“Well…” Her gaze flitted away. “I didn’t want to disappoint ye after you’d traveled such a long way to fetch me.”
“Sybil!” He clenched his fists at his side. “The time for games is at an end.”
“I had the threat of imprisonment and a charge of treason looming over me,” she said. “And you were looming over me as well, just as ye are now. Before I became accustomed to that icy stare of yours, ye could be a wee bit frightening.”
“Don’t ye dare mock me.” He’d had enough of her sarcasm.
“Ye don’t understand—”
“Oh, I understand perfectly now,” he said, folding his arms.
“Ye don’t.”
“Ye needed a man to take ye away. Who better than an ignorant Highlander?” He backed her up against the wall and leaned in close. “Ye used me.”
“That wasn’t—”
“Ye never intended to become my wife.” He felt as if a fist was pounding against his head. “Ye went to bed with me. Why? To make me believe we were bound?”
“Nay, that wasn’t the—”
“What else have ye lied to me about?”
When she looked off into the distance as if she was struggling to recall all the ways she had deceived him, he thought his head would explode. A terrible suspicion crept into his mind. God’s bones, he hoped he was wrong.
“Ye lied to me about why ye weren’t a virgin, didn’t ye?”
Her face drained of color. Christ, how could she?
“Ye lied about being raped.” The words tasted like ashes on his tongue.
“I never m—”
“You’re every bit as deceitful as your brother,” he said, pointing his finger at her. “Ye only went to bed with me after ye learned my brother died and there was a good chance I’d be made chieftain.”
“That’s not why I did it!” she said. “You were grieving. I wanted to comfort you.”
“I know what ye wanted,” he said. “Ye wanted me to believe we were bound in marriage, while you were still making up your mind about whether ye had to marry the heathen.”
“In the end, I did choose to marry you,” she said. “I made my pledge before your clan—”
“Aye, after I was made chieftain.” He was so angry his vision blurred.
“I said those vows because I wanted ye for my husband.”
“That was your worst deceit—ye made me believe that ye wanted me.” He pressed his thumb to his chest as he spoke.
“I did want you,” she said. “I do want you.”
“What ye wanted was a chieftain for a husband,” he said. “No second son would do for Lady Sybil Douglas, pursued and flattered by all the powerful men at court.”
“I didn’t want to marry a chieftain,” she said. “I wanted to disappear.”
“Ha! Ye didn’t want to be my wife until I became the MacKenzie,” he said.
“You’re twisting everything!” she said, clenching her fists.
“Ach, you’re a Douglas through and through.” He spit on the floor. “You’ve no true loyalty, no heart. All that matters to ye is power and position.”
“Ye said ye loved me. How can ye believe such things about me?” She gripped his arm, and what he knew were false tears filled her eyes.
“I loved the woman ye pretended to be,” he said. “Ye played me for a fool, just like your brother did.”
He could not be in the same room with her another moment. When he started toward the door, she clung to his arm, and he shook her off.
“Don’t leave like this,” she pleaded.
“Ye got what ye wanted. You’re a chieftain’s wife,” he said from the doorway. “You’ll find that cold comfort at night.”
***
Rory slammed the door so hard it shook the room. His harsh words rang in Sybil’s ears as her knees gave way and she sank to the floor. She felt as if she had shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, each piece sharp and brittle.
Would she ever feel whole again?
She drew her knees up, buried her face in her arms, and wept as she had not wept since she was a child. Her strength drained out of her like water through a cracked jug.
She had prided herself on always rising to every challenge. Nothing had defeated her before. Even when her brothers deserted her and left her to the queen’s mercy, she had not broken. Instead, she had taken the biggest risk of her life, trusting her fate to a stranger by riding off with him.
Once again, she was alone with nowhere to go. She could not return to her former home and the life she’d left, yet how could she stay here when Rory did not want her?
Rory did not want her.
After devoting so much effort to avoid being wed to a man she did not want, she found herself bound to a man who did not want her. She would have laughed at the irony if she was not weeping so hard. She rocked herself and wept until she had no more tears left as she waited, hoping Rory would return.
But he did not come.