“Kane…” He shook his head, silencing her. Saeran stared up at him, horrified by his tale. Feuds in the Highlands were common—but this was tragic. Simply tragic. Duncan Shaw had done nothing wrong except love a forbidden woman and his children—and Campbell, the selfish, arrogant son of a bitch, had taken it too far.

“I saw it. Through the crack in the wardrobe she pushed us into. She was running to join my father when he stumbled into the room—with a sword embedded into his stomach. He fell into her. She caught him. The English man knocked her unconscious and threw her over his shoulder, laughing. It was like he wiped his hands clean of the fight the second his sword was in my father’s heart.”

Kane laughed bitterly. The bitterness wasn’t the only thing she saw when she looked up at him. It was the horror of a child who’d seen his father killed in front of him. It was the horror of realizing he had lost the one man he never should have lost, and that his mother had been taken. In that instant, she could see the image of him as a child—confused and frightened. Saeran fought back her tears.

She wanted to ask after his mother, if he had ever found her again. But the anguish in his eyes was too great.

In a horrible way, she had been lucky. She hadn’t seen her parents die—instead, she had been at court with her sister, hiding in the library.

“My father’s second in command went after my mother. They found her and brought her home, but…Mother went insane,” he said quietly. She didn’t think he was all the way there. His voice was distant, eyes glazed over. “The McGregor was training me for leadership of the Shaw clan, and my mother lost her mind. She became obsessed with having her revenge. When I refused to help her, too busy training to take over as Laird, she went to Alex.

“I think, even if I had known what she was up to, I couldn’t have stopped her. Annalise was sent to marry Hans Grayham—a measure she took for his loyalty and Anna’s safety—and went after the king. Alex and my mother didn’t come back to the keep.”

“You mean…he killed them?” Saeran was stunned—and disbelieving. Her cousin would never do such a thing, not ever! He was one of the most fair and considerate people she knew. Surely he would not condemn a woman tormented by the loss of her husband to death.

“He didn’t kill her. He banished her—and would have done so to the whole Shaw clan, had McGregor not been there. He saved the clan,” Kane murmured, head falling back against the wall.

“Kane, the king would not—”

“He did. I was there. I heard the order.”

“Nay—”

Hard, cold eyes snapped to hers. “Donna tell me what I did and did no’ see and hear, lass. Yer a Lowlander. Of course ye’ care about the good king’s name—but I donna, and I never will.”

“How did McGregor save the clan?” she asked thinly. She couldn’t believe him—King James, her dear cousin, would never do something so terrible as to banish a whole clan for the grieving actions of one woman. He was honorable, she thought dazedly.

“The McGregor made me fight for the king.”

She stared at him.

“If I did no’, the king would have exiled the whole clan. Me fighting for him, wars with my men that should have been fought with his, ensured my loyalty.”

“How could you stay loyal to a man who threatened you like that?” she whispered, still unable to believe that her own cousin had done that to Kane.

He stared at her for a tense moment.

“I think I am done with this conversation,” he growled, stiffly pulling away from her. There was something he wasn’t telling her. Saeran watched him turn away from her, heart crashing in her chest.

The conversation had turned into one she hadn’t anticipated. Not only did he have a deeper side to him than she’d originally thought, but she had revealed things about herself that she never should have. He wasn’t supposed to know that “Alice’s” family had died in a fire. He wasn’t supposed to know that she had gone to the fairs. He wasn’t supposed to know anything about her except the fake name she had given him…and yet, there was something about him that made it easy for her to talk to him.

Blaine.

It was all Blaine, she thought, digging her nails into her palm as sudden anger surged through her. Blaine was the reason she felt so alone, so deprived of human contact. Blaine was the reason that Saeran felt comfortable talking to the one man she shouldn’t be.

For that alone, she wanted to hate her sister.

“Lass,” Kane said, drawing her attention. His back was to hers, tense, and forbidding. She unclenched her hands, fighting for composure. He couldn’t see her, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t as attuned to her as she was to him.

“Aye, my lord.”

“Kane,” he corrected her, looking at her over his shoulder. “When does yer stay here end?”

She paused.

“I…I am not entirely sure.” Yes she was. So long as Blaine and Kane married, she would be here for as long as they permitted her presence. Blaine had said she would reveal who Saeran really was after the wedding, but she doubted that would happen now. The more her sister demanded, the more she began to realize that Blaine was…selfish. Selfish and greedy. If she could bribe Saeran with the truth of her condition for eternity, Blaine would.

Saeran still loved her sister, deep down, but she was incredibly angry with her. No longer would she idly sit by as she controlled everyone around her unjustly—nor would she let Blaine control Saeran. No more. It ended today.

“Where are ye’ staying? What wing?”

She went pale.

“It does not matter, does it?” she asked, fighting for composure in earnest. Saeran felt her hands begin to sweat. She slept in the east wing, where Blaine’s, Saeran’s, and Kane’s rooms were. It was the family wing, whereas the other wings were meant for servants or simply empty.

“O’ course it does,” he growled, turning around. Thick arms crossed over an even thicker chest. Lord, but he was large. Her mouth somehow managed to water with desire and dry with fear at the same time. How did that even happen? she thought dazedly.

Kane. Kane did that to her.

“My lord—”

His low growl of disapproval shushed her.

“I never see ye’ during the day.”

She smiled uneasily. “You’ve only known me for a night. You must not have noticed me—”

“No,” he said bluntly, giving her a hard stare. “Ye’ve been here for a full moon, and I only saw ye’ last night and today. What do ye’ even do during the day?”

She stared at him. Oh, why did he have to be so nosy? Actually, no. Why had she been so foolish as to go into the kitchens not dressed as a boy? If she had taken that precaution, like she should have, she would not be in this position. She would be in her room, safe and sound, without him nitpicking every fake detail she’d given.

“I am feeling…quite tired,” she said weakly. It was not entirely feigned. The toll of her fears, and of his pestering, was making her dizzy. He could never find out who she was, not truly. Him asking all of these questions, with all of her slip-ups, was leading right to that!

Almost instantly, his eyes changed. Softening around the edges, the hard lines of his face no longer appeared terrifyingly tense—he was concerned. Before she could make an excuse to leave, he came forward, taking her in his arms.

His body was hot. Overwhelming. The confidence she had felt with him earlier fled, replaced by a sense of shy security. She felt safe in his arms, but she could not be as forward as she had been. Not in this way. Trembling hands cautiously landed on his chest.

“Yer secretive, nymph.”

“Nay, I—” He cut off her denial with a kiss to her temple. She quieted, cheeks heating.

“Aye, ye’ are. One second, ye’ll tell me about yer family, then the next, yer retreating into a defense position, avoiding my questions. It makes me curious, but I will no’ push you.”

She lifted her eyes to his. They were soft, but determined. He may not push her, but that would not deter him from learning all he could about her. She saw the knowledge in his eyes as clearly as the sun shone during the day. She shivered—not from fear, but from anticipation. A game, she thought. He was thinking of this as a game.

She would not lose.

“I do not understand what you mean,” she said lightly. She did, though, and to quickly change the subject, she asked, “I heard that you are once again going to war.”

He sighed.

“Back to that, are we?”

“It’s a colossal matter, Kane!” she said, offended by the exasperation in his voice. “Whenever you go to war, men die.”

“My men donna.”

“But they do—”

“No. They donna. The weak bastards we fight against do.”

She pulled out of his arms, putting her hands on her hips. “Either way, men die. People die. The war takes a toll on your own clan—”

“No it doesna.”

“Kane!”

“Alice!” he said in falsetto, rolling his eyes at her. “Yer lack of faith in me is quite offensive. My men donna die, my clan does no’ feel the toll of war, and yer best to mind yer own business.”

She stared at him.

He stared right back.

Then he smiled. It was a terrible smile, one that she knew he gave just to rile her. Still, the sight of it sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

“If ye’ must know, my men and I are leaving within the sennight.”

“What?”

He burst into laughter. “Donna fash yerself, lass. Ye’ll be safe and sound here. Although,” he said with a sigh. “I do have a new lad to look after. You know him—he’s the one who found ye’. Saeran Sinclair.”

“What?”

That’s all she could manage. Her thoughts were going wild, panic was beginning to build, and confusion was right on her heels. Saeran. Herself. War. Within a week. A battle—that she would be going to. What.

She couldn’t ride a horse properly, let alone wield a sword! What was he thinking, taking her out to battle? Hadn’t he withdrawn her from the training? Shouldn’t that mean she should stay behind, at the keep?

“My lord—”

“Kane.”

“Kane, I…Do not you think Saeran is too…I don’t know how to put this. Feminine? He’s small, not…”

“Not what?” He frowned at her.

“…large.”

“Saeran canna help that he is a late bloomer. I was once a small lad like him,” he said, scowling at her. “It was no’ until I was seven and ten until I started to grow. Donna doubt the lad’s strength even though he is small. If he heard ye’…Lass, I donna want to hear negative things like that in my keep.”

Even though he was defending her other identity, she blushed.

“I was just pointing it out… Wasn’t he taken out of training?”

“Aye, but what does that have to does with anything?”

“Kane. He obviously won’t be prepared—”

“In the heat of battle, I am sure he will rise to the occasion. That’s what it took for myself. Saeran is very similar to myself as a lad,” he said, almost proudly. Her heart softened, even though she disagreed with him completely.

She had always thought he hated her. Every time she was forced to be in his presence, he would either ignore her or snap at her. Rarely would he praise her, as he was doing now. That just showed the kind of man he was.

He would not admit to feeling soft towards anyone, but he did. He was not as hateful as she had assumed. Aye, he was rough around the edges, and strict and insistent, with determination that should terrify her, but he was not as bad a man as The Lion was reputed to be.

“Why are ye’ looking at me like that, lass?”

She blinked. “Pardon?”

A slow smile came over his face.

“Are ye’ worried about me now?” I’m worried about that look on your face! she thought. Instead of saying that, she backed away. He was slowly coming forward, his body moving as gracefully as she’d ever seen it, muscles rippling in the dim light of the room. How could she speak, when her mouth was so dry?

The only thing she could manage was a choked gasp when his body pressed against the length of hers.

“Donna worry, lass. I’ll come back for ye’.”

The words were spoken in a near growl, sending a shiver down her back, washing away the fear of what was to come. He wouldn’t have to come back for her, since she would be there the whole time. But she did not say that.

His head lowered. Her breath left her mouth on a gasp. He took advantage of it, taking her lips with his own, and masterfully clearing away any thoughts of everything else. Except, that is, for the hands that were now on her waist, the hardness that was pressing into her hip, and the feel of his hot, dominant mouth against her own.

Then, just as quickly as he had kissed her, he left. She watched him go with her hand over her mouth, cheeks flushed.