Saeran knew that Blaine knew about the battle. It was all she talked about to anyone but Saeran. Lately, she’d been avoiding Saeran, and she honestly couldn’t blame her sister. Saeran’s outbursts and complete disregard for her sister’s “problems” were causing a rift between them.

In the past week, the rift became worse.

Being with Kane gave her hope—hope for the future. That maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t have to hide from him. That she could show him who she really was. Alice was only a name. Everything else he knew about her was true.

They were…perfect together. Aye, perfect. Even though she had only spent time with her father, the only other male she had known, she felt like she connected with Kane on a level that she could never achieve with another man. He was hard, yet soft. He was stoic, yet sweet. He was smart, yet naïve—at least when it came to her. He was all she could think about now—him, and how they might have a future together. Connor might have been correct when he assumed that he would accept her. The only thing that held her back from exposing herself was the fear of the unknown, and…Blaine.

Saeran couldn’t stand the sight of her sister. Thinking of Kane proposing to her, taking Blaine into his arms and kissing her with the passion he gave her, created a sensation in her heart that robbed her of breath. She should be happy that Blaine was closer to achieving her goal, but Saeran couldn’t make herself be happy for them. If anything, she wanted to keep the two of them apart.

It didn’t even bother her anymore. Before, the thought of angering her sister into silence was terrifying. Now, Saeran was actually relieved. Her sister’s unreasonable attitude made it easier for her to see Kane. Though with him preparing for battle, and her working herself into a fit to organize the accounts before they left, they hadn’t seen much of each other.

For that, she was both grateful and upset. She missed him. Aye, she was able to see him as Saeran the boy, but it was purely business. He didn’t take her into his arms, didn’t hold her or kiss her. He didn’t even know who she was! The good thing about this, however, was that she could learn more about him.

He was a completely different man around Saeran and her counterpart, Alice. She had expected it to be a drastic, terrible change. It was anything but. With both personalities, he was kind, considerate, and he had a good sense of humor.

After their steamy kiss in his study, they had only seen each other twice that week. Her body craved him more than before every time she saw him, and she knew it would only become worse in the coming weeks.

Saeran set down the sealed parchment and stood, stretching her arms. She had been sitting in the same chair for the past two hours and she was sure it was dark outside. Her whole day had been spent correcting the accounts. Luckily, they were done, and she could finally relax. The only thing she had to worry about when she returned was training the beast with Brodrick, and cleaning the stables. The accounts were in order and could practically take care of themselves until she returned.

Happy and feeling like the world had been lifted from her shoulders, she practically ran to the door. She could hear the ruckus in the hall and knew it was time to sup. Finally, she could have a real meal with a moment to herself.

At least, she thought that until a plump figure ran into her while she was coming around the corner. She cursed before she could stop herself.

“Why are you running in my halls?” Blaine snapped, grabbing Saeran by the wrist when she would have fallen into the ground. Saeran could have gaped at her from the shock of her sister’s help, but then Blaine shoved her away, sending Saeran crashing into the wall.

She could barely keep her temper to under control.

“The cook has set the table, has she not?” Saeran snapped. She pushed passed Blaine, angry. These were not her halls—they were Kane’s. He had yet to propose to the woman who she used to adore.

“I am getting tired of your attitude,” her sister snapped from behind her. “It is like all of your responsibilities are getting to your head, sister.”

Saeran froze. Her hands clenched at her sides. Of course her sister would pick now to confront her on something that was not even her fault. Blaine had been the one to cause this. If not for coercing Saeran into pretending to be a boy, she would not have all the time she had with Kane and all of the responsibilities that came with managing the accounts. All the years she had insulted Saeran, making her think it was for the good of her health and beauty, came back to her.

“Are you so important that you cannot speak to me anymore? What, do you think that because you were assigned to do my duties, that you’re better than me?” Blaine laughed, but the sound was anything but joyful.

Saeran stared at the wall, fighting. Fighting so hard not to turn around and show her sister how much she had learned in the dusty training area. She couldn’t stop the flow of anger and betrayal—frustration—that coursed through her. Even when Saeran had made it a point to avoid her sister, Blaine found something to complain about.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, clenching her teeth. Saeran had done nothing but dirty work. Cleaning the stalls and training an insane horse that was bent on killing her was not part of “Blaine’s duties”. Lord, the only duty she had was walking around and looking pretty, and she couldn’t even do that properly.

The pinch of guilt she should have felt at her cruel thoughts were absent. She wasn’t even concerned by the lack of them.

“The accounts. Spending all your time with that beast of a man. Who do you think you are?” A hand grabbed her by the elbow, jerking her around. Saeran yanked herself away from her sister’s hard grip and ground her teeth.

“Do you even know how to do the accounts, Blaine?” She met her sister’s eyes for the first time since being stopped. What she saw there made it all the more impossible not to do something she wouldn’t regret later.

Jealousy. Fury. Greed. It was all there, and for the first time since Saeran and Blaine had reached their womanhood, she saw it for what it was. There was not a single ounce of love in her sister’s face—and there never had been. The realization was not shocking, but it was painful.

The look Blaine was giving her now was everything she had seen in her eyes since the day their parents had died. Her sister had stopped loving her somewhere along the line, and Saeran was no longer fooled.

She bit back the hurt at the realization.

“I do not have to know yet! The fact of the matter is, you are trying to take my place, and I do not appreciate it.”

Lord, Blaine sounded ridiculous. Saeran smiled a little. It was more sarcastic than adoring, and her sister took note of it. Blaine watched her narrowly.

“I fail to see how I am ‘taking your place’ when I am a boy in the man’s eyes. And he is not a beast,” she hissed. He was the exact opposite, and the fact that Blaine refused to understand that infuriated Saeran. Kane was good. He was rough, but good.

More than good.

Amazing. Stunning. His strength, both mental and physical…entrancing.

“I should be the one doing the accounts and spending time with him. The whole of this week, it seems the two of you are sneaking off! He is my husband, Saeran. Not yours,” she hissed. Her pudgy hands clenched at her sides, and she looked ready to strike Saeran.

She wanted to be hit. She wanted to be hit so hard that Blaine drew blood, so that she could return the strike tenfold.

“He is not your husband.” He had yet to propose, and she hoped it stayed that way. The more she thought about the two of them, the angrier she became. It had been a constant threat the entire week. To think of them together…as man and wife…when Kane and Saeran created fire with their passion…it was inconceivable. Her chest tightened.

Suspicion glistened in her sister’s eyes.

“Jealous? Saeran, are you jealous?” Sick pleasure gleamed in her eyes. It was so shocking that she couldn’t respond. Her sister wanted her to feel like this. Choked up, sick to her stomach. She was baiting Saeran for it. Then the suspicion worsened into pure fury. “He knows who you are. He knows that you’re a woman, doesn’t he?”

Saeran hated herself for it, but she smiled. Not wide enough to be a yes, and not small enough to be a no. Just enough to make her sister think.

“We spend so much time together…”

“You whore.” Blaine reached out. Her hand moved fast enough that Saeran almost didn’t stop it in time, but she did. She caught her sister’s hand in a tight grip. The urge to twist was so strong that it took all of her willpower to simply shove her sister aside.

“I cannot believe you,” Saeran said, staring at her sister. “What did I ever do to you?”

Blaine’s body stilled, as if time stopped. Saeran felt the shift in the air, and suddenly, this turned into more than jealousy over Kane. This turned into something darker, deeper, and dangerous. This was not normal.

Saeran should be able to look past this. She should be able look past Blaine’s greed. They were sisters and Saeran loved Blaine…to a point. Lately, the point had become more and more dull, until it was so blunt, it was like a gleaming flat surface. The surface was flat enough for the love she held for her sister to slide right into hatred.

Time did still. Saeran and Blaine were frozen in time as they stared at each other. A feather could have dropped, and it would have sounded like the screams of battle. Saeran’s aching heart dropped to her stomach, and the shaking in her hands became too much.

She clenched them together. Her sister, like she always had, would latch onto the weakness like an animal, and she wouldn’t stop until Saeran was bleeding.

“You’ve changed,” Blaine whispered, holding Saeran’s eyes. They were wide, muddy brown, and the realization seemed to shock her. “What happened to the girl that would follow me around like a lost puppy? What happened to that Saeran?”

Saeran felt sick. Aye, she had followed her sister around like a lost puppy—up until their arrival on Shaw lands. Mayhap hiding at court had kept her sister’s greed and selfishness at a low point, but now, when she saw and heard her sister everyday…

In a way, she was grateful for coming here. She feared that, had she not come, Saeran would never have noticed the way her sister used her weak feelings to manipulate her. Court had allowed her to be soft—in the Highlands, you became strong whether you wanted to or not. Now her feelings were stronger, deeper, and clearer than ever.

Blaine hated her to the point of destroying her with Saeran’s own kindness.

And Saeran didn’t know what she had done to deserve it.

“Blaine, what did I do to you? Why do you hate me?” Saeran’s thoughts were running wild. Never had she back-talked her sister. Never had she intentionally offended her. Whatever she had done to make Blaine hate her must have happened a long time ago because Saeran, for the life of her, couldn’t recall a time when Blaine wasn’t belittling her.

Blaine laughed.

“What would you do,” she murmured, raking disgusted eyes over Saeran, “if I said we weren’t actually sisters?”

Blaine stormed away without another word.