“I do not want to be wed to you,” Aliss said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“Are you sure?” Rogan asked.
“Yes, I am sure,” Aliss said, her voice trembling.
Rogan walked over to her. Her unshed tears tore at his heart and the slight quiver in her chin made his soul ache. He had hurt her terribly, and in so doing, he had hurt himself. He certainly would not forgive himself, why should she?
“A bargain?” he asked.
“Why should I, when you do not honor them?”
He felt the insult like a slap to his face but retained his composure. “I will let you free if . . .”
“I am listening,” Aliss said when he grew silent.
“Come with me and my clan to the Isle of Non. Let me prove how very much I love you. At the end of six months’ time if you are not convinced of my love, I will free you and take my leave. The Isle of Non will be yours and you need never see me again.”
She swallowed hard and he hoped it was because she could not bear the thought of separating from him, hoped that there was a chance for him to redeem himself, hoped she would fall in love with him all over again.
“Three months’ time,” she bartered to his disappointment.
“Six or you have me for a lifetime.”
“All right.” She sighed.
Rogan walked over to Tarr. “A fair enough bargain for you?”
“The choice belongs to Aliss, but I feel it a fair deal,” Tarr said.
He then turned to Fiona.
She spoke before he could. “I feel as my husband does.”
“Then it is settled,” Rogan said. He approached John and Derek and yelled out, “Get the people packing. We leave in a few days for a new home.”
Aliss stared at her husband’s retreating back and felt her legs wobble. They would not hold her up much longer. They would collapse out from under her if she even dared take a single step.
“Aliss, are you all right?” Fiona asked.
She realized then that her whole body trembled. “I am not sure.” Before her sister summoned help, Aliss grabbed her arm. “Walk with me. I need to walk.”
Fiona hooked arms with her and off they strolled.
“This is such a shock to me,” Aliss admitted. “I feel like an idiot. He told me he loved me. I believed him.”
“I can kill him for you and settle everything,” Fiona said.
“No, you mustn’t do that,” Aliss insisted, knowing her sister was serious. “Promise me you will not hurt him.”
Grudgingly Fiona said, “I promise, but tell me why you do not want me to hurt him. He has hurt you, lied to you, and betrayed your trust. He deserves punishment.”
Fiona was right. He had done all that to her and more. He had made her believe he loved her. He had made love to her, told her she was beautiful, and now he wanted time to prove his love—or did he?
Unshed tears choked her, but she refused to acknowledge them. She gave a hard cough to chase them away, and came to a halt by her garden. She took up her hoe to dig in the earth. She had to do something, concentrate on something other than feeling as if her heart were being ripped apart.
“This is my mistake. I must right it.”
“You need not do it alone,” Fiona said.
“I brought this on myself.”
“You most certainly did not,” Fiona said, grabbing the hoe from her hands. “He lied to you from the beginning—”
“No, his people were truly ill.”
“So he used you twice to serve his own purposes. Isn’t he a wonderful man?”
“Rogan is a good man.”
“Now you defend him?” Fiona asked.
Aliss threw her hands up. “I do not know what to do. I do not know how I feel. I do not know what I want. One minute I cannot bear to look at him and then he goes and claims to love me and intends to prove his love within six months.”
“He intends to confuse you and use you all over again. He lied to you once. You do not think he will lie to you again to keep the isle? Need I remind you that he is our enemy?”
“Rogan is a warrior, just like Tarr,” Aliss argued. Why she continued to defend him she could not say.
“Tarr has honor, Rogan does not,” Fiona said angrily. “Rogan has attacked our village, wounded Tarr, abducted you, lied to you and ransomed you, and now claims to love you. Do not be a fool and fall into his trap twice. Send him on his way at the end of six months and be done with the bastard.”
Her sister’s clear outline of the situation left Aliss numb.
Fiona took hold of her hand. “I do not mean to hurt you, or let anyone else hurt you; Rogan has already done that. Do not let him hurt you again.”
“What of love?”