said, ignoring how awful it made her feel to say such. “Take someone else.”
Her cousin didn’t agree with her, she could see it in the stiff lines of his shoulders. But neither did he try to argue. And for that she was grateful.
With his silence she turned to walk again, heading from the garden back to the castle.
Sixteen
Jenny didn’t change her mind and force Toran to leave, nor did it appear that she had told anyone else about her brief order for his exile. She also didn’t speak to him for four days, notwithstanding his attempts to make amends and not for the lack of others trying to interfere. The tension between the two of them was palpable, and the time for her to leave to meet the prince was growing closer. The idea of her riding off without him at her side unsettled him.
Aye, he knew Jenny was plenty capable of protecting herself; he’d seen it firsthand. But he still couldn’t just stay behind. He had a mission to win her over, to prove to her that he was worthy, that she could trust him. Damnation! He had to prove that he was the man for her.
Dirk did tell him that they’d decided to keep Simon in the cell until after meeting with the prince so he wouldn’t be able to foil their plans or put anyone in danger while they were gone. It would be then that he dealt with his bastard uncle as well.
Finally, one morning, he waited in the shadows between the barracks and stables for her to check on the men constructing her false-bottomed wagons. He started toward her, and as though she sensed him—as much as he always sensed when she was near—she glanced up. Panic flashed quickly on her face before it disappeared.
“I’m going with ye, Jenny,” he said. “Dinna deny me.”
Her frown deepened, and she watched him through eyes that left no room for guessing at her thoughts. Those in the courtyard paused, trying poorly to be surreptitious in their eavesdropping.
“If I choose to deny ye, that is my right,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and managing to look down her nose at him despite him being taller.
Toran bowed his head. “Aye, ’tis. I’m asking ye not to.” He raised his gaze to hers, searching the emerald-green eyes for some sign and feeling himself getting lost in their depths. “I was going the wrong way until I met ye, and I’ve been lost without your direction. I’ll get down on my knees right here if need be. Ye’ve punished me thoroughly, I admit it. Allow me to prove to ye I am true.”
“There is no coming back,” she said, eyes steady, back stiff. “If ye betray our cause, I’ll kill ye myself.”
“Should it come to that, I will hand ye the weapon of your choice. I swear to ye, ye can trust me. I am yours.” He cleared his throat. “Yours to do with what ye will. I am your soldier.”
There was a shift in her eyes at that declaration, giving him a moment’s glimmer of hope.
“Ready yourself, soldier.” And then she turned her back on him and marched toward the castle.
He wanted to run after her, to swing her up in his arms and thank her for giving him a second chance, but to do so would cause a scene—not to mention possibly inspire her to change her mind.
Toran glanced at those milling around the courtyard. Some stared at him with respect and others with expressions he couldn’t determine. There was one face that didn’t look too pleased at all, and that was Dirk’s, which didn’t surprise him in the least.
If he was going to win over Jenny completely, he needed to win over her cousin as well. No way could he have the man she was closest with looming over him and wanting him dead. Toran wasn’t afraid of Dirk. Hell, when they’d grappled weeks ago, they’d been evenly matched. If Toran had actually put in more effort, then he would have bested the man.
Toran nodded in Dirk’s direction, and to his surprise, Dirk nodded back.
* * *
Never before had Jenny experienced this unsettled nervous feeling. Not when Boyd had had his hands on her, not when they had been running from dragoons with bullets whizzing past her head. But when she was around Toran, when he had begged her in front of everyone to let him come along with her, to believe in him—when it felt