Tempest Heart - Paula Quinn Page 0,48

when the earl died?

Rose forgave her but wrung her hands in front of her. Oddly enough, it wasn’t her father who made her nerves as tight as harp strings. It was the memory of being home—a place her father had meant to be her safe haven—but others had made into a house of thorns.

She sat on her bed as clarity overwhelmed her. She’d been so lonely here because of the servants and soldiers, only a few people ever spoke to her. Captain Harper was, of course, one of them. His wife, Mary, was another. Jonathon Jones, next under the captain was friendly to her, but his wife did not like her. Out of ten servants, four were kind to her. Donella and Morven, both over forty, Grainne, over sixty, and Steven the stableman. Whether they liked her or not, they had little time to speak to her, especially about things she found of interest at fourteen, or sixteen, or eighteen, or twenty.

Before that, she had Neill and sometimes Jonetta.

She thought she was in love with Neill twice, and with Captain Harper once while growing into a woman. The castle priest, Father Benedict, had reminded her that Neill was a servant and the captain was wed. He told her to confess to the captain’s wife and gave her penance for having such notions.

And she was ashamed of them, for she loved Mary. She’d done what the priest had told her and confessed to Mary. And ’twas Mary who had helped her realize that what she was feeling was normal in her circumstance. The captain was handsome and kind, and he spent time with her.

He was her friend, but Rose knew she wasn’t in love with him, for all her girlish fancies left her as soon as she wished them to be gone.

Not so with Tristan. How many times had she wished for what she’d felt for him to disappear? He was a killer. He was hired to kill her father. It was wrong to love him. She felt the weight of it now more than ever. No one here was going to want to hear a word about how she could change Tristan’s mind.

She prayed that he lived, but if he came here, only chaos would ensue. Rose wasn’t sure who would come out alive, but some would die. It terrified her.

But she still wanted to know that he lived.

She loved her father, but she didn’t want to stay here. She didn’t like it here. She tried to like it. She told herself that she did. She pretended in order to please her father.

But she didn’t want to be here anymore. As dangerous as the world outside these gates was, she would rather live out her life out there.

With Tristan.

Her heart felt traitorous within her to pray that he came to Callanach Castle. It would mean he lived!

Would he come as soon as he was well and sneak in through the high windows? Would her father end up like Governor Walters?

What did Tristan care about guilt or innocence? He’d told her he would cut Walter’s throat from behind, and that was exactly what he had done. He didn’t look his victims in the eyes because he didn’t care.

But he did care! He cared for her. He’d carried her away from the dead and the flames. He’d given up the tea he’d credited with helping to keep sickness away, to her. He held her while she dreamed of terrible things. He saved her from being raped by a beast and his friends. He vowed not to kill her father until she helped convince him of her father’s innocence.

Aye, she loved him. She would tell her father and the men, and she wouldn’t care what they thought. They didn’t know Tristan. They were afraid of him. She understood why, but they didn’t have to be afraid anymore. Her father was innocent, and Rose would prove it.

Alana returned with a fresh, white kirtle and a deep red, fitted overcoat with embroidered edges. “If you will take off that rag, I will burn it.”

Rose smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. She didn’t want it burned. Tristan had paid for it and was forced to embrace its previous owner as payment. He’d done it for her. She wanted to smile but Alana was watching her.

She undressed and handed the clothes off to Alana. The handmaid carried the dress away from her to the door. When she reached it, she opened it and dumped the dress