“I never kent who ye were. ‘Tis nae love if ye dinnae ken the person standing before ye.”
Her head ache suddenly exploded. Shewas hit in the chest by an arc of pain that spread across her body. Chaos reigned in her body. There was nothing she could do to stop it this time. Her vision was blurred by pain, and her head drooped from weakness. Darach stood with disbelief and shock still written on his face as she slid toward the floor, blackness closing in around her.
She had lost it all, she realized. It was all for nothing.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
Jane awoke to the sound of birds singing outside the window. It was still long before sunrise, and the room was dark. Someone had moved her to the bed, or perhaps she had managed to crawl there before fully losing consciousness. She folded on the bed, curling her legs into herself, her heart pounding hard as she sobbed into the pillow. It must have been hours ago since she’d spoken to Darach.
She hoped at first that he'd understand she'd told him the truth and forgive her, but she quickly realized that he'd be nowhere to be found in the silent halls as she watched and waited.
Darach would never forgive her, and she wondered why he hadn't sent her back to her father's castle yet. He was probably too preoccupied with his war preparations to leave her one last night under the same roof as him. Jane sighed, her heart clenched in agony. In every way, she had failed. Darach didn't believe her and was about to fall into this fatal trap.
“Please, dinnae let him die. Please, let him see through Kenn’s deceits.”
She didn’t regret her decision to tell him, but she mourned all she was now to lose because of it. She would probably never see Darach’s genuine smile again, never feel his lips on her. He’d probably hate her for the rest of his life, however short that might be. She prayed again for him to survive. She’d accept him hating her forever if he could at least stay alive. Losing him would be too much.
The thought of it all made her weary, and in her exhaustion, she crawled under the covers and buried her head in the pillow so no one would hear her sobs. She knew not how much time had passed. When she felt a hand slide over her arm and to her shoulder, she flinched away and turned over, prepared to defend herself from the attack.
“Shh, lass, ‘tis me, Jane,” the familiar voice whispered.
She stared up to see Lorna’s beautiful profile in the darkness, unable to believe she was in her chamber. The girl gently touched her wet cheek and wiped away the trail of tears. Her voice was tortured, and her words seemed ripped from a pained place in her soul.
“Ah, Jane, I apologize for my brother’s actions.”
She moved in closer and wrapped her arms around herneck. Jane hugged her backand gripped her for dear life. She suddenly felt it. She felt an emptiness deep within her belly that she hadn't felt before.
Is this a dream? No, it wasn’t. Lorna's heartbeats were palpable, and she could hear her soft sounds as her arms encircled her. Her flowery, feminine scent was detectable. She could feel her own heartbeat and her breath softly rushing out of her lungs as she clung to herhand, shaking and messing up her already unruly hair.
It all felt normal, except she knew well that something was missing from her. That deep rumbling voice resting in her was absent.
“Lorna,” she choked out. “Did yer brother ken ye were coming tae me?”
“Oh God, Jane.” Her eyes found hers, and she blinked desperately as if she were unsure what to tell her, and there was a secret she didn’t want to reveal.
Jane narrowed her eyes in response. “The truth, Lorna. Did yer brother ken?”
She licked her lips together, and her eyes glistened with tears. “The answer tae yer question is both aye and nay, my lady.”
She raised her eyebrows with a questioning look, and Lorna sighed in frustration. “Morven kens, but Darach doesnae for now.”
Jane shrugged. She should have quizzed the lass further, but she already had the answer she needed. When the girl spoke, there was no familiar hiss of lies in her, nor was there a satisfactory tingle that signaled she spoke the truth. She was empty.
She breathed deeply, trying to reel her wild mind in. The strain of the pain that grew in her because of the situation was now too much to bear. She was completely at her wit’s end.
She’d feared the prophecy at every turn, and when she had met Darach Robertson, she had thought that he would cause her to lose her life. She’d lived in constant fear of the man who would bring demise to the daughter of truth, and now it was done.
The prophecy was fulfilled.
She swayed wearily in Lorna’s arms, and after looking into the younger woman’s face, she broke out into a peal of hysterical laughter.
“Jane?” Lorna called out in a worried tone.
Jane shook her head and sniveled. “I am dead inside.”
Lorna’s eyes widened. “Dead? Nae ye’re nae, my lady. All will be fine.”
Jane nodded her head. Clearly, she couldn’t understand. No one would probably ever understand this feeling except for her. It was her cross, and she had to bear it alone. Tears glistened on her cheeks as she gave in to the overwhelming grief welling from the depths of her soul.