Seeing her confusion, Rhianna made a soft choking sound, her blue eyes filling with fresh tears. “My uncle had a specific reason for putting me in here,” she said finally, her gaze spearing Keira’s. “I’d grown close to one of his warriors … a man named Callum. Fearing that I’d run away with him and not honor my betrothal to Connor Mackay, uncle sent me here.”
Keira gave a soft gasp. “Why haven’t ye told me this before?” Hurt twisted under her breastbone. She thought they told each other everything. Hadn’t she done so? Rhianna knew everything about Keira’s past, of how she was the youngest of six daughters—the plain one with no dowry. All Keira had ever wanted since entering womanhood was to find a kind-hearted husband to settle down and have a family with. But her parents had denied her that. Her father, Maddoc Gunn, was a wealthy sheep farmer and wool merchant, yet marrying off his first five daughters had emptied his coffers—or so he said.
There’s nothing left for ye, Keira, he’d once sneered. Not that any man would want ye.
Rhianna looked away, her slender shoulders trembling as the grief that had consumed her threatened to resurge. “It was too painful,” she whispered.
Her voice was so broken that Keira reached once more for her hand and squeezed tightly. “I’m so sorry,” she said. And she was. The pain on her friend’s face was difficult to look upon. “But perhaps this is for the best … ye and Callum are separated now, and yer husband-to-be will arrive soon to collect ye.”
Rhianna’s gaze snapped up, her blue eyes filled with desperation. “Callum is here, Keira. He is hiding in a cove just south of the nunnery … and I have been to see him.”
Keira’s jaw dropped at this revelation. She actually rocked back on her heels and gaped at her friend. Suddenly, she felt as if she didn’t know Rhianna Ross at all.
“He wants me to go away with him,” Rhianna continued, her voice low and fierce as teardrops sparkled off her long eyelashes. “But I am afraid to. My uncle’s wrath will be terrible.”
“Oh, Rhianna,” Keira whispered, pity crushing her ribcage. “How tragic for ye both … I so wish I could help ye.”
The two women stared at each other, the moment drawing out. Warm sunlight bathed them, dappling through the sheltering boughs of the apple tree, while beyond, the rumble of the surf against Iona’s rocky shoreline intruded.
And as their stare drew out, Rhianna’s face altered slightly. The desperation faded, and in its place, Keira caught a gleam in her wide eyes. “Perhaps ye can,” she murmured.
Keira inclined her head, confused by the comment. “Excuse me?”
Rhianna’s fingers clenched around hers. “I know how unhappy ye are here, Keira. No one will ever rescue ye from this nunnery. Ye will be doomed to spend the rest of yer life here.”
Rhianna’s words were a punch to the belly; Keira knew that was to be her fate, and yet the words spoken aloud like this were cruel indeed. She hated a nun’s life—the austerity of it, the endless prayers. She felt as if she were slowly being buried alive here. And Rhianna knew it.
“But we could change all that,” Rhianna continued, leaning toward her. “Ye and I could swap places when Connor Mackay arrives to collect me … and then we could both go our separate ways … we could both have the lives we’ve dreamed of.”
Keira knew she was now gaping at her friend like a dead carp, yet she couldn’t help herself. Were her ears deceiving her, or was Rhianna suggesting they weave an outrageous lie?
“We can’t do that,” she finally gasped. “It’s wrong … and far too risky. Connor Mackay will know he’s been tricked.”
Rhianna shook her head, vehement. “No, he won’t … he’s never seen me.”
“But he would have heard ye are a great beauty … and I am not!”
Rhianna snorted and released Keira’s hand, batting the comment away. “Ye speak as if ye are foul to look upon.”
“Maybe not, but I am no beauty.”
Rhianna shook her head, negating her words. “Ye have yer own charms, Keira … and many men would find yer looks appealing.”
Keira shifted back from her friend and rose to her feet. “None till now have,” she pointed out, coldness seeping into her voice. She didn’t appreciate being flattered. Rhianna was desperate; she’d say anything to get her to agree to this folly.
“That’s because men are fools,” Rhianna countered. She scrambled