Page 67 of A Fearless Rebel

“Yer mother says to remove yer stitches.” She neared. “I can do it in our bedchamber later, after last meal.”

“That will be fine,” he replied. “We must talk.”

Her nod was hesitant. “Very well.”

“Ava, tell me what happed when ye were abducted? Mother told me ye admitted to it happening.”

For a moment, he thought she was going to faint. All blood left her face, she paled, and her right hand lifted and lowered without reason. Ava’s eyelids fluttered and closed for a moment, but she quickly recovered and turned away.

“There is nothing to tell. I escaped and found my way back.”

Keithen wanted to shake her. Instead, he closed the distance between them and lifted her face. “Tell me the truth. Every detail. I need to hear it.”

“What does it matter?” Ava snapped and took a step back. “I wish to forget about it.”

“Something happened.”

Despite the silence that followed, Keithen refused to relent. Whatever had happened, his wife would tell him. They were not going to leave the room until she did.

Seeming to sense he would not yield, Ava sat down and slumped forward onto the table, her face in her hands.

“After riding to Ross Keep all night, on the way to Mackenzie Keep, I could no longer keep up. Exhausted, I found what I thought was a safe place to sleep for a couple of hours.”

Her voice was hollow as she continued. “I had fallen asleep. It was still dark when I heard Gallant making noise. They tried to take him, but yer horse is not exactly docile. Then one of them saw me. They stopped struggling with Gallant and came to me instead.” She lifted her face and stared forward with an unfocused expression.

“I fought, but the two men overpowered me easily. One groped me, tore open my top. The other reached between my legs. But in the end, they did not do more than that. They had decided to sell me.” Her eyes flickered to him. “They did not rape me, I was bleeding.”

She took a long breath and Keithen remained silent, not wishing to stop her.

“For days, I was in a cramped wooden crate, gagged and tied. Relieved myself, bled and threw up. I must have looked and smelled horrible, because they decided to abandon the crate, with me in it, on the docks.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “An old woman found me, took me to a man, who then I paid to bring me back.”

The chair creaked when she stood and walked to the hearth. Visibly shaking, Ava held her hands out to the fire. “My captors were obviously inept to not have thought to search me for coin.”

Taking everything in, Keithen sensed she was still withholding something. “I am grateful ye were not hurt worse. I do not blame ye for what happened, Ava.”

She stood very still and let out a long breath. As much as he wanted to go to her, Keithen felt it had to be her decision. “I do not wish to be forgiven or accepted. I do not expect to be treated kindly. I do not deserve it.”

“Why do ye feel so strongly about it?”

“Ye came close to death. It was my fault that ye were hung and continue to suffer. It is my fault my brother is dead.” Ava’s voice trembled as she spoke, her shoulders shaking. “I killed our child.”

Her knees seemed to buckle, and she crumbled to the floor. Keithen remained standing as, with his injuries, he could not lower.

Instead, he moved closer and stood next to her. “Ye lost a bairn?”

“Because I had to go. Because I went to see if my mother and brother were injured. They would have never done the same for me. They were not appreciative and acted as if I was there to spy for yer father.” She wasn’t crying. It was more as if she’d given up. “I was not going to return. However, I realize that I deserve every mistreatment from Clan Fraser. I deserve the worst.”

“Ye are not going to be mistreated, Ava.” Keithen had yet to absorb the reality of what she’d disclosed. He was going to be a father. If she’d not gone to her family, then he would not have been captured, and she’d not have gone through the abduction.

“Laird Mackenzie was intent on blaming the death of those guards on a Fraser. They would have captured me or another Fraser eventually. Catriona’s attack…” he began.

“Ye and she should have been who married. If only my father had not intervened,” she interrupted.

“Ava…”

“No.” Ava jumped to her feet and ran from the room.

“What happened?” His father entered the room.