Page 88 of The Rogue’s Redemption

Allie did just that, though she’d never been overly patient, and Juliette’s hesitancy to explain herself tested her resolve to remain silent.

“You’ve spoken to Reid since he returned?”

Allie did not even attempt to deny it. “I did.”

“And what did he tell you?”

Thinking back to their conversation, Allie relayed all of what Reid had said about his leave-taking. But as she spoke, she realized there was more to his tale.

“What is this meeting about?” she asked as soon as she’d finished.

“The elders are angry with him—”

“As is his chief?” she guessed.

Juliette frowned. “Toren loves his brother.”

“But he is angry with him.”

“Aye,” Juliette admitted. “Very much so. Toren has always encouraged differing opinions. He would never presume to believe he has every answer, but Reid has always been so . . .”

Juliette was reluctant to continue, so Allie finished for her. “Difficult.”

A rueful smile was Juliette’s only response.

“He disobeyed direct orders—”

“Because he feared repercussions if Clan Kerr was the only one to miss the Day of Truce. Without word from Douglas—”

“’Twas not his decision to make.”

Nay, it was not. It was the clan chief’s decision, and Reid knew it well.

“What will they do?”

Juliette shrugged. “I cannot begin to presume, but I thought you should know. I’ve made arrangements for a meal to be brought here,” she said. “I thought we might want to talk—”

“You’re worried.”

Allie did not like Juliette’s expression. What did all of this mean?

“I do not like to see Toren and Reid like this. They are brothers—”

“But Toren is also chief.” Allie had learned much about the relationship between a chief and his clan from living with Graeme and Aidan. Many of the customs she’d encountered in Scotland were the same as those she’d become accustomed to growing up, but some were not. And the relationship between clan members was one of the main differences.

They were interrupted by Elise, who brought a tray of food into the chamber and placed it on the sole wooden table. Allie was not hungry, but she did not want Juliette to eat alone, so they moved to the table together. It struck her that Juliette’s stomach had grown quite swollen.

Allie approached her sister warily. “You should not have come up here—”

“Because I should be in confinement instead? Aye, I’ve been told. Many, many times. In this, I choose to listen to my books rather than my people.”

Juliette read more than anyone Allie had ever met. Her collection of books and manuscripts rivaled an abbey’s.

“Does it hurt much?”

Juliette spoke of the babe, her concerns for the future with the current troubles, and by the time Allie realized they had eaten all of the food on the tray, she realized what her friend had done.

“You were distracting me,” she said, smiling gratefully.