A/N: This was written for the M&B/Harlequin fic fest at unconventionalcourtship on Dreamwidth and is based on the blurb for a Harlequin novel also called 'Taken by the Border Rebel'. The first sentence of the fic is actually true, however the rest is completely AU.
Blurb: TORMENTED BY HER INNOCENCE As leader of his clan, Black Robert Goren has earned every dark syllable of his name. But, having taken hostage his enemy's daughter in a fierce act of rebellion, he is tormented by feelings of guilt and torn apart with the growing need to protect her - and seduce her! Alexandra Eames feels Robert's disdain from the first. Then slowly she starts to see behind his eyes to a man in turmoil. Something he has no words for, something that can only be captured in a heart-wrenching kiss... The Goren Clan The family who will kneel to no one...
During the aftermath of the Great Revolt in the reign of King Henry II, William of Scotland was forced to surrender five key castles as part of the Treaty of Falaise in exchange for his freedom. Two of these castles, and their surrounding lands, had been under the control of the Goren clan for centuries and they were furious to learn that William had given them away without any thought as to compensation for the clan. But after his defeat William would not consider giving the Goren clan the men or the resources that were needed to take back their land from the English. So the clan leader, Patrick Goren, promised his people that they would take back their land, with or without Scotland's help and then even if it took one hundred generations, the land would return to Goren control one day.
Over the next hundred years, generations of Gorens and their clansmen fought to reclaim the land. The family ignored their responsibilities towards Scotland as they doggedly pursued their goal. They were considered outlaws and rebels, ones that Scotland preferred to ignore, but that England could not. After Henry took the Goren castles for England, responsibility for maintaining the border and ensuring that the land remained under English rule was given to a Lord Eames, whose descendants continued to battle to hold back the Gorens. Over time, the English kings also lost interest in the castles, but the Eameses continued to fight, determined not to lose to the rebellious Gorens.
It had been three months since the Gorens and the Eameses had last met on the battlefield. There had been heavy losses on both sides, but it had been the Gorens who won the battle that day, reclaiming the smaller of the two castles and the land in the immediate vicinity, albeit not for the first time. Over the past century control of the castles had been in the hands of both families at varying times, although the Gorens had never been able to hold them for long. But the people who lived in the troubled region were starting to believe that that was going to change.
The Gorens had always been the more vicious fighters, but the Eameses had had the numbers and the leadership to resist. And whilst the Eameses still had the numbers, the leader of the Goren clan had shown in recent years that he was very different to his ancestors and that he posed a real threat to his enemy, John Eames.
John Eames was getting older, but still insisted on leading his troops, determined not to rest until the Gorens were defeated or he was dead. All his life he had been taught that it was his job to do whatever was necessary to ensure that the two castles and land remained under English control. A hatred of the Gorens flowed through his veins and coloured everything that he did. But his hatred caused him to underestimate them, believing them to be vicious barbarians that lacked the intelligence to formulate any strategy beyond the use of violence to win a battle. John's youngest child, and only son, Charles was his second in command, riding by his side and taking a key role in the war room in preparation for the day when he would take over the role. He had inherited his father's determination to repel the Gorens and hated the clan just as much as any Eames leader ever had. But he recognised that the current leader of the Goren clan was different and that the sheer number of soldiers that the Eameses controlled was not going to be enough anymore, new approaches to warfare were going to need to be taken in order to defeat this man.
Black Robert Goren.
The youngest son of William Goren, Robert had not been expected to become leader of the Goren clan. But a war injury had forced Frank Goren, William's oldest son, off the battlefield. Unable to lead his troops, Frank had not been seen by anyone except his immediate family and their servants since that day, although he was still loved and admired by their people. He had been the favourite of both his parents, although William had died a number of years ago from a seemingly minor illness. Truthfully William would have hated the idea that Frank was no longer leading the clan and that Robert was doing so instead, having always considered his younger son inferior and often making it publically known. But there had been no choice, for Frank had no legitimate children and Robert was next in line to inherit the leadership, with there being nothing about Robert that William and Frank's supporters could use against him to stop him from taking on the leadership.
But whilst the people still loved the oldest Goren brother, they knew that it was Robert who could win the fight against the English. As well as being a naturally gifted soldier, Robert had transformed the military that he commanded, introducing methods of fighting and warfare that had never been seen before, at least not by the clan. He seemed to be able to predict what moves John Eames was going to make, having studied every battle that his enemy had taken part in, as well those of previous Eameses, specifically John Eames's father and grandfather. He frequently sent scouts across the border and would often venture out himself, much to the dismay of his advisors. It was one thing to lose a leader in battle, it was another to lose him because he was caught wandering in enemy territory. It was actions such as these that had made William and Frank's supporters wonder about Robert before he became leader, but with his achievements since Frank had been injured none of the people thought to question him.
Across the border, Black Robert Goren was considered a brutal, vicious, bloodthirsty killer and John Eames did nothing to stop the stories that were told of him. That Black Robert wouldn't stop with the two castles and that he wanted the throne of England for himself. Such stories helped to motivate his own men. Although Eames had fought Frank in battle, he had yet to fight Robert, although he had seen him at a distance. He had seen that he was an efficient soldier, not wasting any more time than necessary on one enemy before moving onto the next and he was training his men to be the same. John's loses in the previous battle had shown this, but it was going to take time to train his own men in the same way. He knew that with Robert holding one of the castles there would be pressure on him to recover it as quickly as possible and he could only pray that by the next battle, his men would be ready.
A frosty wind blew across the field, but Robert didn't notice as he focused instead on the land that lay before him. This had been the battlefield for the last encounter between his men and those of John Eames. Although the clan had been the victor on the day, reclaiming the smaller of the Goren castles, he had still lost far too many men and needed to determine what he could do differently next time. Nudging his horse forward, he pulled the reins back to stop it when they reached the middle of the battlefield. Closing his eyes for a moment, he tried to picture it before the battle had started, when each army was waiting in formation for the order to go.
The land was closer to the larger castle, the one that Eames used, which had given him the starting advantage. A battle closer to an army's base was no doubt riskier, but it also made it easier to move troops and meant that they were less likely to be tired from a long journey. Robert wondered how he could use this to his advantage. Certainly having claimed the smaller castle he didn't want to waste time and give Eames's army a chance to recover before the next battle and would therefore need to continue his offensive as soon as possible. But he needed to push further into Eames territory; this wasn't a battle he was able to fight close to his own base.
The horse shifted restlessly underneath him, eager to move on, but Robert paid it no heed, continuing to stare into the distance as though he could still see Eames's army. He was suddenly brought out of his musings when he saw movement on the horizon.
He immediately gathered the reins in his hands and shifted his weight forward, ready to make a quick escape if necessary. He was perilously close to enemy territory and he could not allow himself to be caught. He always insisted on revisiting the site of any battle after the event, even when Frank had been leader and he had only been a soldier. But whilst the behaviour was tolerated previously, his advisors were now outright against it, not wanting to risk Robert when there was no one in a clear position to inherit leadership of the clan. However he didn't listen, arguing that it was worth the risk if he was able to figure out what they could do differently the next time.
It was two people on horseback, moving quiet slowly. He was too far away to tell for certain, but they didn't appear to be soldiers. It surprised him that anyone other than soldiers would be so close to the battlefield so soon after it and, his curiosity peaked, he slowly eased the horse into a trot. As he got closer he could make out that one of the riders was a woman, her skirts draped over the side of the horse. The other wore the colours of an Eames soldier and Robert assumed that he was charged with guarding the woman. Clearly however the man wasn't doing his job, for Robert knew that he was sufficiently close to the pair that the man should have noticed him, but he showed no signs of being aware that they were not alone.
Daringly he continued to get closer, slowing his horse to a walk and then stopping when they came near a small grove of trees. Hiding amongst the shadows of the trees he watched them come closer, watching to make sure that soldier didn't see him but focusing mostly on the woman. As soon as he was able to see her face he instantly recognised her. Alexandra.
Alexandra Eames. The eldest daughter of John Eames. Most men would have been surprised to see in a woman in a place like this, but to Robert it immediately made sense. Although outwardly she was the perfect noble born daughter, she also acted as a key advisor to her father and was always in his war room with his other advisors. For Robert, unlike Frank and his father, it hadn't been enough just to know about John Eames. He wanted to know everything about every person that was in John's inner circle of family and advisors, and that was how he had discovered the truth about Alexandra.
Not many people knew that Alexandra was one of her father's advisors, only their family, his most trusted advisors, Robert and his small circle of advisors. As John's eldest child, Robert had no doubt that she would have been a considerable threat to him in the future, had she been born male. But she was a woman and it was difficult for many people to accept a woman advising a man, especially on military matters, which was why it was such a closely guarded secret, but Robert had quickly learned why John was willing to overlook such conventions.
It was only once Robert had taken over leadership of the Goren clan that he had had the opportunity to learn of Alexandra's role. William and Frank had made limited efforts to learn about John, and to an even lesser extent Charles, but had ignored John's wife and two daughters, dismissing the women as irrelevant. Robert had argued that this was a mistake and had been vindicated when he had discovered the extent of Alexandra's involvement. She was extremely intelligent, outspoken and able to look at a problem in an ordered, methodical manner. Robert knew that she was behind some of John's smaller attacks on the clan and he suspected, although he hadn't been able to prove it, that she may have accompanied her father to the battlefield and remained hidden away in one of the tents.
Take every opportunity. It was one of the few lessons that Robert could remember his father teaching him. There are no second chances in battle so don't let anything pass you by. One of the key advisors of his enemy, and his daughter no less, virtually unprotected. Robert knew that he was never going to get another chance like this. He doubted that any of the Gorens that had come before him had had a chance like this and he couldn't let it pass.
Pulling out his sword in readiness, he watched the two closely. When he was certain that the soldier was sufficiently distracted he urged his horse forwarded, bursting out of the shadows of the trees and racing towards them. Ignoring Alexandra for the moment he focused on the soldier. Before the soldier even had a chance to draw his own weapon Robert plunged his sword into the man's chest, then dragged it up as he pulled it out. As soon as the sword was out the soldier toppled from his horse, dead before he hit the ground.
To her credit, Alexandra didn't scream as she watched Robert kill her guard. She stared in shock for a moment as the body fell to the ground, before frantically kicking at her horse, realising that she needed to get away from this man as quickly as she could. But the soldier's horse, in a panic after losing its rider, kept moving in front of her and rearing, frightening her own horse. It only took seconds, although it seemed like hours, for her to get away but it was too late. Her horse had barely started galloping when the reins were snatched from her hands and she was pulled into line with the other horse.
"Black Robert," she spat, recognising the Goren clan leader, "You shouldn't be here, this is our land."
"You shouldn't be here either, it could be dangerous," he countered, reaching across and dragging her onto his horse. It would have been easier with two horses, but he couldn't run the risk that she would regain control of her horse or try to jump from the animal and run, so she would have to ride with him.
She refused to stop struggling all the way to the castle, kicking at Robert and screaming for help. By the time they arrived at the Goren castle, the two horses and the dead soldier had been discovered, and the Eameses knew that Alexandra had been taken. There could be no questioning who was responsible.
Alexandra knew that she would be considered valuable by the Gorens. The child of an enemy, even a daughter, could always be used as a negotiating tool. But she also knew that that it was merely a chance encounter that had given Black Robert the opportunity to take her and that it was not something that he could have planned. She did not regularly ride out to that particular spot and she had only decided that morning to go for a ride. Still she was absolutely furious with herself for having allowed herself to get caught. Watching the guard fall from his horse had wasted vital seconds and she should have been far more alert considering her location. Not to mention that she should have chosen a more experienced soldier to guard her and carried her own weapon to defend herself.
She didn't know yet exactly what Black Robert had planned for her and the fact that he had installed her in proper chambers only added to her bewilderment. Even once they had arrived on the grounds of the castle and she was trapped behind its gates, she had refused to stop struggling. But Robert towered over her and was easily able to force her to go where he wanted. Her only consolation was that he hadn't resorted to carrying her, instead keeping a tight grip on her wrist and forcing her to stumble after him. She was surprised when he started dragging her up the stairs, rather than down to the dungeons, and for one horrible moment she had feared that she was going to be taken to his bed. Instead she was taken to chambers that had obviously been decorated for a lady and shortly after Robert left her a servant came into the room to light a fire and bring her a meal.
Still there was no doubt that she was a prisoner. She was certain that there was no one occupying the rooms near her's and she was sufficiently high as to prevent any escape or rescue attempts. She was restricted to her chambers, the servants who brought her what she needed would not talk to her and there were always two guards posted outside her door.
After the last battle between the Eameses and the Gorens, rumours had started to circulate that Black Robert must have had spies amongst Eames's men. Goren had seemed to know what Eames was going to do, easily countering each new tactic they tried before launching one of his own. But there had also been reported sightings of Goren in Eames territory, always alone and dressed like a peasant, which had made her father doubt the claims. But after what had occurred Alexandra started to believe that there was some truth to these stories and believed that it was highly likely that Robert had been on Eames land before. She had doubted the stories that Goren had a spy amongst her father's advisors, for all the men had worked with her father long before Robert had become leader and their loyalty to the cause was unquestionable. But if he were spying on them, it would explain why he was so easily able to predict their moves, he had studied them. She wondered how much Robert had learned about their family, in particular her. Did he know that she was one of her father's advisors or did he only know that she was his daughter? She knew that her value to Robert would increase dramatically if he thought she could provide him with information about her father's plans, but she was powerless to do anything but wait for him to reveal what he knew and wanted.
Robert started to answer her questions the very next morning when he had silently appeared in her chambers, startling her as she turned away from the window. He was a large man, tall and broad, although he hunched his shoulders over, as though he was trying to disguise his size. He appeared to be an entirely different man to the ruthless leader who kidnapped her from her father's lands yesterday, and the one she had seen in battle, but she didn't trust the change. He immediately apologised for scaring her and asked her to take a seat, but she refused, not knowing what he was planning.
He started to ask her seemingly innocuous questions, were her chambers comfortable, where the servants looking after her, could he bring her anything. She couldn't help but answer that last question by saying that if he could please bring her a horse she would be leaving, which did earn her a small smile. He accepted the unspoken challenge in her answer and started to ask her about her father, basic questions that Alexandra was certain he already knew the answers to. She tested her theory, giving him incorrect information and watched him as he processed it. She could tell that he knew she was lying to him, but he didn't say anything, just moved on to the next question.
But then, almost as suddenly as he had arrived, he left her chambers. He had been testing her, she was sure, watching to see how she responded to his questions, especially about her father. He had studied her so intently, his eyes never leaving her and she felt as though he was able to see right through her defences and into the depths of her soul and that she couldn't hide anything from him. He would be back and she knew that she would have to make sure that he wasn't able to see anything she didn't want him to see.
As she had expected, he appeared in her room the next morning. Alexandra made sure she was ready this time, showing no sign of surprise when she saw him standing in the door way. Again he asked after her comfort and whether she needed anything, but this time she held her tongue, wanting to see where he was going to take this conversation on his own. He started to ask her questions about her own life and that of her brother and sister. It was obvious from his questions that he knew much more about them than anyone in the Eames court would have suspected and it only provided further confirmation for Alexandra that Robert had been spying on them. She was puzzled that he didn't ask more questions about Charles, surely the Eames heir would be of greater interest than two daughters, but she certainly wasn't going to volunteer any additional information. Still, she had the feeling when he left that he had gotten far more from the conversation than she had been aware of or intended.
The following morning her brother and sister had been forgotten and all of Robert's focus was on her. Her childhood, her education, what she had read. He asked her whether she was betrothed and why a woman of her age wasn't married. He turned vicious at this point, insulting her, trying to break her but she refused to give in. She sat there, stony faced, as he ridiculed her. He turned her attention back to the events in the battlefield, asking what sort of fool she was to return to the place of battle with only one guard for protection. A guard that obviously had never seen battle and was completely unaware of his surroundings. He questioned whether her father cared for her, as he would have known better and shouldn't have allowed her to go to the field, let alone so unprotected. Or perhaps she was a disobedient daughter, sneaking out of her father's castle to do things that no young lady should.
This comment pushed Alexandra's patience too far and reaching up she went to slap him, but he caught her wrist before she was able to make contact. Still gripping her wrist tightly, he lent down and said softly, "Don't ever raise a hand to me."
Dropping her wrist, he started to walk out of the room. Before he reached the door, he stopped and said, "I won't waste any more time. Tomorrow we'll talk about your role."
With that comment Alexandra knew that he had been aware of her role in her father's court all along and that the real interrogation was going to begin.
Any pretences of a civilised conversation were thrown away the next morning when Robert arrived at Alexandra's chambers for the interrogation. And it really was an interrogation. Gone were the questions about whether her chambers were comfortable and her childhood. Gone too was the man who stood with his shoulders slightly hunched to make himself seem less intimidating, it was Black Robert who was standing before her, the man she had seen on the battlefield. He fired questions hard and fast at her, exactly how many men did her father command, what weapons did they have at their disposal, who in England was willing to support them. Once again she lied to him but he wasn't going to accept her lies this time, slamming his fist down and demanding the truth. Still she refused to give in, telling half truths and feigning ignorance.
It was a gruelling session and Alexandra collapsed in relief on the bed when it was over. Robert had asked her the same questions again and again, trying to catch her when she wasn't being entirely truthful and she was mentally exhausted from trying to keep track of what she had told him. He hadn't held back because she was a woman, which she begrudgingly respected, and she knew that he had questioned her just like he would have questioned any other enemy. She knew that in the end, between her exhaustion and his ability to read her, he would have found out more than she had intended and she could only hope that he hadn't learned anything that would harm her father's cause too much. That night she dreamt of their conversation and when she woke she wasn't sure what she had dreamed and what was real.
He didn't come to her chambers the next morning and although Alexandra was grateful for the break she was quickly bored, locked in her chambers without his visit to break up the monotony of the day. But Robert had realised that she was not a woman who was content to sit in her chambers with nothing to do and had sent up a number of books for her to read. When the books had arrived she had thought that they would be simple books, chosen so as to not tax a woman's mind, but she was delighted to find that they were books on history and religion, topics that she had discussed with Robert. It confused her that he would care enough to bother, but she wasn't about to send them back.
Her respite didn't last, for he returned the next morning. Not knowing what to expect, she watched him carefully as he flicked through the book that she had left open on the table.
"Thank you for the books," she said.
"I thought you would enjoy them," he replied, giving a small smile and Alexandra suddenly had the impression that he now knew her better than she had ever suspected.
He sat down at the desk and started looking at the titles of the books she had stacked in one corner. She started to relax as she realised that wasn't the same Black Robert who had interrogated her two days earlier, although it still wasn't the man who had asked her about her childhood. He was something in between, but she felt certain she could manage him.
Robert suddenly turned in the chair to face her, resting his elbows on his upper legs and clasping his hands together. "Why?" he asked.
Alexandra looked at him sharply, not understanding what he was asking.
Realising that she hadn't been privy to his thoughts as he had been looking through her books he clarified, "Why are you an advisor to you father? Surely there are men with experience in battle who would be better suited to the job. To involve his own daughter, surely your father knows what could be said of him."
She knew that she could give a long explanation to Robert, talk about her education and experience and how anyone who questioned her presence soon learned why she was there and how if they didn't then they probably weren't worth having as an advisor. But she decided to keep it simple. "I'm good at it. We're winning aren't we?"
Finally she had rendered Black Robert speechless. He stared at her for a moment, with something akin to admiration in his eyes, before turning and leaving the room, without saying a word to her.
Every day for the next few weeks he came to her chambers. Sometimes he would ask her of her father's tactics, whilst other days it just seemed like he wanted someone to talk to. Far from what she had been raised to believe, that all the Gorens were vicious, unintelligent, blood thirsty killers, she found that Robert was incredibly intelligent, interesting and well versed on a range of topics. Whilst she hadn't seen the battle facade of Black Robert again, she felt that he was hiding behind a different facade, although it was starting to weaken. She mentally scolded herself for such thoughts, whether he presented a facade or not to her was irrelevant.
She felt that, for whatever reason, Robert was beginning to trust her. Whether it was because he knew that there was no possibility of her escaping or for some other reason she didn't know. But there was only one guard posted at her door and the servants who came into her chambers would now answer her questions. It was through one of the maids that she learned that Robert was planning another attack again her father at the end of the month in order to reinforce his hold on the smaller castle and push on towards the larger one.
When she confronted Robert about the planned battle he didn't deny it, explaining to her it had to be done for the Goren family, history demanded it. She wanted to argue with him about it and tell him that as important as history was, the future was important as well, but she felt that it would be hypocritical to do so. After all, wasn't her family fighting for exactly the same reasons?
Robert always came to her in the morning and for the rest of the day her only visitors would be the servants. She still didn't know exactly where she was in the castle, but it was always quiet. So she was surprised one afternoon when she heard a commotion outside her chambers, with men shouting and running through the halls. Curious to find out what was happening, she moved closer to her door, but before she got there it was slowly pushed open.
An older woman poked her head around the door, and seeing that Alexandra was the only person in the room, quickly scurried inside, closing the door behind her. The woman was wearing a nightdress and her feet were bare. Long grey hair hung knotted over her shoulders.
"I need to hide," she whispered, "They're trying to kill me." She picked up a tall candlestick holder and, brandishing it like a sword, stood near the door.
Alexandra had no idea who this woman could be. She obviously wasn't a servant and despite what she had said she didn't think that the woman was a prisoner. She tried to get the older woman to tell her more, who she was, what she was doing here, but she couldn't get any coherent responses from her. Instead the woman kept talking about people wanting to hurt her and that she needed to get away from them. She started to suspect that the woman was mad, but that didn't answer the question of who she was or where she belonged.
The older woman must have heard the footsteps before Alexandra, because her grip on the candlestick holder suddenly got tighter and she swung it back in preparation. The door opened and Robert stalked into the room.
All the fight seemed to disappear from the older woman when she saw Robert and she dropped her weapon. "Bobby?" she asked, sounding as though she were on the verge of tears.
"I'm here," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and walking her back to the door.
"They were trying to kill me," was the last thing Alexandra heard the woman sob before the guard shut the door after them.
She still had no idea who the woman was, but Alexandra felt that she had just seen a side of Robert that very few people ever witnessed. And whilst Black Robert and the harsh interrogator were personas that he needed to be a leader, Bobby was real. He wasn't trying to find something out or achieve something for himself, what he had been doing was selfless, and all for the benefit of the woman. She felt that what she had just witnessed had been played out many, many times before.
When a maid came into her chambers to deliver her evening meal, Alexandra tried to ask her about the strange woman, but the maid just shook her head and said that she didn't know what she was talking about. Alexandra felt certain that the woman was lying but didn't pursue it, knowing that the woman was not going to betray any secrets to a prisoner. She doubted that she would ever see the woman again, so she reasoned that it was none of her concern who she was. Despite this she was still intensely curious as to who the woman who was able to bring out that side of Robert could be.
It was late into the evening when Robert returned to her chambers; startling her as he had the first time he had come to question her. He nearly always came to her rooms in the morning and he had never come after dark so Alexandra knew that there had to be a good reason for it. He looked exhausted, his hair sticking out in every direction as though he had been running his hands through it and his normally impeccable clothes were rumpled and creased.
The woman was his mother, he explained. She wasn't well, mad in fact, and often believed that people were spying on her or wanted to hurt her. On her good days she knew that she could trust her nurse and the few servants who attended to her, but on her bad days, the only person she would trust was Robert. Her chambers were secure, and she only left them when Robert was able to take her outside, but she was quite resourceful and would on occasion find ways to escape. Usually when she escaped Robert found her in some small dark hiding spot. So the fact that she had hidden in Alexandra's chambers showed that for whatever reason she had felt that she could trust Alexandra, which Robert had never seen before.
He told Alexandra that his mother had always been different, but that she had started to get worse when he was about ten years old. By that stage his father had been ignoring her for years; he had gotten what he wanted from her, and was focused on the war against the Eameses and his mistresses. After William Goren died, it was only through Robert's intervention that his mother was cared for, like his father Frank was not interested in caring for his mother, despite being her favourite son.
She had drifted from the people's awareness over the years and whilst they knew that she was still alive, they assumed that she had chosen to live out her later years in seclusion. They had no idea what had really happened to her, and they couldn't find out. It was well known that madness ran in families and it would be seen as a weakness that others could exploit, either by spreading the information to the clan's enemies, or by using it to overthrow him. He needed Alexandra to promise that she wouldn't tell of today's events to anyone.
Robert knew that he was taking a risk in telling Alexandra the full story. If he had consulted any of his advisors they would have said to tell her that it was just one of the servants, or not tell her anything at all. After all she was a prisoner, she wasn't owed any explanations, whether she understood what was happening in the castle around her was irrelevant. But Robert felt that she did deserve to know and, more importantly, that she could be trusted. Partially he trusted her because he had her trapped; there was no one she could tell. She had no way to tell her father and he only had his most trusted servants sent to her chambers. But there was something more than that, something about her told him that she wouldn't tell anyone, even if she did had the opportunity. She seemed to recognise that his mother's illness was something personal that should not be brought into their families' fight.
When he had told her, Alexandra had forgotten for a moment that he was keeping her prisoner and that they were supposed to be enemies. All she saw was a man in pain, sharing a burden that he had carried on his own for so long. She made a promise to herself that on this matter, she would keep his confidence. It would serve no purpose to tell anyone, not even her father, and before he left her room that night, she made that promise to Robert.