“I saw some weird things around the hall,” Donnic said.
“Those are artifacts from before the wars,” Alyssa said as she picked at her food. “The king sent them to Dalton.”
“Why?” Donnic asked.
“I’m guessing as rewards for his kids’ performances in the Pageants,” Kelwin said.
“Then he probably ran to Lotherin,” Donnic said. “The king will put him up, I bet.”
“I just don’t want him back here,” Alyssa said.
Kelwin covered her hand with his. “I don’t think he’ll come back. Your soldiers are yours again.”
“I hope so.”
“We’ll stay and keep an eye on them,” Donnic said. “Who’s your man-at-arms?”
Alyssa looked confused. “Pell, but I don’t know him. Papa never talked to me about the men or the training.”
“I’ll get the men together tomorrow and find out what I can,” Donnic said. “I’ll talk to this Pell, too.”
Kelwin tried not to feel slighted. Donnic was a much better choice to get the soldiers on their side. Hell, a lot of the soldiers looked like they were physically gifted like Donnic was. He didn’t think there was anyone else here mentally gifted besides him and Alyssa. He might not have Dalton’s talent for finding the gifted but he believed he would have felt something in the hall tonight.
He nodded toward her plate. “Eat something. You have to be starving.”
She managed to eat a bit of her meal as he and Donnic ate more than enough of their own. By the time the servants cleared the table she looked like she was ready to fall asleep in her chair.
“Why don’t you go to bed?” Kelwin asked.
She started to get up, then stilled. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.”
He stood. “I bet the maids made sure your room is comfortable. Better than your little room at Rosemont.”
She smiled but it was a small expression. “I’ll miss Thomas snoring next to me.”
“Let me walk you up.” He looked at Donnic. “I’ll be back down.”
“I’ll talk to the soldiers while you’re upstairs,” Donnic said.
Kelwin followed her up the stairs to what must be the family bedrooms. She stopped in front of one door, her face pale again.
“What’s wrong?”
“I haven’t been in there since that night.”
He took a breath. “The night Dalton attacked you.”
She nodded, then opened the door. Kelwin looked past her to find the room neat and clean and ready for her. Lights burned softly here, along with candles.
“It looks like the maids were here,” she said.
“They care about you.”
“They helped us escape that night, Kelwin. They gave us clothes to wear and got us out of the castle.”
“Then that means Dalton didn’t have everyone completely under his control while he was here.” He touched her cheek. “That’s something.”
They stood there on the threshold for a long minute, then he stepped back. “I’ll let you get to sleep.”
She grabbed his arm. For a second he thought she was going to drag him into her room with her.
“Good eve.” She dropped her hand and stepped away from him, then closed the door.
Chapter 21
Alyssa felt loneliness press in on her. Her father was alive and still in that little room, watched over by one of the maids. They cared so much, keeping him safe from Dalton after what he’d done. They must have been terrified after. Of his gift and of what he could do with it.
She saw that her room had been straightened and made comfortable for her. The floor was singed black where Dalton had burned that night. She guessed the maids couldn’t get the soot off the stones. Hugging herself, she pushed that night out of her head.
She went to the trunk that had barred the door that night and found a nightgown to wear. A small fire burned in the grate but the floor was cold under her feet. Her nightgown wasn’t thick but there were so many blankets on the bed she didn’t think she’d feel the chill once she got under them. Not from the outside, anyway. Her heart was ice cold ever since she’d seen the truth in Kelwin’s eyes in her father’s little room.
Leaving the lamps burning for the first time in her memory, she crawled under the blankets and tried to block the memory. There was really no use. She’d asked Kelwin to see if there was anything left of Papa in the thin shell on that bed. Begged him, really. He hadn’t wanted to do it. She didn’t need to get into his mind to know that even now. But he’d done it. He’d searched and searched for anything and found nothing at all.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tears ran down her cheeks. Into her ears and down to her neck. She didn’t care. She’d cried so many times for her father since the fall, she shouldn’t have any more tears left.
She’d been upset that there had been no funeral or way to properly mourn him. Well, she was mourning him now. Curling on her side, she rubbed her face against her pillow and closed her aching eyes.
In her dream she was trapped in a smoky room. Acrid air burned her throat as she tried to suck in a breath. She could hear Dalton screaming her name and felt her skin prickle with fear. She couldn’t let him find her.
She hid in a corner of her room, in the place she’d tucked Thomas on that last night here at Merrickwood. Then a blast of ice-cold air sailed through the room, sending the smoke away and leaving only deep dark night. No lights, no candles, no moonlight. She could feel the darkness pressing in on her face as her eyes strained to see Dalton.
Standing on shaking legs, she held her hands in front of her and slowly stepped through the room. Even as she moved she worried that every step could be her last. That Dalton would reach out and grab her like he had in the cottage. In a flash, she was in the cottage again, the few lamps burning bright to light the room.
The quick change of scenery left her head spinning. The cottage was freezing cold, the fire the soldier set long extinguished. Wind howled outside, scraping winter-bare branches against the shutters covering the windows. She still wore her nightgown and her feet were bare. How had she gotten here?
The door flew open then, slamming against the wall. She braced herself for Dalton’s attack, holding up her hands again to defend herself. A tall figure stood in the doorway, wrapped in blankets from head to toe. Eyes peered out at her from the cocoon of blankets, amber eyes like hers and Thomas’s. Her heart flipped in her chest. “Papa!”
The blankets fell away from the figure’s head. It was her father. He was like he’d been before Dalton. Before he’d drowned. Or didn’t drown. She shook her head and ran to him. “Papa!” she cried again.
As her arms snaked around him he disappeared. She was in a long dark hallway now, someplace in the estate she’d never been. She screamed for her father, scraping her hands against the stone walls as she stumbled over the uneven stones of the floor. “Papa, where are you?”
Her voice echoed off the walls and floor. Only her voice. There was no sign of her father. Just crushing loneliness that squeezed her chest until she couldn’t breathe. She fell to the floor, sobbing silently as her voice left her. She was alone. There was no one left for her.
“Alyssa!”
She heard someone calling her. Felt arms wrapped around her as she trembled on the cold floor. She tried to speak, tried to move, but she was as frozen as the lake by the cottage.
“Alyssa, wake up!”
It was Kelwin. She recognized that voice, in her ears and in her head. She wanted to answer. She wanted to look at him and know he was really there. That she wasn’t alone. Her eyelids felt stuck closed, her lungs tight.
Wake up, Alyssa. Please wake up.
He was in her head now, warm and comforting. Kelwin?
Her lids lifted at last, and light from the lamps seeped through her lashes. She could see Kelwin leaning over her. Could feel his fingers stroking through her tangled hair. It was just a dream.
Just a dream. Kelwin’s thought brou
ght her out of her nightmare at last.
“Kelwin,” she gasped, coming up on her elbows. “I was…” She swallowed, her throat still raw as if she’d really been screaming. “You heard me?”
He nodded. “Well, in my head anyway. You sounded terrified.”
“I was here in my room but it was on fire again.”
He frowned. “Dalton?”
“Yes, but then I was in the cottage and my father…” Her voice caught. “He disappeared and I couldn’t find him.”
Kelwin wrapped his arms around her and she pressed her cheek against his chest. It was like that night at Rosemont. He made her feel safe and warm and she couldn’t let go of him tonight.
“Did you get any sleep?” she asked against his heartbeat.
She felt him move a little like he nodded. “Yes. The maids put me and Donnic in a very nice room.”
“They put you in Dalton’s.”
Kelwin stiffened, then shrugged. “Wonderful.”
“It used to be my parents’.”
He held her away from him, stroking her cheek with his thumb. “You were crying in your dream.”
She blinked her damp lashes. “I guess. I was crying before I fell asleep.” She yawned and he started to get up. “Don’t go!”
He sat back down. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to dream again, Kelwin. Can you stay here?”
His eyes clouded, but then he smiled. It was a beautiful smile that sent the last bits of her nightmare from her head.
“If you want me to,” he said.
She shifted on the bed and he stretched out next to her. His arms went around her again and she pillowed her head against his chest. He wore a thick cotton shirt that felt softer than her pillowcase. Closing her eyes, she didn’t worry about having another nightmare. Not about Dalton or missing her Papa. Neither would bother her again.
Not while Kelwin held her in his arms.
***
She was asleep, or almost. Her breathing was even and her tears had dried on her cheeks. Kelwin shifted and let his arm fall over hers. His fingers stroked her skin. It still amazed him that he could touch her and not feel pain. He could hear it, though. That was what woke him tonight. Her pain and her terror. It was as clear as the winter night sky outside.
He’d been with her at the end of her nightmare, as she’d desperately looked for her father. Despair and heartache pierced through his mind and he couldn’t stay away from her. It was like that night at Rosemont but so much more intense.
As he held her closer he worried that Dalton would come back to Merrickwood. What was there to keep him away? He’d held all the soldiers and most of the servants in his control, and he’d certainly made himself at home here. The room he and Donnic slept in was stuffed with more of those weird artifacts from before the wars. More pillows than one guy could ever use were piled on the bed. They were covered with yards of that shiny fabric in what he’d come to think of as court colors. Silver and green, gold and purple. They reminded him of the dress he saw on that Lotherin girl at the harvest festival.
It wasn’t anything like the nightgown Alyssa wore tonight. Her nightgown was thick and soft like cotton. He liked the way it felt. And how she felt in his arms. He’d figure out a way to keep her safe, even if he had to stay here to do it.
In the morning he left before she woke up. When he got back to the room he shared with Donnic, his cousin was getting dressed.
“Where were you, as if I can’t guess,” Donnic said.
“Alyssa had a nightmare,” Kelwin answered. He went to the basin and washed his face. “It woke me up.”
Donnic smirked at him. “And you went to her room.”
Kelwin’s cheeks got hot. “She wanted me to stay.”
“I bet.”
“It wasn’t like that, Donnic. She was scared. A lot happened to her in the past few days.”
Donnic sat on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I know. I’ve been thinking about how we can keep her safe now.”
Kelwin swallowed any jealousy he might have felt at Donnic’s words. He needed Donnic, damn it. He couldn’t take care of her himself. The truth was, there wasn’t anyone he trusted more.
“What did you come up with?” he asked Donnic.
“She needs to know the soldiers aren’t Dalton’s puppets anymore. I’m going to get with her man-at-arms and see how strong Merrickwood’s defense is.”
“Good idea. I think she needs Thomas here with her but she won’t want him to come home if she can’t be sure he’s safe.”
“What about Rosemont? Do you think you stopped the raids for the winter?”
“From the estate that wanted to attack us, yeah. From the others, I don’t know.”
“Then we should just take her back to Rosemont.”
Kelwin shook his head. “No. This is her home, Donnic. She wants to stay here. You know about her father?”
“Yeah. That son-of-a-bitch Dalton did worse than kill him.”
“She won’t leave him.” Kelwin got dressed. “So we have to bring Thomas here.”
“You have to stay, then,” Donnic said. “Rosemont has Malcolm but you need to stay here. I bet you’d know if Dalton was coming back.”
Kelwin shrugged. “I think so. I hope so. He left because he knew I was coming. That, I’m sure of.”
“Then we’ll tell her this morning. I’ll take a couple of her soldiers with me and go and get her brother.”
“She’ll like that.”
Donnic studied him for a minute but Kelwin held his gaze. Donnic liked Alyssa. There was no question. But that was just too bad. Yeah, Kelwin liked her too. But he needed her. Needed to have someone he could touch and who could touch him. Needed to have someone to take care of. Donnic turned away first, then left the room. There was a hum of agitation in his wake and it jangled along Kelwin’s nerves.
“Great,” Kelwin grumbled.
By the time he went downstairs things seemed to be settling into something like normal. The servants looked content and most of the soldiers had lost those guilty expressions he’d seen last night. A quick scan of the hall didn’t give him any impressions of confusion or worry, either. He saw Alyssa at the table and joined her.
“Kelwin,” Alyssa said as he sat.
“Good morning,” he said. A maid placed a plate full of meat and eggs in front of him. He waited until the maid left the table, then faced Alyssa.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” Her cheeks turned pink. “This morning, anyway.”
He started to eat, suddenly starving. Donnic walked up a few minutes later. A maid gave him even more than she’d served Kelwin and his cousin began to eat too.
“You okay?” Donnic asked Alyssa.
She nodded, keeping her eyes on her plate.
He and Donnic exchanged a look and Kelwin sensed his doubt. Kelwin shook his head and Donnic shrugged.
“I talked with Pell,” Donnic said after a while. “He seems okay.”
“Was he affected like the others?” Kelwin asked.
Donnic nodded. “He’s pretty pissed about it, too.”
“I don’t blame him,” Alyssa said. “Dalton got into my head a couple of times yesterday.”
Her voice had that lost quality again, with an edge of anger. Donnic looked at him in question but Kelwin again gave a small shake of his head. He knew she wouldn’t want to talk about this right now. Not with her nightmare still so fresh in her mind.
“So I’m going back to Rosemont to get Thomas,” Donnic said.
Kelwin felt happy excitement come off of her in waves. It was bright and warm and caused his breath to catch. It sucked that Donnic brought out those emotions in her, though. So he was the hero now.
“When?” Alyssa asked.
“Today,” Donnic said.
She squealed. “Oh, I can’t wait to see him!” She stilled, then bit her lip. “You’ll take some soldiers with you?”
Donnic nodde
d. He cocked one brow at her. “Not Kelwin, though?”
She looked at Kelwin and shook her head. “I’d like you to stay here, Kelwin.”
Her softly-spoken declaration made him feel pretty damn good. Hero or not, she wanted him here with her. Not Donnic.
He smiled. “I’ll stay.”
Donnic kept his head down and finished his breakfast. After he ate he went to two of the soldiers who had taken Alyssa from Rosemont and together they left the estate. The soldiers seemed only too eager to make up for their part in Dalton’s scheme, and Kelwin couldn’t sense anything but loyalty and remorse from the both of them. They were big and burly like Donnic, so Kelwin knew he wouldn’t have to worry about his cousin’s safety. Not that he’d ever had to before.
The day passed slowly. Kelwin kept himself busy, sending out his mind to search for any sign of Dalton. He’d never met the guy or even encountered his thoughts directly, but he had intimate knowledge of the son-of-a-bitch’s twisted feelings. He caught glimpses of Alyssa pacing now and then, her brow wrinkled with worry.
She also spent hours at her father’s bedside, but he didn’t intrude on her visits there. He was afraid she’d ask him to see if there was anything left of her father’s mind again. He didn’t want to. Just the memory of the yawning emptiness inside the man was enough to make him sick to his stomach now.
So he did his part to stay out of her way for now. He went out to the courtyard that afternoon where the men were training despite the snow-covered ground. He saw the man-at-arms right away. He seemed a lot like Michal at Rosemont, strong and serious, and from the emotions Kelwin could read he was beaten up that Dalton had run over all of them here. At least no one thought he’d come back. He didn’t catch any worry on that end. Just what had Dalton done to these men to secure their loyalty when he took over Merrickwood?
He was worried about Dalton, though. Just those glimpses of him in Alyssa’s dreams, and the evidence of what he’d brutally done to her father, scared the hell out of him. Dalton couldn’t know about Kelwin or his gift though, could he? Malcolm said he sensed gifted kids and that was the way he found them for the Pageants. Maybe he’d missed him somehow. He’d never come to Rosemont. Kelwin had been gifted since he was a little kid and he’d never come for him. Besides, he hadn’t been able to find Alyssa there, right?
Gifted Page 16