In My Wild Dream

by Sasha Lord

  Cadedryn clenched his teeth so hard, he felt his jaw would crack. He did love her! He loved her with all his heart, but she could not know the truth—not yet. He could not risk her life just to see her beautiful blue eyes look at him with sweet emotion. It was better that she hated him. It would make her stronger, better able to endure the night before he could prove her innocence.

  Her red hair blew against her face from a breeze sweeping through the church entrance. A dove flapped through the door and fluttered up into the rafters, then sat and cooed down at them. Cadedryn looked up, remembering when they had romped in the high reaches of the half-built church. Aye, she had seduced him, but not with magic. She had captured his heart, but not with stealth. She was his soul mate, his true destiny, but he could not claim her.

  “We are nothing,” he said coldly. “You always knew that I placed my title above all else. If I marry Corine, I will have everything I always wanted.” Except you. I want you.

  She closed her eyes against the pain. Sobs welled up in her throat but died before they could erupt. It was as if everything within her rose up in a hailstorm of anger, then suddenly, inexplicably, drained away. She became a void. The pain disappeared. There was no more love. No more passion. Anger and humiliation drifted with the breeze. There was nothing left within her . . . nothing left to feel.

  “She is guilty!” the bishop declared as the men rose in a thunder of stomps and catcalls. A few—those who had known her at the castle—looked away, but others shouted obscenities at her as they pounded the pews.

  She opened her eyes and nodded. Turning from the table and followed by Cadedryn, the bishop, Laird McCafferty and Robert, she walked down the aisle, through the frenzied men, and exited the church.

  A hail of rotten garbage pummeled them, and Cadedryn was forced to fall back, although he glanced meaningfully at Robert. “Stand by,” he commanded. “Guard her well.”

  Robert nodded, but Kassandra lifted a blank gaze and stared past his shoulder.

  Cadedryn wanted to reach for her and tell her that everything would be all right. His thighs twitched with the need to protect her from the flying debris and his lips quivered with the desire to tell her how much he loved her.

  The bishop stepped out of the church and held up his hand for silence. “Prepare the bonfire for tomorrow. We will set the witch aflame as soon as the sun breaks over the morning horizon.”

  A chorus of angry voices greeted his delay, but the bishop ignored them. He motioned to Robert to take her away and turned to nod at Cadedryn.

  Cadedryn nodded back. He had one night. One night to prove Kassandra’s innocence.

  Chapter 25

  That evening, well after Kassandra had been returned to her cell and the moon had risen high in the night sky, there was a soft knock on the servants’ door that led to the kitchens from the great hall. “Enter,” Cadedryn said as he opened the door a crack and motioned for the bishop to slide inside.

  “I hope you have good reason to ask me to enter from the kitchens,” he warned.

  “Yes. I want you to observe unobtrusively. Please stand behind the screen in the great hall and listen with open ears.”

  The bishop paused. “I will not hear what you want me to hear, nor say what you tell me to say. I am beholden only to God. Your position and title mean nothing to me.”

  Cadedryn smiled. “Then we have much in common. Please.” He motioned to the screen.

  As the bishop stepped behind the screen, there was a knock on the main door.

  Taking a deep breath, Cadedryn opened it to his expected visitors. “Lady Morgana and Laird McCafferty. Lord Curtis. Lady Corine. Thank you for coming. The servants have prepared a meal for us and laid it on the table so that we may feast in private.”

  Lady Morgana sauntered inside the hall, her face smugly victorious. “A feast?” she asked. “Cause for celebration? I presume you wish to formalize your and Corine’s betrothal? I must tell you that Lord Fergus has already agreed to the arrangement I drew up. I happen to have the dower papers with me.”

  “I want to ask you a question,” Cadedryn said. “And I want you to answer truthfully.”

  “Of course,” Morgana smiled. “I have always been honest.”

  “I don’t believe that, but I want your honesty now. If you are true, then I will give you everything you have ever wanted. I will marry your daughter and give her my name and my castle.”

  She looked at him through wary eyes. “What do you want to know?” she asked carefully.

  “Who murdered my father?”

  “Why, Kassandra of course! The bishop just convicted her.”

  “The truth. If you do not tell me, I will not marry Corine.”

  Lady Morgana gasped. “You must marry Corine! You have to!”

  Curtis stepped forward. “Cadedryn—”

  Cadedryn looked at his friend. “You want me to marry the woman you love?”

  The two men exchanged looks. After ten years of battling side by side, they knew each other better than most brothers. “Do you remember that day by the tree?” Curtis replied.

  “Yes, I do,” Cadedryn answered.

  “Those words were true. I wanted you to marry Corine because I thought it was the best union for both you and her. But”—he stepped over toward Corine and gathered her hand in his—“I would not wish it now. I love Corine, and I want to marry her. Not for land or for gain, but because I want to wake up every morning and see her beautiful smile.”

  “Curtis!” McCafferty shouted. “How dare you say such things? That is not the plan! Cadedryn must wed Corine.”

  Cadedryn glared at McCafferty and Morgana. “For decades, you and Morgana have been carrying on a clandestine affair. When did it change from fresh love to twisted desperation? Was it when Morgana told you that she wanted a title more than she wanted you? Did your heart turn cold and brittle as you watched the woman you love pine after something you could never give her? Didn’t you tremble with rage? Yet you still chased after her, even when she married Lord Fergus. You panted after her like a puppy trailing behind his mother. You didn’t plan any of this, did you? You were nothing but a pawn in Morgana’s devious plot.”

  “You fool!” McCafferty shouted. “You know nothing! I devised the plan to murder you and then wed our children! I am the one who told Morgana there was still a way to claim her title. I am even the one who killed Sarah so Liam would fear for your life and send you to me for fostering. I planned everything!”

  Morgana took two quick strides and slapped McCafferty’s face. “How dare you say that! I killed Liam. Me, a woman, killing a great big man like Liam Caenmore!” She spun and looked proudly at Cadedryn. “David was afraid to kill him, but I was not. I knew I could get close to Liam and plunge a dirk deep into his heart, for he would never suspect a woman was capable of murder. Even after I sent Liam that note, he did not suspect me.”

  “The plot is over, Morgana,” Cadedryn told her, his voice hard and emotionless. “You killed my father. You must be brought to justice.”

  “Liam deserved it! He destroyed everything! I should have been a countess! You understand. You have struggled to become an earl, ignoring everything that worked to turn you astray. You even denied your love for Kassandra because you wanted your title!”

  Cadedryn stared at her flushed face, seeing the greed that had rotted her soul. “You are correct, milady. I was once as blind as you, but I thank God I learned that love is far more precious than any title.” He walked to the screen and pulled it aside, revealing the bishop.

  Morgana paled and abruptly sat down on a chair.

  “You have lost, milady, laird. You lost your lover,” Cadedryn said sadly. “And now your freedom. You both will go to prison for what you have done.”

  Morgana flung herself at McCafferty. “David!” she screamed. “Stop him! Make him marry Corine! He is ruining everything just like his father did!”

  “I will force you to marry her!” McCafferty shouted as he flung the
table over and lunged after Cadedryn.

  Cadedryn stepped backward and pulled his sword free. “Don’t be a fool, McCafferty. I am a far superior swordsman. ’Twas you in the meadow, wasn’t it? You were the coward that attacked a defenseless woman. Did you also attack me that night on the deserted road? Another act by a desperate man.”

  “You succeed at everything, don’t you? Even my son is more loyal to you than to me!” He swung his sword wildly at Cadedryn’s head. “This time I will win.”

  “Father!” Curtis cried. “Stop this. ’Tis over!”

  Cadedryn ducked and easily parried the thrust. “Lower your weapon. The bishop is watching. Confess and we will not add this attack to your crimes.”

  “I want to see your blood on the ground!” McCafferty vaulted over the table and lunged again. “I want you to die knowing that I won!”

  “Won? There was no contest.”

  “But you get everything, don’t you?” McCafferty snarled as he slammed his sword against the table. “You get Kassandra and your title! No one let me have anything I wanted!”

  “You could have had everything,” Cadedryn countered. “You could have had the woman you love and a place to call home. ’Twas your greed and lust for power that kept you two apart.”

  McCafferty lifted his sword and advanced, his face twisted with rage.

  Corine screamed as Curtis pulled his own sword.

  Cadedryn backed away, his blade held in wary defense. He motioned for Curtis to stay back and hold Corine. “This is my fight,” he murmured.

  McCafferty swung his sword over his head and pointed it at Cadedryn. “You and all those you love will die. You can’t stop it now. Kassandra has already been convicted.”

  Cadedryn lowered his sword and shook his head. “No, Laird McCafferty. She will live. She will become my wife.” He turned away in disgust. “Now that the bishop knows the truth, she will be set free.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw McCafferty move, but before he could react, a knife whistled past his head. He gasped, and leaned down to pick up the knife that clattered to the floor. “You seek to murder me with a knife to my back?” he cried as he brandished the blade.

  “You are like Liam!” McCafferty screamed as he rushed to attack. “You have everything! A castle, a title, wealth and love! Now you have her and Curtis!” He picked up the candelabra and flung it at Cadedryn’s head.

  Cadedryn ducked, then raised his sword once again in defense.

  McCafferty faced Cadedryn. “Your blood will cleanse me!” He bounded forward, his sword aimed at Cadedryn’s heart.

  Cadedryn parried.

  The two locked, face-to-face, sword against sword. Cadedryn stared at McCafferty, seeing the insane glint in his eyes. “David,” he pleaded. “I do not want to kill you . . .”

  McCafferty pushed him back and disengaged their swords, then lunged forward again.

  Cadedryn moved quickly, trying to deflect the blade, but the swords slipped along each other, sliding with increasing speed, producing the terrible screech of metal against metal, until suddenly Cadedryn’s blade slid into McCafferty’s chest.

  The laird’s eyes grew wide and he stared at Cadedryn in surprise. He dropped his sword and stumbled back, then clutched the blade’s hilt where it protruded. “Cadedryn?” he asked in wonder. He turned and faced Morgana. “Darling?”

  Cadedryn stepped forward and yanked the sword free, his eyes clouded with sorrow. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “Despite it all, you were my foster father. I did not want to hurt you.”

  McCafferty fell to his knees. His face underwent changes as if he were seeing things that were not there. He reached out, struggling to grasp something just out of his reach, but his hands fell to his sides, empty and bereft. Blood poured from his wound, drenching the floorboards. He swayed, then collapsed into his own pool of blood.

  “Morgana loved . . . the title more,” McCafferty cried, his voice growing weak.

  The bishop kneeled next to him. “That is not love,” he said quietly. “Love is what you will feel when God forgives you.” He made the sign of the cross over David’s dying body, then rose and stepped back.

  McCafferty blinked. His lips turned in a slight smile and his facial muscles relaxed. Then he was gone.

  “How could you?” Morgana screamed as she lunged at Cadedryn and pummeled him with her fists. “How could you do this? I want my title!”

  Cadedryn tried to grasp her hand, but she flailed wildly. Her hand snagged on the engraved dirk in Cadedryn’s belt and she yanked it free.

  “This is it,” she said, her voice rising even higher. “This is the knife I used to murder Liam. How did that sorceress get it?” She held it pressed against her breast, then looked at McCafferty’s body. Her face crumpled. “I cannot live without you, David. You are all I have left!” she cried, then plunged the dirk into her own chest.

  “Stop!” Cadedryn shouted as he jumped forward, but the blade had already found its mark and blood poured forth. Cadedryn frantically pulled the blade free and tried to stop the flow, but Morgana pushed him weakly away. “Leave me,” she whispered. “I want to be with him . . .”

  Corine screamed again, struggling against Curtis’s firm hold. “No!” she wailed. “Mother!”

  The bishop pulled Cadedryn back, then made the sign of the cross over Morgana’a head, but his eyes were filled with sorrow. “She has taken her own life. Not even I can save her soul now.”

  Cadedryn stared in shock at Morgana’s lifeless body.

  “I will tell the king what I heard and will pronounce Lady Kassandra innocent. But the details of this night will not be made public. There are too many important families affected by this tragedy. ’Tis better that all is laid to rest.”

  Corine buried her face against Curtis’s chest. “Marry me,” she begged. “Marry me now so that we can forget today and live the rest of our lives looking toward the future. I don’t want to think about any of this again. I just want to feel your love surround and enfold me.”

  Curtis nodded, then gently assisted Corine to a chair. He walked over to Cadedryn and clasped his hand.

  “I did not intend to kill your father,” Cadedryn told him.

  “I understand. ’Twas in self-defense.”

  They both nodded. Their bond of loyalty had been tested and proved true. “Corine is the one you love. Let us not make the same mistakes as our fathers. Marry her,” Cadedryn urged.

  Curtis nodded. “I intend to.”

  Suddenly, the door to the great hall burst open and Robert raced in, his normally stoic face twisted with anxiety. “She’s gone!” he cried.

  “Who’s gone?” Cadedryn asked.

  “Kassandra! She has escaped!”

  Chapter 26

  Earlier that night, Kassandra had drifted awake from the depths of a mist-filled dream. She woke slowly, aware that something was different. Something had changed.

  She rolled over and stared out the window at the full moon. Cadedryn had betrayed her. He had abandoned their love in favor of his ambition. By tossing her aside, he would fulfill every one of his desires. He would wed a Fergus woman. He would curry the king’s favor and have his title. His life would be as he wanted it: secure, sedate and predictable. Powerful.

  Would he be lonely? Would he yearn for her in the cold nights? Would he remember the beautiful afternoon they had spent together under the maple tree? To him, it would be only a stray memory of a time before. He would forget her face and her touch. He would forget her dreams.

  But she would never forget.

  A sound coming from outside made her sit up. A few people from the village had shouted outside her window for hours, even dancing and reveling in their glee. They welcomed her punishment for they feared magic with deeply imbedded superstitions. Her half sister had warned her about such people. She had told Kassandra of their unwillingness to understand or accept others of a different nature. She had feared for Kassandra’s safety among the populace.

  Kassandra h
ad not completely believed Kalial. She had been naive and trusting, thinking that Cadedryn and his people would come to understand her. Come to love her.

  The sound came again and she rose to face the disturbance. For the first time in months, her dreams had been peaceful and serene. She should have felt relaxed, assured that Cadedryn was finally safe, but a new fear clutched her heart. She did not want to die.

  The sound came yet again and Kassandra peered through the bars. Her lips turned upward in a bitter-sweet grin as she beheld Triu-cair peeking over the ledge.

  “Triu-cair!” she whispered. “Why are you here? It is too dangerous. You must go back. Go back to Loch Nidean.”

  Triu-cair held a small key in his jaws and it clanged against the bars as the weasel wriggled through the window. Do you want to get out?

  Kassandra took the key and stared at it in surprise. “How did you get this?”

  I’m a polecat. Triu-cair grinned. I stole it from Robert’s belt while he went to the garderobe.

  Kassandra turned and tiptoed to the door, which led directly to the courtyard, and pressed her ear to the wood. Robert had said nothing to her after her sentencing, their earlier camaraderie lost after the bishop’s condemning words. Now Kassandra listened to his footsteps as he paced back and forth outside her cell. Since the few villagers who had harassed her were gone, his steps were leisurely, passing far to the right before swinging just as far to the left. Judging from the time it took him to return, he might not even see or hear her if she timed her departure right.

  Kassandra clenched the key in her hand. Some recess of her mind had hoped that Cadedryn would come for her. She had foolishly prayed that this was a dream and he would fling open the door and declare it time to awaken. But he had not come.