His face wrinkling as he studied his glass, Segrid slowly ambled back to his seat. “’Tis my understanding…the One is nay yer wife. The One will be joined with Segrid…as soon as the One has healed.”
Slamming his fist down on the arm of the chair, Quinlan sat perched on the edge. “Damn ye, Segrid…ye were prepared to share the Feast of the Full Moon with me and m’wife!…Now ye sit there and tell me that ye believed we are no’ joined?”
Frowning at Quinlan’s angry outburst, Segrid narrowed his eyes with concern. “Aye…Segrid was planning to share in the Feast…Before Elwin reveal the truth surrounding the One. With no one as witness…and no remembrance of vows, who’s ta’ say ye were once wed?”
“Are ye callin’ me a liar, ye pointy-eared bastard!” Quinlan sputtered, as Magnus pulled against his arm holding him back.
Scooting himself to the edge of his own chair, Segrid’s coarse hair slowly began standing on end. Extending a thin arm and bony finger, he pointed accusingly into Quinlan’s face. “Ye will nay speak ta’ Segrid in such a way. Segrid has treated ye with respect when no other in these lands would.” His violet eyes growing a deep purple with rage, he bared his yellowing teeth as he sneered. “Once the One has awakened…once the One has healed, if she can remember one line…one line of the vow, then by the power of the Furies will Segrid relinquish his claim on the breeding rights of the One.” Breathing hard at the exertion, Segrid slowly slid back in his seat, his bony hands rubbing disgustingly at his crotch. “Do ye not consider that a fair bargain, Outsider?” he asked, eyeing Quinlan with narrowed eyes.
Before Quinlan could lunge for Segrid’s throat, Magnus pushed the enraged man back into his chair. Quickly clapping his hand over Quinlan’s mouth, he tightened his fingers across Quinlan’s lips. “Verra fair bargain, Segrid,” Magnus nodded. “We’ll return tomorrow ta’ visit with Taylor. Hopefully by then, the lass will be strong enough for visitors.”
Smiling and nodding his head to Magnus, his smile slowly faded as his eyes fell to Quinlan. “Ye are most wise, Magnus. Even though ye do come from the same land as this one.” Then he worked his bent body out of the chair. Leading the men back to the door from where they had entered, Segrid stood frowning to one side as Quinlan shot him a murderous glance. “I will have Wystra tell the One that ye will visit with her tomorrow…if she is conscious by that time.”
Magnus pushed Quinlan through the doorway, before he could utter a sound. Quickly transporting them to Quinlan’s castle, he didn’t release him until they were safely standing in the middle of the pantry.
As soon as they had completely materialized, Quinlan whirled on Magnus crashing his body to the floor. His hands around Magnus’ throat, he straddled his friend’s broad thrashing body as he bashed Magnus’ head against the stones.
Mattie and Zelda ran to Magnus’ aid, vainly shouting and pulling at Quinlan’s shoulders. Quinlan ignored them as a horse ignores flies, continuing to bounce Magnus’ head upon the cold stone floor. “How could ye agree ta’ such a thing. Ye had no right!” Quinlan growled through clenched teeth.
His hands clamped tightly around Quinlan’s wrists, Magnus’ face turning a bright crimson, he sputtered and gasped as he tried to break Quinlan’s hold. “Get…off…me…ye…fool! Let…me…go…and…I’ll…tell…ye…why…I…agreed,” he choked through clenched teeth as Quinlan bounced his head off the floor.
Releasing his hold slightly and pausing between bashes, Quinlan remained astraddle of Magnus’ chest. Glaring down at him through the blindness of his rage, his chest heaving as he spat out his words. “Speak….but take care…if ye dinna tell me something of value…I’ll throttle ye ‘till ye’re dead!”
Eyes crinkling in amusement as he gasped to catch his breath, the red of Magnus’ face faded slightly as he lay against the stone floor. “Ye canna kill me ye wee idiot! Ye know I’m already dead.”
Snorting with renewed frustration Quinlan dove to strangle Magnus again. Before he could get a proper handhold though, Magnus shouted, “Wait! Ye must listen!”
Pausing once again, Quinlan rocked back on his heels, impatiently waiting for Magnus words. “Speak,” he clipped shortly, the fury in his eyes daring Magnus to say something he wouldn’t want to hear.
“All Taylor has ta’ do is say one line from yer vows and Segrid has agreed to relinquish all rights.” Gazing up from the cold floor into the questioning eyes of Mattie and Zelda, Magnus waited for Quinlan to see his point.
“She canna remember the vows….they’re lost! Ye know she has no memory of the past!” Quinlan growled as he drug his body up out of the floor, his dark face glowering with anger.
“Quinlan…listen!” Magnus rose from the floor, pulling his lanky body up to a bench beside the table. Quickly pushing a cold tankard of ale into his hand, Mattie ran around the table to wrap her arms around Magnus’ neck. Leaning against his back as he sat at the table, Mattie rested her cheek lightly atop his head.
Looking up into Quinlan’s wretched face, Mattie spoke quietly as though trying to calm an enraged beast. “Listen to him, Quinlan. You know how much he cares about you. You know he won’t lead you astray.”
Gently laying her hand against Quinlan’s arm, Zelda held a chilled tankard before him. His shoulders finally slumping, Quinlan took the tankard, draining it as he upended it over his mouth. Pushing the empty tankard into Zelda’s hands, Quinlan took a seat beside Magnus at the table. “Tell me…auld man…how to save m’wife….and I’ll be eternally in your debt.”
Seriously studying the amber-colored ale, Magnus pursed his lips as he slowly swirled the liquid around the sides of the glass. “Before Taylor had crossed over…came to ye through the cairn, did ye no’ appear to her…to coax her to ye?”
“Aye,” Quinlan nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing as he concentrated on Magnus’ words.
Emptying the tankard of it’s contents, Magnus slid it toward Mattie with a hopeful twitch of his bushy eyebrows. Refilling it, Mattie set it down between his hands, hugging him affectionately before returning to her seat. “Well….who’s to say ye couldna’ appear to her again? Tonight…before we return to visit Segrid tomorrow? Then if the wee lass is able to repeat one line of her vows…she’ll safely be returned to her home.” Smiling as he licked the ale from his mustache, Magnus hurried to continue. “And Segrid canna say the lass cheated…for she’ll still be rememberin’ the lines from the past.” With a twinkle in his eyes, Magnus chortled into his glass as he lightly shrugged his shoulders. “O’course ‘twill only be the memories of the night before that she’s rememberin’ …but it still counts as the past!”
A smile slowly creeping across his face, Quinlan suddenly grabbed Magnus by the shoulders. “Why can ye not spirit her back home…they way ye took me to the inside of the mountain?”
His smile quickly fading beneath his mustache, Magnus’ forehead wrinkled into a frown. “A deal is a deal lad…and the Furies willna’ allow me to use m’gifts to turn the fates of others. But if ye use the pool…the gift the Furies themselves gave ye, to restore yer wife to yer arms, then the land and the Furies will finally accept that this union was meant to be!”
Motioning for Zelda to refill his glass, Quinlan nodded in understanding as he set his jaw. “As soon as the moon is out enough to help me…I’ll teach Taylor a line of our vows. Then she’ll come home…we’ll finally be together…and we can begin our lives anew.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Wystra stretched to remove the box of healing crystals from their shelf high above the hearth. Carefully placing them back upon the posts of the bed, the healing violet light was soon flickering about the room. The strobe light dancing against her eyelids, Taylor slowly struggled to the surface of her drug-induced sleep. Her side no longer seeming to throb quite as painfully but her body felt strangely detached, her mind cocooned and confused as though wrapped in cotton, struggling through the drugged fog.
Frowning as she focused on Wystra’s face, Taylor clumsily rubbe
d her eyes. “W-Who are you?” she croaked, her voice raspy and weak from days of remaining silent.
Smiling slightly as she bowed her head, Wystra paused from bathing Taylor’s body to softly reply, “I be Wystra…the Segrid chose me ta’ care for the One…to help Her heal.”
Eyeing the shy delicate maiden suspiciously, Taylor tried clearing her throat in order to speak more clearly. Coughing, “Where am I?” Taylor rasped again, her eyes darting about the dimly lit room.
“The One is in Segrid’s healing room. Saved from Elwin’s sword,” Wystra replied patiently. Carefully removing the healing leaves from Taylor’s slightly oozing wound; she shyly kept her eyes averted from Taylor’s frowning face.
As Wystra spoke Elwin’s name, the memories of the moonlit confrontation came rushing back to Taylor. Struggling to sit upright in the bed, she fell weakly back against the pillows as excruciating pain shot through her chest, robbing her of her breath.
“Must not move!” Wystra scolded softly, her eyes rising to Taylor’s paling face. Gathering pillows from across the bed, she helped prop Taylor to a slightly sitting position.
“What about Jasper?” Taylor gasped, clutching at Wystra’s wrist with her trembling hand.
Her deep purple eyes wide with confusion, Wystra shook her head as she tried to move away. “Wystra doesna’ know of a Jasper.” Pulling backward away from Taylor’s grasp, she glanced nervously at the door. The Segrid would be most displeased to find the One in such an agitated state.
“The white leopard,” Taylor insisted, frustrated at Wystra’s lack of understanding.
“The beast!” Wystra nodded quickly, seizing on the part of the conversation she understood. Her face growing troubled as she remembered Segrid saying Elwin’s slayer had not survived.
“Yes…the beast…does he live?” Taylor asked hesitantly, silently begging Wystra to tell her that her friend was alive.
Shaking her head slowly, Wystra dropped her eyes to the floor. “Wystra verra sorry. Please forgive Wystra for telling her of her beast’s loss.”
Tears welling up in her eyes, her throat tightening as she pounded the side of the bed with her fist, Taylor turned her face to the wall, weeping for the loss of her loyal companion.
Pressing her hands worriedly to her mouth, Wystra’s eyes widened in fear. Segrid would beat her senseless if he entered the room to find the One slipping into despair. “Please….Her must not mourn. Her must rejoice for Her beast’s freedom into the next life. Her companion will be restored to Her as soon as Her is well.”
Still keeping her face turned to the wall; Taylor shook her head hopelessly against the pillows. “What are you talking about Wystra? Jasper is dead…I’m never going to see him again.”
“The Segrid will answer all that ye wish…Wystra isna’ permitted ta’ speak of such things. But Her must trust…Her friend will return…for the Jasper die while protecting the One.” Bobbing her head as she backed out of the room, she quickly added as an afterthought, “The One is truly blessed ta’ become the wife of Segrid…may many healthy spawn come from the union.”
Eyes widening at the disheartening words, Taylor shouted weakly for Wystra to wait. But the heavy wooden door was already closing, the bolt falling into place. Wystra’s steps quickly skittering down the hall, as Taylor stared at the door in disbelief.
Falling back against the pillows as she bit her lip in response to the pain stabbing her with every movement, Taylor slowly tried sitting up on the edge of the bed, her head spinning with the effort. Perched on the edge until the dizziness seemed to fade, Taylor carefully slid her feet to the floor. Hanging onto the bedpost with her uninjured side, she steadied herself for a few seconds before gimping across the room. Just as she was reaching for the latch upon the door, it turned, slowly opening to reveal Segrid’s smiling face.
“The One is not only awake! She’s risen from her sick bed!” Segrid happily exclaimed as he rubbed his bony hands together with glee. Noting Taylor’s pale clammy forehead, he quickly led her to a chair. Retrieving a blanket from the bed, he gently draped it across her lap.
“The One must take care…much of her life’s fluid was spilled upon the snow. Elwin was always a fool.” Segrid carefully sprinkled some dried powder from a pouch into a cup, then added hot water from the kettle. “The One must drink…’twill strengthen her all the more,” he instructed sternly.
“My name is Taylor.” Taylor offered hesitantly, confused at Segrid’s constant referral to the One.
“Once we are joined…then will I use her name,” Segrid explained with a wry smile.
“Joined?” Taylor repeated, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. At least he was coming directly to the point.
“Aye…joined,” Segrid nodded, his yellowed teeth glinting in the flickering candlelight. “Since ye have no memories of yer vows with Laird Quinlan…and none was there ta’ witness the ties, ye have become available to all the noblemen of the land…and Segrid has claimed ye for his own.”
“But Quinlan and I are already married! He showed me where we repeated our vows!” Taylor’s body trembling with frustration as she argued, the untouched cup of herbal tonic nearly sloshing over the sides of the cup she held between her hands.
“Do ye remember the vows to yer Quinlan? Do ye remember even one line?” Segrid spoke sternly, his words laced with sarcasm as he arose from his chair.
Her gaze dropping to the cup in her lap, Taylor mumbled, “No…I can’t remember.”
Squeezing her shoulders with his bony hands, Segrid pressed his face to Taylor’s ear. “Tomorrow Laird Quinlan and Magnus come ta’ hear this news. Once ye canna repeat the line…once ye prove ye canna remember the rites. Ye will become m’wife and we shall set ta’ the business of breeding and the bringin’ forth of m’sons.” He nipped at her ear with his sharp pointed teeth, the mere idea of what he was suggesting causing the bile to rise in her throat.
Pulling her shoulders from his grasp, she turned to glare coldly into his eyes. “I’ll remember my vows tomorrow. I’m going home with my husband!”
Licking his lips as he eyed her body, Segrid turned to leave with a slight nod. “We shall see…I look forward to the promise of tomorrow,” he whispered as he slowly locked the door on his way out.
~*~
Taylor lay awake in the darkness, staring blindly up at the ceiling, relentlessly racking her brain for some scrap of information about the past. Tossing and turning among the sheets, crying in her frustration, Taylor had tried every technique she could think of to try and reclaim the memory of her vows.
“This is hopeless,” she muttered aloud, covering her face with her hands. “I’ll never remember those vows.” Rubbing her sore eyes swollen from tears, she shook her head in despair. “Quinlan, you’ve got to get me out of here!”
“I’m working on that, m’love.”
Recognizing the deep voice whispering in the darkness, Taylor pushed herself up in the bed. “Quinlan? Is that you?” Straining her eyes to search the velvety darkness, Taylor held her breath as she waited…praying with everything in her heart that she hadn’t just imagined his voice.
“’Tis me, love,” Quinlan whispered, his voice close to her ear. “But hush now, I havena’ got much time. The sky is filled with clouds tonight. I need the moonlight to travel to your side. I can only send m’thoughts this night…and for how long, I canna say.”
“You’ve got to get me out of here! Segrid thinks I’m going to be the mother of his next litter!” Swallowing hard to suppress the rising nausea at the thought, Taylor hissed into the darkness. “I’d rather die then let that filthy thing touch me. You’ve got to do something, Quinlan!”
“Shhhhhh, lass…ye must calm down. Listen to what I say.” Quinlan’s voice was soft and soothing to her ear, calming the pounding of her heart. “All ye must remember tomorrow is one line of the vows we repeated at our joining. When Segrid asks ye, all ye must repeat is: Ever joined by the Powers above.”
“Ever joined b
y the Powers above,” Taylor repeated into the darkness. “That’s all I have to say…and then Segrid will let me go?”
“Aye, Segrid is an honorable sprite. He willna’ go back on his word.” Pausing, as he hated to break the link he’d finally been able to form, Taylor heard Quinlan draw a shaking breath before he finally spoke. “I love ye, Taylor…now sleep…and dinna forget the line. I’ll have ye back in m’arms tomorrow…I promise ye.”
“I love you, Quinlan,” Taylor whispered into the night, settling back against her tear-dampened pillows. “I promise I won’t forget the line….ever…as long as I live.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
As the first rays of the sun broke over the horizon, Quinlan and Magnus pounded impatiently on Segrid’s door. Opening the door gallantly as he stood to one side, Segrid graciously waived the anxious men into the room. “If ye’d be so kind as ta’ have a seat….I’ll have Wystra prepare the One ta’ see ye.”
He was almost purring…a mysterious glint reflecting in his eyes, as he rubbed his hands avariciously together. Segrid was relishing this moment, positive with the knowledge that Quinlan had lost and the enchanted one would be his forever. He’d seen the fear and disappointment in Taylor’s eyes yesterday. He knew for certain, the memories did not exist.
But then again, Segrid was not the sort to leave anything this important to chance. He’d given strict orders to the servant girl, Wystra…and he knew she’d not be foolish enough to challenge him. Segrid was secure in the fact that if Taylor were to be found lying in an unresponsive coma…a never-ending sleep; that Quinlan and Magnus would have to wait to hear the forgotten oath another time…a time that could perhaps be delayed indefinitely. A smug grin slowly spread across Segrid’s face, as he realized he could have the first of the spawn sired and well on its way…before Quinlan and Magnus was any the wiser.
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