She shook her head. “I shall see him now.”
“Like this?”
She straightened. “Aye, like this.”
He considered her for a long moment; then agreed; perhaps if Turin also saw what he was doing to her it would make him relent also. “Alright, then come.” He stepped forward and took her arm; she cast him a startled look but didn’t protest as he led her from the room. All that was important right now was Turin, and if gaining Garrick’s favor would help, then she would not offend him this day!
The dank dungeon made her shiver as he led her down the narrow passageway to where her brother still hung on chains. She halted at the sight of the thin boy, before she swayed lightly on feet. Garrick grip tightened before he slid his other arm around her trembling frame as he heard her whisper her brother’s name, then she slowly crumpled in his arms.
The young boy barely managed to open one swollen eyes as he pulled at the chains that held him. “Miranda! Get away from her ye swine! Miranda!”
He shot the boy an angry look then carried her to the bench along the wall and gently laid her down. Her sweet angelic face was pale as if she merely slept. “Hurry! Get watered wine from the kitchen!”
A stout older guard complied running up the stairs as Garrick turned his head towards the boy again angrily. “Do ye see what ye are doing to her?! Would ye have it that she lost the child she loves, for worry for thee?!”
The boy clenched his teeth at the older man’s words, and watched her with fear on his bloodied face.
“Is this how ye repay William for the good he had done in Glenton Moor? By taking the only child he has?!”
Turin turned away at his hurtful words.
Garrick watched as her lashes fluttered slightly and as she stirred from unconsciousness. She blinked back the haze that still held her and sat up unsteadily. He pressed the cup of wine that had been bought into her hand as he murmured softly, “Here, drink this. Ye fainted, m’lady.”
She took a sip, her eyes falling to her brother’s again, and her heart sank within her all over again. “Oh Turin… what have they done to thee?” She slowly pushed the cup away and stood and went to him unsteadily, throwing off Garrick’s arm as she did so. She came to him and laid her head on his shoulder. Her voice a soft Gaelic whisper as she spoke to him, “…Turin… go home, and break not my heart. My child and I belong here now; I am treated well, ye may go home and be at peace.”
His young voice choked with emotion. “Nay, lass, come with me. I —I would not leave ye here with them.”
She reached up and touched his bruised cheek, tears running down her pale face. “Nay, brother, this is my home now. I shall remain and have William’s child among his people and raise it here as his father would have wanted. Please, Turin, go home…”
He shook his head and stared at her with the teary eyes of a child. She turned back and made her way to the bench again with Garrick at her side. “Please release him, and let him sit with me here unbound...” She sank down onto the old wooden bench and waited.
He motioned to his men and they released the boy and helped him to the bench beside her. She took him in her arms and whispered to him gently, pressing her cup to his lips gently. “Refresh yurself, brother, for I am about to set ye free. When the commotion ensues run from here up the stairs that I came from, the drawbridge is down for the merchants are departing from the bailey. Leave here, Turin, and do not come back. I shall be well and well cared for, and as long as ye are safe that is all that matters...”
He looked at her with his bruised and bloodied face and took her hand. “Come with me…”
“I have chosen myself to remain here, Turin, no one forces me.”
“But they will lock ye in the tower.”
“Nay, I am still free, they only mean to protect me.”
He pressed her fingertips to his swollen lips and kissed them. “…I—I shall go, but I do not know if Egan and his da shall stop till they get ye back again.”
‘Then ye must convince them, Turin! If ye love me, ye shall do it.”
He bit back the emotion that welled up within him at her words.
She noticed that Garrick had his back to her and that the men around him were listening to him speak in a low controlled voice as he motioned towards them with a hard frown. She didn’t give herself time to think, for she had no choice as she reached up and pulled the torch from the wall and dropped it into the old dirty straw that ran along the sides of the wall making it burst into flames on contact. It flared up with a roar, the flames quickly sweeping along the wall, igniting the old wooden doorposts aside it as it moved onward...
It took but a moment and the room was filled with smoke and flames and the roar of voices, the men pushing this way and that in the commotion. She pressed Turin towards the stairs, but he would not release her hand, so she ran with him to the door and up the stairs, yelling to the men who came down towards them. “Hurry! Get water!”
Truly, she had not intended for any to get hurt and only prayed it were so, as she and Turin emerged coughing and running from the narrow passageway. They didn’t stop as they ran towards the drawbridge that had been abandoned in the commotion; and yet, Turin pulled her along with him as he went. “Nay, Turin, I cannot keep up! Hurry, run!”
But still he would not release her hand…
The fire had swept though the old straw in an instant! Garrick he turned and bellowed orders through the thick smoke before he raced towards where he had left her, but she was gone! The heat of the fire intensified and buckets of water were passed down the opposite stairwell… He knew what she had done and why she had done it…! He raced forward up the narrow smoke filled passageway and caught sight of them heading through the bailey towards the drawbridge that yet remained down. He lunged ahead at a dead run and easily caught her arm, pulling her against him and halting her brother’s in the process. His angry voice raged from his lungs. “Go! Ye are free! But the girl stays!”
Turin looked at her with pleading eyes as she yelled for him to go! He glanced behind them at the commotion that still ensued; then turned and fled without another word… He hesitated a mere second before he rounded the side of the castle and cast them a fleeting glance over his shoulder, hating how they looked together standing there… knowing that this man meant to have his sister...
She bit back a sob as she watched him go, feeling Garrick’s strong possessive arms around her like iron bands.
He drew a tense breath, he wanted to tell her that he would never let ye go. Never! That he would marry her and raise her child as if it was his own, but he feared she would only push him away at his words. So for now, it was enough that she let him hold her here, for she was his though she didn’t know it…
And yet, as if she sensed his possessive thoughts she moved away from him slowly, then turned and lifted teary blue eyes to his. “…I—I thank ye, Garrick... The boy’s life is as important to me as my own.”
He nodded with concerned eyes and then reached to wipe a smudge of soot from her cheek but she only stepped further away and lowered her lashes.
A frown creased his forehead at her hesitation. He drew a long breath and glanced around them, then motioned her back towards the castle. “Come, Miranda, ‘tis not safe for thee here, there are still those who would do thee harm.”
“Then ye don’t believe it was Turin who shot the Edmund?!”
“Nay, not Turin, but…”
“Nay… not Egan or his da either!”
“Go inside now, my lady.” He took her arm when she hesitated; she glanced at his taunt expression that warned her not to press him further this day and truly she had not the strength left to do so now anyway.
Inside she hesitated at her door; he stopped abruptly and looked down at her with stern eyes. “What now?”
“Promise me ye will not send yur men to find him?!”
He paused mere second then replied choosing his words carefully as he said, “Sleep well, my lady.” And then h
e left her there staring after him with sad teary eyes and with no answer to her question…
Miranda stood at the window listening for the sound of the drawbridge as it was lowered, and yet it didn’t come. She should have been relieved, but she wasn’t. She knew what she had done was wrong, and how very dangerous it had been, but she also knew that the dungeon was mostly made of stone and that the fire would not have burned long—or so she had hoped! It hadn’t been the best of plans, but Turin was free and that’s all that mattered to her now. She only hoped that she’d convinced him enough that he would give up his plans and go home—if he could make it that far after the beatings he’d endured!
But then there was Egan and his da, convincing them would have been more difficult for him, but she prayed he would manage to do so! Yet, even if he had, there would be no way for her to find out. Right now, all she could do was pray that all would be well!
She looked around, catching her the old woman scowling at her again and knew that no one here would ever trust her again, but yet she did what she had to do to protect her brother and that was all. But in the end, all that really mattered to her was that Turin was free, and that someday Edmund and Garrick would understand—she paused at the thought, not at all sure why it was important to her that Garrick would understand; but yet, somehow it was.
When Lydan returned with his men and heard of all that had happened he was even more convinced to make trouble for them. He, himself would have beaten the boy till he either told of where the other men were or died hiding it, it was that simple! Garrick on the other hand, was just trying to appease both the girl and his uncle and betraying both in the process. And then there was the twit, she didn’t even deserve to be here and yet she was…!
She stared out at the meadow beyond from the window in her chambers as she had done all day, thinking of nothing but Turin and hoping that he had gotten safely away; part of her wanting nothing more than to be with her family again, and yet in her heart she knew that that was not to be… But she would truly miss them all and her home… Her child moved and she paused and laid a soft hand upon it, her heart now heavy within her—for Turin, for her father and mother, for the man she had loved and lost, and for the uncertain life that lay before her in a place where she was despised…
She closed her eyes, and sighed again and prayed that the cruel words that Lydan had spoken to her about her child were just a lie. It had been enough to have the fears of childbirth looming ahead of her, knowing that if it did not go well both she and William’s child would not survive—and yet the fear that once she was delivered, they would merely take the child from her and lock her away, darkened her thoughts even more…
She closed her eyes again as hot tears ran down pale cheeks. Even as she tried to tell herself that Edmund would never do that to her; yet, deep inside the fear remained. For even now, he had yet refusal to let her see him; which only added to her fears, and made her feel as if he too had turned his back on her. And yet, if she had it to do all over again to save her brother’s life, she would have…!
It was the next morning that the news of another fire in the villages was brought to him, and all were more convinced than ever that Turin and the other men were responsible. And even worse was the recrimination of his uncle for having left the boy escape. It hadn’t helped either that Lydan had been the first to talk to his uncle about the matter, he wished the man would just go back to his own estate—but instead he lingered on, sulking around and making things even worse on both he and the girl! Edmund had been ready to spit when he’d gone into his chambers a few hours later, and it had taken him nigh an hour to just calm him down enough to be able to reason with him, but in the end he conceded. “I suppose it is for the best… the girl would have never forgiven either of us had the boy died in my dungeons… But what now?”
Garrick drew a slow breath. “For now, my uncle, we keep thee and the girl safe. I have made arrangement with my men to help capture whoever is responsible, and we can only pray it works.” He didn’t want to disclose details of his plan to anyone, lest it get to the men responsible and they evaded them again. For now he was sure there was a traitor among them!
“Ye have dispersed the guard then?”
“Aye, when news reached me of the fire this morning…” He only hoped for her sake that the boy and his companions had gone far enough away that they would not be found near where the fire had taken place…
She was still standing by the window lost in her troubling thoughts when she heard the keys in the door behind her. She closed her eyes and drew a tense breath, not bothering to turn as it opened again. She glanced at Emma who sat to her right; the older woman rose with a soft frown and left the room without a word. And yet she refused to turn.
“Are ye so used to visitors that ye do not even turn to see who has come to thy chambers?”
She almost winced at his accusing tone, but yet she refused to give into it. “What is it ye want?”
He watched her with narrowed eyes, her back ramrod straight but yet he knew of the loveliness she possessed. “I only come to inquire as to thy well being. I was told of thy distress over thy brother’s capture.”
She could have almost laughed. “I fair well, but truly ye had only to inquire of the guards as to that.”
He laughed. “True, though they are not as lovely to look upon as thee.” He smiled and strode ahead till he stood only a few feet behind her, knowing by how she stiffened that his presence intimidated her. “I hear that they have not yet recaptured him.”
She turned and saw him almost wince at the sight of William’s child within her. “The lad is too smart to let himself be caught again.”
Lydan laughed drawing his eyes back to her lovely face. “He had better hope so, because this time he shall hang for all the trouble he has caused!”
She could not help but react to his baited words. “Garrick would never allow such…”
He laughed, “Garrick! Oh girl, Garrick is not Lord of Whittington! Edmund was furious when he had heard tell of what ye had done!”
She looked down for a long moment then met his cold eyes again. “Ye have come here to taunt me and ye have done so, now ye may leave me also.”
He laughed again and crossed his arms over his strong chest. “Taunt thee? Nay girl. ‘Tis not I who taunts thee—ye have no idea yet, do ye?”
She frowned at him, well aware of the fact that he was somehow baiting her and yet she did not know how exactly.
“Ye are a smart girl, I thought by now ye would have figured it out. ‘Tis but a sport, my lady.”
She frowned even harder. “A sport…?”
“Aye, ye see it was a race to see whose hand ye would accept first; the prize a most beautiful desirable girl and her weight in gold. Thought the gold alone would have sufficed; the rest was merely for pleasure. Yet, I fear that Garrick has fared much better than I have this time.”
She frowned with a confused look. “…This time?”
He only smiled at her. “Aye, this time.” His eyes dropped purposefully to her child then lifted them back up again with a smile. “Oh, I shall not dally further; I shall tell thee and be done with it. Garrick and I have played this game before to see who could win the affections of a maiden, though never for marriage. But then, he is getting older and I suppose that with no heir of his own the proposition was more appealing to him. Ye see my uncle is to see thee wed, whether to thy liking or not, for with thy new found title ye leave Whittington open to his enemies. One of them need to simply marry thee—even by force to have William’s title and inheritance, and the child would be easy to be rid of I am sure. So ye see, Edmund planned on bringing suitors in to wed thee and secure the child’s inheritance, but I fear I was not as interested as Garrick was—this time. And once ye have the child, ye shall be taken from here, and Edmund shall raise it himself.”
She felt the air whoosh from her lungs at his cruel words. “…Nay—”
He laughed as he continued, a slo
w cruel smile playing on his thin lips as she turned her face from him unable to find words to say that expressed how she felt at that moment. If he meant to shame her, then he had succeeded.
“Oh, I see I have offended thee, but with such a thing to tell it was inevitable that ye would feel such. Well, I plan on leaving on the morrow, though I find myself more than attracted to thee, my lady, and truly feel put out on losing the game—the truth is that thy child leaves me cold.”
She slapped him then, he laughed softly then turned and stared down at her with a slow lazy smile on his thin handsome face; the red hand print on his cheek was proof enough of the force she had used.
He looked down at her hurtfully and laughed softly, and then turned and strode out the door without another word.
She stood there trembling in his wake, with what little dignity she had left; her face red with shame from his words as she sank back down onto the chair shaken by his contempt. She knew he only wanted to bait and hurt her, knew that she shouldn’t let his cruel words cut her to the heart, and yet they did…
Emma sat by the door watching the girl whose back was towards her now. She glanced at the darkened night through the open window and wondered how long she should let her remain there, for dinner was long past and still the girl sat at the table without touching a bite. She knew that she was upset about young Lord Hastings visit, but it was no concern of hers. Even the servants whispered behind her back as to the things that had taken place of late. In truth, if she had not been William’s widow, she would soon find herself out the door! She sighed and leaned closer to the candles as she continued her careful stitches until she heard the familiar sound of booted footsteps nearing the door.
He walked in and nodded to Emma who quietly slipped out the door, then turned back to look at the girl where she sat, her back stiff and a cold trencher of food beside her despite the late hour that told him that something was amiss. “Miranda?” His voice was soft and low and she bit back the tears that it brought to her eyes.
Debra Kay Leland Page 25