“It means that I don’t believe it will be a matter of swords and daggers. It’s going to come down to good versus evil, and there’s no way you can be part of that.” Christiana looked over at Marina and then at Eva. “We three sisters have trained for this our entire lives, and we will have to be the ones to make things happen. Your swords will be useless.”
Roland shook his head. “I don’t like this. I want to send you far away where you can’t be hurt. You and the babe mean too much!”
Christiana took a deep breath. “I’m not even afraid any longer. Mayhap I should be, but now that Marina has her full powers, we are as strong as we can possibly be. If it is possible for us to win, we will do so.”
“But you can’t expect us to just back off and let you fight! We can’t do it!”
“No, I know you can’t.” She took a deep breath and motioned her sisters forward. “What I think you should do is start at dawn. Leave one third of your army here at the manor to defend us. Take one third in one direction and search around the area. The other third goes in the other. I believe he will take that time to make his move, but there will still be one third of the men here to guard us and keep us safe.”
Marina knew what her sister wasn’t saying. There would be a third of the army there to make Roland feel better, but they wouldn’t be able to keep them safe. No, the time for the sisters to come face to face with Walter was nigh. And they were going to deal with him in their own way.
Roland stared at her. “And you won’t do something stupid like go out and try to find him on your own if we follow this plan of yours?”
“We won’t,” Marina answered. “You have my word.” There was no reason to go after him. He would come to them. There was no doubt. She was wearing her dagger, and her sisters were keeping their bows and arrows at their sides. It could happen at any moment, but if they wanted to make it happen on their terms, having the men go search for him was the answer.
“And mine,” Christiana echoed.
“And mine,” Eva said. “We don’t break our word.”
Roland motioned for Charles, Hugh, and Joseph to follow him, walking far enough away from the ladies that they could not hear them speak. “Joseph, do you believe them? You’ve known them longer than the rest of us.”
Joseph nodded. “They would not deceive you. Not about something this important.”
“I’m going to send one of my leaders with some of the men, and another leader with more. Three of us will stay below stairs tomorrow, and the fourth will guard the ladies as always. We will start at dawn.”
The men all agreed, but Charles was skeptical. “I would like to be the one to guard the ladies. I feel like there’s something they’re not telling us.”
Roland looked to Joseph, who shrugged. “That’s certainly a possibility.”
They walked back to the women. “We will follow your plan. All four of us will remain in the manor to guard you.”
Christiana nodded. “I would expect nothing less.”
Chapter Ten
In bed that night, Charles tried to question Marina. “Do you ladies know something you’re not telling us?”
“What could we possibly know?”
“I don’t know. But I feel something is happening and all of you ladies know, and we men don’t.”
Marina shook her head. “We truly know nothing that you don’t. We do feel very strongly that you will all be kept out of the coming battle in some way. Oh, you’ll be able to deal with his followers with no problem, but we will be required to deal with him.”
“You’ll have your dagger.”
“Yes, I will. But I don’t believe it will help me. I will have it if I need to use it though.” Marina leaned closer to him and kissed him softly. “I won’t do anything that will put me or my sisters in danger. I don’t want to die. I finally have everything how I want it. I have my full powers. I have my sisters. And I have you. You’re the most important of all.”
Charles drew her close, holding her tightly. “Promise me you won’t be stupid.”
“Do I strike you as a stupid woman, Charles?”
He grinned. “I’ve never met a woman as bright as you are. You are a wonder to me.”
That appeased her, and she rested her cheek against him. “I will be as safe as I can possibly be. Now let us rest. Morning comes earlier than any of us would wish.”
He brushed his lips across hers. “Goodnight, my love.”
“Goodnight.”
Other than most of the army leaving early the following morning, the day was similar to all others. Charles insisted on being their guard and standing outside Christiana’s bedchamber door where the sisters sat together, talking in soft tones. They were all too nervous to be able to work on their embroidery as they should.
It was midmorning when Christiana nodded to her sisters. “It’s starting. Roland said to stay in our chamber. Not that it will do us any good.”
Marina nodded, patting the dagger she wore between her breasts. It had become as natural as breathing to put it on each morning. “It won’t, but we’ve been alerted that it’s time. That will help us.”
Out in the hallway, Charles heard the clanking of swords, and then he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He ran to the top of the stairs, looking down. One of the attackers was on the stairway. He drew his sword and fought. No one would get past him to the woman he loved. No matter if she saw this as a battle she alone must fight, she would be safe.
Christiana looked up when the door opened. “Hello, Walter. Which secret door did you enter through? The one leading to Marina’s old room? Or to Eva’s?”
Walter smiled, the evil in his eyes no longer masked. “Does it matter?”
Christiana shrugged. “I’m just making polite conversation. Did you come to kill us all?”
“You seem so casual about your coming demise. Do you not care that in mere moments you will be on the floor bleeding to death?”
“I don’t wish to die, if that’s what you’re asking. I have everything in the world to live for now. A husband I love. A babe growing inside me.”
“No one told me of a babe!” Walter seemed angry for a moment, and then his smile grew even more evil. “No matter. The babe will die with you.” He walked further into the room, his eyes on Eva for a moment. “You foiled my man when he came to get you. He caused unspeakable pain, and still you bested him.”
Eva nodded, seemingly unconcerned with the man walking into the room where she sat talking with her sisters. “Of course, I did. Good will always win out over evil.”
Walter laughed. “Oh? And you think good will win out this time?”
“I do,” Marina said, drawing his attention for the first time. “Have you heard yet that I’m married too? You can’t take me away and marry me, like you wanted to do with my sisters.”
“Your husband is being killed as we speak. Don’t you worry. You’ll be mine, and that healing power of yours will work for me.” He shook his head. “One good thing that’s come from the past weeks is that I finally know which power belongs to which sister. It was difficult trying to learn that.”
“You knew everything about us except that, didn’t you?” Christiana asked. “Is that why you came to Father to ask for my hand? Because you knew you wanted to control our powers rather than have them used against you?”
“Of course. But he kept saying you were too young. You needed to wait a little longer. That’s why I struck him down at Hastings. You did know I was the one who injured him, didn’t you?”
“We knew,” Marina said. “So what are your plans now? Will you kill all three of us? Or take me with you to be your bride?”
“Does it matter to you?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.
Christiana thought to her sisters. “He doesn’t like that we’re not taking him seriously. He is becoming angry by how little regard we’re giving him. Keep it going. He wants us to be quivering masses of fear. We cannot give him that pleasure.”
“O
f course, it matters. Every lady wants to know what her future holds. I don’t know if I should offer you my throat to slit or if I should pack my bags for a new adventure,” Marina told him.
“You would leave with me?” Walter asked, seemingly confused.
“Oh, not willingly. I would fight you every step of the way. I’m not meant to be the bride of the devil. I’m quite content being married to the man I love.”
“Love? You believe you love the stupid Norman?”
“Stupid? Why do you believe he’s stupid?” Marina asked. “I find him to be one of the smartest men I’ve ever been around.”
“He was stupid enough to leave you alone in here instead of staying in the room with you to guard you.”
Marina laughed. “We didn’t want him in the way. We convinced him it was the best place to be. Why put him in danger, when we knew you only wanted us?”
“You act as though you knew I was coming here. Today.”
Eva shrugged. “Of course, we knew. It only made sense for you to come on the day we sent out most of the army looking for you. We knew you’d be here, and you were ever-so-predictable. I guess the bad guys always are.”
Walter shook his head. “You seek to distract me from my task. Marina? It’s time for us to leave.”
Marina got to her feet, reaching for the dagger she always wore now. She didn’t think she could use it, but she had it, and she promised she’d have it in her hand when she came face-to-face with Walter. “I’m ready.” She held the dagger in her left hand, though she was dominant with her right. She didn’t know why, but it seemed to her it was what she was supposed to do.
Walter laughed. “You think you can harm me with your little knife? You’re a healer. Healer’s don’t take lives. I’m not stupid enough to believe you’d use that on me.”
Christiana’s voice was in her head. “Don’t listen to him. You must use it. It’s your destiny to be the one to defeat him, and the dagger is the only way you have to do it. Use the dagger on him.”
Marina smiled sweetly, holding the dagger out to him. “I can use it. I’ve been practicing with it for weeks, but truly, I do hate the idea of taking a life. I spend all my time working on my healing skills. I heal everyone who comes to me. I’ve brought people back, right after their hearts quit beating. I’ve regrown an arm on a man. I even healed the magic damage your sword did on Roland.”
“Oh, you did? I’m surprised you realized what caused the damage.”
“Of course, I realized. I’m a healer. It’s what I do.”
“Which is why you won’t be able to kill me. You heal.” Walter shrugged. “Why don’t you just give me the dagger? There’s no need for you to even have it.” He held his hand out for the weapon.
Marina laughed. “I would never give you this dagger. It’s a gift from my husband, and he sharpened it just for me. Or did he sharpen it for you? I guess that all depends on how you look at it, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t care who he sharpened it for. You won’t kill me with it. You can’t.”
Marina looked down at the dagger in her hand. “I’ve been telling everyone that for weeks, but no one would believe me. They kept saying that if my life was in danger—or the life of someone I love—I’d be able to use it. I never believed that. Now as I stand here in front of you, I think I was right. I can’t use it on you. But I have something a great deal more powerful than this dagger.”
“What?” Walter looked behind her. “Your sisters with their bows? Is that what you mean?” He laughed. “An arrow won’t hurt me. Only you can stop me, and you’ve already admitted you won’t use your pretty little dagger.”
“No, I won’t. I don’t need to, you see.” She held her right hand out, in front of his head, concentrating all her healing power on his mind and heart.
“You seek to heal me?” Walter laughed. “There’s nothing wrong with me. What would you heal?”
As Marina stood there, she knew what she was doing was right, and just what she was meant to do all along. His mind was warped and twisted by his parents, whose minds had been twisted by theirs. She healed his thoughts. She healed his aspirations. What felt like forever truly only took a few moments.
When Marina dropped her hand to her side, Walter looked stunned. “Who are you?”
Marina smiled. “My name is Marina, and these are my sisters, Eva and Christiana. We want to help you.”
“Why don’t I know who I am?”
“Because you’ve been taught only hate. I need you to go to the top of the stairs outside this room and tell your men to stop fighting. Just go there and say, ‘The battle has been won. Lay down your swords.’ I’ll go with you!”
“Of course, I will,” Walter said, a smile on his face.
Marina smiled back at him, leading him from the room. She was aware of her sisters gaping at her, and she was still unsure of how she’d known what to do, but she had. She’d known it was the right thing deep down inside her.
When they got to the stairs, Walter called down for his men to drop their swords, and they heard the answering clangs as the weapons hit the stone floor.
Charles ran up the stairs to her, seeing that she stood with Walter, and true fear was on his face. “Are you all right?”
Marina nodded. “Of course, I am. I’m fine. You have a little cut, though!” She held her hand out and healed the wound on her husband’s arm. “There, that’s better.”
“What is going on?” Charles demanded. “How did he get to you?”
“He knew about the secret passages into the manor. He came into the room where I was with Christiana and Eva, and he told me I couldn’t use the dagger, and he was right. I couldn’t. But at his words, I knew what to do.”
Charles closed his eyes for a moment. It was obvious Walter was no risk, but he wasn’t so certain about himself. At the moment, he wanted to throttle his wife. “And what did you do?”
“I healed his mind and heart.”
Charles wasn’t certain he understood. “What was wrong with him?”
“He’s been taught since he was a boy that hurting others was what he was supposed to do. He’s always believed he was meant to rule the world. So I healed his mind of the lies and false teachings. I healed his heart of the hate. He remembers nothing. Not even his own name.”
Charles shook his head. “Only you would think to do something like that, Marina.”
“There’s no death. Only life.” She smiled. “Now I need to go down and see who needs to be healed. I’m sure there’s much death below stairs.”
Charles gripped Walter’s arm in his hand and led him down the stairs. Roland would have to decide what to do with him. Mayhap he could be made into a good, decent man.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, his wife was already flitting from man to man, holding her hand over each for just a moment to determine their injuries and heal them. She healed their compatriots as well as the enemies. He hoped she thought to heal all hearts and minds of the men there.
Charles led Walter to his brother. “Marina couldn’t use her dagger on him, so she healed his mind and heart. He has no memory.”
Roland threw back his head and laughed. “Your wife does have her own way of doing things, doesn’t she?”
“She does. Sometimes her ways frighten me, but this time…I think she did the exact right thing.” Maybe it wasn’t the right thing for the rest of them, but he knew that it was right for her.
“She did.”
Later that night, Charles lay with Marina in his arms, wondering what he’d done to deserve her. “You did very well today. I’m proud of you.”
Marina smiled. “I did what I had to do. I think I’ve found the best solution for all of us.”
“I agree.” He stroked his hand down her back. “Now what do we do? Since the day I met you, we’ve been working on training to fight this battle that you ended in a trice. So what becomes of us now?”
“Now, we live our lives. We have babies. We give the land ti
me to heal from all the pointless bloodshed.”
“Nothing would make me happier.”
Epilogue
Marina was sleeping when the words she dreaded came into her mind. “The babe is coming. I’ll need you to help me, and bring Charles, so he can drag Roland away. Roland is going to make me crazed.”
Marina rolled to the side of the bed and pulled on her dressing gown. “Charles, you need to wake up. Christiana is having her pains, and the babe is coming. She says Roland is making her crazed.”
Charles smiled at his wife. She was huge with their own babe. “I’m sure he is trying her patience. He must be crazed himself. I would be if it were your time.”
“She will be fine, and so will I.” Marina hurried from the room and into her sister’s. “Roland, you are to leave with Charles. Go drink some ale. Go beat someone up with a sword. I don’t care what you do as long as you get out of my way, so I can help my sister with the birth of this babe.”
Roland started to argue, but he saw his brother in the doorway. “You will let me know immediately when the babe is here.”
Marina nodded before she pushed him out the door and shut it in his face. “Should I get Eva? Or should we let her sleep?”
Christiana shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed and arching her back as a pain took her. “I don’t care if she’s here or not. I don’t think she’d be much good to us.”
Marina smiled at that. “No, we don’t need her, but I’m not sure she’d ever forgive us if we did it without her.”
Christiana nodded. “Yes, you’re right. Go get her. Her time is coming soon anyway, and it would be good if she had a better idea of what will happen!”
An hour later, Marina held the babe in her arms, and Christiana looked up at her. “It’s a boy, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is! He’s beautiful, Christiana. He has ten fingers and ten toes, and he’s strong. I checked over him, and there’s no need to heal him.”
Christiana struggled to a sitting position. “Let me hold him then. You can heal me whenever you’re ready.”
Seduced (Thrice Blessed Book 3) Page 12
