Midnight Shadow

by Laurel O'Donnell

  Then he was at her side, kneeling beside her. Brown eyes. Kenric had black eyes. Were these eyes brown? Yes. Yes! She recognized his warm eyes as a scowl of concern crossed his brow.

  “George,” she whispered. It was Mary’s father.

  He pushed his hands beneath her shoulders and legs and lifted her off the ground. She leaned heavily against him. “Don’t worry, Bria,” he said. “We’ll get you back to the castle safely.”

  Bria closed her eyes.

  ***

  “M’lord!”

  Terran was out of bed immediately. He donned his leggings, noticing but not worrying Bria was gone, until he threw open the door to his room and found her in Kenric’s arms. A farmer stood just behind Kenric.

  Dread welled up in Terran’s chest. Had she been stabbed? There was no blood. What could it be?

  He lurched into action, removing her from Kenric’s arms. “What happened?” he demanded as he turned to lay her on the bed.

  “This farmer found her in the road,” Kenric said, motioning to the man behind him. “She’d taken poison. This pouch was beside her.”

  Agony pierced Terran’s heart as he snatched the pouch. “Where the hell did she get this?”

  Kenric shrugged. “Looks like she’d rather die than be your wife.”

  Terran turned burning eyes to Kenric. His jaw clenched so tightly that for a long moment he couldn’t talk. “Go and find an herbalist.”

  “There isn’t one in riding distance.”

  “Then fly,” Terran snapped, “but find one.”

  Kenric bowed stiffly and turned, leaving the room, brushing past the farmer who waited by the door.

  Terran returned his gaze to Bria. Her long brown hair was unbound and fanned out over the pillow. Her eyes were closed. Her face looked so peaceful that for a moment he imagined she was simply sleeping. Just sleeping -- as he’d imagined Odella to be.

  Ah, God, no! He collapsed to his knees beside the bed. Why? Why is this happening again? Why? Why would she do this? Was I such an ogre to her? He took her hand into his. It was so limp, so white. He pressed his forehead to her hand, kneeling in a position all too familiar to him.

  “Terran.”

  He must have imagined the soft voice. It sounded so like Bria. Did he want to hear her voice so badly he was imagining it?

  “Terran.”

  He lifted his head. Her eyes were open, staring at him with such agony and such pain that his heart broke. He held her hand to his chest, clutching it tightly. What a fool I am! his mind screamed.

  “Herbalist... at Delaney,” she whispered.

  “At Delaney?” She must be hallucinating. He brushed a trembling kiss against her forehead. “No, darling. Kenric said there isn’t one in riding distance.”

  “Terran.” He looked into her eyes. “Go... to Delaney. Get... herbalist.”

  “An herbalist at Delaney?” Perhaps Kenric didn’t know about him. Perhaps he was new. Whatever the case, he would retrieve him at once. He rose. “I’ll send Randolph.”

  “No!” Her cry, so strong and so frantic, halted Terran immediately. “He...” Her voice faded as her energy waned.

  Terran returned to her side, leaning close to her, brushing the strands of dark hair from her forehead. “I know,” he whispered. “Just rest. He brought you to me. You’re all right.” He kissed her forehead.

  “Kenric... killed Odella.”

  The words made no sense. First she’d thought he had killed Odella. Now Kenric? “You’re imagining this,” he replied. “You’re speaking of things you know nothing about.”

  “Poisoned... me.”

  Disbelief overwhelmed him. He stared into her dull blue eyes, seeing the desperation, the fear. “Poisoned you?”

  “Forced poison... into my mouth.”

  The thought of Kenric forcing anything into Bria’s lovely mouth ignited a fierce anger in his veins, pulsing with the beat of his heart. Would he really dare harm Bria?

  “Please” -- her small hand clutched his -- “believe...”

  Terran glanced down at her hand curled around his fingers. It was so small in his larger hand. Suddenly, her fingers loosened and began to fall from his hand. Desperately, Terran grabbed her hand and gazed into her eyes. Her fading blue eyes. “Bria, stay with me,” he insisted, as his throat tightened.

  “Don’t know... if I can,” she murmured.

  Terran could feel the energy dwindling from her. “Bria,” he called. Agony and pain twisted his heart, the very core of his being. She had returned to warn him. “Bria,” he pleaded. “If I go for the herbalist, promise me, promise me you will live.”

  A small smile curved her lips, but her eyelids fluttered closed.

  “Bria,” Terran begged. Anger, determination and a pain he’d never felt warred inside him. He didn’t want to leave her. If what she said was true, if his cousin had poisoned her, he couldn’t leave her alone with Kenric. But how could he not?

  He planted a firm kiss on her forehead and rose to move to the door. His eyes came to rest on the farmer who still stood, watching, his worried gaze locked on Bria. “Stay,” Terran ordered. He placed a hand over the peasant’s. “Please, stay and watch her. My servants will bring you anything you need. Whatever you want.”

  The farmer looked into his eyes for a long moment, then finally nodded. Terran raced from the room.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Terran rode into Castle Delaney hard and reined in his horse in the courtyard. His face was flushed and sweaty, his lungs straining with the exertion of the fast ride. The sun was inching its way over the horizon. The castle was just waking up, and the courtyard was empty of people. Cursing, Terran spurred the horse on, searching for someone, anyone, to ask of the herbalist’s whereabouts.

  A young woman stepped out of the door to the keep, a basket of dirty laundry in her hands. Terran turned his horse toward her and kicked the animal to full speed. She took a few steps into the courtyard before he reached her and bent down to grab her arm.

  She screamed and pulled back in fright, sending the basket of laundry tumbling to the ground.

  Terran shook her. “Where is the herbalist?”

  “The... the herbalist?” she stammered, trying to make sense of this wild man towering over her.

  “The herbalist,” Terran demanded. “Where is the herbalist?!”

  “In the garden,” she replied, trying to pull her arm free of his hold.

  Terran yanked the girl forward, grabbing her around the waist and hauling her onto the horse. “Where?” he ordered. “Show me where this garden is.”

  “Why do you want the herbalist? Who are you?” she asked.

  Terran grit his teeth at having to explain to a peasant. “I am Lord Knowles. Lady Bria is in grave danger.”

  “It’s that way.” The girl directed him deeper into the castle. “He should be in there. He’s in there early every morning tending to his plants.”

  He looked over to where she was pointing to see a small enclosure built of stone with walls about two feet high. He could see greenery beyond the low wall. He released the girl, lowering her back to the ground, then rode hard toward the small garden. The horse leaped the wall easily. Terran scanned the enclosure, looking for anyone who could help him. Anyone at all.

  A man suddenly appeared from behind a row of blackberry bushes and came running at him, waving a fist. “What do you think you’re doing? Get that animal out of here! You’re trampling the –”

  Terran urged the horse forward with a kick. He grabbed the man by his tunic front, shoving his face into his. He didn’t have time for this. “Where is the herbalist?” he growled.

  “I -- I am the herbalist,” the man replied quietly.

  Anxiety tightened Terran’s stomach as he loosened his hold on the man. “Lady Bria has been poisoned. You must come with me.”

  He heard gasps from behind him, but didn’t turn.

  “What kind of poison?” the herbalist asked.

  Terran shook
his head. “I don’t know. We have to leave. Now!”

  The man nodded. “I’ll get my things.”

  Terran released him and the man raced toward a small thatched hut near the rear of the garden, leaving Terran alone for a long moment. He wanted to scream at the man, wanted to go in after him and pack his things, anything to make him hurry. Bria could be... He refused to finish the thought. He refused to think his wife, the woman he loved -- yes, loved -- was slipping away, and he couldn’t be at her side.

  Terran’s hands gripped the reins so tightly his knuckles ached. How could this have happened? Why had she left him in the middle of the night? Where had she gone?

  A sudden, vivid image of Kenric shoving poison through her lovely lips with his dirty fingers flashed through his mind. Terran’s jaw clenched. Kenric said there was no herbalist, and yet here he was at Castle Delaney at Bria’s urging, getting an herbalist to save her life. Had Kenric not known about this herbalist? Why would he try to kill Bria? What would it serve him? Was Bria lying? She didn’t lie about being a virgin, a small voice inside him reminded.

  And what about Bria’s declaration Kenric killed Odella? Was it true? If Kenric had poisoned Bria, why not Odella, too? Rage simmered in Terran’s veins. All this time, I believed Odella’s death was my fault. All this time.

  Terran cursed silently. There’s more to this. It doesn’t make sense. Why would Kenric kill Odella in the first place? I’ll discover the truth and see things righted. He shook himself. Where was that cursed herbalist?

  Finally, the man ran out of the house, holding a large sack in his hand. Terran grabbed his shirt front and hauled him up behind him. Then he spurred his horse hard toward Castle Knowles.

  ***

  Terran held the herbalist’s arm in a steely grip as he pulled him through the halls of Castle Knowles. He reached the door to his room and threw it open, then stopped cold at the sight that greeted him. Bria lay on the bed, unmoving, eerily still. But what made Terran’s heart freeze was Kenric standing at her bedside.

  Where the hell was that wretched farmer? Had he abandoned Bria?

  “She’s still alive,” a voice said.

  Terran swiveled his gaze to see the farmer sitting in a chair not far from the bed.

  Relief coursed through Terran. There was still time. The farmer had faithfully stayed to watch over Bria. He protected her when I could not.

  “Where have you been?” Kenric asked.

  The herbalist impatiently pushed past Terran and then Kenric to get to Bria. He quickly knelt at her side, checking her lips, her skin.

  “Who’s that?” Kenric wondered, following the man’s movements with his dark, suspicious eyes.

  “The herbalist from Castle Delaney.”

  Kenric looked up and Terran could see the shock in his cousin’s dark eyes. “I didn’t know.” But there was no remorse in his voice.

  Terran’s back stiffened. “You should have,” he snapped. “Perhaps it would have saved Odella’s life.”

  Kenric’s jaw clenched, but he said nothing.

  Terran stepped over to the bed, away from his cousin, and watched the herbalist administer to Bria. He felt useless standing there, but he couldn’t leave her, as if his presence alone would give her the strength to live. Terran stared at her face, wondering if he’d ever see her smile again, wondering if he would hear her laughter. Her skin was so pale, her lips so red against the ghostly white of her skin. He wanted to turn away. He wanted to kill Randolph Kenric.

  In that moment, Terran knew the truth, as if it had always been there and he’d known it deep down inside. He believed her. He believed everything she’d told him. With that revelation came an overwhelming sadness. What if he lost her?

  “Will she be all right?” he found himself asking.

  The herbalist straightened and a sigh escaped his lips. “I don’t know. It appears to be some mandrake she took, or something similar, but I can’t be sure. I can’t tell if she swallowed enough of the antidote, or if I’ve even given her the right one.”

  “When will we know?” Terran asked.

  “If she lives through the day, she’ll be all right.”

  Terran heard the door close softly behind them. Kenric. His jaw clenched tight.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Terran rubbed his tired eyes, reaching for the ale a servant had brought for him earlier. His meal of mutton and bread sat untouched on the table near the mug. The room was dark, the shutters closed over the window. He had thought to keep the bright sunshine from disturbing Bria. Perhaps that was wrong. Should he open them? Maybe then she’d open her eyes.

  Unable to decide, he returned the mug to the table, keeping his eyes to the floor. Every time he looked at Bria, his vision blurred and he had to look away. Somehow she’d worked her way through the wall he’d built around his heart, through it and over it like a vine of roses wrapping itself around a trellis.

  If she lives through the day, she'll be all right. His hands trembled with fear as he gazed at them.

  Terran shot out of his chair and paced the floor. If only he could do something to help her. But neither his sword nor his coin nor his power could help her. Bria had to fight this battle herself.

  Terran raked a hand through his hair. I can’t lose her. Not now. His heart ached, and he closed his eyes against the utter agony that was consuming him.

  Terran dropped into the chair again. I’m going to lose Bria. The thought came unbidden, his fears finally taking shape in his mind. His throat squeezed tight, and his chest constricted painfully. He fell to his knees at her side, grasping her limp hand in his own. “Please, Bria,” he whispered. “Don’t leave me.” He pressed his forehead to her knuckles. “Please.”

  Hours passed and night slunk over the land. Terran never left Bria’s side, but his mind was reeling. It wasn’t just coincidence that Odella and Bria had identical symptoms. Even if both had poisoned themselves, how likely was it they would have used the same poison? There was a traitor living in his midst.

  Terran clenched his teeth, forcing his thoughts to the cause of her situation. And what of Kenric? he asked himself. He should be thrown in the dungeon or burned at the stake.

  But it didn’t make sense. Why in heaven’s name would Randolph hurt Bria? It had been his idea for Terran to marry her. Why poison her? What would it gain him? No, he couldn’t lock his cousin away -- not until he found out why.

  A groan.

  Terran froze. Was he imagining it?

  Her fingers in his hand jerked and moved slightly.

  Terran’s head came up to look into her face, but the room was so dark he couldn’t see her. Holding her hand to his chest, he leaned close to her lips. “Bria?”

  He waited with bated breath. But there was no response, no reaction to his voice. After a long moment of hopefulness, Terran bowed his head in disappointment.

  The door behind him opened slowly and the light of a lone candle approached, engulfing him and Bria in its luminescence.

  “Lord Knowles,” a gentle voice from behind him called.

  But Terran didn’t move. He wouldn’t release Bria’s hand. He’d never relinquish her to the care of someone else, even the herbalist -- especially the herbalist. The last time he’d abandoned his woman, she had died.

  He felt the herbalist moving about beside him, checking Bria. Finally, the herbalist said, “Lord Knowles.”

  Dread filled Terran. He didn’t want to hear the next words, for he was certain what they’d be. He didn’t want to hear Bria was dead. He rose to his feet, towering over the small man. “Don’t say it,” he commanded.

  “But Lord Knowles!” the man objected.

  Terran grabbed his tunic front and pulled him close until he could see the fear in the man’s eyes in the candlelight. “I said I don’t want to hear it.”

  Silently, the man nodded his head.

  Terran released him and the herbalist quickly stepped away, moving toward the door. Terran watched him leave. He was afraid
to look at Bria for fear her vibrant skin would be gray with death, afraid to touch her for fear her warm skin would be cold. He wanted desperately to escape this room of death, but he’d promised not to abandon Bria. He’d promised he wouldn’t leave her.

  Terran turned back to his wife, knowing the vision greeting him would erase all the glorious memories he had of Bria and plunge his image of her into a deathlike slumber.

  But she looked no different. Relief swept through him. She hadn’t given up her battle yet. She hadn’t succumbed.

  Terran stood over Bria for a long moment, simply looking at her peaceful face. She was beautiful, even in this desperate battle for her life. Her glorious hair was spread out over the pillow like a blanket of silk. Her face was serene, showing none of the torment her body must be enduring.

  He sat in the chair beside the bed, watching and waiting for any signs of what was to come.

  What came next was something he hadn’t expected.

  ***

  Bria’s eyes fluttered and then opened. She felt tired, so tired, and groggy, as if she hadn’t gotten enough sleep. She looked around her, disoriented for a moment. A candle, almost burned down to the base, flickered over the room, casting it in long eerie shadows. Her gaze continued to sweep the room, finally coming to settle on the one face that calmed her.

  Terran was resting on the bed, turned toward her, his black hair spread out beneath his head. A smile touched her dry lips. She reached out a hand to his cheek, but before she could touch it, his eyes opened and he sat bolt upright, his hand moving to the hilt of his scabbard.

  Bria stared at him, wide-eyed, breathless.

  His eyes were wild for a moment, but then settled back into the calm darkness Bria knew well.

  “Bria,” he gasped, unmoving. He was frozen, his hand resting on the handle of his sword as if he were going to cut down some ghost in his memory.