The summer ended and the harvest progressed well. Aigneis grew stronger as did their feelings for each other. He brought her to gatherings and introduced her to the villagers openly and without shame. He made no pretense of her being a housekeeper—she was his lover, his mistress, and he showed no sign of taking a wife. But when Breac brought up the subject of marriage to her, she knew it was time.
Aigneis just could not figure out how to leave her heart and soul behind and still live.
Chapter 12
A servant answered Aigneis’s knock and led her to the room where Lord Malcolm waited. After dismissing the woman, he gestured for her to sit and she did. In the months she’d been here, he’d never spoken to her directly, so she could not imagine what this summons to his hall meant. The fact that he waited for Breac to be away from the village did not bode well for her.
“Can I offer you some wine or some ale, Lady Aigneis?” he asked, holding out an empty cup to her.
She began to answer and then realized his address to her. She could feel the blood drain from her face as she waited for the rest.
“We met about ten years ago, my lady. I attended Lord Donnell’s court to celebrate the marriage of his nephew to my cousin.”
Aigneis closed her eyes, remembering the occasion but not the man before her. There had been so many there as Donnell showed off his wealth and prestige during a wedding feast that went on for days. She opened her eyes and watched him. When he held out the cup now it was filled with wine. She took it and drank it, the first time for such a rich drink in months and months.
“I know the sad circumstances regarding your marriage,” he said softly. She could not tell if he was being sarcastic or sympathetic so she continued to wait in silence for him to make his point or his demands. “Your husband believes you are dead and would not be pleased to discover you yet live. Too many complications.”
“What do you want, my lord?” she asked, tiring of this game.
“I want you out of Breac’s life,” he said plainly.
“I am not part of his life, my lord,” she explained. “I have no intentions of remaining here.”
“I want to arrange a betrothal that will insure he will stay here and work the lands for me. As long as you are here, he will not allow it.”
“Have you told him your wishes? He makes his own decisions without counsel from me.”
“I must have these things settled. Either you leave or I will tell him the truth about the woman he thinks he loves. And that truth would ruin any chance of a life together with him when he discovers the lies and betrayals of your past, Lady.”
Aigneis’s stomach rolled from the heavy wine and from the thought of the way her past could be twisted and used against her. Lord Malcolm could make it unrecognizable just as Donnell had in order to make his case of divorce against her. She would rather walk away from Breac than see the same hatred and fear in his eyes that had filled Donnell’s and her father’s and so many others when faced with the truth about her.
She nodded and stood, dropping the cup on the table without regard to damaging it. Her heart screamed in pain, but she would not change her mind in this.
“I can make arrangements for another place for you to live. A quiet village on my cousin’s lands in the north.”
He was willing to be gracious in victory and she was willing to accept it. “What do I tell him?” she asked.
“You can tell him whatever you like, it matters not to me.” He turned to face her now. “Be ready in a sennight to leave,” he ordered.
She shook her head. “He returns on the morrow and I will be ready to leave then,” she said. The sooner the better and the less chance of changing her mind in the matter, she decided.
“Very well, then. On the morrow.”
Aigneis left without another word, shocked that her legs moved so smoothly and that she didn’t fall to the ground in pieces. The rest of that day and the night moved as a blur before her eyes. She sat on the stool at his table waiting for his return so that she could bring this to a close.
She heard his voice as he called out to someone down the road and the tears began to flow. Then his footsteps as he approached, the time when her body would ready itself for the passion he would bring to her. This time, her heart beat so heavily in her chest she could not breathe. When he lifted the latch, she took in a ragged breath and prepared to tear her heart and soul apart.
Breac missed her. This was the first time they’d slept apart or been apart since that night he accepted Fenella’s death and he did not like it. It was more than just the pleasure they gave to each other; it felt like he’d found the other half of his heart and soul in her.
He fought to keep from running down the road to his cottage and to be the laughingstock of the men in the village for his lack of control when it came to her. But he did not care, for she had grown to be more important to him than anything or anyone else. And though she had not shared her past with him, he believed she did trust him and would open up to him soon.
Breac opened the door, wondering if she would greet him as she had two days ago when he found her naked on the table, offering him a feast he could not refuse. He laughed as he lifted the latch and entered.
Something was horribly wrong.
It took only one look at her face to know it and his stomach rolled at the sight of such desolation. Then it was gone and some horrible mask of emptiness covered her.
“Aigneis, what is wrong?” He dropped his bag at the door and strode over to her. Taking her by the shoulders, he pulled her into his arms. She was shaking.
“I have some news,” she stuttered.
“What kind of news?”
“Lord Malcolm has found me a place to live in his cousin’s village. I leave today.”
“Do you jest?” he asked, leaning away to watch her face as she spoke. “There is no reason to do such a thing.”
“Breac, we both know that you need a wife. You said so when you invited me here—it was only until the matter of your sister was handled and then you would marry.”
“The matter of my sister?” he asked, feeling as though he was being manipulated but he could not see all the strings yet.
“I am an impediment to a marriage.”
“Who has told you such a thing?”
“There is not a woman in this village, or a man for that matter, who does know the true nature of our relation . . . involvement,” she said. “And no woman will accept a betrothal while your leman lives with you.”
“I offered you marriage,” he said, feeling the cold emptiness open within him. What had happened to cause this?
“That was not our agreement when I came here and I beg you to accept and honor that arrangement now.”
Silence filled the room and the space between them grew and grew though neither one had moved an inch. Sounds outside alerted him to the arrival of others. She flinched at the knocking yet she never looked away from him. He placed his hand on the door latch.
“I have never forced a woman to do anything she did not wish to,” he said, “and I would not start now.” He pulled the door open to find four of Lord Malcolm’s men waiting there.
He thought she would leave without saying another word, which would be bad, but the words she did say were worse, much much worse.
“Thank you for saving my life, Breac. And thank you for teaching me that I could trust again.”
And then she was gone.
“What did you say to make her leave?” Breac asked in a tone that did not carry the least bit of respect for his lord as it should.
She’d left two days ago and he finally realized he could not let her go. Whatever had happened led back to Lord Malcolm and he would find out the reason for her hasty departure. It did not take an idiot to realize that she loved him, he’d known it in his own heart for months, and to see that she was being forced to leave him. He would find out the reason and then go and get her.
Lord Malcolm had not answered yet, so he
asked again.
“She wanted to leave, Breac. I gave her the chance for a new life.” He knew it had not happened that way, but it did not matter.
“I am ready to pledge myself in your service, my lord,” he said. “And to expand and improve the farms in your three villages.”
Lord Malcolm’s face brightened, for this was exactly what he’d been negotiating with Breac to do and what Breac had resisted. “Excellent!”
“As soon as I bring Aigneis back and she accepts my offer of marriage.”
“She will not marry you. ’Twas her choice.”
Breac stood silently, waiting to play his true weapon. They both knew the stakes here, but only Breac knew how important Aigneis was to his happiness and the price he would pay to get her back.
“Either you accept her as my wife or I will walk away from here and the flow of gold you earn from the sales of your crops will end.”
Because of drought or flood, most of the farmland for miles had not been yielding strong crops for a number of years except their lands because of Breac’s knowledge of the land and his planning and management. Malcolm had become much richer for it and could become richer still if the pattern continued.
“It matters not, she will not have you,” Lord Malcolm answered now, too confident in the matter.
“Then you agree?” he pressed the question.
“Aye.”
With a curt nod, Breac was on his way. He’d already bribed the knowledge of her destination from one of the stewards and he could catch up with them before they reached the coast.
He would catch up with them and bring her back with him.
Chapter 13
This trip was made in more comfort, Lord Malcolm had provided a wagon fit for his wife’s use to Aigneis. Even though two servants along with four guards kept her cared for and protected, she was more miserable than after being beaten by Donnell’s men.
And it was for Breac’s own good and safety . . . and happiness. If Donnell found out that he’d interfered in his punishment of her and saved her life, he would take his revenge against Breac and his lord with the backing of the king and his soldiers. But the worst threat was that Malcolm would tell Breac about her life, and she believed he would do just that.
She prepared herself for his anger when she told him she was leaving, but there would be no way to prepare herself for the hatred and the fear she would see if he learned about her years in the land of the Sith and her lost sons. Or the rest. He could simply not understand it all and he would hate her or grow to hate her over time.
’Twas better this way.
And she continued to tell herself that with every passing mile, hoping that she would come to believe it in time. Now, two days later, she was no closer to believing it than she had been two days before.
They would leave the mountains soon and then head north along the coast for three more days, where Aigneis would disappear forever and she would take a new name.
They came to an abrupt stop when someone called out about a block in the road ahead. But it was neither rocks nor a mudslide that halted their progress. Breac stood in the road before them. He approached the soldiers leading them and spoke with them in a low voice. They glanced back at her several times during their exchange, but she could only see him. Thrilled to see him again and terrified over what it meant, she waited until he approached her.
“You said you trusted me,” he said, standing close so that no one else heard their words.
“Breac, please do not do this,” she begged.
He took her by the arm, waved the soldiers and others away, and guided her back a distance where they could have some privacy.
“I need to know what you hide. What do you fear telling me? Why can you not marry me?”
She could not utter the words, so he asked again. “Please tell me, Aigneis. You owe me at least that for saving your life.”
“I cannot marry you because I am already married, Breac,” she said, giving up any hopes of resisting his pleas of hearing the truth.
He gasped as she said it. “The man who ordered you lamed was your husband?”
“Aye, I was married to Lord Donnell of Ardrishaig.”
“He is a powerful chieftain in the south,” Breac said. She still hesitated in revealing the whole of it, but he urged her on once more. “With a new wife . . .” He’d heard of the new marriage then? His expression showed his confusion.
He said she could trust him. Could she? She’d lost him already, so mayhap it was worth the risk?
“I was betrothed to Donnell when I was but a girl and was intent on marrying him until I met someone else,” she began. “On my father’s lands in the western isles, I fell in love with a man. I thought him a man, until his true nature was revealed to me.”
“His true nature?” he asked quietly.
“A Sith prince in human form, seeking a mortal lover. By the time I knew the truth I gave my pledge to him and he took me to his home.”
It sounded absurd, but it was the truth. She thought he would scoff, but he nodded, accepting her words.
“It was a wondrous place, but I discovered I did not love him and wanted to return to my home and the man I should marry. When he refused, I managed to escape but it was too late.”
“Too late?” Breac frowned. “Did he catch you?”
“Aye, and at the worst possible moment. I was in labor when he found me.” She paused as the feelings and fear washed over her again. “But worse than being caught was his anger at my betrayal. He cursed the bairns,” she heard her voice hitch and tried to continue, but could not.
Breac took her in his arms and held her, comforting her in a way she never thought to feel again. “Hush now,” he whispered.
She shook her head. “Nay, I must tell you the rest before I lose my courage.” He released her but stood close.
“Because they are half-Sith, they have gifts, but he cursed them to lose their humanity as they use their powers. I begged him for mercy but he was too angry at me to lift the curse. I cannot tell them the truth or he will destroy us all.”
“You are here, so you must have escaped?”
“He let me go after he took my sons,” she whispered, the pain so deep it cut her in two. “I did not even hold them. He took them away as they were born and gave them to others to raise because he said I was not worthy.”
The tears flowed then. She was unable to stop them. She’d told no one the whole story until now and had bottled up most of her guilt and grief inside. “I returned to my father along with gold, paid by the Sith as the price for my sons. That much gold convinced my father and Donnell to accept the betrothal as it was and to accept me, as damaged as I was.”
“Did they know? About your sons?” he asked, taking her hand in his and entwining their fingers so she could not move too far from him. He could feel her desolation and loss and could not believe the pain she bore.
“Nay, I dared not tell anyone. I came back changed—living in their land gave me a vitality I could not explain. I did not age as usual and during the months I spent there five years had passed here. I never get sick, I . . .”
“. . . heal quickly,” he added.
“And there’s more than that. I believe that I have a bit of whatever gifts or powers he gave our sons.”
“You know things, do you not?” It made sense now to him. He’d suspected for some time.
“And I hear things . . . and the healing. I think those are the powers he gave them too.”
“How old are they?”
“If they are here, in the mortal world, they will have ten-and-three years now.” He could see her thinking about them even now.
“Because of my youth and my obvious health, Donnell thought I would bear him children easily. With the gold to soften his bruised honor, we married and he set about trying to get heirs.”
“It never happened?” Breac could see where this was leading. “In all these years?”
“I think my womb will not b
ear mortal children after bearing them for the Sith,” she said. He sensed that this disclosure was more painful than the others for her. “I have never shared that with anyone else, Breac.”
She did trust him, but he could feel her fear. As though she waited for the worst of it.
“After seven years, he gave up. It infuriated him that I still looked so young compared to his appearance. And that I could heal and never be sick. Worse, he hated me for the powers he glimpsed within me. He turned his family and mine against me, claiming a deal with the devil prevented me from having children. He offered my father some of the gold if he did not object to me being set aside for a new wife.”
“And your father agreed to this?”
Breac was gaining more insight into the terrible damage wrought to this woman by others. Everyone in her life had failed her and betrayed her. If he walked away, he would simply be another added to her list.
“Enough gold will ease the roughest of roads. So Donnell announced that due to my sins, I was barren and he divorced me. I objected but my father signed the papers. When I would not leave, he had me taken from my home. When I returned . . .”
“He declared you exiled, shamed you by cutting your hair, and throwing you naked into the street.”
She looked away then, but not before he saw the shame in her eyes. He reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, lifting her face until she met his gaze. “It is not your fault.”
“Ah, but it is, Breac. I could not love the Sith prince as I promised and he took my sons. I could not love Donnell as I’d promised and I remained barren until he banished me. Now, married and barren I have nothing to offer the man I truly love. Except . . .”
He understood the conclusion she was drawing and shook his head. “But I do not wish to be free of you.”
“You will as the Sith power continues to fade from within me and I become the mortal woman I truly am.”
From Undone: A Storm of Love, A Novella Page 8
