“That was courteous of you to give him another chance, my lord.”
“Courtesy had naught to do with it.” He wrapped his arms around her, this time facing her. “I did it to please you, Brynn. I guess you could say it’s part of my own training in wooing a lady. So, did I please you?”
He ran his hand up and down her back, his intent to lie with her still obvious. He hadn’t known what he’d just done. If he knew it was part of a blackmailing attempt and that she was trying to regain control of Thorndale Castle and see him on his way, he never would have allowed Calais another chance. If he knew Calais had lain with her while he himself was kept waiting for her cooperation, he’d have the man hanged for sure. She wasn’t sure what he’d do to her, but didn’t want to find out.
“So where were we?” he whispered into her ear.
Suddenly, she couldn’t continue. Horrible thoughts of lying with Calais filled her mind and she felt like she didn’t deserve to be wrapped in Drake’s arms. She didn’t deserve the pleasure he’d been giving her, nor the respect of listening to her pleas about Calais. She was nothing more than a traitor who’d sold her soul to the devil once she gave herself to Calais, and meant to deceive Drake and take Thorndale Castle from him. She couldn’t go to bed with Drake now, even though her heart longed for him.
“I wish to go down from the battlements, and back to my bedchamber.”
“Aye,” he said with a smile. “That’s a fine idea. Let’s go to bed.”
“Alone!” She felt the stab to his heart when she said the word. She felt the stab to her own heart and wished she could make the situation different.
“I see.” His voice was full of despair and though he said the words, she knew he didn’t understand at all. How could he? “So you’re denying me my own bedchamber again are you? Was my wooing not to your liking? Please tell me if I did something to displease you.”
“Nay, you did naught to displease me,” she reassured him with a tear in her eye. “It was beautiful. Everything was right.”
“Then why the denial?” His voice hardened. His eyes were squinted and his face clouded over.
“I - I just don’t think it’d be right at this time, my lord. Perhaps at a later date?”
“Witch! You do this to play with me, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You knew my longing to couple with you. You knew the fire that burned within me to consummate our marriage and make you my wife. I ache for you so bad it hurts worse than a hundred swords slicing through me, yet you play with me and then turn me away so you can laugh at the control you hold over me.”
“That’s not true. I did nothing of the kind.”
“You let me put my arms around you and trail kisses down your neck. You let me grow beneath my braies as I fondled your breasts, though you knew all along you wouldn’t let me come to your bed this night. If you were any other woman but my wife, I’d have you flogged for playing with my mind. No one, not even you my darling wife, will control my aching needs with your little games.”
“Please, Drake, you don’t understand.” She reached out for him but he stepped away.
“I don’t want you to touch me again unless you plan on letting me couple with you.”
The stab to her heart was too much. She didn’t need her husband turning on her like this, especially when he didn’t even understand the horrible position she was in. She needed care and tenderness right now, though she couldn’t blame him for the way he was acting. He had made it sounded as if she were the one trying to seduce him, when it really was the opposite way around.
“You were the one doing all the touching, if I must remind you.”
“That won’t happen again. I will not touch you intimately again unless you request it. And if you request my hands upon your skin than you’d better be damned sure it’s what you really want. The next time I touch you, wife, it’ll be when my body is slamming into yours and we’re consummating this farce of a marriage. Do you understand?”
Tears choked Brynn and it was all she could do not to cry. She nodded her head without answering, and watched as Drake stormed away. She stood alone atop the battlements, gripping the merlon, stone structure, that raised above the wall, looking out to the sea. The clouds had covered the moon leaving the land in darkness, and it looked as if a storm brewed on the horizon. Choppy water sloshed against the cliffs, and the trees bent in the strong wind.
“My lady?” She turned to see one of Drake’s guards standing behind her. “Lord Dunsbard requests I see you safely to your chamber.”
She nodded and went with him. The bedchamber was the last place she wanted to be right now, because she knew Drake would never come there of his own accord again.
THE DRAGON AND THE DREAMWALKER
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“My lady, you seem troubled,” said Birdie, helping Brynn undress and ready herself for bed.
“Oh, Birdie, I am troubled, and I fear I know not what I’ve done.”
Birdie picked up a hairbrush, motioned for Brynn to sit on the bed, and ran it through her hair. “We’ve always been friends, so to speak,” she told Brynn. “You have confided in me in the past, and I know I’ve disappointed you by letting loose your secrets, though it was always by accident, I assure you.”
Brynn thought of the way she used Birdie to start the gossip of her throwing Drake out of the bedchamber. She grabbed the girl’s hand and stopped her from brushing.
“Birdie, you have always been dear to me, but I must admit I used our friendship for my own needs.”
“My lady?” Birdie’s eyebrows dipped. “I do not understand.”
“Please don’t be offended, but I know you can’t keep a secret. That’s why I led you to believe I dismissed Drake from the bedchamber, when in actuality it was he who left me.”
“Oh, my!” Birdie’s hand covered her mouth in surprise.
“I apologize, as I never meant to hurt you, or anyone. I needed the occupants of Thorndale to admire and have faith in me. I want to regain control of Thorndale Castle, as is my birthright. Lord Dunsbard pillaged the castle and stole it. He doesn’t deserve to be called Lord of Thorndale. Don’t you agree?”
“I do,” said Birdie with a nervous nod. “Please don’t feel saddened, as I understand why you deceived me. I would have done the same in your position.
“Birdie, I need your help.”
“Anything you ask, my lady.”
“I want you to speak to the servants and the villagers and ask them how they feel about me.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“I want to reclaim Thorndale as my own, and rule in my father’s stead. But in order to do so I need the support of the people.”
“But the people fear Lord Thorndale,” she pointed out. “They would never go up against him.”
“Neither do I want them to. I only suggest we find a way to keep Drake outside the gates and persuade his men to answer to me. I truly believe it may be the best for everyone in the long run.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “That is not possible, my lady. Commoners and servants are no match for knights and armed men. Your husband’s men will never be disloyal to him. And I thought you were almost getting used to the fact he now ruled Thorndale.”
“So did I,” she answered softly, knowing things might be different right now if it weren’t for Calais being there. She thought about her secret and what would happen when Drake found out the truth. It wouldn’t be good for anyone. His temper would be out of control and people would get hurt and probably killed. He may possibly even try to hurt her, she was no longer sure as she knew he was awfully angry with her already. She couldn’t have anyone else getting hurt or killed. She only wanted peach and harmony within the walls of Thorndale once again. The same way as it was when her father ruled. But with Drake here now, she could see that was never going to happen. Sadly, the only way that Thorndale would know peace again was if Drake were to leave. And with him wo
uld go the chaos that seemed to follow him wherever he went.
“Then we’ll have to find another way,” she told Birdie. “I’m not sure how, but for everyone’s sake, I need to find a way to stop Lord Dunsbard from ruling at Thorndale.”
“He is your husband, my lady. You can rule together.”
“Nay. He is my husband in name only as we’ve yet to consummate the marriage.”
Birdie looked surprised at this, but said nothing about it. Instead, she ran the brush through Brynn’s hair once more and asked something Brynn would have never expected.
“Do you love him? Do you have feelings for The Dragon, my lady?”
The question struck a chord in Brynn’s heart and suddenly her plans to deceive Drake seemed cold and heartless. But still, she had no other choice. She did care for him. Her feelings for him grew every day, and were satisfied at night on the dreamwalking plane. She almost admitted her fondness for him until she remembered all those who’d died in the siege on the castle, especially her parents. Someone had to pay for the lives that had been lost there. And she couldn’t let Drake claim her father’s castle as naught more than the spoils of war. Even if it was not by his blade that her parents had perished, neither had he save them from dying, so in her mind, he was still guilty.
“That’ll be all for the night, Birdie, thank you.” She took the hairbrush from the girl and motioned for her to leave. Birdie curtsied and left the chamber.
* * *
Brynn didn’t sleep much that night. She tossed and turned and wondered if she’d made the right decisions. She wanted more than anything to be back on the battlements wrapped in Drakes arms, melting under his kisses and caresses. But that would never happen again. Not unless she asked him to do it. But she couldn’t ask him to lay with her until she told him about Calais, which she never planned on doing. Her secret burned her up from inside.
She was afraid to go to sleep. Afraid, because she knew as soon as she drifted off, she’d be back in Drake’s arms on the etheric plane. She wasn’t sure it was right. She felt like she was using Drake in her dreamwalking for her own pleasures, but in waking life Drake was still frustrated. And for the sake of all those who had perished there, she knew she had to do something to keep him from ruling as lord.
She fought her eyes from closing, but eventually her body drifted off to sleep. She wasn’t trying to dreamwalk, but it came for her anyway. She lifted from her physical form and floated toward the window. She found herself thinking again of Drake’s caresses on the battlements and before she knew it, that’s exactly where she was.
“Ah, so you finally decided to come, my lady. I was afraid you weren’t going to show.”
Drake’s etheric form was standing in the dark alcove. He walked out into the moonlight to meet her, the moonbeams shining right through him. He wore his long cloak, just like he had earlier that evening. He looked every bit as handsome in this form as in the other. She looked down and realized she was in her nightgown. Embarrassment embraced her, but he didn’t seem to notice what she wore.
“Drake,” she greeted him with a smile.
He came toward her and she knew he was going to touch her. She should have stopped him, but didn’t. Her own selfishness made her want to feel his hands once again upon her skin. She closed her eyes as he reached out for her, but opened them quickly when she realized he wasn’t touching her after all. He stood still and rigid. His features seemed to change. Curious in a sense, his eyes watched her, but he remained guarded. Almost as if he didn’t trust her. He looked deeply into her eyes, draining her secrets from her though she tried to keep them locked up tight.
“Something’s wrong,” he said in concentration. “Things are not the same. You’re keeping something from me, aren’t you?”
“Why do you ask that?” She felt her legs shaking beneath her.
“I’m not sure, but I feel it’s true.”
“Hold me, Drake.” She reached out for him but he stepped away.
This couldn’t be happening. How could he be rejecting her on the dreamwalking plane as well as in physical life? Dreamwalkers didn’t hold grudges. Things didn’t matter here. One could do as they wished and things would be the same in the morning. Or would they? She was beginning to wonder if the two worlds really overlapped somehow.
“No, Brynn. I will not touch you until you tell me the secrets you’re keeping.”
“I have no secrets, my lord.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“She’s lying, Lord Thorndale.”
Brynn whipped around, surprised to hear another voice on the dreamwalking plane besides hers and Drake’s. In all her experiences, she’d only met on this plane the person she’d been thinking of in physical life. She knew there were no rules as to who and how many Dreamwalkers met at a time, but she’d only met people who were in her physical mind, so this startled her. As far as she knew, she’d only been thinking of Drake.
She shuddered slightly when she spied Calais’s dreamwalking form coming toward them. She cursed herself silently, realizing she had been thinking of him as well before drifting off to a semi-sleep state. He didn’t limp on this plane. He wasn’t stiff and sore from practice. He had all his fingers. He looked confident, scheming, and as if he were going to cause trouble.
“Who are you?” Drake queried.
“I’m your new squire, sir, soon to be your knight.” Brynn wanted to stop him, but didn’t know how.
Drake looked as if he were trying to place him but couldn’t.
“His name is Calais. He’s a former villager from Lornoon,” Brynn supplied the information rather than to have Calais tell him more than was needed.
“Lornoon,” Drake repeated. “The village that is being threatened by the dragon. No one is safe there.”
“They are now,” Brynn reminded them. “You asked them to come live at Thorndale so you could protect them.”
“I remember now,” said Drake, pacing the battlements, cloak whipping behind him in the wind. “And Brynn. You are the virgin I saved from the beast.”
“Aye.”
“Nay,” answered Calais with a smile.
“Well, which is it?” asked Drake. “Yay or nay?”
“She’s not a virgin.” Calais walked up and put his arm around Brynn. She closed her eyes briefly as he pulled her body into his, all the while wishing Calais had never appeared.
“Brynn?” asked Drake. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
“Nay!” she spat.
“I’ll tell you,” said Calais.
“Wait,” Brynn stopped him, pulling away from the foul man. “I do have something to tell you, Drake. Something I should have said long ago. I’m not a virgin because . . . because . . . I have lain with Calais in an attempt to save myself from Dracus.”
“Brynn, tell me this isn’t so.”
“It is, my lord,” Calais answered for her. “And it seems to have worked. After all, she is safe from the dragon now.”
“I did it for that purpose only,” added Brynn.
Drake’s face clouded over and his brows angled downward. His normally dark eyes turned quite a few shades darker. His fists clenched and his arms stiffened. She’d never seen him so angry before.
“No, Witch, you’re wrong.”
“I - I don’t understand.” He came toward her and she backed up toward the wall of the battlements.
“You are not safe from the dragon, nor will you ever be. As a matter of fact, he threatens your life right now.”
She heard a loud rumbling from behind her and saw Calais’s eyes open wide just before he scrambled out of sight. The back of her neck was singed as a blast of fire encompassed her, but did not hurt her. She turned from Drake to find Dracus, the powerful, flesh-eating dragon floating in the air behind her, mouth opened wide.
The beast was just as hideous in the etheric form as it was in the physical. Somehow, this surprised her. She was too scared to scream. The dragon came toward her, its shar
p teeth prominent inside its open jaws. A serpent’s tongue emerged from within its deep throat, lashing its spiked end in her direction. The foul stench encompassed her, making her want to gag.
She turned back to Drake and his angry eyes. He was doing nothing to escape the beast.
“Do something!” she commanded. “Save me - save yourself from the dragon.”
“I can’t, Brynn. I can’t stop the dragon without your help.”
“What are you talking about? Draw your sword and strike him down.”
“I don’t have a sword as you can well see. They don’t exist when one’s dreamwalking. You should know that. Dreamwalkers have no need of weapons.” His voice was quite calm.
“You really do know!” she said. “You are dreamwalking and you know you’re doing it.”
“Of course. Doesn’t everyone?”
“Nay. Usually people don’t know this isn’t waking life. Then they have no recollection of it when they do awake. Calais won’t know what he’s done tonight.”
“Will I?” he asked with an edge to his voice.
Brynn was no longer sure. She had so many questions and no one to answer them.
“The dragon’s angry, Brynn.” He took a step closer, his eyes now blazing with a reddish glow. “You know what you have to do.”
“Nay, I don’t know!” she screamed, backing against the wall, looking first at him and then at Dracus. “I don’t know of what you speak. How can I possibly help you stop the dragon?”
He didn’t answer. He just stood there watching her calmly. Rain started to fall, drenching her from head to toe. The drops fell around Drake rather than on him.
“The dragon’s tears.” He held out his hand, palm up and a few drops bounced off his skin, steaming. “The dragon holds many tears, Brynn. Will you force him to shed them all?”
“I don’t care about dragon tears,” she shouted above the wind.
“Oh, but I think you should - Witch!”
Tall, Dark, and Medieval Page 35
