“Liar!” Rannick snapped. “You came here to die, if necessary, that tells me you know much more than you claim. One last chance. Provide me with some information or I will place you in the woods to linger and die.”
“You cannot, the animals will feast on him,” Bliss said, the thought turning her stomach.
His wife did not disappoint. She did exactly as he expected… help put fear in the man.
“Nay, I beg,” the man cried.
Rannick grabbed his arm and began to drag him.
“Nay! Nay! Poison! Poison!” the man shouted.
Rannick stopped, a wrinkle in his brow as he asked, “What about poison?”
The man struggled with each word. “Poison… claimed… your last wife.”
CHAPTER 15
Rannick clenched his fist, angry to learn his last wife, Shona, had been poisoned and angry at himself for blaming the curse for her death and not even thinking someone may have actually harmed her.
He bent down and grabbed the man by his shirt and shook him. “Who? Who killed my wife?” he demanded.
The man’s eyes turned wide, and his hand clutched at his chest and before he could take a breath, death swiftly claimed him.
Rannick shook the man, thinking he may have fainted.
“He’s gone,” Bliss said.
Rannick stood and turned to face his wife.
Bliss almost jumped back, not recognizing him, the mask of fury making him appear diabolical. Normally, she would avoid a man when anger corrupted him, but Rannick had just learned his last wife had been poisoned and that would enrage any decent husband.
She approached him slowly and cautiously reached out to rest her hand on his chest, hoping to provide a small bit of comfort. “I am so sorry about Shona, though I am glad you have learned the truth and you no longer have to wonder what took her from you.”
Her words penetrated his anger, and his hideous mask began to fade away to her relief.
He raised his hand to gently stroke her throat. “He left you bruised.”
“I survived and the bruise will fade, that is all that matters,” she said softly.
His hand fell off her throat and he tilted his head back slightly as he took a deep breath, then his eyes met hers. “Go inside while I dispose of these men.”
She hesitated, worried over him and not wanting to leave him alone.
“Do as I say,” he ordered curtly.
She nodded, understanding it was not only about ridding them of the dead men, but him needing time to himself to digest the unexpected news.
Bliss leaned back against the closed door after she entered the cottage. She had done her best not to worry over the curse claiming her life. She had been more concerned about keeping her sisters safe. After all, she had promised her mother just that… to keep her sisters safe. But that had not been the only promise she had made to her mother on her death bed. She had vowed to keep a secret her mother had revealed to her, a startling one, but one that had made no difference to her. She had managed to do both even with the threat of the curse hanging over her.
If that was not enough, she now had to contend with someone attempting to kill her.
Bliss left Rannick to his silence that had lingered since he had returned to the cottage. It had continued all through supper even though she tried to engage him in conversation and failed to get nothing more than a few grunts from him. She wondered over his thoughts and would have preferred he discussed them with her since no doubt she was part of them. It was difficult after so many years of living freely, as much as a woman could, to wed and have decisions made for her. She feared that was what her husband was presently considering. What would he do with her?
After what seemed like hours or more, but probably far less, Bliss spoke up. “I go where you go.”
Rannick’s head shot up and his eyes narrowed as they settled on her. “You go where I tell you to go.”
Her chin went up with a stubborn toss. “I stay with you.”
Rannick glared at her, annoyed with her defiance and yet pleased that she insisted on remaining by his side like a loving wife.
Loving?
Where had that thought come from? Bliss did not love him. She cared for his well-being because he was the key to her sisters’ fate. Had she given no thought to her own? Would she surrender so easily to protect those she loved? He could not imagine a love as strong as that. His mother and father had had an arranged marriage and while his father treated his mother well and they cared somewhat for each other, he did not believe they loved deeply. Duty kept them together, nothing more.
He wished for something more, something stronger, more enduring, something he would never find. Something the curse would never allow.