“This mixture will not prevent your seed from taking root,” she said.
“You lie,” he accused, thinking she made an excuse not to take it.
A soft laugh escaped her. “Do you hear what you imply? If that was so, I would say nothing and take the mixture and get with child.”
Rannick went to the door. “LAWLER!”
The man hurried into the cottage at the commanding shout of his name, Rannick closing the door behind him and planting himself in front of it.
“Who gave you that mixture?” Rannick demanded.
Lawler appeared reluctant to answer.
“Tell me,” Rannick snapped harshly.
Lawler hurried to say, “Your mother.”
Rannick’s annoyance showed in his sudden glare. “You went to my mother?”
“We have no healer. Who else was I to go to? Your mother has knowledge of such things and was willing to do as you requested.”
“Start a small fire and bring water from the barrel outside,” Rannick ordered.
Lawler nodded and grabbed a bucket to do Rannick’s bidding.
Rannick turned a deeper glare on his wife. “You will take the mixture.”
“I do not know if your mother does this on purpose or she is not knowledgeable, but this mixture is worthless against your seed.”
“My mother made sure not to get with child after she miscarried two bairns. She knows what she does. And I am disappointed that you lie to me and still try to get with child.”
“I told you I would speak the truth to you, and that is what I have done. This,” —she held up her hand with the mixture cupped in it— “is worthless.” She tossed the mixture on the floor.
Rannick slammed his hands flat on the table, causing his wife to jump. “You will take it and I will speak with my mother when we arrive home.”
“And if it is your mother’s word against mine?” she asked.
“Drink it,” was all Rannick said before he walked out of the cottage.
CHAPTER 17
“You will ride with me,” Rannick ordered when all was ready for departure.
“I prefer to walk,” Bliss said and turned away from her husband.
She gasped when his hands settled tightly at her waist.
“That was not a request, wife,” he whispered harshly near her ear. “And defy me in front of everyone and you will discover what I have repeatedly told you… how unkind I truly am.”
Bliss was more annoyed with herself than she was with her husband. She rarely, if ever, got angry. As a healer, she needed a clear head and heart to do her best to help others. Anger clouded both. The walk to the keep would have served her well, clearing her head and heart from the annoyance she felt at her husband.
She remained silent when he lifted her and placed her on the horse.
“Be angry with me all you want,” Rannick said after mounting and tucking her back against him to take the reins and direct the horse. “But you will obey me.”
Bliss sagged against him. “I am not angry with you. I am disappointed in you. I thought you trusted me, and, of course, I will obey you, what other choice do I have?”
That he would have preferred her anger to disappointment stabbed at his heart and that she would obey because there was nothing else left to her did not set well with him. And that he lacked a response frustrated him beyond measure, but then what could he say?
“I wish we could have stayed here just you and me and have grown to know each other better, then neither of us would ever question what the other said since trust would have been established between us and neither of us would ever doubt the other’s word.” She rested her head on his chest.
Again, he was at a loss for words. What was there to say to her when she was right? He would have preferred to remain there alone with her, grow to know her, trust her without a doubt, make love to her, and fall more deeply in love with her.
He should have known her anger was fleeting and how could he blame her? His father’s arrival had changed everything, and he had expected her to accept it all without question. She had taken the time to discuss things with him, share opinions, see what came of both their thoughts, but most importantly she had told him she would speak truthfully with him, and he had accused her of lying.
The problem was he could not be sure if she had lied. Did he believe his mother, who had always kept an honest word with him even if he had disagreed with her or his wife, who he had only come to know and who had already lied to him once?
Regardless, she had done what he had ordered and drank the brew, but how could he be sure if it would work.
Rannick glanced down to see his wife had fallen asleep. He pulled his cloak to tuck around her and keep her warm against the cold that stung the air. Too much had happened in a short period of time. One day he was alone, content or so he thought, in his solitude, then Bliss had appeared, and it all changed. He could curse her for disrupting his plans or he could be grateful that she had rescued him from them. He believed the latter was a much better choice.