Chapter Sixteen
It was Emelisse who prepared her brother’s body for burial.
With the help of some of the soldiers who had been bottled up in the keep, she bathed her brother in watered wine, seeing the gaping wound that had taken his life.
It had been a sorrowful duty and she’d tried to maintain her bravery throughout because of the soldiers around her.
She didn’t want them to see her falter. Somehow, she had to maintain the illusion that she was strong and in control, with everything.
But it was a hard-fought battle.
But even as her thoughts were on her brother, they were peppered by thoughts of Caius.
When she had first met him, he had seemed professional and genuinely interested in the situation and her perspective of it.
Now, however, he was exhibiting distinct signs of someone who had more than a passing interest in the situation.
Almost as if he were becoming emotionally involved in it.
In truth, she didn’t want him to become emotionally involved in the situation because it was not his fight.
She did not want to make it seem as if she were playing on his pity, as if she were trying to entice him to side with her.
That was something she would never do, not to him, not to anyone.
This was her battle, her family’s battle, and it always had been.
She didn’t want to appear as if she were taking advantage of the situation.
But his kiss to her hand had done something to her.
The only man who had ever kissed her had been her father, as a father kisses a daughter, and she’d never experienced anything remotely passionate or romantic.
Therefore, Caius’ kiss to her hand had been her very first experience with something that could be considered romantic.
She wasn’t hard pressed to admit she had liked it.
Over the years, she’d had a few suitors who had professed their interest in her.
None of them had been serious, however, and her father had seen that right away.
Perhaps they had been taken with her beauty, or perhaps they had been taken with the idea of marrying an heiress to Hawkstone.
Whatever the case, she had never been interested in any of them.
In fact, she had always been somewhat shy of men.
Until now.
Other than a sympathetic character, she had no idea what Caius would have seen in her. He had met her at her lowest point, dressed in another woman’s clothing and emotionally wrecked. As she had told him, she had not been herself. So, why should he even be attracted to her?
Truly, she was baffled by it all.
But there was no question as to why she should be attracted to him.
From the moment they had met, he had been kind, understanding and considerate.
He had been interested in her plight and he had shown great regard for her.
Coupled with the fact that the man was incredibly handsome, it was apparent why she should be attracted to him.
He had given her every good reason to be.
But she could not give in to those feelings.
Emelisse was terrified that her attraction to Caius would somehow interfere with her determination to stay in Hawkstone’s keep to the last man.
He had already tried to sway her, but she had remained strong.
She didn’t know how much longer she could remain strong if he continued his bombardment of pleas and gentle pity.
It wasn’t an act. She could see that he meant it.
But she was afraid that, eventually, she would give in to his wishes.
That was something she did not want to do.
And that meant no more contact with a man.
She knew what she had to do, as heartbreaking as it was.
Emelisse sent a few soldiers down to the keep entry where they retracted the ladder and resealed the door.
If she was going to keep firm to her decision to remain boarded up with the remaining Hawkstone soldiers as her brother had been, then she would have to keep Caius from entering and trying to talk her out of it.
When he had kissed her hand, Emelisse realized that she would do almost anything for the man.
That kiss had made her heart race and her palms sweat, and it was the most wonderful feeling she had ever known.
Under any other circumstances, she would have given anything to experience those feelings from him, again and again.
But these were not ordinary circumstances.
Therefore, she had to keep Caius away from her.
The man had the ability to melt her.
His return to the keep wasn’t long in coming.
No sooner had they raised the ladder and closed the door than he appeared, calling up to those in the keep and asking them to open the door again.
Emelisse listened to his pleas go from polite to those of great concern very quickly when he realized she meant to deny him, and anyone else, entrance to the keep.
Knowing she could not ignore him, she finally went down to the keep entry and had the soldiers open the door.
But they did not lower the ladder.
The Hawkstone soldiers moved away from the entry as she knelt down at the entrance, gazing down at Caius, who was looking up at her with genuine confusion.
“Forgive me, Caius, but you cannot enter,” she said with regret. “It is better if you do not.”
That didn’t clear up any of his confusion. “Why not?” he asked. “What have I done?”
She shook her head. “Nothing,” she said. “I simply… it is simply better this way.”
“Better for whom?”
“Me.”
He regarded her for a moment. “I was not going to force you to leave, you know,” he said. “I did not plan to pick you up and carry you out. I would not do that to you, in any case.”
She was coming to appear more regretful. “I know,” she said. “This is not because I do not trust you.”
“Then what?”
Emelisse couldn’t tell him that it was because she didn’t trust herself. This whole situation was becoming very confusing, very quickly, and she was having a difficult time resolving it all in her own mind. A man she was so attracted to seemed to have increasing power over her, by her own fault.
“Please,” she begged softly. “It does not matter, but this is, in no way, a reflection on you. It is simply better this way. Now, did you require something?”
Caius stood there and looked up at her, fists on his narrow hips, wondering why on earth she should deny him entry to the keep.
Their last interaction had been sweet and somewhat titillating.
He’d kissed her hand and she’d looked at him as if she wanted more of it.
The look on her face had spoken volumes to him.
And maybe that was the problem.
She was attracted to him, too.
That realization changed everything.
“I do,” he said frankly. “I require a moment of your time because I must speak with you. Something important has come up.”
“What is it?”
“I will not shout it for all to hear,” he said. “This is private business.”
She sighed, appearing indecisive. “There is no one about,” she said. “No one will hear you.”
He cocked a dark eyebrow. “You can come down here to speak to me, or let me into the keep to speak to you,” he said. “Or you can tell Marius when he arrives tomorrow and breaks the door down to get at you. What is your choice?”
Her eyes widened. “Marius is coming?”
“Put the ladder down and I will tell you everything.”
She did, all by herself. She told the lingering Hawkstone soldiers to go away and they did, vacating into the recesses of the keep while Caius climbed through the doorway.
Emelisse was sitting there and he climbed off the ladder, ending up on his buttocks as he sat opposite her.
In full armor, it was difficult, but he hung his big legs out of the doorway, down the side of the keep.
“Where is Marius?” Emelisse asked.
Caius could see how frightened she was. “He apparently arrived at Winterhold after we left this morning,” he said. “Thank God for small mercies because if you were still at Winterhold, you would more than likely already be Lady Marius de Wrenville.”
She closed her eyes tightly against the very idea. “Oh,” she breathed. “Praise the saints. God is indeed merciful. But is he coming here?”
Caius nodded. “Lady de Wrenville sent word that he is planning on arriving tomorrow morning with a priest,” she said. “He intends to make you his wife immediately.”
She stared at him, her eyes beginning to well. “I will not marry him,” she said tightly. “I will remain in this keep. I will die here if necessary.”
“That is an option,” Caius said drolly, eyeing her. “But you do not have to do anything drastic.”
She was starting to grow agitated. “What else is there?” she hissed. “Give me a crossbow. I will shoot him as he approaches the keep.”
Caius’ eyebrows lifted. “And give de Wrenville every reason to completely raze Hawkstone and kill every last man? Is that what you really want?”
She didn’t. She started to lose some of her fire, her tears beginning to spill over. “Of course not,” she said. “I just want them to leave us alone. Caius, do you think if I gave them The Roden Twins, they would leave us in peace? I am willing to give them the diamonds if they would just go away.”
The tears were trickling down her face faster than she could wipe them away and Caius watched her, feeling more pity than he’d ever felt for her.
But he also felt something else; a distinct sense of possessiveness when he looked at her.
He’d kill Marius himself before he let the man get his hands on her.
He didn’t know Emelisse well. It was impossible to know someone well after only knowing them for a day, but he trusted his instincts and they told him that she was everything he thought she was. And more.
She was worth fighting for.