Chapter 11 #2
Will had taken her to an armor where she bought a beautiful Highland dirk. The blade featured intricate etchings of a stag, interwoven with Celtic knots. Silver studs decorated the dark wooden hilt, and the pommel was a silver thistle. It came with a shiny black leather sheath.
She hoped Brodie would love it as much as she loved the sapphire ring. She stroked the thistle. "Do you think he will like it?" she asked Will, still uncertain.
"Of course. Any man who wouldn't love that would be daft."
"Can you take me to see him so I can give it to him? I've never been to Farspag Tower."
"I suppose. If Da approves, and you promise to be on your best behavior."
She gasped. "I'm always on my best behavior."
Three of her brothers and several guards had escorted her to Farspag unannounced. She remembered how Brodie had smiled from ear to ear when his gaze locked on hers. She met his clan, his mother, and Cat.
Later that night, after supper and during the cèilidh, they slipped away to the solar. She gave him the beautiful Highland dirk wrapped in a bit of plaid.
Opening it, he appeared speechless for a long moment. "Saints! Elsea." He pulled the dagger from the sheath and examined the artistic etchings. "'Tis an extravagant gift."
Her throat tightening, she shook her head. "Nay more extravagant than a sapphire ring."
"Aye, 'tis." He sheathed it again and observed her, gazing deeply into her eyes. "I thank you."
"I wish for you to know... I mean, I wanted to show you...." she whispered.
"Aye?" he said in a rough but gentle tone, his gaze further softening on her.
"How much I love you," she said finally.
He pulled her to him and kissed her with immense tenderness. "And I love you, my wee warrior," he murmured. "More than you can imagine."
Their kisses grew more heated with each moment that passed until he pulled back a few inches. "'Haps we should marry now," he said, his voice gruff and heated.
Surprise jolted her. "Now? This moment?"
"Earlier than we'd planned." His eyes were even darker than usual, black lashes lowered.
Aye, she wanted to be selfish and marry him now, but she thought about her family and clan. "Da wants to witness our vows."
"In a fortnight, then."
"Aye, a fortnight. The bans have not yet been read. And with so little time to prepare, Ma would throttle me. 'Twill spawn rumors."
"Rumors?" he growled. "The gossips had best keep their gobs shut."
She laughed at his fierce warning.
He grinned and kissed her again.
Loud pounding rattled the door. She jumped back away from him, her heart thudding.
"Enter," Brodie called, glaring at the door.
Kieran stuck his head in. "There you are, sister!" He grinned mischievously. "Will almost had an apoplexy when he couldn't spot you in the great hall."
"I was giving Brodie the dirk," she snapped, hating that they had been interrupted.
Will barged into the room past Kieran, his gaze boring into her. "Thank the saints. Da would string me up if...." He glanced at Brodie.
"You knew I was going to give him the dirk. Why are all of you acting daft?" she asked.
"Pray pardon," Will muttered.
"You don't trust me?" Brodie's gaze was most serious.
"Aye, of course I do, but you ken how Da is. Overprotective of his only daughter."
"We were just thinking we might marry before June." Brodie's tone shifted to slightly challenging.
Will's eyes widened. "Why? Have you...?"
"I told you," Elsea said to Brodie.
"Nay, we have done naught," Brodie growled. "But if you keep accusing me...."
"I'm nay accusing you," Will said defensively.
"You're hinting. You're implying that I'm a rake and a rogue."
"Nay, 'tis only that the lass is beyond smitten, m'laird."
Brodie glanced at her, his expression turning cheerful. "Are you?"
She sent him a faux glare, her face burning.
He winked. "Aye, well, so am I," Brodie confessed, sending a thrill of delight through her. "So, 'tis why I'm thinking we should marry sooner rather than later."
"We'll have to ask Da," Will said, ever solemn. "But he will assume you've compromised her."
"I can, if that would make everyone happier."
Elsea burst out laughing, then covered her mouth. Her face flamed even hotter.
Kieran guffawed.
Will, bright-faced and speechless, didn't appear to know what to think or do. He searched their faces, cleared his throat, then finally got his thoughts in order. "I think... 'twould be best if Elsea had a chaperone with her at all times."
Brodie gave a single nod. "I agree."
One of her brothers or Brodie's mother served as chaperone for the rest of her visit. Too soon, 'twas time to leave.
After talking to her parents back at Kincreag, they had settled on the wedding date for a month hence. She had written Brodie a missive, letting him know.
When her father had died in the accident, she, her family, and the entire clan had sunk into grief.
They had postponed the wedding but not rescheduled it.
A wedding was to be a joyous occasion, but no one in her clan, including her, wished to celebrate after such a devastating loss.
But she'd still longed to marry Brodie, regardless of her sorrow.
'Twas what her da would've wished for her.
Brodie had traveled to Kincreag as soon as he'd learned the news.
They'd been alone in a small, round tower room, and he'd held her so tightly on his lap while she wept, wishing he could take some of her pain away, he'd said.
Once the storm of emotion had passed, he'd given her a handkerchief for her eyes and nose.
Instincts and love overrode rationality and propriety. They'd needed to reaffirm life in the midst of death.
Even through the bleak times, their love had remained strong, vibrant, and alive until....
"The curse," Elsea hissed. Wilona MacRae had placed the curse on Brodie, Gavin, and Torr while she'd been at Inverslaig Castle for her cousin's wedding.
The witch had given her a nightmare, a vision so real, Elsea was there in the physical, experiencing it.
She'd fallen at the edge of a violent battle in the wood, frozen. The metallic tang of blood mixed with the scents of torn-up black dirt and pine needles.
Brodie, Gavin, and Torr fought against their enemies. Sword blades clashed like thunder and thumped against wooden targes. Men shouted. Horses screamed, their hooves pounding the ground.
Time stopped, and all the warriors froze. Three enemies lay on the ground, unmoving. Something or someone yanked her forward, close to the stranger. The young bearded man's throat had been slit, and he was bleeding out. She slammed her eyes shut against the horror of it.
"Nay, look!" a female commanded and shook her violently. Elsea tried to scream, but no sound emerged.
Against her will, her eyes were forced open.
A gaunt harpy clutched the front of Elsea's clothing and shook her again, wrenching her neck. Elsea tried to grab the dirk from her belt, but her paralyzed arms refused to move.
Her captor's ginger hair flamed, and her green eyes glowed like liquid arsenic. Who the devil was she?
"Your beloved is one of the murderers!" The woman growled through clenched yellow teeth. "And he will pay."
What was she talking about?
The demonic woman released Elsea, but icy cords bound her so tightly she could scarce breathe.
The battle scene in the wood sprawled out before them again. Brodie and the other warriors were still frozen in time. The hag strode toward Brodie, yanked the gifted dirk from his belt scabbard, and slit his throat. Blood gushed as he fell.
Elsea silently wailed. She could not even close her eyes against the horror.
What seemed an eternity later, Elsea jolted awake in her bed at Inverslaig Castle, gasping for air, sobbing.
Was Brodie dead or alive?
She must go to him. "Forget the wedding," she cried, leaping out of bed and stumbling toward her trunk.
A force slammed into her, knocking her backward onto the bed. "You will not leave." The female voice gritted out the words.
Darkness surrounded Elsea, except for the same glowing green eyes in the haggard face.
"You bitch!" Elsea tried to scream, feeling as if she might die. But any sounds she made were muffled. "Did you kill him?" she croaked out.
"Nay yet." The hag bared her teeth. "But I will in three days' time if you do not do exactly what I say."
"Why? What did he do to you?"
"I forbid you to ask questions, and you will keep our bargain a secret. I can get to him far faster than you can, anyway, since I can fly." She glowered. "You will break the betrothal and break his heart, permanently. You will bed another man."
"Never!" Elsea screamed, her heart crumpling within the cage of her ribs.
"Well, 'tis up to you, daft whore. But if you do not, this will happen...."
Elsea crashed into another scene where this skeletal hag stood over Brodie's sleeping form and, with profound violence, stabbed him in the heart, over and over, blood spraying over her. When she was done, his dark eyes stared lifelessly.
Elsea could not scream or even move. The horror entrapped her for an endless time.
She was yanked back to the bed, the female demon looming over her. "Understand?" Her tormenter shifted into a bat and fluttered out the open window. Elsea was awake now, and she had seen that with her own eyes.
The witch tortured her with two more nights of bloody, traumatizing nightmares. Elsea loved Brodie so much she would do anything to save his life.