Chapter 14
"Why are the servants scared of you?"
The question was direct and shot like an arrow into Aaron's chest. He rolled his shoulders back as he kept focus on their game. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but wonder if she was using such direct questions as a distraction.
"And what makes ye think they're scared of me?
" he asked as he moved his rook to conquer her bishop.
There was no reaction from her as he swiped her piece off the board.
It was almost as if she wasn't fully into the game.
A smirk stretched across his lips as he realized he didn't have to try so hard to win — the game was already his.
"Oh, I don't know," Izzy said, her tone laced with sarcasm. "Maybe it had something to do with that woman on the dance floor. I know you heard her. Why does she think you're going to kill me? Why did my servants ask if I wanted a way to escape?"
"Did they now? I think maybe I should have a talk with them."
"Please don't do that," she said. "I didn't bring it up to get anyone in trouble. In fact, I just want to understand my new home. It seems everyone here is walking on eggshells, and it's strange to live under such conditions."
"Aye, well, that's the price of rumors," Aaron answered. "Some can be beneficial. Others can kill and destroy. In me case, the rumor has ruined me."
"You're not ruined."
Aaron's chest tightened as he drew his attention to her.
There was no concern or malice lingering in the depths of her gray eyes.
It was unnerving to see someone so fierce and brave face him head on.
But it was her compassion that stirred the embers of his heart.
How lovely she looked in the dim glow of the fire.
"Me family perished in a fire that many of the clan think I started," Aaron confessed as he watched her shift her queen out of his attack. Izzy's eyes widened as her shoulders dropped. The expression on her face was more than shock.
"Why on earth would anyone start such a horrid rumor?
" Izzy asked. The pain in her voice was unexpected.
Aaron's body tensed. When was the last time he had felt compassion?
It had been decades since he stepped into his father's role.
And it was the last time any kindness had been bestowed to him.
Yet, despite her stating how she wouldn't touch him, her words and character did just that.
"I have been askin' myself that question since I took the role," Aaron confessed as he moved his queen into position. "Check mate."
Izzy's attention shifted to the board. Her shoulders dropped in defeat as she looked over all the players remaining.
Slowly her eyes shifted back to him. There was a spark in them that hadn't been there before.
And before he could even ask what she was plotting, her hand swooped over the board as she reached for a slice of apple from the tray, scattering the pieces every which way.
"Oh my, would you look at that? Now we will never know who really won," she said with a playful smirk pulling up the corners of her lips.
Aaron couldn't help but chuckle at her childishness.
She was like a breath of fresh air coming off the sea.
And the smugness on her face as she nibbled on the slice made her nearly irresistible.
"That's how ye play is it?" Aaron said with a hearty chuckle that bounced off the chamber walls. "Well, remind me never to let ye into the war room. Ye'll bring down the whole clan with antics like that."
"Who ever heard of a woman bringing down an empire?" Izzy snickered.
"Oh now, what was her name?" Aaron tapped on his chin as he fought the smile on his face. "Helen of Troy. That's the name."
"A myth. I'm talking about someone that was real."
"Women are the cause of many wars. History is filled with the proof. All ye got to do is ken where to look."
"You can't really believe women cause wars," Izzy argued as she started picking up the pieces she had scattered.
"Aye, well, until I see otherwise, I'll believe what I will," he replied as he started for the meat on the tray. Staring at the food, he suddenly wished he had brought more up. The thought of having to go all the way to the kitchen for more seemed like too much of a chore.
"Do you think your servants see you as a brute?" Izzy asked as she fiddled with the chess pieces on her side of the board.
"Maybe; daenae really care. There's nay changin' someone's mind once they've made it up on a matter."
"What if we could?" she asked. Her question befuddled him. He tilted his head as confusion tickled his brain. "What if we could change their minds?"
"Isnae there somethin' else ye could be doin' with yer time? Why waste it on me? The clan willnae change, and I cannae force them to do so. Besides, it works. There's peace. Why fix somethin' that isnae broke? Seems to be creatin' more work than there needs to be."
"Don't you want the admiration of your people? Or to dispel the rumors flying around you?" Izzy asked with a heavy sigh. Aaron glanced at her, noticing the shift in her mood. It was as if the light in the room was muddled. Aaron could feel the tension shift a moment as he studied her.
"Everyone has rumors circlin' them," Aaron countered.
"Not everyone," Izzy insisted.
"And you daenae think ye've got rumors follow ye around? Surely there's a reason ye had nae married yet. Ye're how old? Older than twenty?" he said.
"Twenty-six," she answered under her breath.
"Yet, ye're stunnin'," he said as he cupped his hand to her face, drawing her attention back to him. "I've been honest with ye; can ye nae share the same with me?"
"It's silly, really, and I know how it will sound to you," she stated as she dropped her eyes. "Just please don't call me crazy or say that I'm touched in the head."
Aaron shifted in his seat as he focused on her. He watched her cheeks flush redder as she settled like a stone in the bottom of a lake.
"When I was five," she started, her voice was heavy with uncertainty, "I woke from a dream, and instead of going to my parents, it was my brother's room I went to. But as I stepped into the room, I saw it."
Aaron's heart skipped as she drew her eyes to him. "What? What did ye see?"
"A darkness so deep that it was like looking into the abyss of hell itself.
And I know how that sounds, but I'm telling you, it was ghost. And I watched it…
I watched it kill my brother," she whispered so low he could barely hear her.
He leaned in closer, his eyebrows crowded the bridge of his nose.
"A ghost?"
"See," she said in a flurry of accusation. "I knew you weren't going to believe me. You think I haven't seen that same look on others?"
"Aye, but I'm wonderin' why do ye think it was a spirit?" he asked.
"I didn't see a face. It was just a blackness that swallowed the light of the room. And blood. There was so much of it…" Izzy's body quivered as Aaron realized it wasn't him that she was staring at but something much further in the distance.
The color in her cheeks drained as she threw her arms around her shoulders as if that could keep her warm.
Instinctively, Aaron threw his arms around her, drawing Izzy closer to him as he wished he could take away her sorrow and pain.
The fact that she looked so vulnerable and small nearly broke his heart.
"So, that's what caused ye to recoil from me, was it? And here I thought it was me face that sent ye runnin' for the hills. Cannae blame ye though. Ye're nae the first to flee from me for such a thing. And I doubt ye'll be the last."
Izzy pulled away, her gaze direct and fierce, piercing through him. He swallowed hard as she fought the tears pooling in her eyes. She reached to his face, brushing her fingertips over the ruggedness of his face.
"It was never your face," she said, her voice so full of compassion that Aaron was beside himself. The last time he'd heard such tenderness had been when he was only knee high. He ran his fingers through her hair, savoring the softness.
"I just can't… when I see blood…" She shivered in his arms. Aaron tightened his grip, squeezing her body closer to his. "I think of him, and it's like he's being murdered all over again."
Aaron bobbed his head as he studied her face. How lovely she looked even with the red in her eyes.
"What a pair we make. It's no wonder the King put us together.
You're despised by your clan because of some horrid rumor, and I've been tainted because of what I saw.
No one believed it was a ghost. But I suppose I don't know what my life would be like if my own family thought I was the one to kill him. "
"Ye were five," Aaron said. "I bet they said it was just yer active imagination, am I right?"
Izzy bobbed her head and let out a heavy sigh. "More times than I'd like to admit. Soon, people thought of me as touched. It didn't take long before the suitors stopped calling, and every invitation we got to a party was only to poke fun of me."
"I'm sorry ye had to go through that, truly. This world can be cruel and relentless. But I doubt yer family neglected ye for speakin' out."
"Oh," Izzy said as her eyes shot to the blanket. "They did. It was the reason I had to go to the Earl's party with my aunt. My parents didn't want to be seen there with me."
"I must say, I have wondered why ye dinnae have an escort with ye that night. I thought maybe there'd be some sort of resistance on yer family's part."
"Why? Because they think of you as a monster?"
"Aye, somethin' like that. And daenae try to tell me they daenae see me that way. Yer maither fainted, and yer faither looked as if he were being raked across the coals."
Izzy's unexpected giggle filled the room. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen my mother so flustered before. That had to be the funniest thing I've ever seen. And when she woke to see you again… I hope I never forget the way she looked."
"Well, I'm glad to see ye're nae holdin' a grudge over me," Aaron said. "And here I thought ye would never forgive me for stealin' ye away."
"I haven't forgotten the humiliation," Izzy countered.
"But it's nice to understand you a bit better.
And I'm sorry as well. You should never have to hold the burden you are carrying.
It was wrong of people to think you were the cause of the fire.
Or that you killed your parents. I don't think you have it in you to be so cruel. "
Aaron's chest tightened as he studied the softness in her eyes.
He pulled in a deep breath, trying not to let her words get to him, but it was too late.
Izzy was far wiser than he gave her credit for and just as kind.
She was going to make a great mother, he could see that, and her tenderness would be her saving grace.
Surely the clan would love her and honor her once she bore a child.
But what would become of him? He dared not think about that at the moment.
All that mattered for the time being was Izzy and protecting her at all costs.
"Ye cannae ken how much that means to me to hear ye say," he said.
"Would you look at that," Izzy observed as her smile brightened the room. "It looks like we have something in common after all. Rumors have ruined both our lives."
Aaron bobbed his head. "Aye, well, at least there's a reasonable explanation for yer experience. Mine was done out of pure hatred for me."
"Reasonable explanation? I knew it! You don't believe me. You don't believe that I saw what I did."
"Now, be logical here," Aaron said as he held her gaze. "Did it ever cross yer mind that maybe what ye saw wasnae a phantom but an assassin? They're just as mysterious and ominous. After all, when was the last time ye heard of the dead visitin' the livin'?"