Chapter 22
"Daenae," Aaron shouted as he lunged for Izzy.
Caiden's eyes sparkled with a sinister malice Aaron never seen before.
He'd seen plenty of anger and hatred toward him during his life, but the spark of rage flashing in Caiden's eyes was a new sort of malice.
"She's already paid the price. Ye practically branded the poor girl as touched in the head since childhood. "
"That was a rather lovely turn of events," Caiden smirked. "Who would have thought ye to have such an imagination. When ye came in, I thought ye had seen me. But then ye screamed."
"It was you? You killed my brother? Why?" Aaron could hear Izzy's voice breaking with a sadness he understood. It was the same sort of pain he felt after watching the roof coming down on his parents as he bolted from their room.
"Yer faither stole me business," Caiden growled as Aaron tried to find some way to distract Caiden.
All Aaron needed was one opening, one mistake, and he'd be able to snuff out the light burning in Caiden's eyes.
But Aaron would have to be spot on. He couldn't think about the fact it was Izzy in Caiden's grasp.
It wasn't the cliff Caiden held Izzy over that frightened him the most. It was the blade Caiden had used more than a dozen times to cut into Izzy's skin.
All Caiden had to do was run the blade over Izzy's throat, and it would be the end for Aaron.
Instantly Aaron's heart steeled as his gaze narrowed on one spot over Izzy's head that Aaron could shoot for.
All Aaron needed was for Izzy to duck or slip three inches.
A smirk pulled at the corner of Aaron's lips that was there one minute and gone the next.
"He took me future. It was only fair that I took his," Caiden continued in the background. As much as Aaron didn't care what madness Caiden spewed out his treacherous lips, Aaron had to give him at least some of his time.
"What?" Izzy's voice broke with confusion and shock.
"Tell her, Caiden," Aaron growled. "Tell her how ye were the one in her brother's room that night. How it was yer fault that everyone called her crazy. It's because of ye she was forced to marry the one man she couldnae stand — me."
"Aye, and that was mere icin' on my cake," Caiden snickered as he pulled his blade closer to Izzy's throat.
One wrong move of either the hand or the foot, and Izzy would be dead.
The fact that Caiden had Aaron trapped like a rat burned Aaron to his very core.
"But why cry over her fate when it was yer destiny I destroyed the most? "
"Mine?" Aaron gasped as he shifted his blade from one hand to the other.
He didn't care that the blade was small or that he couldn't get distance with it.
What bothered Aaron the most was how reckless Caiden was being with Izzy.
The drop would no doubt kill her if she fell straight down.
Aaron's chest tightened as hope sprang up in him like a weed that refused to die.
"Daenae play coy with me," Caiden grumbled.
"Ye were in the hay stacks the night of the fire.
Ye were supposed to be in yer room. But ye left to be with that whore— Rebecca.
That was her name. Or did ye forget all about her?
She lost her life weeks after the manor burned to the ground.
Once she was gone, spreadin' the rumor was easy. Rebecca after all —"
"Was the last person to see me outside the manor before it burned," Aaron gasped as his eyes shifted to Izzy. He couldn't imagine what was going through her head. This was his fault; if only the fates would have relented and granted her a far more peaceful life.
"Took ye long enough to figure out," Caiden said as he pressed his cheek to Izzy's. Aaron hated how close Caiden was to Izzy. He flexed his jaw as his hand twitched, eager to cause damage. Anger rumbled and festered into rage as he started pacing as he hunted for some way to disarm Caiden.
"And who was Rebecca to you?" Izzy asked.
Her voice cracked as she tried to speak.
Aaron's heart tightened as he realized Izzy was the only woman he ever wanted to be with.
She might have been crying, but she didn't show it.
Her voice might have been cracking, but she was going to be heard.
It was her boldness that Aaron was so fond of.
"She was me sister. Or did ye forget how ye promised her the world, and then ye pulled the rug out from under her?
Did ye even care that she died because ye rejected her?
Did ye even ken? Once ye had yer way with her, she wasnae wanted by anyone.
They all thought ye'd come around for her.
But ye dinnae, did ye? And what happened to her?
She threw herself into the sea," Caiden snapped.
"And then me daughter… she would have mended the relationship and our fate.
But ye had to go and marry this English whore! "
"I had nay say in the matter," Aaron snapped back. "King James made the decree. Our families were on the line. If I could have simply signed over the title to someone, I would have if it meant sparin' Izzy from this fate."
"Ye're a smooth talker," Caiden chuckled as he eyed Izzy with spite. "But I grow tired of this. I have to say this is all too anti-climactic. But I suppose reality never matches what one has fantasized about for decades."
"Izzy, I ken we havenae ken each other very long, and what I'm goin' to say, it may be the last thing ye hear, so listen well," Aaron said as his heart pounded wildly against his chest. There was only going to be one shot for him to save her.
If she could fall down the left side of the ravine, she'd land on a smooth patch she'd be out of harm's way.
"Ye're goin' to fall. I'm sorry. There's nothin' I can do. "
"Aaron?" The pain in Izzy's voice was like a knife to his heart. Aaron wished there was something he could do differently, some path he could take that would spare Izzy the heartache and pain.
"Ye've got to trust me," Aaron said.
"About as far as I can throw you," Izzy answered. Aaron bobbed his head as a smile stretched across his lips. It was the response he had hoped for.
"Exactly, think ye can aim for the left?" Aaron continued.
"What?" Caiden asked as he turned. Aaron chucked his dirk directly at Caiden's forehead.
There was only one option for Caiden, duck or be struck.
Just before the blade rotated the point back to Caiden, he ducked.
In the commotion, Caiden's grip on Izzy slipped.
Aaron held his breath as Izzy plummeted.
He lunged for the edge, arms at the ready.
Keeping his eyes locked on Izzy, he snagged her by the ropes bound around her wrists.
"I've got ye," Aaron panted as the muscles in his arms quaked under the strain of catching Izzy with one hand. "Now I'm goin' to toss ye. We're aimin' for the left ledge. Do ye see it?"
Izzy squeezed her eyes tight, fear taking control of her. Aaron knew he had but a moment to get through to her, or he'd risk losing her to the depths of the ravine.
"Izzy, ye've got to listen to me," he pleaded. "On three, I'm lettin' go and ye're goin' to fall on the ledge over there. Ye cannae see it with yer eyes closed. Ye've got to open yer eyes, Izzy, please."
"I can't," Izzy gasped as Aaron started swinging. There was no other choice as his grip was starting to falter.
"Aaron, please… God, please don't let me go."
"Three," Aaron shouted, and mustering all his strength, launched Izzy to the landing as if she were nothing but a sack of flour.
She landed with a thud and rolled to the cliff. There was no time for reprieve, Aaron rolled to his back as a new terror towered over him.
"So predictable," Caiden grumbled as he pulled his knife from his boot and loomed over Aaron.
"Enough," Aaron growled as he pulled a blade from his boot to block Caiden's attack.
"It will be when ye are dead," Caiden huffed as he struggled to push down any more weight onto Aaron. "And after I kill ye… I'll cut her throat, and then I'll sign the deeds to yer lands over to me daughter. Yer legacy will be ruined. It will die with ye."
"That was the plan after what ye had me endure," Aaron said as he mustered his strength and pushed back against Caiden's advance. "Ye think it was easy to find anyone to court after the scars ye left me with?"
"If ye would have stayed in the manor to begin with…
" Caiden scolded as he pressed harder, trying to force Aaron to yield to him.
Aaron wasn't having it. He pushed back even harder.
After all, if he failed, Izzy would never get off the ledge, she'd be stuck and die of starvation or thirst and that was something Aaron couldn't allow.
Mustering all he could, Aaron pushed Caiden back from the edge, giving Izzy a bit more space to climb up without hindrance. "Ye wouldnae be alive to complain about it now. Seems to me, ye brought this on yerself. Ye just daenae ken when to die."
"I ken an end when I see one," Aaron said as he noticed Caiden struggled against his brute force. "And this is the end for ye."
"Nay," Caiden screamed as Aaron ducked and squatted. As Aaron rose, he pushed with all his might, throwing Caiden over the ledge of the cliff. The sound of his cry echoed and bounced off the walls of the mountains around them.
"Aaron?" The panic in Izzy's voice snapped Aaron to attention.
He rushed to Izzy's side and hoisted her up over the edge.
She rolled to her back. Aaron watched as her chest rose and fell.
She didn't say a word. There was a chance she was going to be mad at him, and as Aaron braced himself for her ire, he found a whimper escaping from Izzy.
"Ye're safe now," Aaron said as he pulled the burlap sack off Izzy's head. She stared at him through rosy eyes. The terror she faced lingered in her gaze as she slowly recognized the world around her. "Oh Izzy, I swear to ye, ye're safe now."
"How?" she asked as she dared to steal a glimpse of the cliff.
"Divine intervention," Aaron answered with a chuckle.
"I thought you don't believe in superstitious nonsense like ghosts," Izzy said as she threw her arms around Aaron. Izzy's body trembled as she pressed herself against his chest. Aaron wanted nothing more than to take away her pain and horror.
"I daenae," he answered as he tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ear. "I believe in ye. What ye did was amazin'. Thank ye for doin' what I told ye to do the first time."
"And thank you for saving me, again," Izzy said as she looked up at him.
Aaron's chest tightened as he noticed the way her eyes started to roll back in her head.
Caiden's blade — how many times did he strike her?
And was the blade poisoned? Panic shifted to terror as Aaron grabbed Izzy and gave her a little shake.
"Izzy? Ye need to stay awake for me, can ye do that love?" Aaron asked as he picked her up and rushed her to the grove of trees. The castle wasn't far, just over the small hill, but it felt so far away. "Izzy, please, ye cannae die, nae after I just saved ye. Izzy, please, I love ye."