Chapter 29
Three Days Later
“He is alive,” Adrian whispered.
Elara gave him a sympathetic look as she sat on the side of Evander’s bed, holding his hand as he slept.
It had been three days since she had brought him home, and Adrian had muttered the same statement about a thousand times already.
Not that she blamed him. Even she was having trouble accepting that Evander was back from the dead.
It was why she rarely left his side. She needed constant confirmation that her oldest brother was home. The rightful Duke of Redgrave was back.
“I told you,” their mother chided, sitting on the opposite side of Evander’s bed, working on her latest piece of embroidery. Like Elara, she had not ventured from the spot often. “I told you I could still feel him. A mother knows, and my Evander is a really strong man.”
Adrian’s piercing blue eyes shifted to Elara’s, and her heart hurt for her brother as she saw so clearly his self-hatred within them.
“I should have been more like you, Elara,” Adrian croaked, stressfully rubbing the back of his neck. “I should have never given up. Never accepted the lies that were told.”
“Do not do this to yourself, Adrian,” Elara urged, snatching Adrian’s hand with her free one, joining all three siblings together. “You did everything you could.”
“She is right,” Evander’s hoarse, deep voice answered.
All three of them immediately looked at him, and even though he was now clean and bandaged, Elara’s heart still ached from what she saw.
His black eyes, scarred cheeks, broken nose, and split lips were healing, as was the rope burn around his neck.
His ribs—some broken, some bruised—would take longer to heal, the physician had said, and his mangled knee might never fully recover, but he was alive.
He had not spoken to them yet of the torture he had endured and how he had tried to escape. He never might. Still, Elara hoped that one day her oldest brother would open up to them or to someone he could trust. She could not imagine a person being able to bear such awful memories alone.
“How are you feeling?” Elara asked, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
“As if I have been tortured for nigh on two years,” Evander rasped. Then he licked his healing lips and added, “And quite parched.”
Elara, Nora, and Adrian all let out a weak laugh as Nora quickly brought a glass of water to Evander’s lips and helped him drink.
“Adrian,” Evander said after he finished, his bruised eyes focusing on Adrian. “I do not want what happened to me to weigh on you. You looked for me for a long time. Even after others swore to you they had seen me die. You could have given up, but you did not.”
“But I ran out of faith,” Adrian croaked, his deep voice quivering. “I even tried to stop Elara. More than once, and I feel so… so heartless, I—”
Elara moved, releasing her hold on Evander’s hand so she could embrace Adrian. Her second-oldest brother, who normally was not receptive to such affection unless it was from his wife, wrapped his arms around her with equal strength, and she felt his body tremble with sobs.
“Forgive me,” he cried, as their mother joined them, wrapping her arms around them both. “Forgive me, please.”
“There is nothing to forgive, my son,” Nora soothed.
“Listen to our mother, Adrian,” Evander commanded from his bed.
Elara’s heart twisted painfully as she saw her once stoic brother now wipe tears from his eyes.
It was something she thought was more impossible than finding Evander alive.
However, Adrian had changed much since he had fallen in love with Bridget.
A change that, in Elara’s opinion, was nothing short of wonderful.
“Go to your wife and son, brother,” Elara suggested, another pain rippling through her heart as she thought of Constantine and William. She missed them. Terribly. And had not seen either since the night they had rescued Evander.
“I will,” Adrian said, getting a little more of his composure back. “After I seek out the chief constable. I want to know what is going to happen with Augustus. I want to be sure that I see him hang from the gallows.”
Fear sparked through Elara’s veins.
“Are you suggesting that he may not?” she asked.
Compassion flickered through Adrian’s eyes.
“There is a judicial process,” he replied, his tone filled with discontent. “It all depends on how the trial unfolds.”
Panic followed Elara’s fear, and she shook her head.
“No! Look what he did to Evander! What he was going to do to me! You know he was not going to allow him to leave that ship alive if those constables had not come!”
“I know, I know,” Adrian replied soothingly, once more putting on the mantle of big brother.
“Which is why we will do everything to support the death sentence. I shall speak to the constables and see what evidence they gathered. Perhaps Constantine found something that may seal Augustus’s fate.
I do not know, but I will make sure I find out. ”
Elara’s heart quivered as she heard Constantine’s name; longing filled her. Silently, she drew her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded.
“I will not be long,” Adrian promised them all, then left.
“Mother,” Evander rasped, drawing Elara and Nora’s attention back to them.
“Yes, my heart?” Nora answered eagerly.
“I believe that tea you made me is wearing off,” Evander said to her.
Nora, ever the mother hen, smiled with delight as she jumped from her seat.
“Of course, my sweet, I shall brew you a fresh one myself,” Nora answered, then kissed his hand. “I shall be back in mere moments.”
Evander gave a small nod at their mother, then she left.
“Bunny,” Evander rasped, and despite her low spirits, Elara returned to his side with a smile.
“Bunny?” she mused, taking his hand. “I have not heard you call me that since I was five.”
Evander attempted a smile, then winced as his healing lips no doubt forced him to stop.
“Well,” he said with a sigh. “I have not seen you pout this much since you were five.” Elara bowed her head, not answering. “Something is bothering you,” Evander went on. “I saw you flinch upon hearing Constantine’s name.”
Elara felt her throat tighten as she looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes; her heart was a broken mess.
“It does not matter,” she rasped, forcing herself to swallow past the growing lump in her throat. “What matters is that you are alive. That you are back with us.”
Evander’s blue eyes, so still, very full of pain and nightmares, looked right into her as he gave a small shake of his head.
“Do not lie to me now, Bunny,” he rasped.
Elara’s tears began to spill as she tried and failed to stop a sob from leaving her throat.
“We despised each other; this was not supposed to happen,” she cried.
Evander’s brows furrowed. “What was not supposed to happen?”
“Constantine and I,” she said on a stuttering sigh. “I hated him, and he hated me. But now… now I…”
“Tell me everything, Bunny. From the beginning.” Evander said, his hand tightening a little on her own.
So she did. Through her tears and sobs, Elara told Evander how she had met Constantine. How they had come to be married, and how they had come to their arrangement. How she had slowly traded that initial hatred for her husband for fondness. Not just him, but for William, too.
Evander listened quietly, letting her talk as her voice grew stronger and her tears subsided.
“I wanted to prove them wrong,” she said, a little calmer after so many tears had let loose. “I wanted to prove them all wrong, show them that you were still alive and that Augustus had something to do with your disappearance.”
Evander gave her a knowing nod.
“When I had discovered what Augustus was doing, I knew I had to stop it,” Evander explained. “So many innocent souls suffered at his hands, and no one was doing a thing about it. I had become comfortable with the fact that he would come for me. But he caught me by surprise that night.”
Pity and heartache roared in Elara’s chest again.
“I am so sorry for what he did to you,” she whispered, fresh tears springing to her eyes. “And I am sorry for making you speak so much. I know it must be painful for you after...”
“Do not worry about it,” Evander rasped, wincing as he brought his other hand over to cup hers between his palms. “Keep going.”
“Constantine did not believe me at first, but then, the more we discovered about Augustus, the more he questioned his brother’s motives,” Elara explained after taking a few calming breaths.
“A kindness formed between us, and despite worrying about what his brother might have done to you, I felt myself liking him.”
Elara sniffled as she reached up and wiped away some of her tears.
“It is not just him. There is a baby. Augustus’s son was left behind by him.
I adore that little boy, no matter who fathered him.
However, my marriage to Constantine was a simple deal.
We agreed to annul our marriage if we found you alive, and seeing as I have not heard from him since we found you, I am assuming that he is doing precisely that. ”
Elara could feel Evander studying her intently as she finished her story and wiped the tears from her cheeks once more.
“You love him,” he said, breaking the silence.
Elara’s head snapped to his, eyes wide.
“What?” she breathed, “No, I simply—”
“He loves you, too,” Evander said softly, interrupting her. “I heard him say it.”
Whatever ache in her chest that had dulled from speaking on her woes, it suddenly renewed, feeling sharper than ever.
“He thought we were going to die,” she whispered, reaching for the excuse. “Surely he cannot actually love me.”
Evander gave a small shake of his head.
“That man, despite having despised me for so long, helped me,” Evander replied. “If you do not believe his words, believe his actions, Bunny.”
Elara’s lips parted in shock as she took in her brother’s words.
“He would be a fool not to love you, Bunny,” Evander rasped, humor glinting in his eyes. “Speak to him, at the very least. See how he feels.”
His last word dropped into a pain-filled hiss, and Elara knew the tea their mother had brewed truly was wearing off.
“No more speaking, it is causing you discomfort,” she chided, pulling her hand away.
Evander’s grip on her tightened, stopping her.
“I am forced to bear a long recovery for my pain,” he hissed out, discomfort making his eyes cloudy. “But you do not share that burden. There is no reason for your heart to be left this broken if it does not need to be.”
“Here we are,” Nora announced as she pushed the door open. “A stiff brew for you, my heart,” she said, bringing the tea to Evander’s lips.
“Elara, you have kept your brother awake enough,” Nora lightly scolded as she helped Evander drink. “Let him rest now.”
Elara nodded, kissed the top of Evander’s hand, and left the room. As she walked down the hall to where her room once was, she pondered whether or not she was brave enough to take Evander’s advice.