CHAPTER 13 #3
“As an it,” Lachlan replied. “I heard him very clearly, just before he and his men retreated into the storm. ‘It will be mine!’ he shouted, as if she were a plate or a stool. I never heard anything so shamelessly rude in my life.”
And then Alex remembered Robert’s final words.
Damn you, MacDunn. It will be mine.
At the time Alex had been far too overwhelmed with fear for Gwendolyn to heed Robert’s choice of words.
But suddenly it disturbed him. Gwendolyn had made herself a perfect target when she stood upon the parapet and invited the MacSweens to shoot her with a burning arrow.
Yet Robert had ordered his men to hold. If his sole aspiration was to see the witch burned, why would he scorn such an opportunity?
It will be mine. Just what the hell did Robert mean by that?
Determined to find out, he went to seek out the one person who might know.
“I’ve been expecting you.” Morag did not look up as she carefully poured a dark red liquid into a simmering pot. A gasp of steam rose into the air, making the sickly sweet odor choking the room even more cloying.
“Gwendolyn has surrendered herself to Robert,” Alex informed her grimly.
Morag nodded as she stirred the pot with a heavy iron ladle. “It was time.”
“The hell it was,” he roared, infuriated by her calm demeanor. “She belongs here.”
Morag looked up from her stirring and regarded him curiously. “How do you know?”
Alex shook his pounding head in frustration. “I have no time for games, Morag. I need to know why Robert is so determined to have her. It is clear from his actions the other night that he wants her alive, not dead. The bastard wants to force her to use her powers for his benefit, doesn’t he?”
“And how does that make him any different from you?” she asked quietly.
“I did not ask her to bring me wealth or power. All I asked was that she save my son.”
“You did not ask her. You gave her no choice. You told her that if she saved David, her life would be spared, but she would remain your prisoner. Remember?”
He looked away, suddenly ashamed. He did remember telling Gwendolyn that.
And she had told him to simply kill her and be done with it, for she would not live her life as a prisoner.
“That was before,” he said, desperately wishing he had never issued such a foul ultimatum. “My son was dying and I—I was not myself. It is not the same now. You must realize that.”
Morag thoughtfully tapped her ladle against the pot and set it down by the hearth. “You are right, Alex. You are not the same. And neither is Gwendolyn. That is why she could not stay and ask you to defend her.”
“She thinks that by sacrificing herself to Robert, she is saving my life. But she is wrong.” He cleared his throat, embarrassed by the tremor in his voice. “She is wrong, Morag.”
“I know,” said Morag softly. Leaning on her staff, she slowly made her way across the chamber, then seated herself in a chair.
“It is not easy, having powers that are not readily explained,” she reflected, her green eyes meditative.
“Once people know what you are, they either want to use you or destroy you. Or, as in Robert’s case with Gwendolyn, both. ”
Alex fought to control his panic. “That doesn’t make any sense. How can he use her for her powers if he kills her?”
“He cannot. Unfortunately, Robert does not understand the nature of Gwendolyn’s powers—any more than she does. That is what puts her in grave danger.”
“Morag, please,” said Alex, struggling to understand what she was telling him, “just tell me what Robert wants of her. I have to know. What did he mean when he said, ‘It will be mine’?”
For a long moment she studied him. “Can it be true, Alex?” she finally asked, her voice threaded with wonder. “Have you really lost your heart to one other than Flora?”
Alex said nothing. He didn’t have to.
Morag closed her eyes. “There is a stone,” she finally began, “a brilliant red jewel of magnificent size and clarity that fills nearly all who look upon it with the overwhelming desire to possess it. This has been passed down from mother to daughter in Gwendolyn’s family for over three hundred years. ”
“And that’s all that Robert wants? This red stone?”
“It is not merely a pretty bauble. The women of Gwendolyn’s lineage are occasionally gifted with special powers.
Gwendolyn has been so gifted, but her mother was not, nor was her grandmother before that.
The stone’s purpose is to protect these special girls when they are children, before their powers are fully mature. ”
Alex frowned. “What possible good is that to Robert?”
“It is not of any use to him. Unfortunately, a legend has arisen over the centuries, saying that once every hundred years, the stone has the power to grant its bearer a single wish. It is this power that Robert seeks. In his hunger to have it, he murdered Gwendolyn’s father and accused her of the crime.
But Gwendolyn had hidden the stone well, and Robert was unable to find it.
Now only she knows where it lies, and only she can give it to him. ”
“And once he has it, he will kill her,” finished Alex harshly.
Morag nodded. “Gwendolyn has long haunted Robert, as much because of her unusual beauty and strength as because of the stone. Robert is not a man who can tolerate weakness, and that is how he interprets his desire for her. Once he has secured the stone, he will seek to purge himself of his lust for her—by destroying her.”
Alex turned and strode swiftly toward the door.
“There is something more you must know, Alex,” Morag called out.
He stopped.
“Gwendolyn’s mother was burned when Gwendolyn was a tender age, robbing her of the knowledge of her heritage.
She does not understand her powers, nor does she comprehend the true purpose of the stone.
She may think she can use the stone to destroy Robert.
If she tries, she will fail, and Robert’s rage will be horrendous. ”
Alex jerked the door open and raced down the corridor, desperate to get to Gwendolyn before she retrieved this useless stone.