Chapter 22 #2
“It is because he does not follow what you tell him. He waits outside by the kitchen garden, thinking I am bringing him a special treat, which of course I will once you are done tending him.”
“And do I get a special treat for tending him?” Heather asked with a smile as they walked to the stairs.
“I am so sorry, my lady, I spoke out of turn, but there are times you seem more a friend than mistress of this keep.”
“I am glad of that. It reminds me more of home.”
“It was the same with your mum. I remember your mum visiting our cottage when I was very young. She sat and spoke with my mum as if they were great friends.” Nessa stopped when they reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Word spreads about your dealing with the wolf. Some whisper that you are a witch, others who knew your mum say that you have a special touch with animals just as she once did.”
“It is nice to know I am like my mum.”
“You are in more ways than you know.”
Heather remarked on how delicious the kitchen smelled as she walked through it and outside to the garden along with Nessa.
Fife jumped up off the bench, an angry scowl on his face as she and Heather approached him. “You should not have disturbed Lady Heather.”
“You should have told me that your wound still troubles you,” Heather said as they drew closer.
The attack came fast, the warrior, his face smeared with dirt, lunging and barely catching Fife on the arm as he reached to draw a dagger from the attacker’s waist. It was a quick scuffle more than a fight, the two men falling to the ground one after the other.
Nessa screamed and ran to Fife.
Pitt seemed to come out of nowhere and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her away from Fife.
Nessa struggled to free herself. “No, no let me go to him.”
Heather, seeing Fife writhe in agony on the ground, went to help him when she was grabbed around the waist and flung away from him before her hands could touch him, her feet dangling above the ground as her husband held her against him.
Rhys moved a few feet away from the two writhing men and yelled out, “No one touch them.”
Fife never looked Nessa’s way. He kept his eyes on the Dragon and just before he took his last breath, he choked out, “Victory for Haidar.”
The other man said the same before he died.
Rhys called out again. “Do not touch their bodies; they have been poisoned and if you touch them you will die.”
Nessa looked up at Pitt, his arms still firm around her. “I do not understand.” She shook her head, growing more confused when she heard Rhys issue orders to his warriors that circled Fife’s body.
“Let no one, not even animals get near them. The poison will dissipate shortly, and then the bodies can be seen to.”
Pitt walked Nessa away from the scene as Rhys continued to talk with the guards.
“I do not understand,” Nessa said again when Pitt brought them to a stop away from the crowd that had gathered and was now being dispersed.
Pitt released her, though kept a supportive arm lightly around her. “Fife was a traitor. He was loyal to the man who is after the Dragon.”
All color drained from her face and her legs got so weak that she reached out to grab hold of Pitt, but he had already tightened his arm around her, and she leaned against him. “He used me, cared nothing for me, and like a fool I believed him.”
“Why would you doubt him?” Pitt asked, tucking her closer to him. “None of us did. He played his role well.”
Nessa stared at Pitt a moment and as she did tears began to fall once again until she was sobbing uncontrollably.
Pitt gathered her up against him and placed his hand to her head, gently resting it on his chest. Then he held her tight and let her cry, feeling her pain far more deeply than he ever felt for any woman.
* * *
“Did I hurt you?” Rhys asked as he distanced them from the crowd that was dispersing and set her feet on the ground, easing his arm from around her.
Heather stood staring at him for a moment, then simply threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. His arms circled her and held her tight. Her heart thudded in her chest and her stomach roiled not only for what had just happened but for what was to come.
She finally lifted her head and looked at her husband. “I do not want to lose you.” She did not say again, though she thought it.
“Nor I you,” he said.
His words sent her heart beating faster and she looked in his eyes and felt her stomach catch, for just a brief moment she had thought she had seen Quinn in them.
Good God, there was no way she could lose him again, never ever again.
Fear gripped her as she said, “There is no stopping him. He will come for you.”
“He is hungry for revenge. Pitt and I had discovered only a short time ago that Fife was the one spying for Haidar. Plans were being made to watch Fife at all times to see what we could learn. Pitt was keeping an eye on him while waiting for the warrior assigned the first watch.”
Heather shook her head. “Why did Fife jump in front of the attacker and save me?”
“You were not the target.”
Heather tilted her head in question. “Who was the target?”
“Fife,” Rhys said and went on to explain.
“It was a suicide mission for both men, though it was probably planned to look as if Fife tried to save Nessa from an attack. Haidar meant for all to be aware that the Dragon could not protect them from a superior foe. He also knows I am no fool and it was only a matter of time before I realized he had planted a spy amongst my warriors and discovered his identity.”
“That was why Fife looked so angry with Nessa when he saw me with her.”
“Aye, he would be very angry, for he could not let you die. If he did, he would have failed Haidar.”
“I do not understand.”
“Haidar will not come for me. He will come for you.”