Chapter Eight #4
Niles’ gaze was fixed on the couple as they disappeared into the kitchen yard. “And what inference was that?”
Mara thought a moment. Then, she shook her head. “Truly, I do not know. But I must find my sister and make sure she is unharmed.”
Niles took her arm, gently, before she could dash away. “That will not be necessary, I am sure,” he said quietly, putting her hand on his elbow. “Kirk will see to your sister and she is in far better hands than if God himself was watching over her.”
Hesitantly, Mara allowed Niles to lead her at a leisurely pace toward the keep. “Niles?” she asked softly.
“What is it, my lady?”
“Why… why does Johanne tend her brother as if he were her lover? Are they so close?”
Niles did not reply for a moment. “’Tis their way, Mara. Never ask more than that.”
She was more puzzled than ever. “But Johanne said she would teach my sister what she needed to know in order to please Edmund.” She came to a halt under the bright winter sky, looking to the tall knight. “What on earth did she mean by that? How could she possibly know?”
Niles sighed. “Trust me, Mara, you would not like the answer,” he said, resuming their walk. “Have you spoken with Kirk this morn?”
Mara knew he was attempting to change the subject. “Nay, I have not. And I have no intention of speaking with him ever again.” She cast the knight a long look. “Why won’t you tell me what Johanne meant by her strange words? And why wouldn’t I like the answer?”
Niles sighed again, heavily. He did not like the determined look in her eye.
*
The kitchen yards vacated, not strangely, the moment Edmund and Johanne entered. Edmund kicked at a dog that came too close as they moved for the postern gate cut into the fortified wall.
“Why did not you simply tell her the truth?” Johanne asked as the passageway enveloped her.
Edmund followed behind. “Because it is none of her affair. Moreover, I do not believe we will have to worry over the Lady Mara much longer.”
“She does not worry me,” Johanne snorted, casting her brother a long look. “Even so, you sound rather sure of yourself. What did you have in mind?”
Edmund smiled as they emerged into the knee-high grass beyond the wall. “I have been considering the situation and I do believe I have come up with a brilliant plan.” He took his sister’s hand again. “Kirk is traveling to Quernmore Castle tomorrow, is he not?”
Johanne nodded. “He is. And I am rather displeased with the fact that he will be seeing Lady Lily again. You know how infatuated she is with him.”
“Never mind about Lady Lily. She is already pledged and certainly no threat to you,” Edmund grasped her by the shoulders, returning the subject to its original course. “As I was saying, Kirk will be meeting with Lord le Vay. A widower, is he not?”
A flicker of understanding glimmered in his sister’s eyes. “You do not mean to suggest…?”
“Of course I do.”
“Oh, Edmund,” she gasped. “Of course! How perfectly convenient!”
Edmund nodded smugly. “Kirk will carry not only a request for military assistance for my Wicklow holdings, but he will also carry a sealed missive proposing a betrothal.”
Johanne threw her arms around him and they giggled happily.
“Le Vay has expressed the desire to wed again, especially after his son died of the fever two years ago and left him without an heir,” Johanne kissed her brother loudly on the cheek.
“He’ll wed the little chit and we shall be done with her. ”
Edmund patted her on the cheek. “Mayhap we shall even send her along with Kirk for the baron’s inspection.”
Johanne giggled again and Edmund was relieved that she had agreed to sending the woman away rather than wishing her away.
That was what she called it; wishing, as in wishing for death.
But Johanne’s mood was particularly good today and Edmund was thankful; with Kirk’s interest in the girl, arranging her disappearance would have been difficult enough, if not impossible.
Even so, he suspected the betrothal to Lord le Vay, once revealed, would not be well met and he realized he walked a fine line between keeping Johanne happy and avoiding Kirk’s wrath.
But family came first, and his sister’s delighted expression was an indication of his supreme devotion. “Now you will not have to wish her away,” he said. “Save your powers for something worthwhile.”
“Like what?”
Edmund shrugged as they headed down the hill toward the grove of gnarled oak. “My wife, of course,” he snorted. “While the sister’s at Quernmore, mayhap we shall have a chance to see if she will fit well into our lifestyle. If not…”
“If not, she’ll vanish like all the rest.”
“Precisely.”
The birdsong was sweet overhead as the shielding branches of the old oaks swallowed them. “Let’s take her to bed with us tonight,” Johanne grasped her brother’s hand affectionately, savoring the power she commanded over Life and Death. “Mayhap she’ll be more… cooperative.”
Edmund lifted an eyebrow. “For her sake, I hope so,” his voice was serious as well as frightening. “Indeed, I do.”