Legendary Warrior (27 page)

Kilkern did not think Magnus foolish enough to walk into his keep as if in surrender. Why then the invitation? What did he have planned? Magnus would not be fool enough to accept, or would he force Kilkern’s hand by placing himself in danger?

Reena grew concerned and placed a hand to her nervous stomach. A sudden thought that she could be with child filled her heart with joy and fear. Joy that they would be a family; she, Magnus and their child. Fear that Kilkern would kill him and she would be alone with their child—or completely alone, as Brigid had been when her husband had died. Reena felt an enormous loss for her friend, realizing now more than ever the hurt she had suffered.

She could not lose Magnus; she would not. She would do everything she could to keep him safe and protect him as he did her, even though he would protest. She would do what was necessary.

Magnus unfolded his arms and walked toward the man. The man retreated several steps before Magnus neared.

“What if I do not agree to his offer?”

The man’s voice trembled. “Then I am to deliver another message.”

“Which is?” Magnus demanded.

The man hesitated, swallowed as if gathering courage, then spoke. “I am to tell you that the earl of Culberry knows you for the coward you are; you being much like your own father.”

At that moment Reena wished to race at the man and pound him with her fists, which she kept tight at her sides, but he was only a messenger, a messenger who presently was sweating profusely.

Magnus remained calm, his voice deep and his speech articulate. “Tell Kilkern I accept his invitation.”

The man looked relieved.

“And—”

The man’s eyes widened and a drop of sweat hung from his brow over his eye.

Magnus took several steps toward the trembling man. “Tell him that a man who knows no honor dies in shame—like his father.”

The man’s eyes widened in fear, and any fool could see that he realized the message he delivered to his lord would earn his wrath. He gave a quick nod, turned, and fled the great hall.

Magnus exchanged words with Thomas, their voices low and not reaching Reena’s ears. They parted, and Magnus walked toward the staircase. She intended to stay where she was until he passed by. Once he was far enough up the stairs, she would take hasty steps to her room, explaining that she’d decided to map instead of discussing bridal veils.

She kept her breathing low and braced herself against the stone wall, the darkness completely swallowing her. No one would know that she was there. She was safe in the recesses of the dark.

Magnus passed by, and she could not help but smile. She waited, giving him time to climb the stairs, and when she was sure that all was safe, she walked out of the shadows and around the stone wall to race up the stairs.

Her foot never hit the step; Magnus stepped out of the shadows in the corner by the staircase and grabbed her around the waist.

She cried out in shock, then punched his arm—not that he felt her meager attempt at revenge. “You frightened me.”

“You should not have hidden in the shadows.”

“I wanted to hear for myself.”

“You do not trust me to tell you all?” he asked, lowering her to the ground but keeping firm hands on her small waist.

“Nay,” she said softly. “I trust you, but . . .” She turned her head from him.

“Reena,” he said gently and forced her to look at him. “Tell me.”

The traitorous tears she feared would spill started, and she could not fight them.

He wiped them away one by one. “Tell me, Reena.”

She answered with reluctance. “I had to listen for myself and hear so that I could protect you. I could not bear to lose you.”

Magnus leaned down and kissed her with a tenderness that made her spill more tears. “You will not lose me.”

“Aye, I will not,” she said adamantly. “I will be by your side when you visit with Kilkern.”

Her tears were as stubborn as she was, and he wiped them away, only to have more follow. “You will not be with me.” He held up his hand before she could argue. “You will not go with me, and you will not hide and travel along in secret or follow in secret.”

“I will not remain behind,” she said, as if threat-ening.

He raised a brow. “How foolish would it be to take you with me when you are the very person who could help him achieve his goal?”

“How foolish of you to go to him when you know it is a trap?”

“Do you think me a fool?”

“Nay—” She stopped and stared at him. “You have a plan.”

He nodded.

Excitement stirred in her. “You will tell me of this plan?”

“For your own safety, it is better you do not know.”

Her excitement quickly deflated, replaced by annoyance. “Should I not have a choice in this matter, since it is me he seeks?”

“Nay, this is between Kilkern and me, and I will have no interference,” he warned in a sharp tone.

Reena would not concede. “You do as you must and I will do what I must.”

“Reena,” he warned again, his dark eyes swirling with a mist of anger that would soon erupt if she was not careful.

“This argument needs to wait for another time,” said the familiar harsh voice of the Dark One from the shadows. “There is someone who needs your immediate help.”

Chapter 30

T
he three retired to the solar, the Dark One finding his own passage there while Reena and Magnus climbed the stairs. Once inside, the door was latched, more candles lit, and questions asked.

Magnus looked to the darkest recesses of the room.

“I am here,” the deep voice confirmed.

“Then tell me what this is about. Who needs my immediate attention?”

“Mary.”

“What of Mary?” Magnus asked, his body tense, his eyes focused on the dark, shadowed corner.

Reena walked to stand closer to Magnus, at a distance where she could at least reach her hand out to him if need be.

“I will tell you all that I know.” His deep voice lost some of its harshness as he spoke. “I met with a man who told me that he was a friend of Mary’s family and that she is in immediate danger. She has been safely hidden for over ten years due to the generosity of her benefactor, but those who wish her harm are close to discovering her whereabouts.

“He does not know her location, only that there are three possible places the woman could be hiding, and it is imperative that she be found before it is too late.”

“When I sought a safe shelter for Mary, I purposely misdirected my path so that none would be able to find her,” Magnus said.

“I found Mary’s true location.”

Reena’s hand went out to Magnus, and he took firm hold of it as soon as he felt the brush of her skin against his.

“And what did you do with this information?”

“I kept it to myself until I could discover if this man spoke truthfully to me or if he himself meant the woman harm.”

“He confided the truth to you without any persuasion?”

“He needed no persuasion. He was visibly upset when I reported my findings to him and he confessed that two men were after Mary, one protected and the other was out to do her harm. Knowing both men’s reputations, he did not feel that either could be trusted, so he sought my help. He asked that I take Mary to a safe place until he could determine her true benefactor and seek his help.”

“And you returned here because I am one of the men whose name was mentioned.”

“Aye, you were one of the two.”

“And the other?” Magnus asked.

“Decimus.”

Reena felt Magnus tense, and she tightened her grip on his hand.

“I fear he will find her soon, which is the reason I returned here. You have much that concerns you now and it would not be wise for you to leave here. I can see to this matter for you and take Mary somewhere where she will be safe and where no one will find her.”

“Decimus will make her suffer if he finds her.”

“Then I will make certain he does not find her.”

“You should waste not a moment,” Reena said. “If you fear for her safety, then go now. See that she is kept well.”

“Tell her that her father sent you to her,” Magnus said. “When I first hid her away I explained that she must stay where she was until I came for her. And if I could not come myself then I would send someone and he would say, ‘Your father sent me to you.’ Say those words or she will go nowhere with you.”

“I will do as you say and you, my friend, take care. Kilkern will stop at nothing to take your land.”

His warning brought a smile to Magnus’s face. “He is a fool who will meet a foolish end.”

“Take care, mapmaker, and I will send word when Mary is safe.”

“Godspeed,” Magnus said and heard the door close, though he never heard the latch being lifted.

Magnus turned to Reena and took her into his arms, holding her to him while his hands stroked her back. She was safe here with him and he would make certain she remained safe. He would see to Kilkern on his own terms and settle a long-owed debt when he took Kilkern’s life. Then it would be done, and then he and Reena would wed and he would worry no more on the Kilkerns.

For now he would trust the Dark One to protect Mary and know that she was in safe hands. But he would not wait long to hear from the Dark One. Mary was his responsibility: he had given his word to his teacher to protect her, and his honor would allow him to do nothing less than to protect her with his life.

Reena rested her head on his chest. “Who is Decimus?”

“You do not want to know.”

“Is it safer that I do not know?”

Magnus took her by the shoulders and held her away from him. “It annoys you that I wish to protect you?”

“It annoys me that you do not let me help protect you.”

Magnus almost grinned, but a warning look from her blue eyes, which looked ready to storm, brought his grin to a sudden halt.

“You think to have your vengeance at any cost, you have planned for it, counted on it, and now the time is here and you can almost taste the victory. But you failed to realize one thing.”

Magnus waited in silence, curious as to what she thought he failed to consider.

“You failed to realize that falling in love changes everything. Now there is a reason for concern, for there is a person who loves you with all her heart and worries over your safety, praying every day that you remain well and alive, praying that she will share a long life with you. And when that is considered, then vengeance can be more costly than you thought possible and victory bitter in its futility.”

She pushed his hands off her and took a step closer. “I love you and will do whatever is necessary not to lose you, so do not tell me that keeping me ignorant to your plans is better for my safety, for there is no safety in ignorance.”

With a brief shake of his head and a slow smile surfacing, Magnus stared at the strong-willed woman he loved with an intensity that sometimes frightened him. “You are a rare woman.”

“Nay, I but speak my mind more often than most women.”

“And why do you think that is?” he asked, wanting to understand what made her different and thus all the more appealing to him.

She rested a hand over his heart and he covered her hand with his, sending a warmth of emotions racing through them.

After a brief moment of considering his question, Reena answered. “I think it is because I thought little of wedding and pleasing a man. I thought more about myself and what I wished to do, wished to accomplish, so therefore I could speak my mind without thought of offending a possible husband. I lived more for myself.”

“How can you say that when you placed yourself in danger, traveling to my land for the sake of all the tenants?”

“That was for the good of the whole, not one person. I had the foresight to see that there was a way that could possibly rectify a horrible situation. It would have been wrong of me not to at least attempt to try.” She shrugged. “Besides, I wished a bit of my own adventure. My mapping trips had been solely with my father, and my trip to your land was solely on my own, the beginning of my own mapping quests.”

“And that is the life you envisioned for yourself? A dangerous one?”

“Not if I mapped for the Legend.” She was fast to correct with a smile.

“So you came to find me
not only
for me to help your village but also to help free you to follow your dream?”

Her smile turned soft and she nodded. “And I found what I never expected or sought.”

“Love,” he said and leaned down to brush his lips across her moist ones. “That will never confine.”

“Not so,” she whispered before she tasted his lips. “You confine me when you do not share your plans.”

“Try to understand, Reena,” he said as though he pleaded with her. “I watched helpless as Robert Kilkern abused my mother and could do nothing. I will not have the same happen to you. If by chance I should suffer at Kilkern’s hands, then it is me who suffers—”

“Nay,” she said adamantly, tears rushing to fill her eyes as she pulled away from him. “I suffer along with you.”

She silenced any opposition with a gentle finger to his lips. “Aye, for that is love. I feel what you feel. I fear what you fear. I ache when you ache. I suffer when you suffer. Love will have it no other way, for we are part of each other, you and I. So do not tell me I will not feel your pain if you are made to suffer, for I know you will feel mine, therefore it remains for us both to protect, for in protecting one, we protect the other.”

He eased her finger away from his lips and held her hand in his. “I understand what you try to say to me, but my way is to protect what is mine—”

“You are mine, can I not protect you?” She sounded impatient and a bit fearful.

Magnus kept his patience. “Reena, listen to what you say. How can you ever protect me?”

She stepped away from him and pounded her fisted hand lightly to her chest. “By making me aware of everything that goes on, by trusting me, by loving me.”

“I do trust you and love you, but I believe that there are things you should not know for your own safety, and that is the way it must be. You must understand that and accept it.”

She stared at him and refused to shed the tears that gathered like a raging storm in her eyes. She could not speak, the lump in her throat constricting her voice, her stomach growing upset. She shook her head, choked back her tears, and fled the room as if being chased.

Magnus did not try to stop her; when she calmed down she would come to understand his decision and accept it. He thought on the wisdom of her words and realized how deeply she loved him, and he hoped that when she thought on
his
words she would realize how deeply
he
loved her.

Her tears blurring her vision, Reena could barely see the steps down which she fled. She was grateful when she entered her room and latched the door behind her. She flung herself on the bed and let herself cry long and hard, hoping the tears would ease her aching heart.

She did not hear the first tap on the door. The second was more a knock, and she sniffled, coughed and wiped away the last remnant of tears before answering it. Her hand was on the latch before she realized it could be Magnus, and at the moment she did not wish to speak with him, especially after crying. She did not care if her eyes were swollen from her torrent of tears—she cared that he would know that their disagreement upset her terribly.

“Who is there?” she asked, keeping her voice as clear and calm as possible.

“Brigid. Let me in.”

Reena had never heard Brigid demand, and she immediately opened the door to her friend and stepped back, turning away toward the fireplace so that Brigid could not see her red-rimmed eyes.

“What is wrong?” The demand remained in Brigid’s tone. “Magnus entered the great hall only moments ago more temperamental than I have ever seen him, snapping and yelling at his men. He even became annoyed with Thomas, and I have never known him to do that.”

Reena turned with a flourish, a faint smile on her tear-stained face. “He was upset?”

Brigid rushed to her friend’s side. “You have been crying. What is wrong?”

More tears gathered in Reena’s eyes and she wiped at them with annoyance. “I am in love and about to wed.”

“And this causes tears?” Brigid shook her head. “You must explain, for I am confused, though happy.” She scratched her head. “Should I be happy for you?”

“Aye, you may be happy, but you can tell no one of the wedding. I am certain that all in the keep and village will know soon enough, but the wedding must remain a secret.”

Brigid reached out and hugged her friend. “I am happy for you and I will tell no one of the plans for you and Magnus to wed, but can you tell me why?”

Reena sat in one of the two chairs near the hearth, and Brigid took the other, ready to listen.

Reena detailed the events that had led to the decision to keep their wedding a secret, and by the time she finished, Brigid was nodding her approval.

“A wise decision for sure. Kilkern would see that he used such information to his advantage.”

“True enough, that was why I thought to postpone the wedding, but Magnus insists that we wed along with you and Thomas.”

Brigid pressed a hand to her chest. “Reena, it would be wonderful to share a wedding day with you and Magnus. Think of the celebration. And Thomas and I can wait until things settle down and this matter is seen to.”

“Magnus is certain this matter will be resolved shortly and that there is no reason to delay wedding plans.”

“You think otherwise?”

Reena jumped out of the chair and began pacing in front of the hearth. “He places himself in danger by going to Kilkern.” She bit at her bottom lip, knowing she could not reveal all she knew to Brigid: she had given her word. “He will be sure to imprison Magnus or, worse, kill him.”

“Magnus is the Legend. Kilkern would be a fool to think that he could capture the Legend,” Brigid said.

Reena stopped pacing and stared down at the flames. No one understood that Kilkern did not see Magnus as the Legend but as his half brother who was depriving him of land he felt rightfully belonged to him. This was about brother against brother and revenge, the worst kind of battle, for neither would settle in agreement. Blood would certainly be spilled.

“I love him,” Reena said softly.