Solstice at Stonewylde (27 page)

‘You look beautiful this morning, Sylvie.’

She shook her head, wanting none of his compliments.

‘I was just told I look a tatty mess.’

He raised an eyebrow at this.

‘Your hair shines in the sunlight like spun silver and I’ve never seen anyone more exquisite. I can feel my spirits lifting. Why didn’t I send for you before?’

He rose shakily from the sofa and bent to throw a couple of logs on the fire. In his dark silk pyjamas he looked lean and starved, the open neckline revealing collarbones and hollows not normally visible. He crouched by the hearth and looked up into her eyes. The arrogance may have gone but the charisma remained, deepened by pathos.

‘I need some company, Sylvie. Will you stay for a little while and talk with me? Cheer me up?’

‘Of course, especially given the alternative.’

He lay back down on the sofa again, shutting his eyes momentarily as if in pain.

‘Which is?’

‘Maths with William. I try hard but I’m not doing so well at the moment.’

He nodded sympathetically.

‘Forget maths then and stay here with me.’

He closed his eyes again weakly and Sylvie glanced around the enormous room in fascination, not having fully appreciated the luxury of it on her last furtive visit. The Tudor setting was superb, infinitely grander than her own smaller rooms, and Magus had surrounded himself with beautiful things. She was over-awed by the splendour and opulence, such a contrast to Clip’s mediaeval tower with its shabby furnishings and strange collection of ethnic objects.

‘How did you get that nasty bruise on your forehead?’

He was watching her as she gazed around.

‘Oh … it was … it was an accident.’

‘I see – it looks nasty. And how’s your poor mother?’

‘Very depressed.’

He put a hand to his temple and groaned.

‘I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me for losing my temper like that. I really did shout at her, but I was so angry with her for letting you go wandering off into the night when you were moongazy. You know how dangerous it is and I was furious at her negligence. She only thinks of the baby and nothing of you. But I’ve been too ill since to go back and try to make amends with her.’

‘She looks as awful as you do.’

‘Poor Miranda. She always did have unrealistic expectations about our relationship, even though I never pretended anything otherwise.’

Sylvie nodded at this, for it was perfectly true.

‘I was angry with her but I never wanted to hurt her. I’d like to make it up, but if her heart’s set against me I doubt she’d listen to me now. My temper’s always been my downfall.’

He shook his head ruefully and, despite herself, Sylvie felt some sympathy for him. He’d lost so much weight and he looked depressed and rather tragic.

‘Can I get you anything?’ she asked. ‘Would you like a drink?’

‘Yes, that’d be nice. There’s a fridge over there, behind the panelling. A glass of water please, and do have something yourself if you like.’

She busied herself at the fridge and brought him over a glass of iced water. He took it from her outstretched hand, but then grasped her fingers.

‘Sylvie! What on earth is this?’

He stared at her wrist. The baggy cardigan sleeve had fallen back and the shrunken jumper beneath failed to cover her wrist. He took hold of the other one and examined that too, peeling her sleeves back. He gently traced the deep black bruising around her slim wrists, all the way from the base of her palms up her arms to the elbows.

‘This is terrible! What happened?’

She squirmed, not knowing what to say and feeling suddenly tearful at this unexpected sympathy.

‘Who’s done this to you? Who was it?’

‘I … I don’t know.’

‘Come on, Sylvie, you don’t get injuries like this without knowing how. It must’ve been terribly painful. When did it happen?’

‘On the night of the Moon Fullness.’

‘Just as I said! You go wandering off and you get hurt. But this was no accident, was it? These are rope marks – someone tied you up, didn’t they?’

She nodded, not wanting to get Yul into trouble but knowing there was no other rational explanation for the pattern of bruising.

‘And it was Yul! Wasn’t it?’

She nodded again. Magus shook his head, his face turning even paler. She looked into his eyes fearfully. They glittered with fury.

‘How dare he treat you like this? What an awful thing to do to someone!’

‘Oh no,’ she said quickly, ‘it wasn’t like that. I think he was trying to protect me.’

‘Protect you? From what?’

‘From … from you. From going up to Mooncliffe with you.’

The words sounded hollow even though she longed to believe them. Magus’ face was a mask of anger and concern, and Sylvie realised then just how little sympathy or real care she’d been shown for so long. And especially not from her own mother, who couldn’t seem to care less any more, being so wrapped up in herself. Magus’ dark eyes softened as he saw her lips trembling, fighting to hold back the tears.

‘But why? You wanted to come up there with me, didn’t you? I remember you saying you’d give me your magic willingly. Didn’t you?’

‘Yes, but then you made Clip hypnotise me!’ she said. ‘And you promised you wouldn’t.’

‘Not really hypnotise, Sylvie, just suggestions to help ease the discomfort for you. And anyway, that’s not the point. How dare that boy tie you up to prevent you coming to me! I can’t bear to think of it – you poor little soul.’

He shook his head in disbelief and again, Sylvie felt the urge to sob her heart out at this unexpected sympathy.

‘And I suppose the bruise on your head was caused by him too? Sacred Mother, but he’s brutal! Any other injuries I should know about?’

He saw her glance down involuntarily at her leg.

‘Go on, show me.’

Feeling embarrassed, she pulled up the cotton skirt slightly and rolled down her long woolly sock to show him the scabbed scraping all the way down from thigh to ankle. Magus gave a low whistle and looked at her in distress.

‘I won’t have Village boys – or anyone, for that matter – doing this and getting away with it. I shall punish him as soon as I’m up and about again, rest assured.’

‘No, Magus, please don’t! He didn’t mean to, I know he didn’t!’

‘So how did he inflict that horrible injury all down your leg?’

‘He put me in … a sort of cage, I think.’

‘WHAT? He imprisoned you
as well
as tying you up? Is there
anything else the boy did to you that I ought to be aware of?’

‘No, and it’s not how you’re making it out to be. He wouldn’t hurt me deliberately.’

As she said it, Sylvie had a flash of memory: Yul shoving her hard along the path and bundling her roughly into the tree cage. Her words rang false in her ears. He may’ve been acting to protect her, but Yul had hurt her in anger and it had been intentional. Magus shook his head and frowned, picking up on her confusion.

‘I know you feel weak after moondancing for me, Sylvie, but I’d never hurt you like this, you know that. Now can you see why I warned you away from him? I always said he was too rough for you.’

‘But I—’

‘There’s something I should show you, Sylvie, something that’ll help you understand why I’ve forbidden you to have anything to do with him. Maybe then you’ll believe me when I tell you that boy is brutal and dangerous. But I’m too ill to deal with it now and we’ll talk about it later.’

‘Of course. I’m sorry if I’ve tired you.’

He looked very pale and she stood, ready to leave. Feebly he reached up and touched the hem of her skirt.

‘It’s just so distressing for me to see someone as special and delicate as you knocked about by a Village lout like him. I’m exhausted, Sylvie … could you leave me to rest?’

‘I do hope you feel better soon,’ she said, turning to go. He still had hold of her hem and his dark eyes were pleading.

‘Would you come back this evening to have supper with me? I can’t face eating downstairs in the Dining Hall and I’ve been off my food for days now. But if you were here, Sylvie, I may discover my appetite again. Would you mind?’

Sylvie nodded. How could she possibly refuse such a request?

W
hen she returned that evening to have supper with Magus, Sylvie found him dressed casually in one of the loose white linen Village shirts and dark trousers, looking as strained and pale as he’d done earlier. Supper arrived via the dumb waiter, concealed in the wooden panelling of the interior wall.

‘I’m sorry, Sylvie, I feel too weak to serve you and I really can’t do with the bother of summoning someone. Would you do the honours?’

She found an ornate wooden trolley by the small service-lift in the wall, and loaded the hot dishes and plates onto it. Then she wheeled the antique trolley over to the dining table in its intimate alcove, already laid with linen, silver and candles, and served them both. The light meal was delicious but Magus only toyed with his food. Sylvie found it ironic that their roles had been reversed in this way; she was now the one urging him to eat more. She sympathised with him, talking of how she’d suffered from his force-feeding, and he apologised.

‘I’ll never do that again,’ he promised. ‘I had no idea how awful it is to eat when you’re feeling so delicate. I only wanted to build you up so the moondancing wasn’t so debilitating for you. I’m sorry, Sylvie, truly sorry for anything I’ve done to make you suffer. You should be treated like a princess.’

Afterwards Sylvie cleared the dishes back into the dumb waiter and pressed the switch for the lift to descend to the floor below, whilst Magus switched on the huge television screen.

‘Come and sit next to me,’ he said, patting the soft leather sofa. ‘I mentioned that I wanted to show you something. This is distressing and I’m sorry to break the pleasant mood but I think you should see it. Your injuries have upset me a great deal.’

‘Really, Magus, I’m absolutely fine,’ she protested, sitting down next to him at a safe distance. She felt very strange being alone like this with him, although he was as weak as a kitten and not threatening or overbearing at all.

‘I’m sorry, but nobody at Stonewylde can behave the way Yul did with impunity. You may remember I banished Buzz because of what he did to you? That Village boy and the way he’s abused you have been preying on my mind all afternoon. You need to understand why I’ve been so adamant, ever since you arrived, about your having no contact with him. I know you always thought I was being high-handed, Sylvie, when I forbade you to fraternise with him. But you really don’t know the full picture. That’s my fault – I should’ve told you more, but I’m just not used to having to explain myself. I’m so sorry, Sylvie, that you’ve been assaulted twice and on both occasions by my sons. I’m ashamed to have fathered such monsters.’

Sylvie glanced at him, noticing his serious expression and the way his hands shook slightly. She felt a sudden rush of pity for him – this was a different man to the golden god-like figure who demanded obedience so forcefully. This Magus was quiet and almost humble, clearly suffering in his weakened state.

‘These are photos of Buzz,’ he continued, ‘taken after his fight with Yul in August. I’m sure you remember the incident well, as it wasn’t long after this that Buzz assaulted you. Buzz was admitted to the hospital wing and Hazel photographed his injuries, recording these images almost daily as he began to heal. I wanted a record of Yul’s brutality because it was so very shocking.’

‘I heard that Yul was defending his sister.’

‘Just so – and one can understand that of course.’

‘So why take photos? I don’t understand.’

‘Because at that point I wasn’t intending to punish Buzz further – Yul had already done that very thoroughly, as you’ll
see. Buzz had only kissed the Village girl and fumbled about with her blouse – nothing more had taken place, by the girl’s own admission. Yet the Villagers were up in arms about it and wanted Buzz whipped or even banished. I’d hoped that by showing them these photos of Buzz’s injuries, they’d see that he’d had punishment enough for his misdemeanour. It wasn’t until he also attacked you that I realised he’d intended to take it further with the Village girl too. That young man had no idea about self-control or how he should conduct himself.’

Magus paused, the control in his hand and regarded Sylvie steadily.

‘Anyway, now perhaps it’s lucky I have this record to show you. I want you to look carefully, Sylvie, however upsetting it is. I want you to see what sort of a beast lies beneath Yul’s boyish charm. Remember that Buzz was much larger and heavier than him. Try to imagine the sheer viciousness and violence of this attack, to cause such uncalled-for damage. Yul isn’t normal, that’s for sure. He has the brutality of someone with a severe personality disorder and he fought like someone mentally unhinged. Buzz never had a chance to fight back, that’s how sudden and ferocious Yul’s attack was. Yul was totally unharmed in the fight, other than his hands, and you’ll see only too clearly why they were damaged.’