The Darkland (13 page)

Kirk closed his eyes,
shocked and sickened. But in the same breath, fury such as he had never known
welled within his chest and he reached out, grasping Micheline's hand. Instead
of pulling away, recoiling from the man who had delivered her to her nightmare,
she clutched him tightly.

"Oh, lass," he
breathed. "I am so sorry. I never... I never imagined he would do
something like this."

She continued to cry, so
terribly pitiful. "That wasn't the worst of it," she gasped.
"When they were done, Johanne... she stood by and watched as Edmund
forced...forced me to...."

Kirk hung his head. He
wasn't sure he wanted to hear any more. Literally, the pain from Micheline's
humiliation reached out to grab him like a vise and he found it difficult to
breath for all of the heartache and outrage he was experiencing.

"Misha, I am
sorry," he whispered, feeling as if he had contributed to her agony.
"I am so very sorry. Had I known...."

"And she laughed,
too," Micheline's voice was high-pitched, strained with emotion and
hysteria. "When I cried in pain, she laughed. She told me to bear it
well."

Kirk thought he might
vomit. But Micheline wasn't finished, compounding his illness with each
successive word until he thought he might literally go mad.

"Edmund invited her
to touch me," she was gasping for air, struggling to tell her sordid tale.
Needing
to tell someone. "As he continued to... oh, Kirk, he told
her to touch me. And she did.
She did!
"

Kirk shot to his feet,
blind fury filling him. He simply couldn't stand it any longer and was
determined to punish Edmund for his vile doings no matter what the personal
cost. Before he reached the door, however, Micheline threw herself at   him,
pleading for calm.

"Nay, Kirk,"
she begged, clutching his arms with all her frail strength. "You have no
right to condemn them. He is my husband and has every right to do with me as he
pleases."

The gleam in Kirk's eyes
frightened her. "He has no right to treat you like...."

Micheline nodded firmly,
struggling to gain control of her tears. She could see that Kirk was beyond his
limits and the sooner she regain her composure, the better for them all.

"It is his
right," she insisted, sniffling. But her gaze was steady as she faced him.
"You know as well as I do that you have no control over what he does. No
matter how barbaric. And certainly it is not your station to judge or punish
his actions."

"But…."

"You have no
right.
"

Kirk stared down at the
woman, his heart aching for her plight. Never had he imagined Edmund or Johanne
capable of such debauchery and he grappled furiously with his outrage, so much
so that beads of sweat peppered his brow. After a moment, he shook his head in
a helpless gesture.

"But I promised Mara..."
he sighed heavily, turning away from Micheline. “Dear God, I promised your
sister that I would protect you. I alone would prevent further humiliation to
your fragile character. And see how I have failed."

"You have not
failed," Micheline was calmer now, watching the broad back pace away from
her. "You have done all you can, Sir Kirk, and I am grateful. To have
failed would have been to confront Edmund when it is not your place to do so.
And I could not allow you to jeopardize yourself, not when Mara loves you
so."

He froze in mid-pace,
his chest heaving with emotion. Slowly, with great wonder, he focused on the
pale, trembling lady.

"She told you
this?"

Micheline smiled weakly.
"She spent the night crying over you, though she would not tell me the exact
circumstance. I know my sister well, Sir Kirk, well enough to know that she
loves you and would be lost without you."

Kirk's face was pale,
the stone-gray eyes wide. "I... I do not know what to say."

Micheline wiped the last
of her tears from her cheeks, her smile steady as she approached him. "Say
that you love her, too."

He did not hesitate.
"I have from the start."

"And you will marry
her?"

"She does not want
to marry me," he shrugged. "And... last night, I said things I should
not have. But she was so stubborn, so pugnacious, I simply couldn't...."

Micheline put her hand
on his chest before he could finish. "The trick with Mara is to be more
stubborn and more pugnacious than she is. She loves a good fight, but she
respects someone who can beat her at her own game. It's the Irish in her, I
suppose."

He lifted an eyebrow.
"Mara has Irish bloodlines?"

Micheline nodded.
"On our mother's side. Her grandmother was from Dublin."

Kirk chuckled, his
composure returning as Micheline succeeded in calming his rage with talk of
Mara's stubborn nature, of all things. "She has a lot of fire in her.
Certainly it could only be Irish blood."

Micheline laughed
softly, feeling her mood lighten and her horror fade; to have Kirk's support
was more of an emotional boost than she realized. If he wasn't already smitten
with Mara, she might have declared interest in him herself.

"You will promise
me something, Sir Kirk," she said after the laughter faded.

"Anything, my
lady."

"Promise that you
will not tell Mara what happened here today. I shall think of something to tell
her, but she must never know the truth."

Kirk gazed into the pale
blue eyes before answering. "Of course,” he said softly. “There is no
telling what she will do if she learns what Edmund and Johanne subjected you
to."

Micheline turned away
from him, sighing heavily as her composure, her wits, returned. "Have you
always been aware of their... relationship?"

He paused a moment.
"Aye,” he muttered. “But it is something we do not speak of simply for the
fact that it is too vile to comprehend. I... I am sorry I did not forewarn you.
I truthfully do not know if it would have made a difference even if I
had."

Micheline nodded,
running her hand over the mussed coverlet, smelling of sweat and sex. "It
would not have," she murmured. "I would have been forced to marry him
regardless."

Kirk watched her as she
gazed at the bed, pondering the course of her future.  "Still, I will speak
to him," he said quietly. "Mayhap he will listen to me."

"And mayhap he will
take your interest out on my hide," Micheline looked at him, amazingly
composed now that her cleansing cry was complete. "For my sake, I ask that
you not intervene. This is my marriage and I must take responsibility as best I
am able."

Kirk sighed heavily;
there was nothing he could say against her sound logic. "As you request,
my lady," the stone-gray eyes twinkled. "Tell me; did you inherit all
of the common sense in your family?"

Micheline smiled.
"Mara has a good deal of common sense, though she pretends otherwise. Have
you never shared a calm conversation with her, Kirk?"

Now he grinned.
"Once, after I spanked her. She harbors a great deal of wisdom in her
little brain, wisdom I should like to nurture. Mayhap it will overshadow the
wild nature, someday."

"But not
entirely."

He chuckled. "Nay,
not entirely. I rather like a hellion."

Micheline laughed with
him, holding out her hand. He collected it gently, so very respectful of the
new Baroness Bowland. Edmund did not deserve the woman in the least and if the
man was standing before him at this very minute, he wasn't at all sure he could
refrain from killing him.

"And I rather like
the hellion's beau," Micheline said softly, laughing again when he
shrugged modestly. "Thank you, Sir Kirk. For everything you have done for
my sister and I, I thank you."

The moment was genuinely
warm and Kirk maintained his smile, hating Edmund more by the second for
subjecting Micheline to his immorality. It was a battle not to become grieved
with the circumstance all over again. "My pleasure, my lady."

                            
***

The seasonal rains had
greened the countryside now basking under the new winter sun. Mara had spent
well over an hour inspecting the fox pups that Fiona had so delightfully
discovered, hiding in the bramble as the mother fox nursed her young. In fact,
the magnificent morning had been enough to distract her from her depression and
by the time she returned to the keep, her fragile composure was well fortified.

Her hands were full of
winter blooms that she had discovered in the foliage, small flowers with blue
and white petals she did not have a name for. Robert and his siblings followed
her into the kitchen yards, demanding she lay the flowers aside and play a game
with them, but Mara declined.

Even though her frame of
mind had been calmed by the lovely weather and playful children, she was
nonetheless eager to see to her sister. And possibly see what had become of Kirk
if she could spare the time. Bidding her friends farewell, she crossed into the
inner bailey only to come face to face with Edmund and Johanne.

Immediately, her fine
mood dissolved, replaced instead by a burgeoning dislike. The bright blue eyes
simmered with hostility as Edmund and Johanne came to a halt, hand in hand,
before her.

"Ah, Lady
Mara," Johanne said with feigned delight.  "Out foraging in the
fields, I see."

Mara's gaze moved
between the two pasty-faced siblings. "I was enjoying the day. At least, I
was until this moment."

Edmund shook his head.
"Are you always so confrontational? My sister was merely making an
observation."

Mara fixed on him.
"Speaking of sisters, where is mine?"

Johanne shrugged
lightly, snuggling up to her brother in more than companionable gesture.
"In my brother's bower, where we left her, I suppose," she looked to
her brother, touching his cheek. "Shall we continue our walk, dear? I do
not think I like the atmosphere here."

But Mara refused to
allow them to pass. Clearly, she was uncomfortable with Johanne's flippant
answer. "What do you mean 'where
we
left her'? Is she well?"

Johanne's green eyes
focused on her. She seemed to do most of the talking while Edmund smirked and
gloated. "Well enough. What would you expect after surrendering her
virginal body to her husband?"

Mara visibly paled, her
pulse quickening. When she spoke, it was directed at Edmund. "You were...
kind to her, my lord?"

"That is none of
your affair."

"I realize that.
But I am asking nonetheless."

Edmund sighed, eyeing
her a moment before replying. "Kind enough, I suppose. Far more than I was
willing. Was that the answer you were seeking?"

Mara swallowed hard,
seeing the carelessness in his eyes and it only served to inflame her.
"You never wanted her to begin with. Why did not you simply dissolve the
contract or sell her to another? Why must you insist on continuing this... this
torment?"

Edmund cocked an
eyebrow, suddenly realizing why Kirk was so protective of Lady Micheline. The
little sister was quite defensive of her sibling, echoing Kirk's actions
perfectly. Or, as Edmund’s suspected, Kirk was merely echoing Lady Mara's.
Leaping to defend the sister of the woman he was smitten with.

He did not know why he
hadn't realized the truth before; the actions in the dining hall when Kirk had
prevented him from striking the wench, or the constant attention he paid her,
pretending to be stern. Mayhap with his concern over his unwanted bride, he
simply hadn't given thought to anything else. Even something as obvious as
Kirk's infatuation.

Aye, the knight's shift
of loyalty made sense now. And truthfully, he couldn't blame the man. In spite
of her unruly mouth, Mara was a lovely creature. Too lovely to kill should Johanne
figure out what Edmund now understood. But his sister, too, had been focused on
Micheline's arrival. Enough to deter her from her usual scrutiny of Kirk. For
the moment, at least, and unless Edmund intended to commit murder in the near future,
he had better plan for the girl's immediate removal.

"You call your
sister's plight torment?" He let go of Johanne's hand, moving to stand
before a shaken Mara. Gazing over her lovely face, he realized well what Kirk
saw in the girl. "Think of my plight, if you would. Betrothed to a woman I
never wanted, forced to wed against my will. Sound familiar?"

Mara refused to step
back from him, although his foul breath was turning her stomach. "Indeed.
But do you have to make an undesirable situation worse with your treatment of
my sister? She simply wants to be a good wife."

Edmund stared at her a
moment. Then, turning to glance at is sister, he laughed. "She
was
good. For both of us."

Mara had no idea what he
meant. But she certainly did not like the tone of his voice. "Both of you?
How do you mean?"

Edmund continued to
snicker, returning to his snorting sister. "Precisely that. A rather tasty
bit of flesh. Unseasoned, but tasty."