“Do you know how this all came about?” he said, pointing a finger upward as if to indicate the destruction around them. “It’s all quite interesting, actually. I wonder if your father had the courage to tell you.”
She was still looking at him with that emotionless stare. “Tell me what?”
Marius grinned, but it was an ugly gesture. So very ugly. “I did not think he had courage,” he said. “Rupert de Thorington never had a measure of courage in his life. You see, my father believed that my mother and your father had a love affair years ago. He even speculated that I was your father’s son. Did you know that?”
For the first time, her features darkened. “That is a lie.”
Marius shook his head. “It is not, I swear it,” he said. “Why do you think this all started? Because of The Roden Twins? Certainly, that escalated matters, but now that you and I are to be wed, it is time you know why this all happened. It started when your father could not keep his hands off my mother.”
She was out of the chair in a flash, her calm façade vanished. “That is a nasty lie,” she snarled at him. “My father was a true and noble man who loved my mother. He would have never carried on with another woman!”
Marius was enjoying her rage, pleased he finally had a reaction from her. “Ah, so you have fire,” he said. “I like that. And you. You shall be a tasty morsel upon my tongue, Woman. I had heard you were fine and now I see that the rumors were true.”
She stiffened, struggling to regain her composure. “And I heard that you were a beast,” she said. “I see that those rumors were true, too.”
His smile faded. “If you are trying to please me, this is not the way to do it,” he said. “Careful or I will do to you what my father did to your father. You do not want to end up in Winterhold’s moat. Nasty place.”
She looked at him with horror, which pleased him immensely. He dragged his gaze up her body, lingering on her breasts. He even reached out to touch them, but she slapped his hand away. Then she slapped his face as hard as she could. His response was to swing at her with a closed fist, catching her on the side of the head, forcefully enough to send her flying.
As Emelisse landed in a heap, Marius laughed and moved towards her crumpled form, preparing to stand over her and gloat, but a strange thing happened. He felt a breeze; just a faint one, but along with that breeze came something cold and painful ramming into his back. He could feel it sliding into his body.
Shocked, he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came forth. More cold things were jabbing at him and he realized they were daggers. One was a broadsword. Blood was pouring as men swarmed around him. He caught movement out of the corners of his eyes, looking up to see Hallam standing in front of him with a bloodied dagger in his hand.
Marius didn’t even realize that it washisblood.
So this is where Hallam went, he thought.
But it was the last thing he would ever think in this lifetime as a massive blade carved into the side of his neck and his head went rolling.
And just like that, Marius de Wrenville was no more.
Caius stood over the man whose head he just cut off, but not for long. Sheathing Negotiator, he bent over Emelisse as she was pushing herself off the floor. He put his arms around her, lifting her up, holding her against him.
“Are you well?” he asked anxiously. “Did he hurt you? I am so very sorry I did not get to him before he struck you. God, tell me you are unharmed.”
Surprisingly, Emelisse was smiling at him, her hand on her stinging cheek. “I am not harmed,” she assured him. “I hit him first. I expected him to strike back, but I didn’t move away fast enough to avoid it.”
She said it with some irony, but he wasn’t over being mortified that she’d been struck and he hadn’t been fast enough to stop it. He pulled her into a crushing embrace, heaving a sigh of relief that the damage was minimal.
“God be praised,” he murmured, his big hand on her head as he held her against him. “You were magnificent, Em. I’ve never seen such bravery.”
She tilted her head back, looking up at him. “It was a simple thing,” she said. “You were here, Cai. I knew that I had nothing to fear.”
“And you never will, so long as I am around.”
“I know, my love. I know.”
“Say it again.”
“What?”
“My love.”
She smiled faintly, with the greatest reverence. “My love,” she whispered.
He cupped her face in his big hands, kissing her gently, before turning to Marius’ supine body.
At that moment, the rage he felt was indescribable.
