Over the wall he went.
But it wasn’t just him. Jerome was holding on to Isabel, and they went over together. Eric, who was closer to Isabel, screamed her name and grabbed for her, managing to get hold of her ankle, but Jerome’s body weight had pulled her over the side. Eric refused to let go of Isabel, which meant he also went over the side as Douglas managed to reach out as a last-ditch effort and grab Eric’s booted foot.
The boot came off in his hand.
Jonathan and Davyss grabbed Douglas before the momentum could take him over the side, too, and the three of them watched in horror as Jerome, Isabel, and Eric fell to the base of the wall, down the side of the cliff, and continued to the very bottom of the rise.
It was all over in a matter of seconds. As they remained frozen, staring at the bottom of the cliff, a scream brought them back to reality.
Mira had seen everything.
She had been witness to the fight, the fall, and Douglas nearly going over the wall after them. As terrifying as that was, the very real fact was that she’d just seen the death of Isabel, a woman she loved dearly, and she began to wail in horror. Douglas scrambled away from the ledge and went to her, half walking, half stumbling, and pulled her into his arms.
“Wolfie! Davyss!” he hissed, both arms around her and a hand over her head, holding it against his chest. “Get down to the base of the hill. Find them. Take men with you.Go!”
Jonathan and Davyss rushed past him, heading for the turret stairs, as Douglas picked Mira up and cradled her against his broad chest.
“I’m so sorry, love,” he said, feeling as bad as he possibly could. “My God… I am so very sorry you had to witness that.”
Mira was weeping loudly, her arms around his neck as he held her tightly. She couldn’t even speak. Horrified and sickened by what he had just witnessed, Douglas took Mira down the stairs, carrying her toward the keep in a weeping, heaving mess even as the castle around him came alive with men rushing out to see what had become of Isabel, Eric, and Jerome. Douglas and Jonathan and Davyss hadn’t been the only ones to see the fall—other sentries on the wall had seen it, too, and word had spread like wildfire. All of Axminster was in chaos as the main gatehouse opened, purging men and horses onto the road.
All the while, Douglas held Mira tightly and carried her to the keep.
There wasn’t anything he could say. There wasn’t anything he could do. He’d gone to the wall with his comrades in arms, preparing to rid Axminster of a viable threat for the sake of awoman who had become a good friend, but somehow, the fingers of fate had twisted up that plan and spit it out as a jumbled mass of pain and suffering.
He could hardly believe it.
Maybe this was their punishment for planning the death of Jerome, or mayhap this was simply a way to put Isabel and Eric at peace. If they could not be together, there was no point in living. They were together in death as they could not be in life. Douglas wasn’t going to try to rationalize what he just saw. All he knew was that he was heartbroken by it. Absolutely heartbroken.
But it wasn’t over yet.
Not in the least.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Shockingly, the falldid not kill her,” the physic said. “She did not land on the rocks like the others did. She landed on them and they cushioned her fall, but she will not survive this. The damage she suffered is too great. It is only a matter of time before she passes.”
It was evening at Axminster as a hush settled over the land, and the castle, with torches on the wall and phantom shadows in every corner, remained still and solemn. Douglas and Jonathan were listening to the physic, the same physic who had tended Mira after her beating from Raymond. He was young but he was knowledgeable, and Douglas wiped a weary hand over his face after the physic delivered the news.
“Is she in any pain?” he asked hoarsely.
The physic shrugged. “The fall broke her back,” he said. “She cannot feel much, but she is experiencing some discomfort. It is to be expected because her body is very broken up inside. Soon, her heart and lungs will begin to fail. She will simply go to sleep and it will all be over. It will be a relatively painless death.”
That was the saddest thing Douglas had ever heard. They were on the entry level of the keep, in a corridor outside a bedchamber usually used by the servants. When Isabel had beenbrought back to the castle, she was so badly injured that the physic didn’t want to take a chance of jostling her up the stairs more than they already had, so it was decided to put her in a room on the entry level for her comfort.
As the night had settled, an eerie calm settled over Axminster. By this time, everyone knew about the tragedy. The rumor was that Jerome had lured Isabel up to the wall and then attacked her. When Eric rushed to save her, they all pitched over the side and crashed to their deaths. Quite honestly, Douglas didn’t have the strength to correct anything. Castles were always rumor mills and this was no exception. The damage was done, so he was just going to let the gossip die away. People would believe what they wanted to believe, anyway.
But he knew the truth.
“Is there anything that can be done for her?” he asked after a moment. “Does she require anything?”
The physic nodded. “Douglas,” he said. “She has been drifting in and out of unconsciousness and has asked for Douglas. Who is that?”
“Me.”
“Ah,” the physic said. Then he eyed Douglas for a moment. “We met when Lady Mira was injured, but we were not introduced. My name is Pinney.”
Douglas acknowledged the introduction with a brief nod. “Thank you for your attention to Lady Isabel,” he said. “If there is anything we can do to make her more comfortable, please do it. You do not even have to ask permission. Whatever she needs… Anything at all.”
