Rest now. Worry not, love. We are on our way to you. Do not lose heart.
“She’s slipped away, William. I cannot see her any longer.”
She released his hand, and he opened his eyes. Her gaze filled with knowing, she smiled at him then. Had she heard his words? She stood and whispered with Marcus before leaving the tent without another word to him.
“We can land near Aberdeen and travel from there,” Marcus explained. “Would you tell the commander, Roger?”
Roger made his way out of the tent, observing them with his usual silent regard.
“Do you know the area, William?” Marcus asked.
“Aye, dozens of standing stones and even circles strewn all through that area. Some large, some small. All ancient. How will we know which is the true gateway?”
“Worry not on that,” Marcus advised. “As two of the bloods approach the circle, the goddess will try to break free. You, Brienne, Hugh, and the rest of us will know the true circle then.”
“And if she breaks free? Can she escape?”
No one would speak of that. What was this goddess, and what would happen if they failed?
“What is she?”
“She is the destructor. She is chaos. She is fire. Very simply, her escape will be the end of the world as we know it. Death and fire will rule over man and reason.” Marcus shuddered as he finished his words.
“Beginning with us?” he asked.
“Aye, we will be the first to die. But if she escapes, that could be merciful for us considering what the rest of humanity would face.”
From deep within him, in his soul, William understood the danger. His ancestors had exiled this goddess once, and he must ensure that she did not escape the prison that held her now.
But could he save the woman he loved from a madman who would sacrifice anyone and everything in his quest for power?
Hours later he still paced the small confines of the ship, trying to sort out the endless possibilities ahead. With the dawn came no clarity of anything except his purpose.
To save Brienne.
ChapterTwenty-Three
She walked slowly around the ship with Brisbois only a step behind her. The ship’s rise and fall as it moved across the smooth sea made it difficult to keep her balance as she did. It was her first time on a boat, and this was a large one that carried many. Gazing across the water, she saw the other one a short distance away.
They did not bind her, for she could not swim and dared not try to escape. And since no man there would touch her, she had more freedom on the ship than she’d had on land.
On the third time that she’d circled the ship, she paused close to the unconscious heap of broken flesh that was a man named Corann. Though his face was beaten almost beyond recognition, she thought he might have been one of the men who’d taken her that day in the forest. Brisbois pushed her shoulder, so she continued past the man, trying to come up with a way to do as William had asked her.
She had dreamed of him!
She’d expected nightmares to haunt her sleep. Instead she could see and hear him as though he stood before her. She thought him just a dream until he asked her questions about that man and about their journey. He’d asked her to save Corann by sharing a vital piece of information with Lord Hugh—that he knew the priests’ method to open the circle.
Lord Hugh would keep him alive then. At least until they reached the stones. At least until William could reach them as he promised. She smiled then, remembering his words to her as he’d promised to reach her. As she approached him once more, she said his name loud enough for others to hear. Stopping before him, she repeated it. “Corann?”
“Move along, girl,” Brisbois ordered gruffly, nudging her shoulder to push her on.
“Does Lord Hugh know who this man is, Brisbois?” she asked. When Lord Hugh approached from the place where he stood in the front of the ship, she knew he’d heard her. She felt his presence behind her before he even said a word. Would there ever be a time when she could not?
“Brienne? You know this man?” he asked. He pushed Corann, forcing the huddled mass to his back, where she could see him more clearly. She could not help herself. Her gaze went to Brisbois, who looked away.
“Aye, my lord,” she answered. “He took me to their camp some days ago. To draw the warblood, much as you do now.”
Oh, she knew his intention. From what she’d heard, he needed only one fireblood in the circle to open it, and it would be himself. She was only the lure to bring the other one needed to it—and to ensure that he would do as ordered—so that he could open it for his goddess. Lord Hugh’s expression changed from surprise to anger to amusement in just seconds.
