A harsh laugh tinged with bitterness rose in his throat. In three hundred years, he had never lain with a woman, nor felt a woman’s hand upon his flesh. He could have demanded any woman in the village, but he had recoiled from the idea of bedding a woman who had no affection for him, nor did he wish to embrace a woman who did not want him in return. Better to remain alone than take a woman by force and see the revulsion in her eyes. No, he had never wanted a woman who had no true affection for him.
Until now. Until Channa Leigh. What foolishness, what arrogance, had made him think he could be near her day after day without touching her? He doubted even his monumental self-control, forged through centuries of self-denial, would be enough to protect her from his lust.
A knock at the door. Though faint, it echoed like thunder in his mind.
She was here.
Chapter Five
Channa Leigh couldn’t stop shaking. At home, at her mother’s bedside, she would have said anything, promised anything, to see her mother well again. But now, standing here on Darkfest’s doorstep, she fought for the courage to make good upon her promise.
“What is he like Papa, this wizard?”
“I dinna know, Channa Leigh. No one really knows.”
“What does he look like? Is his face cruel?”
Dugald frowned. “He is a tall man, with long black hair. His eyes are as changeable as the seasons. As for his face...tis a hard face, to be sure. I dinna know if ye would call it cruel, but...tis hard. He is never seen without a cloak. A long black cloak that billows behind him like the hounds of hell.”
“Papa, do ye think...?” She bit off the words as the door opened with a faint creak.
The wizard stood in the doorway, towering over them.
It took all of Dugald’s courage to keep from trembling. The wizard wore a loose-fitting white shirt, black breeches, and supple, black leather boots. His long black cloak fell from his shoulders. His eyes burned with an intensity that Dugald found unsettling. Fear for himself and his daughter turned his blood to ice.
Dugald fought the urge to back away. “I have brought my daughter, as promised.” He studied the wizard’s face. Was it cruel? The eyes seemed dark and cold, the mouth was set in a firm line, the jaw was square and well-defined, the cheekbones high and proud, the nose straight and sharp as the blade of an ax. “We...” He swallowed hard, unsettled by the wizard’s unwavering stare. “We will expect her back in one year.”
“Aye, old man, that was the bargain.”
“Ye do not ask about my woman.”
One dark brow rose slightly. “She is well, is she not?”
“Aye,” Dugald replied. Maura was well enough, though she had been inconsolable upon hearing that her dear Channa Leigh had to leave them for a time.Ye should have let me die, she had raged at him.Better that I should be dead than our daughter be at his mercy.
Channa Leigh drew in a sharp breath as a large unfamiliar hand closed over her arm.
“Come,” said the wizard.
“Fare thee well, Channa Leigh,” Dugald said. He handed the wizard the small cloth bag that held his daughter’s few belongings. “I will come for ye when the year is up.”
“Fare thee well, Papa,” she replied tremulously. “Will ye not hug me goodbye?”
She felt the wizard’s hand fall away from her arm as her father stepped forward to embrace her.
“Be a good lass,” her father admonished softly, and she heard the unshed tears in his voice. “Remember yer prayers, at daybreak and eventide.”
“I will, Papa.”
He hugged her, hard and quick, and then he was gone, and she was alone with a stranger. Once again, she felt the wizard’s hand upon her arm as he guided her into the castle.
She had never heard anything so frightening, or so final, as the sound of the heavy door closing behind her.
He released her, and she stood there, lost and alone in the darkness. She knew he was still there. She could feel his presence looming over her. Hands clasped, she waited, wondering what was expected of her.
Darkfest dropped the girl’s belongings on the floor beside the door. “Can ye cook?” he asked.
“Aye.”
