He slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. “Will you tell me now who you are, Nessa of Fife,Not a Goddess?”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I can’t.”
“You can’t? Or youwon’t?”
“I can’t. It’s nothing personal. You just wouldn’t believe me, and I really don’t want to die. For any reason.”
“I said I wouldn’t kill you.”
“Not for borrowing your horse, anyway.” She paused. “Thank you for that. For not killing me. And Iamsorry about borrowing your horse. I just wanted to go home. I thought if I could find my uncle, he would take me back.”
Back to the man she loved, perhaps? Bridei’s gut clenched, even though he knew he shouldn’t care. He had no claim on this woman, nor did he seek one. Still, he realized he didn’t like the thought of hernotbeing here. And he didn’t like the thought of another man touching her in any way. It made him want to fight. And kill.
He forced his teeth to unclench. “Your man that waits for you, what is he like?”
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “He’s handsome. And kind. Gentle. He loves to surprise me with little gifts. He wants nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with me.” The tears spilled over rolled down her cheeks.
“So you knew him then, before your journey. Youwantedto wed him.”
“I did…I guess so…”
“I see.” Bridei got up and walked to the door, leaving her on the bed. “Rest now, but do not try to leave again. I… I will keep you safe.”
He left the room, sliding the iron latch across the door. He hadn’t bother tying her…he didn’t think she would jump from the window after her life was so newly saved.
Nessa curled up on the bed, letting everything that had happened sink in. He had let her live. She had committed an unforgivable crime, and he had let her live. In truth, she had been so upset and so desperate to find her uncle, with so much adrenaline running through her veins, that she hadn’t even thought twice about taking his horse out to search for Angus. She hadn’t even thought to bring the knife she had used to cut the ropes.
At first she had planned on searching on foot, but when she saw the horses standing there in the paddock, it just seemed like she could cover so much more ground. And Lotex had come right up to her and nuzzled her hair like she was an old friend. It was a stupid risk to take, but somewhere in the back of her mind she thought she might actually find her uncle hiding in the woods, hungry and bedraggled, and convince him to finally take her home. After all, what did she really have to lose?
But she hadn’t found Angus, and that one small piece of hope had now slipped away. The only thing that might save her now was if she could get to the well and go back through whatever doorway was waiting in its dark depths.Ifit was still open. Nathan would be waiting for her when she finally got home, and King Bridei would return safely and permanently to the pages of her history books. After a while, she would forget the way it felt to be near him. The memory of the shiver of electricity she felt whenever he touched her would fade, as would the sheer primal force of his energy and the dark hunger she saw in his eyes sometimes when he looked at her.
If she made it home, she would go back to her ordinary life, but she knew in her heart she was already forever changed. There would be no ordinary life for her ever again.
Later, a woman she hadn’t met before brought her a bowl of soup for dinner, which she forced herself to eat even though she wasn’t very hungry. She fell into a fitful sleep and woke during the night feeling ill. Apparently almost dying was unsettling to the stomach. In the end, she lost the soup she had eaten to the chamber pot.
When she woke the next morning, her stomach felt better, but she was unsure of what would happen now. Would her limited freedoms be taken away? Would she be locked in this room for the foreseeable future? She was pacing the floor when Veda came to fetch her.
“Well, are you coming with me or not?” she said with a big smile.
Nessa stood still. “Where?”
“To work, of course. Have I lost my companion in the gardens already?”
“No… I just…I just thought…”
Veda’s expression softened. “All is forgiven. And I, for one, understand. If I were to find myself among strangers as you have, I would be just as desperate to find my family.”
“Thank you. I didn’t find him, though. I think he must be gone…dead.” A few tears welled in her eyes and she stubbornly wiped them away.
Veda put a comforting arm around her. “You don’t know that. He might have wandered off and found a village to take him in. He might be living happily even now.”
Nessa didn’t think so. She liked to believe Angus would try to get back to her, rather than settle into a new life and abandon her here, but she only nodded and thanked Veda for the encouragement, letting her lead her out of the room and down the stairs of the broch. As soon as they stepped out of the hall and into the yard, everything seemed immediately different.
People smiled at her that had never smiled at her before. Everyone seemed…friendlier somehow, which was the opposite of what she had expected. She had stolen the King’s horse and nearly been executed for it. Why were people being nice to her now? She began to grow anxious. Maybe this was one more thing about the culture she didn’t know anything about. Maybe they were all pretending to be nice and in a few moments they would all turn on her and start throwing rocks. Her imagination was busy creating worst-case scenarios when Domech stopped in front of them, raising his hand to her face. Nessa pulled back, half expecting to be hit, but Domech only laughed and traced her cheek with a gentle finger.
“I would never harm you. A woman is a treasure to be revered. She is made in the image of the Goddess, and she is the vessel of new life. A woman is a man’s strength, his pleasure, and his heart. Every man hopes that one day he will find a mate who will accept him and bear his children, give him a home and a family.”
Veda nodded and smoothed Nessa’s cheeks with her palms. “And a woman hopes for a man…a mate who will love and protect her. Share her life and be a father to her children.”
