“A beauty,” he pronounced.
She turned her head away from his touch. “Are you Mored?” She already knew the answer.
He gave a little laugh. “Aye, lass, at yer service. Ye have heard of me, then?”
She didn’t answer, but regarded him coldly. So she had gotten herself captured by Mored himself, the very man who wanted her dead. Well, he wouldn’t get what he wanted, because she was determined to stay alive. She found herself looking at him and wondering if he had always been this way. Had he been born… evil? Or had he truly chosen this path for himself out of a lust for power and destruction? It that was the case, she didn’t hold any pity for him or the man he might have been. He would die eventually. Bren would see to that. And she would stand by his side and help him.
A movement at the other entrance to the room caught her attention. She looked over and was surprised to see a woman standing there. She was lovely, with auburn curls and a slender figure. But right now her face was twisted with something any woman instinctively recognized in another. Jealousy. And hate. And by the look of her, she was burning with it as she watched Mored toy with his captive. Suddenly Faith saw her best chance of escape.
Moving her gaze reluctantly back to Mored, Faith parted her lips just a little, batted her eyelashes, once, twice. “What would I have to do, for you to spare my life? Is there nothing that you… want?”
His eyes narrowed on her appreciatively and one corner of his mouth turned up in a heartless smile.
“What did ye have in mind, lass?What then, is yer life worth to ye?Although I make no promises, I am open to suggestions.”
Faith opened her mouth to tell him she would do anything at all, but she was interrupted as the auburn-haired woman breezed into the room, anger and hatred written plainly on her face. Evidently she had already had enough. She pressed herself to Mored’s side, clinging to him possessively. Faith really didn’t understand the attraction.No, really, he’s all yours, she thought derisively. It must be his power, she supposed. Power and wealth drew some women like flies. But then so did bad boys.
“Is our guest awake, then love?” the woman cooed to him in a syrupy voice.
Mored looked more than slightly annoyed at her bold interruption, and did not bother to answer her. Instead he turned back to Faith. He took a length of rope out of his pocket, and proceeded to tie her tightly to the bedpost. With her hands already bound behind her, she knew she had almost no chance of escape on her own. She needed the other woman’s help, and an opportunity.
Luckily that opportunity came sooner than she could have ever hoped.
Mored leaned over and put a hand on her cheek. Faith had to still the overwhelming urge to turn and bite him.
“I have to go out for a bit, love”, he said to her. “But Elen here will see to yer comfort while I’m gone. Willna ye see to our guest, dearest?”
Elen’s look shot daggers at both of them, but then she seemed to think better of crossing such a dangerous man.
“Aye, of course.” She gave him an insipid smile, and he left the two women alone, pausing to whisper a warning in Elen’s ear that made her eyes spark with fresh rage.
It was dawn, and at Dunreven Bren joined Loghan at the high table. The tension of the night before had dissipated, and Bren was full of nervous energy. Today he would make Faith his wife… and tonight… tonight he would make herhis. Or perhaps this afternoon, if he couldn’t make himself wait that long. Aye, most definitely this afternoon. Perhaps they could ride out for a picnic, and he could lay her out naked on a bed of soft moss under the trees. He almost sighed out loud, then looked impatiently at the empty staircase. The minutes dragged slowly by, and still Faith did not appear. Loghan smiled apologetically.
“Nay doubt she wants to look her best for ye.”
But Bren was getting worried. Faith wasn’t one to fuss over her looks. She didn’t need to, he thought, she would be beautiful dressed in rags and covered with mud as far as he was concerned. Something wasn’t right, he could feel it in his gut. “Perhaps ye should send someone to look in on her”, he suggested.
Loghan obliged, and the maid he sent up to Faith’s room returned not two minutes later.
“My laird, she’s no’ in her chamber.”
Bren shot up out of his chair, upending it onto the floor. “NO!”
He was racing up the stairs before Loghan could even gain his feet. He tore into her room.
“Faith!”
There was no answer. He pulled the covers off the bed, looked beneath it, checked the wardrobe.
Meanwhile, Loghan had set everyone to searching the castle. But Bren knew in his heart she wasn’t in the castle anymore. He felt it like a steel band tightening around his chest. Mored had taken her somehow, takenhiswoman, from her own father’s home, and he was going to get her back. He trembled with the incredible force of his rage, and in the hall plates and mugs began to fall from the tables and shelves as energy surged through the room.
“Mored has her, I can feel it! Ready yer best men, Loghan. I’m going after her.”
Eian grabbed his arm as he turned to leave. “Wait! Bren, it’s a trap! He’s using her as bait, it’s ye he wants. He’ll kill ye if ye go after her with nay plan!”
“I’m going.” He clapped Eian on the back, his face a mask of fury and determination. “Have ye so little belief in me brother? I want her back far more than he wants to keep her, far more even than he wants me dead. I was born to fight, and I will win.”
Bren sent one man back to tell Drust what had happened so that he could prepare for what might come. The rest he brought with him, all armed to the teeth and eager for battle, especially against the one man they all hated more than any other.
