She scowled back at him. “Bren… that rule makes it impossible for me to do the things I need to do if I’m to fit in here and be happy.”
“Of course ye fit in here, ye are my wife!”
Faith crossed her arms and pressed her lips together, continuing to look at him as if though waiting for him to change his mind.
He sighed. “All right, I’ll change the rule, but I willna like it one bit.”
She smiled, then leaned over to give him a kiss. “And how was your day… husband?”
He leaned in closer to speak near her ear. “In truth I could think of nothing else all day but having ye naked in my bed. Eian nearly ran me through with his sword twice as a result. Ye are a verra dangerous woman, Faith. I think ye will be the death of me.”
She gave him a wry smile and pinched his thigh under the table. “I don’t think you can actually die from too much sex.”
“Ow! Did I no’ say ye are dangerous?”
The maids served the food then, and Bren gave her a grin that lit up his whole face.
“It’s no’ venison!”
She had arranged to have strawberry pie for dessert, but Bren had taken her away to their chamber before it was even served. He closed the door and pressed her up against it, gently nibbling and biting the length of her neck, making her shiver all over. Then he took her mouth, still holding her helpless against the door, and kissed her until her knees were weak and her arms came up to pull him even closer. He rucked up her skirts, and his kilt, then forcefully pushed himself into her with a deep groan of pleasure. Her legs came up automatically to wrap around his waist and take him deeper. He thrust into her again and again, but it was only moments before he shuddered and collapsed against her.
“Sorry lass”, he said as he lifted his head to give her a rueful smile. “I told ye I had been thinking of ye all day, and as a result I was already far too close. I couldna wait another second to be inside ye. But now… now that I have taken the edge off, I can love ye properly.” He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed, where he lay her down and stripped off all of her clothing, then his own. She smiled when she saw he was still hard, looking up to meet his gaze with a light still in her eyes.
“Aye lass, my desire for ye is no’ so easily sated. In fact, the need for ye seems only to grow stronger, each time I take ye.”
“Then you’d better take me again, husband.”
“But then I will only want ye more, wife.”
The next several days flew by as Faith busied herself learning all the ins and outs of the castle and how it was run, as well as the names and occupations of the people who called it home. She was learning a way of life very different from what she had ever known before, and though many things were quite the same, others were completely foreign to her. And so she treaded carefully for now, observing as much as participating. And in the evenings Bren would come home and they would eat dinner together before retiring to their chamber for the night. It was bliss, everything was so perfect that she should have known it would all go wrong.
***
There was a blood-curdling scream from upstairs. Bren and Drust and a few others were on their feet and running for the stairs before whoever it was could draw a breath to scream again. It was coming from the ladies solar, and it was Mathilde who stood there in the center of the room, hands clasped to her cheeks, ready to shriek yet again.
Bren reached her first, putting both hands on her shoulders and spinning her around to face him. The maid’s face was absolutely ashen, her eyes wide as saucers. “What is it? What’s happened?”
Mathilde sputtered, gasped, tried to draw in enough breath to speak. “She… she disappeared… she’s gone!”
Bren dropped his hands from maid’s shoulders, a slow sinking feeling filling his chest. “Who’s disappeared?” he asked, but he already knew the answer.
“F… Faith. I mean… yer lady. She was here, and now she’s gone.”
Drust stepped forward. “What do ye mean lass, was she taken? Was there someone here?”
Mathilde shook her head. “Nay… I dinna ken. She just… disappeared… faded away, like, right before my eyes!”
Drust stared at her for a second in disbelief. “Oh hell”, he said softly. Then he clenched his jaw and turned a reluctant look to Bren. “The ring.”
Bren stared at his brother, his eyes disbelieving, his whole world melting away around him. Then, slowly, his face changed, his features morphing into a mask of pure, mindless fury. He spoke through tightly gritted teeth, struggling to draw enough air into his lungs. “Nay. I will have her back.”
He turned and strode from the room. Drust spun on his heel and followed, as did the others. Bren was already shouting commands, strapping on his weapons as he went. Eian had appeared and one of the men was filling him in on what had happened. The color drained from Eian’s face, but then his features settled into a hard line of anger and determination. Drust stepped into Bren’s path, the only way to slow him as he rushed to the stables.
“I am going with ye this time. Leave Eian here to mind the castle. This is my fight, as well as yers.”
Bren considered his brother for a moment. He spoke of the attack on Creagmor that had taken their mother from them, and their innocence. Mored had been responsible for that, as well. Drust was a strong warrior. He could take down an enemy with a cold certainty that Bren had rarely seen. He could use his brother’s skill… but…
“I’m going to Mored. To the caves, Drust. I will find that ring, or I will die trying.”
