And then Gideon was there, bursting from the undergrowth into the clearing, his gaze lifting upwards. He froze as he saw Catherine framed in the gap, Aaron’s hand locked on her arm.
The brothers finally met for the first time since childhood.
Gideon raised his voice, steady despite the fear in his eyes. “Aaron! Bring her down. Please.”
“No! I will not let you beat me. Not again! You cheated, brother, you broke the rules. I was incapacitated! I never dreamed you would take what was mine.”
“I did not even know that we were playing still. I believed you dead,” Gideon pressed, stepping closer to the mill.
“Do not come any closer, brother!” Aaron warned, pushing Catherine closer to the edge.
Gideon froze—his eyes met Catherine’s. Then he lowered himself to his knees, hands held out to the sides to show himself unarmed and helpless.
“I will do nothing to risk her life.”
“I want what was mine. Caerleon!” Aaron cried.
“You should have been Duke,” Gideon conceded. “I believed you dead. You were the victor, father’s chosen. I will not contest it. I will swear it before any witnesses you care to choose. I give up the Dukedom to you. I am not Aaron Tarnley. I am Gideon Tarnley. Just… just bring her down!”
“It should have beenmewho married Catherine!”
Gideon shook his head, slowly. “You may claim the title. But Catherine must choose for herself whom she marries. That choice is hers alone.”
“She does not know you as I do! She does not understand the danger she is in,” Aaron retorted, spittle flying from his mouth, “I can protect her. From you!”
At that moment, Meredith appeared, breathless, carrying Aaron’s cane like a cudgel. She lifted it, threatening Gideon before seeing him on his knees, empty-handed. The cane was slowly lowered. She looked up at Aaron and Catherine in confusion. Doubt shadowed her face.
“Aaron? You… you lied to me?”
You poor woman. They have lied to us both. And I see now what I did not see before. That you are in love with Aaron.
Aaron’s grip on Catherine faltered slightly.
“It did not begin as a lie. I needed you very much in the beginning. I… I feared you would leave once I recovered. You were my nurse, my companion. But I knew you would not stay if you were no longer needed. And I… I had nothing to keep you by my side. No dukedom. No wealth. No power…”
Meredith’s expression broke with anguish.
“I stayed because I loved you, Aaron! And this man, this—this tyrant who drags an innocent woman to her death, is not the man I loved! What I see before me is what you told me your brother was capable of. But he is the one renouncing everything for the woman he loves. He is the one on his knees!”
She dropped the cane.
“I suppose you do not need this. Neither do I.”
She turned away. Aaron’s eyes shone, almost desperate.
“Stay! When I am Duke, we will have wealth and power. I can keep you safe! Happy!”
Meredith gave a broken laugh.
“I fell in love with a Duke without a dukedom. I loved the little life we had made for ourselves in obscurity. I do not want wealth, only love. If you want a duchess, choose another. I will not be one.”
Aaron’s face twisted. He looked down at Catherine.
“I thought you were the one I wanted. For you and me to be Duke and Duchess…”
“You don’t want me, Aaron! I’ve seen that look in your eyes before,” Catherine chided in no little frustration, “it isheryou want. Go to her, Sir Aaron the Wolfheart. Get her back!”
Aaron dropped her hand and attacked the stairs, descending two or three at a time. As he sprinted to the door, Gideon rose from his kneeling position. The two men faced each other.
