Yarmille shook her head, staring at her upturned hands. “I could not do it myself. I am a mother too. I could not.”
Brenna slid off her horse and pulled Yarmille down from hers. She shook her roughly. “Where is he?”
Yarmille pointed further into the woods. “I just left him.”
Garrick came up behind them, his voice disturbingly gentle. “Where, Yarmille?”
“Not far.” She looked up, her eyes strangely lighted.
“There, you can hear him crying. Fairfax always did cry the loudest. I must go to him.”
Garrick rode on, and Brenna mounted her horse and followed him. She did not hate Yarmille for her treachery, for the woman was so very mad. But she could not pity her either.
They found Selig beneath a tall pine tree, whimpering because he could not crawl without pricking himself on pine needles. When Garrick handed him to Brenna, her tears were at last happy ones. But with the anxiety of a mother, she knew it would be a long time before she let this little boy out of her sight for even a short while. They passed the spot where they had spoken to Yarmille, who was gone.
“She planned it all, Garrick,” Brenna said as they rode slowly toward home. “Yarmille was the one who paid Cedric to take me away. And I recognized her horse. She is the woman who tried to kill me in the woods.”
“Why you, Brenna? This is what I cannot understand.”
“She feared my child, not me. Selig was one more heir of Anselm’s that she would have to be rid of before her son would be the only heir.”
“She must have been mad for many years to think she could accomplish such a task.”
“I should have realized she was the one responsible. I knew she hated your family, but because of my jealousy, I thought Morna was involved.”
“Morna!”
“She wants you for herself. And—and you did turn to her when we were parted.”
“So you did believe that,” Garrick frowned. “Because of my anger, I wanted you to think so. But ’tis not true, Brenna. She and I would have wed years ago for reasons other than love. I wanted her for her beauty and she desired me only because I was a chieftain’s son. I know that now.”
“She means naught to you anymore?”
“Nay. She only reminds me what a fool I was to take her rejection so to heart. I was a fool in many ways. Can you forgive me for all the pain I have caused you?”
“Of course,” she smiled. “You will only give me happiness from this day on.”
Later, judgment was passed on Yarmille, and she was banished from the land. Her son Fairfax elected to go with her, since she could no longer care for herself. He had known nothing about her scheming and was as shocked as everyone else to learn the truth. Brenna thought the punishment harsh, but her own family came first, and with Yarmille gone, her fears were put to rest.
“Is Selig asleep?”
“Yea, my love,” Brenna replied, and crawled into bed to snuggle close to Garrick. “He woke with belly pains, no doubt from all the sweets your father gave him earlier.”
“He does spoil him overmuch.”
“I cannot argue that point,” she grinned.
“And why, wench, would you wish to argue any point with me?” he said in mock astonishment.
She leaned back, pretending anger. “Do not think that because we are wed, your will shall be my will, Viking.”
He chuckled and pulled her close. “You are strong-minded and stubborn. This I know well. Did you not insist on the day we were wed that I set Janie free so Perrin could claim her as I claimed you? You did bend me easily to your will.”
“You were as pleased as I to see their happiness,” she scoffed at him.
“I suppose,” he grinned. “I still wonder how I could have been so unaware of their plight. Why did Perrin not speak to me about her? We had our disagreements for a while, but that did not last after Selig was born.”
“He wanted to buy Janie, but he was reluctant to ask you for her, for fear you would refuse. You were never in an agreeable mood for very long.”
