She felt his body stiffen, and his arms did not return her embrace. Slowly he pushed her away from him.
“So you returned.”
She could not bear the look in his eyes or the tone of his voice. There was hatred there, not just anger.
“Did you lose your way?” Garrick continued in that same bitter tone. “Or mayhaps you finally realized that you could not survive in the wilderness alone.”
“She claims she did not run away, Garrick,” Erin said as he came into the room. “She was taken across the fjord by force.”
“Is this what she told you?”
“I believe her,” Erin said firmly in her defense. “’Twould explain why the shepherd was wet and injured when he returned. He could have tried to follow her across the fjord.”
“Or fell in a lake trying to follow her, which cost him his life!”
“Dog is dead?”
Garrick turned away from her question. She turned haunted eyes on Erin, who nodded sadly. Merciful Lord, why this too? Was not her suffering enough? Tears welled in her eyes as memories assailed her. She had won the shepherd’s affection, only to lead him to death.
She could see Garrick was of the same opinion, yet she was not wholly to blame. She must make him see that.
“’Twas Arno who hurt Dog,” Brenna said in a grief-filled whisper. “He kicked him away when Cedric would have killed him.”
“Cedric!”
“They were the ones who took me, Garrick!” She could see his doubt and she became frantic. “You must believe me! They brought a ship so they could take my horse too. They wanted you to think I ran away so you would never suspect them.”
“Why?” he demanded.
“I never learned why, except that a woman approached them and told them of me. I was kept on Arno’s farm, but I was to belong to Cedric. When he came and attempted to have me, I killed him and escaped. I sought your help first and called from the opposite cliff, but no one heard me. I cannot swim, nor could I find a boat, so I went around the fjord, the only way left to me.”
“Get her out of here, Erin, before I do her harm!”
Erin put his hands on her shoulders, but she shrugged him away. “’Tis the truth, Garrick! All of it! God’s name, why would I lie?”
“In hope I would forgive you and take you back,” he said heartlessly. “’Tis too late for that.”
Unchecked tears wetted Brenna’s cheeks and neck. “You could learn the truth if you would, Garrick. Cross the fjord. See for yourself that Cedric is dead by a woman’s hand.”
“’Twould mean my death if I were found on Borgsen land. But you must know that, the same as you learned the names of the Borgsen clan, from the women. They know the story well and gossip often.”
“’Tis not so. Ask them!” she was crying hysterically now, but he turned his back on her.
“You give the lie in your own words, for no one could survive what you described in winter. Take her to my father’s house, Erin.”
“Why there?”
Garrick faced her again with such venom in his eyes that she cringed. “’Twas my intent to sell you in the East if I found you, where slaves are treated as slaves, not with the liberties I foolishly bestowed on you here. But you were a gift to me, and so being, ’tis my father’s right to have you back.”
“Come along, Brenna,” Erin urged her.
Brenna felt as if she were torn in two. Bile rose in her throat and nearly choked her. She was not strong enough to deal with this rejection. She would have crumpled on the floor if Erin had not supported her. She let him lead her as far as the wall dividing the hall, but there she stopped and looked back one last time at Garrick.
“Everything I have said is the truth, Garrick.” Her voice lacked all emotion—she was dead inside. “’Twas my love for you and my need to return to you that made it possible for me to survive rounding the fjord. I went without food because there was none, and I nearly froze many times. But I kept on because I thought you would be there for me in the end. I should have died. ’Twould have made you most happy.”
She had spoken to his back, stiff and unyielding. Now she left, the pain in her chest agonizing. She had lost him. Nothing mattered any more.
Erin did not dare disobey Garrick. He knew his young master was wrong, he was sure of it now, but he was also certain that Garrick would never be convinced of his error. Erin grieved for Brenna. She did not deserve such callous treatment. Were it not for the other woman who had destroyed Garrick first, he might relent this time and trust in Brenna. But Garrick, a bitter young man, had closed himself off completely, and Brenna was suffering for it.
