“What bothers ye?” He asked her, and she only shrugged. She did not wish to tell him for the fear that it would ruin the mood they had.
“Ceana,” he called her and then she turned to face him. “What bothers ye?”
“It is nothin’,” she lied.
Torcall got mad and sat upon the mat. “Why lie to me? I can see it on yer face that something bothers ye. Do ye think it makes me happy to see ye so?”
“I was just thinkin’ about the last time we were here,” she said to him, forcing a smile.
Torcall’s frown eased up, and he smiled back at her. She wished she had reached for him and had cupped his handsome face in her smaller hands, but she did not.
He lay back next to her. “Perhaps I shall come to yer window tonight and steal ye away,” he told her. Ceana held his hand, and he let her. There, they lay together until the silence was so long that Torcall realized she had not told what it was that plagued her mind.
“Ye didnae say what worries ye.”
Ceana froze and said nothing.
“Ceana?”
“Aye?”
Torcall sat up, slightly upset. “Why will ye nae tell me what bothers ye.”
“Because there is naught that ye can do about it.”
“Test me, at least.”
“I am worried, Torcall, there is a killer at large and none kens who he is. I am worried. How are ye nae?” she stared into the blue skies, still lying flat.
Torcall’s face softened. “‘Tis why ye must nae step into lonely places or go out past noon alone.”
“And yet, here I am.” She sat up too and faced him.
Torcall laughed. “Ye have naught to fear,” he told her with a grin. “Few would dare to challenge me.”
Ceana looked at him intently. How was he so sure that the killer would not dare him?How?
“Ye are with me, and that should give ye rest of mind.”
Ceana felt dismissed, and suddenly, anger set in.
“And if ye are the killer?
“Pardon?” Torcall asked, not having understood her.
“And what if ye are the killer, Torcall?”
Torcall stared at the woman in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words didn’t come out.
Ceana, on her part, wasn’t done speaking. “Ye go out late. Ye knew both Bridget and Celestine, and ye didnae attend Bridget’s funeral. The corpse yesterday didn’t even seem to bother ye. What if ye are the killer?”
After a moment of silence, Torcall laughed, and fear crept down her spine. However, when she looked into his eyes, she knew that she might have made the biggest mistake of her life.
“When me parents died, I became a stranger, an outsider. That night when me ma and da bade me goodnight was the last night I ever felt like I was in the right place. Then, I met ye. Ye made me feel different, and I love the time I spend with ye. There is almost no one that I trust like I would trust ye. However, I see that ‘tis nae the case with ye. I didnae attend Bridget’s funeral as I have ne’er attended another after me parents passed. It brings back pain and sadness for me.” There was a bitter smile on his face.
“I ne’er thought ye would think this of me, Ceana. ‘Twould have been better if ‘twas anyone but ye. How do ye think I have coped hearing of deaths each day. Do ye nae ken that the painful memories return? Do ye nae ken how hard I try to fight off the demons?”
“Torcall—” she said.
