Chapter Twenty-Seven
“It’s time,” Kieran squeezed Vivien’s hand, instilling some sense of calm in her.
They made their way to the entrance to the castle, Kieran’s most trusted warriors walking with them. The warriors already inside the castle had taken control of the gate, waving them through.
They made their way to the castle proper as quickly as they could, the men with them on high alert for any issues that may befall them. They made it to the inner chambers with no trouble, Vivien leading them straight to Reginald’s private chambers.
Kieran requested that his men stay outside the door – he would call on them if there were any issues, but he expected none. The corridors had been completely deserted. He must have believed that Reginald was alone in his rooms, Vivien surmised.
There was no way that Kieran would take chances easily at this point. Not when they were so close to finishing this debacle, Vivien thought grimly to herself.
She could not wait for her waking nightmare to be over. It was all she had dreamed about for weeks; it was finally time to shed the manacles that Reginald had placed on her nearly a year earlier.
It was time to find herself and her happiness with Kieran.
Vivien had never seen a battle fought before; the screams of the injured and dying had horrified her to her bones. She was still shaking from the terror and horror she had endured, standing there next to Kieran.
She had closed her eyes, hoping and praying that it would be over soon – that the cacophony of death cries would cease sooner rather than later.
It had lasted far longer than she had hoped it would; only Kieran’s calm breathing beside her had kept Vivien from completely losing her mind to panic and terror.
There was one thing she was grateful for – she had Kieran to keep her calm and steady. If it had not been for him, Vivien knew she would not have come through that battle with her mind intact. The sounds, the smells, the deaths; all of it was too much to bear without his strength beside her.
Vivien took a deep breath as they stood outside Reginald’s door, trying to still her beating heart. She felt near faint with the pulse of her blood in her ears, the sound drowning out everything but Kieran’s voice gently telling her that she could do this – that this was almost over.
That they just had one more thing left to endure.
When she was ready to enter the room, Vivien nodded at Kieran, closing her eyes briefly.
It was time.
Kieran opened the door slowly, his sword drawn, lightly balanced on the balls of his feet, ready for any trouble.
There was nothing.
There was no one.
There was a flickering fire in the hearth, and in a chair on the other side, a small, old man sat, a glass of wine in his hand.
Reginald.
Vivien’s heart pounded in her chest, the thud-thud-thud in her ears overwhelming her. If Kieran had not been supporting her by holding her arm, she might well have collapsed to the ground.
For all of her determination, her courage and fortitude, there was one thing Vivien had not counted on.
Her debilitating fear of the things that Reginald could do to her – the things he had done to her. The demons of her year with him threatened to drag Vivien down into a darkness she would never recover from.
She turned to look at the only thing that brought light into her life – Kieran. And as she looked at him, the firelight flickering across his facial features, highlighting his high cheekbones as it reflected off his copper eyes, turning them amber in their warm light, Vivien felt the calmness and peace that he brought to her wash over her.
She was safe; he would never hurt her.
“Vivien, Kieran,” Reginald said, his voice flat and emotionless as he watched them stand, united, before him.
“Reginald,” Vivien said, ice in her tone.
“I see you no longer hide your illicit affair from the world,” Reginald remarked, before taking a large sip of his wine, almost draining the glass. He reached for the decanter on the table beside him, pouring himself a stiff measure. Vivien knew that if the glass had been bigger, that he would have poured himself more wine than he already had.
“We have nae reason tae,” Kieran said, practically growling next to Vivien. She could feel his rage pulsating off him like the heat from the fire.
