Tay nodded and was gone. As they heard his bootsteps fade down the stairs, Creston returned his attention to Randa.
“I was told that my wife did not kill de Bulverton,” he said. “Is this true?”
“It is.”
“Then who did?”
Randa’s eyes were full of tears. “I did,” she said. “He was going to kill her. I… I had to do something. I could not stand by and watch him harm her. Not again.”
Creston knew what she meant. “You mean the starvation?” he said. “Forcing her to conceal her pregnancy from me?”
Randa nodded, wiping the tears that were now falling. “I could do nothing,” she said. “We were at his mercy. My husband is no longer alive, so I had no choice but to obey my father. Lia… She is angry about it, and rightfully so. She was so brave to stand against him today, my lord. You would have been proud of her. But when she fell down the stairs, I found my courage, too. I could not let him hurt her any more than he had.”
Creston didn’t know if he felt better or worse with that knowledge. “Did he push her?”
Randa shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “It was dark and she did not see the stairs as she ran from him. She simply fell.”
The whole thing seemed like such a senseless tragedy. Creston grunted in understanding, knowing it was just an accident, as he’d been told. But there was one thing on his mind, something he needed to have clarified.
“Please tell me that what she did was not part of this plot against Blackchurch,” he said. “Did she intend to betray us, too?”
“Nay,” Randa said firmly. “She knew nothing. That’s why she came—to stop him. My lord, I heard what she said to my father. She said that she has a wonderful life at Blackchurch and she loves the people there. She loves you. It seems that you have given her a joyful life, and as her mother, I am very grateful. She wanted to protect that life, and that is why she stood against my father as she did.”
That was good enough for Creston. He thanked Randa silently and went back to the chair, sitting down beside Ophelia and trying not to break down. The physic and the woman with him, possibly his wife or a midwife, were lifting the covers up to check on the progress of the labor, and when Fox and Cruz saw this, they went outside and shut the door. That left Creston with Ophelia, holding her hand, while the physic and his wife went to work down below.
But Creston wouldn’t look.
He couldn’t.
Everything was in God’s hands now.
*
Ophelia gradually becameaware of the sound of a fire snapping softly in the hearth.
She could smell smoke from the fire and it made her want to cough. She did, a little, but it hurt to move her chest, so she stopped. Struggling to open her eyes, she could see that it was dark in the room. The flames in the hearth created patterns dancing on the walls and she turned her head slightly, trying to orient herself. She had no idea where she was, or why she was lying in bed, but when she tried to move, a big hand stopped her.
“Easy, sweetheart,” Creston said. “Are you awake? Can you hear me?”
She grunted softly. “I hear you,” she said, though she’d closed her eyes again because the very act of speaking seemed to hurt her chest again. “Creston?”
“Aye, love, I’m here,” he murmured. “How do you feel?”
Ophelia didn’t answer right away. She was still trying to figure out what had happened. “I do not know,” she said, but then she moved her body slightly and darts of pain shot up her torso. “God’s Bones. Everything seems to hurt.”
Creston was standing over her, his hand gently holding hers. “The physic says you broke some ribs in the fall,” he said. “That’s what you’re feeling.”
“Fall?” she said, puzzled. She rolled her head to the right and opened her eyes to look at him. “What fall?”
“Do you know where you are?”
She looked around, but she didn’t move her head. She didn’t recognize the room right away. “I am not certain,” she said. “Where am I?”
“Axen Castle.”
It took a moment for that information to sink in, but when it did, her eyes opened wide and she gasped. “My grandfather!” she said. “Where is he?”
Creston was standing by her right side, putting an arm across her torso to prevent her from moving around too much. “You needn’t worry about him,” he said. “He cannot hurt you anymore.”
