Page 23 of The Darkland

He sighed again, squeezing her hand tightly. “I will do what I can for her. This I vow.”

“Dowhat?”

He did not reply. Or mayhap he couldn’t reply. Mara did not know how long they sat there, hand in hand, listening to the sentries call to oneanother or the occasional bark of a dog. The night around them was silent and still, the mold from the corridor tickling her nose. In spite of the fact that it was cold, damp, and eerily dark, there was no place else on earth Mara would have rather been at that moment.

CHAPTER SIX

The snorting, thegrunting, had ceased for the moment. Deep in the folds of the moonless night, Edmund and Johanne lay wrapped in each other’s arms, listening to the sounds of the crackling hearth. A few hours before dawn, they would make love twice more before the sun rose.

“She’s a witch,” Johanne murmured into her brother’s stale shoulder.

Almost asleep, Edmund grunted. “Who?”

“Mara,” Johanne stretched, her frizzy blond hair hanging in her eyes. “I have decided she must go.”

Edmund opened his eyes, dreading his sister’s words. He did not want to kill another lady, not with Kirk present. The other times, nine in all, he had sent the man out on an errand before completing the task. Always with assistance from a knight Kirk had come to trust, a man who Edmund paid well for his silence.

“What do you mean, Johanne?” his question was filled with reluctance.

But his sister seemed not to notice the cautious inflection. She raked her dirty nails down his back. “Precisely that. Either she returns home, or I shall wish her away.”

Edmund sighed. “Then we will send her home. The sister I can do nothing about, but the dark-haired spitfire I would agree to remove. Either that, or betroth her to some hapless fool and be rid of her that way.”

Johanne raised her head, gazing into eyes the same size and shape as her own. “Either path makes no difference as long as she is gone. And as for Lady Micheline, she seems to be quiet and respectful. Mayhap she will do well as your wife.”

Edmund groaned. “Quiet and respectful and ugly,” he rubbed his eyes. “I could hardly stand to look at her at dinner for fear I would lose my appetite.”

Johanne laughed softly. “But she remained silent and unobtrusive and left us alone,” she licked his right nipple seductively. “I do not think you said a word to her all eve.”

“I did not,” Edmund shuddered when Johanne licked him again. “I find I prefer to pretend she doesn’t exist.”

“But what about the wedding?”

He groaned again. “We shall simply get it over with, a quick ceremony and an even quicker consummation.”

Johanne slithered down his body, wrapping her hands around his semi-flaccid manhood. “I shall make the arrangements, then. I am sure we can have this unpleasant business out of the way by tomorrow eve.”

“Whatever you say,” he grabbed her by the hair, pulling hard and loving her gasps of pain. “The sooner the better.”

“And the sister?”

“Betrothed to the first man I can find. Satisfied?”

Johanne licked his phallus, grinning. “Very much. As you shall be quite shortly, as well.”

*

Mara was awakenedby Micheline’s shrieks of pleasure. Rolling around in the large bed, she was vaguely aware of the bright day, the sounds of birds singing. Even with the brilliant light, however, the room was bitterly cold and she shivered, snuggling beneath the covers until Micheline ripped them off her small body.

“Look, Mara!” she cried happily. “Surcoats!”

Mara blinked the sleep from her eyes, growling and trying to regain her lost blankets. But Micheline was thrusting something in her face, a lovely shade of sapphire, and Mara blinked her eyes again at the fabric came into focus.

“Where did this come from?” her voice was hoarse with morning sleep.

It was then that she noticed Lady Valdine and Lady Wanda lingering respectfully at the edge of the bed. Mara sat up, staring at them; it was like looking at a mirror image.

“Sir Kirk said…”