Page 86 of The Darkland

Kirk sighed with frustration, wrinkling his nose to the pungent smell of the burning dead. “I simply cannot abide by all of this,” he said after amoment. “I return home to find my parents killed, the home of my birth all but destroyed. Can you not see the basis for my rage, lads?”

“Of course we do,” Drew said softly. “But we also know there is nothing you can do about it. We will rebuild and we will strengthen our ranks with more soldiers. Then we will meet with the village chieftains and see if there isn’t some peace we can come to. There is nothing more we can do than that.”

“I disagree.”

“What would your Mara say to your need for revenge, Kirk?”

It was Steven, always the voice of calm. Kirk looked at his younger brother with frustration when he realized what he was driving at. Pursing his lips, he turned away.

“Most likely the same as you,” he grunted. “But Mara is not a soldier. It is right for women to believe in peace and harmony. Without them, the world would know little.”

“Do you want to return to her soon, Kirk?” Steven’s tone was pointed, soft. “Or do you want to spend the next year searching for men whose identities will never be revealed? The peasants respect the English, Kirk, but they fear the rebels more. Have you been away so long that you have forgotten that?”

Kirk did not like what he was hearing, mostly because it was the truth. Feeling frustrated and impotent, he merely shook his head.

“Nay,” his voice was hoarse. “I haven’t forgotten. But with all of the might I command, I should think I could do more to bring these men to justice.”

To the north, the sound of distant thunder could be heard, dying away just as Kirk’s determination for vengeance was. His brothers were correct and he realized he would have to resign himself to the fact. But the knowledge that vengeance would be useless did nothing to ease his anger.

“I so wanted Mara to meet father,” he said after a moment, feeling his fatigue as the night deepened. “She’s such an exquisite creature. I wanted him to see the woman I had chosen to pass along the Connaught lineage.”

“A spirited woman who throws her fists around?” Steven laughed when Kirk pretended to punch him. “I think I like her already.”

“You will fall in love with her, as I have,” he said. “But you cannot have her. I have already had to fight off one bastard and I swear I kill the next man who looks at her.”

Steven and Drew, aware that they had deterred their big brother’s taste for vengeance, gladly delved into the subject of Lady Mara once again. It was good to see Kirk smile and they realized that his mood was the direct result of Mara’s name. Any mention of her sent him grinning like a fool.

Corwin mounted the ladder to the battlements, approaching the brothers as they conversed and snickered. Smiling wearily, he fixed on Kirk.

“The scouts have returned from the surrounding area, Kirk,” he said. “The trees are clear of rebels. In fact, they seemed to have disappeared altogether.”

Kirk lifted an eyebrow. “But they have not, of course,” he said. “Make sure the sentry posts are tripled, Corwin. And I want mounted guards outside the walls, patrolling in foursomes.”

Corwin nodded, eager to carry out the orders and get to bed. He, too, was exceedingly weary.

“Corwin.” Kirk stopped the man before he could dismount the wall. “You have met the illustrious Mara. Tell my brothers of her, as they seem to have difficultly believing that one woman can be so perfect.”

Corwin glanced to the expectant brothers, his stomach twisting with renewed nausea. But not because of the travel or the battle he had recently fought. It was because he knew something Kirk did not, something that was tearing him apart. The longer he gazed into Kirk’s smiling face, the more powerful the urge became to drop to his knees and confess everything. But for fear of Valdine, he remained silent. For her, he had always remained silent.

“She is… well, she is certainly beautiful,” he offered weakly. “But ask Kirk about the scars on his cheek if he thinks she is so perfect.”

He was out of the conversation as Steven and Drew turned to their brother, demanding to know of the parallel wounds. Corwin slid off the wall, hating himself for his disloyalty to Kirk. Moving to complete his assigned duties, he tried to forget what he knew about Micheline’s situation, or Mara’s future. But, God help him, he simply couldn’t. And the feeling was growing stronger by the moment.

*

Spencer stood stoicallyin Edmund’s small solar, watching the thin young lord pace about the room with glee. Spencer, however, could not reciprocate the emotions he was witnessing and with very good reason.

“So he has agreed to my marriage proposal?” Edmund repeated the knight’s missive. “How marvelous!”

Spencer could hardly agree. For seven days he had lived with bitterness such as he had never known. And Mara, poor Mara, was beyond devastated. She was lifeless.

“Aye, my lord,” he replied stiffly. “He has asked me to thank you for sending the lady to him.”

Edmund laughed joyously, shaking his hands in the air. “Thank God!” he crowed. Then, he looked to Spencer with sudden suspicion. “He kept the proposal from Kirk, did he not? I asked that he not tell him.”

Spencer could literally taste his disgust. “As far as I know, he did not. He told no one at all and I must say we were quite surprised by the news.” He eyed the delighted baron, wishing he could simply run him through and be done with it. The man had no idea the number of people affected by his treachery. “Lord le Vay has already sent for the priest from Crosby. The man should be arriving within the next day and I have been asked to escort Lady Micheline De Cleveley to attend her sister’s wedding.”

Edmund’s giddy demeanor vanished. It was odd, truly, as if a fire had suddenly been doused. “Just… Micheline? Not I, nor my sister?”