Passion Light (11 page)

Evan stooped and lifted the guard onto a shoulder and asked, “Where are his quarters? I’ll put him to bed if Isabelle can show me the way.”

“Of course,” Uncle agreed and then continued, “Evan, I still have some things I want to discuss with you. We can work well together. I need someone with the kinds of skills you and your men have. I can make it worthwhile for you to ally yourself with me. We could control more people and more land. You’ll have to promise to keep Isabelle under your thumb, or even your fist, and out of my hair. I’m sure you will know how to handle that task. I also want her keys. I have wanted them for a long time, but she never does what I want her to do. You know how forgetful woman are. I also want to discuss some other things with you when you have some time. After all, you owe me.”

Evan looked at Uncle. He looked grim and reluctant. “What do you want from me? We made a deal for my mate. I have no other agenda and even less interest,” he said.

“We can discuss it later,” Uncle said jovially. “Go ahead with your honeymoon. Taming my niece should make you feel more like listening to my proposition. We men have needs that must be fulfilled before they can get on to other things.”

Evan whispered to Isabelle, “Move. We need to get this out of sight.”

Chapter 9

Isabelle felt she had ceased to exist as an individual…a sentient being since she had married and she pinched herself to see if she was still there while she did what needed to be done, as usual. She led the way out of the great hall.

“You killed him,” she whispered. “This will be nothing but trouble for us.” She was very agitated but she kept her voice down.

“Take me somewhere we can dump the body,” he suggested. “People will think he left, not that I killed him.”

“And, good riddance, too,” Isabelle said, “but this could be a problem.”

“Getting him out of the way will leave your uncle’s men without a leader. It will take them a while to regroup. We can take advantage of it.”

“It was a strategy to kill him?” she asked. “And you did it with one blow. I’ve never seen anyone do that.” It frightened her what he had done. It showed a side of him that was very intimidating.

He knew what she was feeling. It was regrettable that she had seen it, but he was a warrior. It wasn’t something he could hide any more than she could hide her ability to see illness. Life was too rough to keep it hidden for long. He said, “Just as you are special as a administrator/medicine woman/agriculturalist, I am a warrior, one with unusual talents. I hope you can accept what I am. Life often requires violence, both here and in my world. I have done some things of which you or anyone else might disapprove, but I do try other options whenever possible.” He said it with dignity as though he half expected her to reject him.

Well…he was right. The world…most worlds did sometimes require that people defend themselves and the people who were important to them with deadly force. Besides they were already married. If she was going to be married to him she did feel she owed him some loyalty.

At that moment she realized that he had promised her Luther would never hurt her again. Luther’s death insured that promise was fulfilled. He had killed him because Luther had hurt her. It was a promise made and, now a promise kept.

Trust came hard for her after all that had happened to her in recent years. Her world had once been more civilized, at least superficially, but things were much different now. Human nature was what it was, and most people who were still alive had reverted to type. Few people even attempted to hide their natural inclinations because there was little reason to bother. If her father had lived long enough he would have been far less trusting of Uncle and his men…and he might be alive. Uncle had proven untrustworthy so she was open to another choice.

“I shouldn’t be so shocked,” she said. “Uncle obviously wants some kind of alliance with your people and he would choose someone he feels could help him. I’m sure he has plans for you. He expects to be able to outthink most fighting men, including you.”

Evan said, “All he wants to do is manipulate others and talk me to death. I have never given him any reason to think that I, or my people would wish to ally with him. I am also really angry at the way he has treated you. He seems totally incapable of seeing what we feel or want.”

“He thinks everyone is as venal as he is and that they all want the same things he does,” she said as she hurried along. “Why wouldn’t he? It’s usually true.”

She slipped ahead of him and opened a door. “This is Luther’s room. Put him here for the time being. We’ll move him later when most people are asleep. We can get him outside and dispose of his body in our dump. We can remove his personal belongings then, also, so people will think he left on his own.”

Their strategy was reasonable. No one would miss Luther except Uncle and he already had too many advantages.

He followed her instructions and then they hurried back to her room. He was relieved to realize she obviously planned to stick with him for a while at least.

He tucked her into bed and got in beside her as if they had been doing it for years. Isabelle dithered restlessly for a while wondering if they would get going on more sex. He took her in his arms, worked his way down her body to her crotch and licked her there while his hands played with her breasts. It’s hard to imagine that this warrior who killed a man with one blow could pleasure her so gently. She began to relax more and get into his tongue and fingers as they worked their magic, his fingers fondling her nipples with such gentleness while his tongue worked her clit while occasionally darting into her. She didn’t think she could come but in moments she exploded on his talented tongue. She was so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open.

“Rest,” Evan said, but she was still worrying.

She tensed as she remembered she hadn’t given Uncle the keys she had always kept just inside the tunnels. “I don’t want to give Uncle my keys,” she said.

“No, and you aren’t going to, either,” Evan said. He felt her returning tension.

“I suppose it’s more of your strategy,” she said garrulously.

He reached over and pulled her against his tall body and growled softly, “Sleep. We have had a big day. You…we must rest while we can.”

It made sense. She was both exhausted and overexcited. His words helped her relax and she literally fell into sleep with his reassurance and the comfort of his sheltering warmth.

Chapter 10

They heard shouts and running. Isabelle got up and started pulling on her clothing.

“Something is wrong,” she told him. He began to dress, too.

Someone knocked on the door and called, “Isabelle.”

“It’s old Doris,” she told Evan. “There must be some medical problem or maybe they have discovered Luther’s body.”

She cracked open the door and asked, “What do you need?”

“Heather’s in labor,” the woman replied. “She’s not doing well.”

“Give us a few minutes,” Isabelle replied. “I have a task that must be completed but we will hurry.”

“She’s in the birthing chamber, but the baby is big and she is small, not even full grown.”
 

When her door was securely locked again Isabelle turned to him and said. “We need to dispose of Luther’s body. Heather’s baby is his. Someone may go looking for him.”

“How are we going to do that?” he asked her.

“I’m going to show you one of my secrets,” she said. She walked across the room to a door that opened into a large, walk in closet. Stepping clear to the back she shoved aside some clothing and clicked a hidden latch. What appeared to be a solid stone wall smoothly and silently opened to a dark passage. “Follow me,” she said.

She grabbed a large ring of keys from a handy hook on the wall and showed them to him. “These are the keys Uncle wants. I’m not even sure how he knows about them. I never carry them with me outside the tunnels.”

Evan said nothing as he stepped behind her into what looked like a narrow hall, a passage maybe 6 feet wide and dimly lit with what appeared to be dawning daylight coming through periodic narrow openings. “Arrow slits?” he asked. She shut the opening to her room and led Evan on toward Luther’s room.

“Yes,” she said. “They were walled off and hidden at least 200 years ago when the castle was remodeled the last time the family who sold it to Gramps could afford it. They were trying to make the place look more like more of a manor house than the castle it really is. That’s when the painted walls went in and some of the newer furniture and décor. Even that stuff is old and antique now. My grandfather left these things as he found them. He liked the feeling of authenticity and continuity. Any building that’s as old as this one has been changed and remodeled throughout its existence. He also liked the secret tunnels and wanted to keep them. We have been able to defend the castle without revealing this part of its secrets, though I’ve come close to telling it exists when we’ve had problems with raiders.”

Evan walked closer to an opening in the wall and looked out without getting too close to it. He could see where his guard was camped outside the walls and one of his men watching the castle. “We are armed with bows and arrows, as well as other weapons. We can also fight with our minds if we need to. We could work with this.”

It gave Isabelle hope. She had never expected that she would be able to fight Uncle and win. Evan and his friends changed everything.

Isabelle continued down the hall until she reached a door. She took a key from the chain she had accessed when they first entered the tunnel and opened the door. Evan recognized Luther’s room and saw his body still on the bed.

“Can you carry him a pretty long way?” she asked.

“Yes.” he answered.

She hastily gathered the man’s belongings and stuffed them in some bedding that she formed into a sack. She handed Luther’s weapons to Evan and he tucked them away in his clothing. “Follow me…and hurry as much as you can.” Evan carried Luther and followed her as she continued to the end of the hall and pushed open a low door.

“Drop him out here,” she said. “Even if someone sees it will not cause comment. Uncle drops dead people out here regularly from a higher opening if he does not consider them worth a burying ceremony. It leads to the dump. It’s too close to the building but I set fires or have a thick layer of dirt and lime distributed over the top regularly to combat disease and odors. It also allows us to dispose of bodies or garbage without opening the gates at times when we are being threatened. We compost vegetable matter someplace else.”

Evan dropped the body with a few quiet words…something like ‘return to the Earth and be at peace.’

They turned together back down the hidden hallway.

“I have to go to the birthing chamber,” she continued. “You can stay in my room if you want.”

“I will come with you,” he said surprising her. “I assist at some births…as well as short funerals.” His voice was ironic, but she did not have time to think about it.