The Forest Lord (54 page)

Wave upon wave of sickness battered
Eden's body. "I will not."

"You must." She felt Hartley's breath on the back of her neck, his warm hand at her waist. "I may die whatever we do, but this way one of us will have him."

"Remove Donal from the room, Mr. Blake," Claudia said. "He need not see this. If I do not come for you within the hour, do as we agreed and take the boy to
America."

The hunter backed out of the room. Donal whimpered and struggled, but the sounds receded quickly until
Eden could no longer hear him.

You will never see him again.

Like an automaton,
Eden took the collar from Claudia. She was not of Faerie blood, yet the metal burned her just the same.

You cannot
, her heart cried.

"You have no choice," Claudia said.

Eden
let the collar hang from her hand and commanded her feet to carry her back to Hartley. He gazed at her, untroubled, almost serene. He lifted his hand and caressed her chin with his thumb.

"Do not be afraid," he said. "Let me think of others besides myself. Let me know that you and Donal are safe. Let me act… as though I have known mortal love."

A prism of tears blurred his face. "She means to kill you."

"I know."

She flung the collar to the ground and embraced him.
"Hartley, no."

His Lips brushed her forehead. "I know you will care for Donal, my dearest mortal. I understand love well enough for that. Teach him to be proud of what he is, and to survive." He lifted his head and spoke to Claudia, and as he did, he became a magnificent creature once more, proud and otherworldly and untouchable.

"Hear me, woman. You may take my life. But you will first swear to me, upon your God Above All, that you will give Donal to
Eden, and that you and your servants will not harm or imprison mother or son for the remainder of your days upon this earth."

His voice hung over them with the weight of power.
Eden dared to believe that he might be strong enough to resist his enemy. That he knew something she did not and had a scheme to defeat Claudia.

Claudia was very still, and for once her expression revealed a hint of unease.

Hartley snapped his fingers, and Tod materialized at his shoulder. Claudia stared at the hob with horrified fascination.

"My lord?"
Tod said, staring wide-eyed at the mortal company. "Tod has watched the boy. He is not hurt. The cold hunter is clever and hates all Fane, but not my lord's son."

"You have done well. Have you heard this woman's oath?"

The little man became a streak of light and appeared over Claudia's head. "Tod heard, my lord."

"Soon I will be your lord no longer. I have but one task left for you. When I am gone, you will remain to see that Lady Eden and my son leave Hartsmere in safety, using every means necessary to shield them from any who would follow. You will serve the lady and the boy for five mortal years and protect them with your life. Then you are free of all binding forever."

"Free?
Home?"

"Home."

Instead of rejoicing, the hob looked at
Eden with his bright button eyes. "My lady," he said. He twirled about and vanished.

Hartley set
Eden away from him and held her shoulders. "I have done what I can. Now do what you must. Do not be afraid for me."

Love was indeed a miraculous emotion. Hartley saw it moving within
Eden's eyes, limitless and mortal, giving her what she needed to bear these final moments.

She would never know that he was afraid. He smiled and lifted her chin with his hand. "Last night will live within me forever."

Her lovely eyes never left his.
"As it will within me.
Thank you, Hartley. Thank you… for my son." She stood on her toes and kissed him, pouring all her passion into that last caress.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I know." He kissed the tears from her cheeks.
"Now,
Eden.
Quickly."

She fell to her knees and picked up the collar. Slowly she rose, holding the iron band tight to her chest.

Hartley bent his head. Her hands shook so badly that the Iron grazed his neck many times before she could fit it around him. Fire encircled his neck, the flames searing through his skin. The cool of her hands was the only relief, and it was nothing.

"Lock it," Claudia commanded.

Through a roar of pain he heard the click of the collar's latch. He thought
Eden was weeping, but his vision was gone. All his body's defenses, drained by the swift and magical journey from
London, were bent upon fighting death.

"I have done what you asked,"
Eden said, her voice flat and hard. "Give me my son."

"When this is finished," Claudia said. "I will not break my word."

"I pity you. And I will never call you Mother."

"Someday you will realize that there was one in this world who truly loved you. Let us end this quickly."

"What will you do?"

"We shall go up upon the fell, where he destroyed my Raines. There I will confine him in a cage of iron at the edge of his beloved forest, where he may watch it while he dies." Claudia's voice shifted as if she had turned away. "You will lead our captive to his destination, Cyrus. He has no power to hurt any of us now.

Hartley tried to laugh, but the collar choked off all sound.
Do not fight her, dearest one
, he willed
Eden.
Save our son
.

Somehow, he knew that she heard. Someone—Lord Bradwell—took his arm and pulled him away. He staggered and reeled like a drunkard. Pain was his world. All but the most essential parts of his body shut down by the time they left the house.

Yet he still heard
Eden's voice. It remained his lifeline as he stumbled over rough gravel and snowbound park, all but blind, unable to summon even the smallest creature to his defense.

"Do not do this. Claudia—Mother—I beg of you. If you only let him go, Hartley will leave this world forever. Let that be enough…"

Her words became an incomprehensible drone. Hartley sensed the change under his feet as they started up the fell. He nearly walked into the escarpment that marked the boundary of pasture and wood.

"I am sorry," Lord Bradwell whispered. "Do not give up hope."

Hartley's response was an animal grunt. On hands and knees he crawled over the rock. Then there was more climbing, and the ground leveled out at the edge of the forest.

Lord Bradwell stopped short. "Good God," he said. "It is barbaric."

Eden
sobbed under her breath. Hartley made a great effort, and his vision cleared just enough to reveal what they had seen.

A cage.
A cage, big enough for a man to crouch in, barred with iron. A heavy padlock hung from the door. It rested within a few brief yards of the nearest tree—salvation that lay just out of
reach
of the being it would imprison.

Claudia ran her hand up one of the bars as if she caressed a lover. "I am surprised to hear you say so, Cyrus, considering your facility for the slaughter of all manner of birds and beasts."

Bradwell released Hartley's arm. "I have not… killed… for many years."

"Then be silent and put the monster in the cage."

"Remember… remember your oath," Hartley croaked. "
Eden—"

Her warm hand closed around his. "I am here, my love."

"Don't try to stop it. Remember Donal." He released her hand. "Come, Lord Bradwell. You are saving your grandson."

With heavy steps,
Eden's father guided him to the open cage door and stopped. "No," he whispered.

Hartley stepped into the cage and fell to his knees.
Eden reached the door just as Claudia closed the padlock. Metal clicked home with terrible finality.

"It is done," she said. "At last, it is over."

Darkness enveloped Hartley. There was no portion of his body that did not burn with the touch of Cold Iron. Pain had become so constant, so infinite, that he knew his punishment would not last as long as Claudia wished. He had become insignificant, the least of Nature's creations, soon to be nothing.

Soon it would be over.
Eden would be free, their son safe.

"
Hartley
.
Hartley, can you hear me?"

Eden
. He stirred, his sprawled limbs untangling as he came back to consciousness. She was the sole point of light in his darkness, true as the golden sun.

"Go," he whispered. "I don't want you… to see."

"I will not leave you." She reached through the bars. "Let me give you strength. It worked before—"

"No," he repeated.
"Too much Iron.
You cannot… help me now. If you ever loved me, go. Take our son, and go." He turned his head, blindly searching for his tormentor. "Lady Claudia…
do
not force her… to watch. She is your daughter."

He did not expect mercy, but Claudia gave it.
"Very well.
You have kept your part of the bargain. Cyrus, take
Eden away. I will follow soon."

"Come,
Eden," Lord Bradwell murmured. "Please."

"Let go of me." The light that was
Eden refused to be extinguished. "I love him. Do you know what love is?" Her voice rose in righteous anger. "Do you, Mother?"

"She is like… one of us," Hartley said, dragging
himself
up to the bars. "Perhaps she was born a Fane."

Claudia hissed in rage.
"Silence!"

"I… do not think I will obey you." He found enough strength to feel through the bars. Molten nerves felt the coolness of flesh he had embraced and caressed and loved. The respite of
Eden's tears washed his burning fingers. "Do not weep for me, Eden. Live, as you were meant to live.

"Farewell."

"No!"

Eden
pressed herself to the bars and tried to hold him. His cheek touched the iron, and he convulsed. His skin was barred with the red mark of burns where his face met metal.

In horror,
Eden looked at his hands. Her tears sizzled on his flesh like eggs on a skillet. She pushed him away from the bars.

She could not even hold him. She had failed to stop Claudia, failed to protect her son and the man she loved. She had nothing left.

Nothing but love.

Her existence had been without purpose until the day she'd come to Hartsmere. This was where her life had begun. And this moment was the pinnacle, the fate for which her very being had been aimed since her birth.

"Hartley," she said, stretching her hand into the cage as far as she could reach.
"Fight.
You will have Donal. You can take him back to your land, where he will be safe. I give you my blessing."

He lay still where he had fallen.
Eden pushed harder, until her shoulder was in danger of leaving its socket.
"Hartley.
I love you
."

Claudia tried to pry her fingers from the bars.
Eden acted without thinking. She flung herself about and struck wildly with her fists and feet. Claudia gasped and rolled away.
Eden scrambled after her.

"The key!" she demanded, pinning Claudia to the ground.

"Do as she says, Sister."

Eden
looked up. Lord Bradwell stood over them, a pistol held loosely in his hand.

"I wished to be absolutely sure that I was not mistaken in my judgment this time," he said. "But it is clear that
Eden loves this man by whatever name or shape he chooses, and he would die for her. I am sorry that I waited so long to act." He glanced at the weapon with a grimace of loathing. "I will use this, Claudia, to save my niece and her son."

"You haven't the courage, Cyrus—"

"We have all changed, haven't we, Sister? Do you wish to find out how much?"

Eden
wasted no time in surprise. "The key," she repeated.

Claudia lay unresisting, her expression as hard as
Lakeland granite. "You will have to kill me, Cyrus. My death is a small price to pay for
Eden's freedom."