The Rose Red Bride by Claire Delacroix

Author:Claire Delacroix
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Warner Books
Published: 2014-06-07T21:00:00+00:00

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Chapter Ten

“And so it came to pass that one dark day, Erik was summoned without warning by an ally, one Thomas Gunn, who professed need of his aid. Erik left his wife and his children and his home well defended, though it became clear that he had not prepared for treachery from within. Erik arrived at the abode of Thomas to find those lands at peace, and to learn that his neighbor had sent no summons to him.”

“Nicholas deceived him!” hissed someone in the company, and Elizabeth was certain that man had named the culprit aright.

“Aye, Nicholas indeed, though none dared make such a bold accusation then. Once Erik had left his home, Nicholas asserted himself as laird, though most thought the claim a temporary one.”

“The cur!” shouted one man in the assembly. “I will wager that he had a scheme to see the change wrought permanent!”

Ruari lifted a hand. “Who can say with certainty, save Nicholas himself? I will tell you, though, that Erik was assaulted upon the road while returning to his own abode, that he was attacked where he least expected such a deed - for, as you will recall, he knew nothing of the changes at his home. He knew only that the message he had received from Thomas Gunn had been an error.

“And so it was that Erik was surprised upon his own road, he was beaten senseless, he was cast from a cliff. He was believed to be lost to this world forevermore and, indeed, they held a funeral mass for him when he did not return to Blackleith and mourned his passing for a fortnight. It was said that his horse returned home without him, and Nicholas let it be known that he searched endlessly for his brother, without success.”

“While he had been the one to see to his disappearance,” muttered one man to assent from the hall.

“This explains his scars,” Elizabeth said quietly, though her sister did not reply.

Ruari paused and Elizabeth eased to the lip of the stair, so anxious was she to hear the next increment of the tale.

Vivienne, she noted, listened just as intently, though she did not seem as horrified by the tale. Did Vivienne know it already?

“He cannot have been dead in truth!” roared a man in encouragement. “That would be the end of your tale.”

Ruari shook his head. “Erik was close to dead, to be sure, but Fortune finally smiled upon him. A powerful neighbor gone hunting found Erik some days after that man’s own funeral. He recognized Erik and thought to grant him an honorable burial. Imagine his surprise when the supposed corpse began to speak!”

The company laughed, though Vivienne did not. Elizabeth watched her sister fold the fullness of her kirtle repeatedly between her fingers, utterly unaware of her own fretful gesture, and guessed that Vivienne had lost her heart to this wronged Erik.

“And so it was from this neighbor that Erik learned of doings at his abode. He learned that it

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