Heart of Darkness (31 page)

“Unhand her, Robbins. Come, Isabeau, if you
comply with my will, I see no reason why Wolfe should be unduly
harmed.”

Isabeau nodded regally and took Jaegar's
cocked arm. She turned her head as he led her through a path of
trees and watched as Wolfe was chained and dragged along, but
otherwise not injured. She managed to catch his eye, just before
the blanket of trees depleted their only source of light and saw
him nod slightly.

Inwardly, she cried a little at the sight of
him so chained and captured by a man, who wished to do Wolfe harm.
She determined to accede to this bastard's wishes, until it
behooved her to behave differently. She had not chosen to make love
with Wolfe, only to be forced into it with this pig!

They stepped through the forest at the same
rate as a lady would have taken a promenade through Hyde Park. It
was a contrast to the rush and harried pace she and Wolfe had set
upon entering the woodland. She fiercely wished that he had not
tried to show her the unicorn, for had they remained within the
castle walls, it was highly unlikely that they would be in this
position. At least, she hoped to high heaven that that was the
case! That the castle was adequately secured against this tin pot
dictator and his band of particularly unmerry men!

The journey out of the woodland seemed to
take a lifetime. Every now and then, she would hear a grunt and
knew that Wolfe was far more injured than she had realized and that
her attempts to heal him hadn't worked. She was relieved,
therefore, when they came across a carriage and a team of horses.
Upon spying it through the trees, Isabeau hurried her pace and
quickened towards the carriage and almost jumped as a footman
appeared out of nowhere and opened the door for her. The servant
bowed upon seeing his master and Jaegar held out his hand for her,
which she took and climbed in to the seat.

Her position enabled her to look out of the
embrasure closest to the woods and also, through the back of the
carriage. She watched as Wolfe was led to a cart, upon which he was
loaded and was joined by the four men Isabeau had stupefied. The
rest of the soldiers crowded on to the back of the cart and as soon
as they had, Jaegar jumped in to join her and the coachman set
off.

The jolting gait of the ride was awkward at
first. It had been so long since she had traveled in a private
coach. Four years to be precise. Thereafter, she had traveled
mostly by foot and then, only on occasion by mail coach. Which to
her recollection had been twice in the entire time of her
self-imposed exile!

Isabeau settled back against the seat and
kept her head focused out of the embrasure. Surprisingly, she
wasn't filled with fear, more anger and a rebellious desire that
would no doubt cause her much trouble.

“You may turn away from me, Isabeau, but
ignoring me is much more difficult than that!”

Pursing her lips, she kept her head turned
away.

“Have you wed him?”

“No.”

“Ah, then you are still pure,” he murmured
with satisfaction.

It was a sentiment she shared, when she
quickly replied, “No longer.”

He hissed and clamped his hand about her arm
and pulled her so that she faced him. “Are you pregnant with his
bastard?”

Isabeau shrugged. “I don't know.”

“You're lying. You must know!”

“I've yet to lie to you, Jaegar,” she replied
coldly. “I can honestly tell you that I hope to God that I am.”

“He may have been your first, Isabeau, but I
shall be your last.”

“You may believe that if you wish, but I
would not hold my breath, Jaegar!” she retorted defiantly. “What
are you going to do with Wolfe?”

“As we discussed earlier, that depends on
you.”

“Explain.”

“I see your mother did not educate you
entirely,” Jaegar replied, there was anger in his voice. “When we
wed, you shall have to have etiquette lessons.”

In her haughtiest voice, she remarked, “I
apologize if my years of fleeing the Milesians have dampened my
levels of etiquette, but one must do what one can to survive!” She
clamped down her jaw and then relented enough to say, “Wed?”

“Yes. That is the condition I have for
Wolfe's safety. Something I note, that he did not offer you.”

“He did not need to offer that to me.”

“I realize that. I suppose I should punish
you for not coming to me pure, but I find that I do not care,
Isabeau. Your beauty more than makes up for your whore-like ways
and once we're wed, I shall keep you far too satiated to brood upon
past lovers!”

“I suppose it boosts your ego to talk in that
manner! You will release him if we wed?”

“Yes.”

Isabeau closed her eyes and knew that she
could do naught but accept. It killed something inside her soul to
realize that, but what could she do? Little. At this moment, her
hands were tied and the last thing she wanted was for Wolfe to be
injured! If Jaegar released him, then Wolfe could return and
perhaps rescue her.

The thought made her hiss, for she had
disposed of the damsel in distress routine four years ago, when she
had acted upon her parents' deaths rather than waited for the ax to
fall. But in this case, she had little choice.

Another thought had her stomach muscles
clenching spasmodically, as she realized that it was highly likely
Wolfe would abandon her to her fate if she wedded herself to the
pig beside her.

She seethed inwardly and kept her head turned
to the side. The passing of scenery did little to hold her
attention and in what felt like hardly any time at all, they swept
down a long and winding driveway to another property. The size of
which she did not truly know for although the moon shone, it was
not sufficient to glow upon Jaegar's home. Or, hide-out.

Realizing that this property had to be very
close to Wolfe's, she commented, “Have you been lying here in wait,
then? Or do you live here?”

“This is my home and yes, I've been awaiting
my move. You made it very easy for me,” he replied, apparently
satisfied at the error in judgment on both her and Wolfe's
part.

Isabeau had to physically withhold herself
from retorting with an angry outburst, but instead she placed her
ill temper on simmer and sucked in a deep, but quiet breath. “Why
live here?” she asked, her voice deeper than normal, for the act of
quelling her temper was enough to add a husky note to her usually
even tenor. “Tis rather close to your old home, no?”

Rather than see him shrug, she heard the
rustle of his clothing and felt the movement of his shoulders.
“Where better to lie in wait?”

“I would say that that rather depends upon
the time you have wasted residing in the past, when the future
requires much more of your attention.”

His anger at her response was evident, not in
the tone of his voice, but she literally felt it hover in the air
and surround her like a clinging blanket. “You know not of the
circumstances of my childhood, or you would not make such a foolish
comment.” He paused and sucked in a breath. “I inherited this place
from my maternal grandmother. Which considering the illicit nature
of my past was rather a godsend, considering my father appeared not
to give a damn about my future.”

“I apologize,” she conceded, for while he was
kidnapping her and this in a fortnight of abductions, his father's
behavior had been abominable. As relatively innocent as she was,
even Isabeau knew that many a man was cuckolded, yet rarely did he
seek the acrimonious stench of the divorce courts to resolve his
marital problems!

“Ah, so the lady can bend,” he retorted with
a snap, and she knew that he was still angered by her earlier
comment.

It was strange, but again and even though she
had riled him to temper, she found herself not fearing him.
Foolhardy more than strange, mayhap, but it was how she felt.
Whilst he obviously sought to do Wolfe harm, she sensed that he
would not harm her. Unless one considered having one's heart being
broken being harmed or being forced to wed or into the marriage
bed...On second thoughts, she realized that he did wish to harm her
but not in a violent way.

She found herself merely hovering, waiting
until they reached Jaegar's home, for she was entirely uncertain of
her options. To her mind, she had very few but if she discussed
them with Wolfe, then perhaps it would clear her mind? She but her
lip and confused, she waited until the carriage rocked to a halt
and then pressed her hand to the door.

It was quickly captured by Jaegar, who
murmured, “Where do you think you're going?”

“I want to see Wolfe.”

“Naturally. But equally as obvious is the
fact that I will never let that happen.”

“You wish to marry me, yes? If so, then let
me meet with Wolfe and I shall give you my answer.”

“What makes you think I wish for a willing
wife?”

Confused, she frowned up at him. “One cannot
wed if one of the partners is not compliant.”

Even in the dark, she could see his
malevolent grin. “Ah, but we are in the depths of heathen land, my
dear. Compliance is not an issue. As I told you before. I need not
be a gentleman here, milady. It would do you well to remember
that.”

Instantly, her belief that he would not harm
her disappeared and she sucked in a breath, as she paused, panicked
and sought through the words they had shared. Isabeau was certain
that while there was a threat of being forced into marriage,
something had given her the belief that he wanted her willing.

Almost as though God were on her side,
Wolfe's narration of the legend that had spurred him into taking
her for his captive immediately leapt to mind. The legend required
love to function.

“You wish to live the life the legend
recounts, then forcing me into wedding you will merely make me hate
you. If you do not let me see him, then I shall hate you all the
more.” She paused for a second and considered her words, then
murmured, “Earlier, before my mind could process how key my heart
is to this entire legend that both you and Wolfe seem to set store
by, I conceded that you could do anything with me so long as you
did not hurt Wolfe. But now, I know that I have the power.
You
shall
let me see Wolfe and
alone.”

“You're forgetting that Wolfe does not hold
your heart either and I would be a fool to let you see him! I am
not a fool, Isabeau,” he stated calmly, almost as though they were
debating some trivial household matter. It instantly annoyed
her.

“This is where one must know all of the facts
before making a sweeping judgment, Jaegar. For Wolfe does indeed
hold my heart.”

“Then it would be even more idiotic of me to
permit you to see him.”

“Perhaps, but you shall let me. I'm not a
girl to be led about. I'm a woman. I can and do make my own
decisions.”

“Then why do you need to meet with Wolfe?” he
asked jeeringly.

“To see if I can trust you at all,” she
retorted swiftly. “If he is injured then I know your words mean
little!”

“I can only control my men so far,
Isabeau.”

“Do not lie to me as though I were some
idiotic simpleton, who has just left the schoolroom!”

He paused for a moment and she wondered at
the thoughts that were running through his mind, when he murmured,
“If you hand me your ring, I will allow you to see Wolfe.”

Instantly, she said, “Hold out your hand.”
Isabeau quickly loosened the ring from her finger and clasped it
tightly.

She reached for his out held hand and tested
her theory that a touch of the ring caused him pain, by letting it
fall into his palm then closing his fingers tightly about it. When
he yelled out, she smiled and said, “Perhaps we should leave it
upon the seat, seeing as you cannot touch it?”

He hissed and shoved the ring away from him
and dropped it on to the seat they shared.

“You have five minutes. But the ring stays
with me.”

She nodded and jumped out of the carriage,
content to leave the ring on the carriage's seat for he could not
touch it and neither could the rest of his staff. He could try, but
it would cause him pain even if he were to cover his hand with his
handkerchief.

Almost as though her thoughts conjured it up,
she heard a cry of pain then, “Surround them at a distance. If one
of them escapes, you'll lose not only your position here but your
hand too!”

Before Wolfe, every man and woman who had
come into contact with the metal had experienced pain at its touch.
She wondered why Wolfe was different, why he did not react to the
feel of the gold against his skin, but her thoughts disbanded as
Isabeau watched the men begin to separate from the tight circle
they had formed around Wolfe and let her enter the unseen ring,
before they spread out and guarded them from a distance.

Chapter Thirteen

“Have they touched you?” Isabeau asked as she
ran towards him. Her hands immediately cupped his face and dragged
his head forcibly upwards so that she could look at him
properly.