The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (42 page)

And then he’d
met
Genevieve, his miracle of a wife, who hadn’t hesitated to welcome Derek
—
who
loved
Derek
.
But instead of doing everything he could to nurture his dream, within days of his marriage he’d come close to destroying it
.
Their house was supposed to be a safe haven for her, but he’d threatened to make it
her
prison
.
Even worse,
instead of celebrating Genevieve’s love for Derek, he’d exploded in a jealous rage.

And yet Derek was right that it was best for all of them that Genevieve had married Damian
.
Derek
would have seen
no reason to set limits on the submission he demanded from
his wife
so long as she was experiencing pleasure
.
T
hat kind of pleasure could be
highly
intoxicating, but
Damian honestly didn’t think it was enough of a life for Genevieve or any woman
.
And Derek could not have shared her no matter what she wanted
.
If Donal had married Genevieve, he would have shared her with his brothers,
but the situation would have been dangerously volatile
.
Derek could not have tolerated Donal’s contempt for all rules, and the two of them would have constantly been at each other’s throats with Genevieve caught in the middle.

They needed Damian if the four of them were to actually form a family
.
He could only pray that Genevieve and the fates would give him another chance to get it right.

To Genevieve’s relief, her days of staying locked away in the garden—or the bedroom or cave—appeared to be over
.
As soon as Declan left, Donal returned holding out
her
boots and a key
.
“Before you go on the rampage, I have a little gift by way of apology.”

“What gift?” she said suspiciously
.

“This is the key that opens the dining room
door
.”  He smiled ruefully
.
“It’s yours on one condition
.
You can’t go out on your own
,
Genevieve.”  When she frowned, he said gently, “I’m not sure if Damian explained matters, but the truth is that the Reavers would give anything to kill you
.
They believe if they do, the Black line will end
.
With us gone,
they could seize control of the demon gate, open it permanently
.
This house is warded with
Fae magic, but anywhere else…
.
Damian defeated this latest push of theirs, but they’re like an infestation of bedbugs
.
No matter how many times you keep eradicating them, they just keep coming back
.
They’ll be waiting for a chance to find you unprotected
.
Please promise me you won’t.”

“This is not an excuse, is it?”  When she saw his expression, she quickly backtracked
.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Don’t Genevieve—don’t apologize, Gods,” he said, looking abashed
.
“I suspected Damian hadn’t told you
.
I’m sure he had notions of not wanting you to worry, mixed with guilt because marrying him endangers you in a way you wouldn’t be otherwise.”

“Don’t ever say that!” she protested.

He kissed her cheek
.
“I just wanted you to know that it wasn’t a matter of keeping you locked up.”  She gave a skeptical humph, and he said, “Well not entirely, at least.”

“I understand
.
You needn’t have worried about the promise
.
Derek already got it out of me—by different means.”  It amazed her tha
t she could even laugh about it
.
I
t felt good, though
.
She kissed him lightly on the mouth
.
“But I promise you as well
.
Thank you, Donal, for explaining matters to me
.
Neither of your brothers chose to.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised
.
I doubt he’ll be too happy about this key either, but
as he’s absent at the moment…
.
”
He gave her a mischievous wink and said, “Come on, George and Thomas can’t wait to meet you.”  He showed her how to unlock the hidden door in the dining room, and for the first time Genevieve actually entered the kitchen without being carried over a man’s shoulder
.

George and Thomas turned out to be brothers in their fifties
.
The two men couldn’t say enough about the honor of being entrusted with caring for the
b
ride’s house, causing Genevieve to turn crimson
.
The brothers acted as if they were meeting Queen Titania instead of a village girl whose family had never employed more than a neighbor’s boy or girl to help out
.
There was also the problem of her and Donal’s activities in the garden and the conservatory
.
If anyone even guessed, let alone witnessed some of them, Genevieve prayed she might expire
.

Unfortunately, Donal seemed to have been born constitutionally immune to embarrassment
.
He gave her a roguish wink and handed Thomas a key
.
“You two can get in there now
.
We’ll be out for a few hours
.
Make sure to change the linens on the daybed in the conservatory
.
Why don’t you have a bath ready there for five?” 

Genevieve said nothing as Donal led her out the back door to the stable yard
.
Once they were out of sight, she punched his arm
.
“Why don’t you just say outright that we’re sharing a bed!
W
hat if one of them came in?”  They’d been making love at all hours, right out in the open
.

“Enough, you little harridan!  In the first place, their family has been serving the Blacks for generations—trust me when I say that
nothing
surprises them about us
.
In the second place, didn’t you see me give them the key?”

“You mean they don’t have it?”

“You can blame Damian—or better, thank him
.
He’s the one who set the rules
.
Because of what happened with our parents, he’s been rabid about security in this house.”

“What happened with your parents?”

“I was a baby
.
I don’t remember anything and they never talk about it
.
All I know is that two Reavers somehow got themselves invited to the house and proceeded to murder our parents
.
They had a knife out to slit Derek’s throat when Declan burst in and pulverized them into Fairy dust.”  She must have gone pale because he said, “I’m sorry, Genevieve
.
What a thing to tell you!”

Genevieve quieted him with a light kiss on the lips
.
“You were right to.”

“I love you—you know that, don’t you, little girl?” 

“I do
.
I love you too
.
Finish your story.”

“There isn’t much story after that
.
The three of us were moved to the fortress, and Declan gave up most of his duties at Titania’s court and moved back from Faerie to raise us himself.”

“He must have been wonderful.”

“He was,” Donal said feelingly
.
“I never knew anything else, so I can’t say I was affected by what happened
.
It was only when the preparations for the Bridal Week started that I began to wonder about Damian
.
He and Declan had lots of talks behind closed doors
.
The upshot was a decree that no one would be allowed in this house except for the family and a handful of servants he trusted absolutely
.
The door from the kitchen was to be locked at all times, and the servants would only enter your part of the house when one of us opened it for them
.
It struck me as rather extreme, to be honest
.
I realized then that he’d never fully gotten over it.” 

“Derek either, I suspect
.
”

Donal shrugged, obviously uncomfortable with the idea
.

It was impossible not to be influenced by Donal’s account
.
Genevieve decided she could forgive Damian a fair degree of high-handedness, but she was grateful that Donal did not see the same need for caution
.
She did not want her life held hostage to a tragedy that occurred before she was born
.
She also recognized that both Damian and Derek were motivated to restrict her freedom by something other than mere concern for her safety
.
Luckily, their younger brother did not seem enraptured by the idea of locking her up
.

Never one for melancholy topics, Donal gave her a kiss that left her dizzy and then pulled her along to the stables
.
“Come, I have a surprise for you.”  He led her to a stall where an ethereally beautiful grey mare stood placidly
.
“She’s yours,” he said proudly.

“What?”

“Declan had her brought—from Faerie
.
So my brothers won’t squawk about the dangers
.
She’s gentle as a lamb but could outrun a demon if she needed to, and no Fae horse would ever throw a rider
.
Her name is Mist.” 

They led the horse out to the paddock
.
Genevieve’s family had not had the means to keep a horse, and she’d never learned to ride, but with Donal’s encouragement, she climbed up on Mist bareback
.
She proceeded to giggle like a halfwit as the horse sedately walked about
.

Unfortunately, her rear end was still healing
.
The moment she began to shift uncomfortably, her eagle-eyed brother ordered her to get off
.
She ignored Donal, encouraging Mist to a trot, which she quickly regretted because it caused her to bounce up and down, which
hurt!
  For the first time she felt serious annoyance at Derek for leaving her in this state.

In the meantime, Donal had caught up to her
.
“Off!  Now!” he ordered
.

Genevieve dearly wanted to defy him, but she was pretty sure her little adventure had just reopened some of the welts her beastly brother had given her
.
She gingerly dismounted
.
Donal was the picture of masculine disapproval, which just made her laugh
.
“What’s got into you?” she asked innocently
.

“I am beginning to understand how your backside ended up in that shape if you behaved like this with Derek
.
I never thought I’d say this, but he can’t come home soon enough.”

“No!” she snarled
.

“Oh yes
.
I have a feeling you are going to be spending a lot of time in the study—and good thing!”

“You are such a hypocrite!” 

“In other words a male, sweetheart
.
Come on, I have more surprises for you.”

They left the stables, and Donal led her through a short forested path, hardly a quarter of a mile long, that led to the back entrance of the fortress
.
She almost laughed at the sight of an ordinary poultry yard, kitchen garden, and paddock with several draft horses munching quietly
.
The formidable Black castle seemed far less intimidating from this perspective
.
They entered the house through an unassuming door that led directly to the kitchens where she was presented to the infamous Roderick
.

Roderick turned out to be barely taller than she was, though so stout he must have been thrice her weight
.
She’d been expecting an ogre who would terrify her with his wooden spoon
.
Instead he lit up into an almost childlike smile
.
Within seconds she was seated at the kitchen table, being offered plates of tarts, homemade cheeses, and a sausage pie fresh from the oven
.
At her invitation, Roderick joined her and proceeded to interrogate her on all of her favorite foods, any special dishes she wished him to make and, to her great relief, any foods she disliked
.