The Viking's Chosen by Quinn Loftis (12)

While staring out at the bright flowers and rich foliage, I contemplated all the ways I could kill myself in the garden as I stood next to Cathal. This place had always been a sight that inspired joy and happiness, but all I could think about was whether we had any plants containing deadly thorns. That was something I needed to speak to the gardener about. Surely, having a supply of deadly plants on hand would be quite useful. Not only for the poisoning of a high-ranking dignitary, but, perhaps more importantly, for use by forlorn princesses who need to put themselves out of their misery.

“What sorts of plants do you have in your gardens?” I found myself asking the king.

Cathal looked down at me as if I were a child who had just asked an ignorant question. But he answered nonetheless. “I prefer exotic, unusual plants.”

My brow rose. “Really?” I turned my body slightly so I was facing him. “What kind, exactly?”

“Flowers from all over the world. Vines the size of a man’s leg, flowers as bright as the sun, and a few deadly bushes, of course.”

“Deadly?”

He chuckled, and it was not a happy sound. It sent chills down my back.

“As I said, I like unusual plants.”

“Are those the plants you used to kill your previous wives?” Dayna’s voice carried from several feet away.

My jaw clenched as I turned toward my sister. I was too afraid to look at Cathal’s reaction. I shot daggers at Torben and Brant, as if it was their fault that Dayna could not keep her mouth closed at the proper times.

“You are one of Allete’s sisters?” Cathal asked casually.

“I am. We have actually already met.”

“Well, I am sure you understand why I would have forgotten you. Standing next to your stunning sister would cause anyone to become insignificant.”

My head whipped around so fast that I nearly lost my balance. A warm hand caught my elbow helping me right myself, and I knew it was Torben. He did not move back again but lingered only a few feet from me.

“I do not like you saying such things to my sister, my lord,” I said as respectfully as I could at that moment.

“Then your sister should learn her place and keep her mouth shut.” The cold, calculating look in his eyes caused me to take a step back.

“I think it is time for lunch,” I said, choosing to ignore his harsh comment. I turned to go but was stopped by Cathal’s rough hand on my arm as he jerked me back to stand beside him.

“You are my betrothed; you will walk with me. Your pet guard dog can give us some space.”

My body was stiff as a rod as I walked beside him. His hand remained on my arm, and it took every ounce of self-control I possessed not to jerk it from him. I did not want him touching me. I did not even want to breathe the same air as the vile man beside me. I was beginning to believe that perhaps he had not killed his wives after all. Maybe they had taken their own lives.

A week had passed since my first full day spent with Cathal, and each day he had grown more and more aggressive. There had been several times during this week that I noticed Brant holding Torben back when Cathal had grabbed me roughly or snapped at me. The way Torben watched me, the way his barely contained anger stayed just on the surface, was peculiar. He was not like any guard I had ever had. Sure, they had protected me, but none of them looked at me the way Torben did. He watched me as if my life was the only thing that mattered to him. I had to continually remind myself that I could not be with him. Even if I were not already betrothed to Cathal, my father would never allow me to marry a guard.

By the eighth night of the courtship, I felt I could bear Cathal no longer. My body was shaking with rage by the time he left me at my chambers after the evening meal. Surprisingly, he had behaved himself at dinner, no doubt putting on an act for my parents. But as soon as we were out of their presence, the demon was back.

His words echoed in my mind as I closed the door.

“Until I break you, and I will break you, I will have to settle for enjoying your beauty and form. If you are not willing to respond to my words, then you will respond to my touch.”

He grabbed my arms, and when Torben and Brant went to intercept him, two of Cathal’s own men stepped from the shadows, cutting them off. His hold was tight, no doubt leaving bruises on my arms.

“All day I have asked you to do things, and you have repeatedly ignored me. Every time you disobey me, there will be consequences.”

I thought he was going to kiss me, but instead he darted forward and bit me hard on my shoulder. I gasped and tried to step away, but his grasp was as strong as iron bindings. I could hear Torben behind me attempting to get to me, snarling and cursing at the guards who would not move. Cathal’s teeth sank in deeper until I felt the trickle of blood down my arm. When he finally pulled away, his eyes were gleaming with madness.

“You are mine. I will mark you all over your luscious body until you understand that.” He turned on his heel and walked away, as if he had not just gnawed on me like a dog with a bone.

His men waited until he was out of sight before they left. It was when they turned that I saw they had pulled their short swords on Torben and Brant. My eyes widened when I looked down at Torben’s abdomen and saw blood seeping through his uniform. I immediately felt my magic growing inside of me—the need to heal overpowering my self-preservation.

I looked up at him and pleaded with my eyes as I spoke. “Please, do not tell anyone about this. Pretend it was a dream if you must. You.” I pointed to Brant. “Make sure no one sees this.”

I lifted Torben’s jerkin and placed my hand over the wound.

Torben hissed and spoke through clenched teeth. “If I was going to have a dream about you, Princess, I would not be injured, and you would have considerably less clothing on.”

I pressed a little harder than necessary and took satisfaction in his grunt of pain. Then I pushed the outside world away and focused my energy on the wound. The chant rose in my mind, and I spoke it without thought.

---

---

I felt the healing power flowing into Torben, but that was not all I felt. There, just beyond the wound, was a chord—gold and thick. It seemed to be reaching for my magic, coaxing my power to itself. I felt myself wanting to respond, and I did. But the minute my light touched the chord, an overwhelming emotion assailed me. I pulled my hand away as if I had been burned. I looked up at Torben. Being so close to him only emphasized how much larger than me he was. My eyes were wide, and my mouth probably looked as though it was going to drop to the floor.

I pulled my hand from under his shirt and stepped back. My eyes never left his. After a few moments, the shock from the golden chord left me, and I looked around. It was then that I realized that neither Torben nor Brant seemed amazed about what I had done. In fact, it was almost as if they had been aware that I had such a power.

I took another step back when Torben made a move to close the distance between us. Brant placed his hand on Torben’s arm.

“Let her be,” the large man told his friend.

Torben’s eyes bore into mine as he spoke. “That piece of vermin bit her. At least let me make sure it has stopped bleeding.”

While I said nothing, I secretly wanted Torben to touch me. I wanted him to ensure that I was safe and well. I wanted him to hold me and tell me everything would be okay. I wanted him to shelter me from the storm I had found myself in. And for that reason, I turned and rushed into my room, slamming the door behind me and jamming the lock into place.

I slid down to the floor, my back pressed firmly against the wood. I heard Torben speak through the door.

“Allete, you have healed me. Now I must do what I can for you. Please let me tend to your shoulder.” His worried voice wrapped around me and eased a little of the fear I was feeling.

“Please.” My voice cracked, and I tried again. “Please, just get Lidia. She will tend to me.”

I heard his growl and then muffled words. It was no surprise to me when I heard his voice again. “I sent Brant to find her. Can I get you anything? Can I help in any way?”

An insane thought came to me, and I had to bite down on my tongue before I blurted out that he could help by killing my fiancé. Madness, I thought to myself. If Torben killed Cathal, and I was pretty sure he would if I only asked, then he would be hanged for murder. I would never let someone die for me. Certainly Cathal’s death did not bother me in the least, but the thought of Torben dead almost caused me to retch.

I shook my head and rubbed the tears from my face. It was okay for me to care for Torben because he cared for me. I cared for my friends among the castle staff. That was all this was. I loved Lidia, and I cared deeply for other workers that I had come to know. Torben was irritating, but it was apparent he was a man of good character, and that was why I was attracted to him. Hell, anyone looked better than Cathal at this point.

“If you will not let me in, will you at least talk to me, so that I can know you are okay?” The anguish in his voice nearly broke my heart.

“What is there to say?” I asked as I bit my lip, hoping that my tears would not be evident in the sound of my voice.

I heard Torben curse. Apparently, I could not disguise my pain as well as I had hoped.

“What is your favorite color?” he asked.

I frowned. I had just been bitten by a mad man. I had healed a stab wound. I had discovered … something, some kind of magical connection between Torben and me, and now he was asking me what my favorite color was? Perhaps I hadn’t fully healed him, and he was now going into shock?

“Silver,” I said instinctively, trying to pretend I wasn’t elated just hearing him speak.

“What is your favorite time of day?”

I furrowed my brow as I considered his question. “Do people really have a favorite time of day?”

“I do, or at least I believe I will,” he answered.

“What do you mean?”

“Morning.” His deep voice rumbled. “Morning will be my favorite time of day because one day I will have a woman to wake up beside me to share the sunrise. I picture her in my mind, as I open my eyes to see her form lying beside me, her hair all a mess as the morning light streams across her face and down her body. I will run my fingertips across her cheek down to her full lips, feeling the silky skin that is mine alone. The warmth of our bodies will keep me in bed too long, but I will not care because as long as she is beside me every morning, I can face anything.”

Whoa. I sat with my back leaned up against the door, mere feet from a man who could feel so deeply, who could treasure the gift of a good wife. Just when the tears had stopped, they began again, but I kept them quiet this time. What he had said was beautiful. It was what I wanted as well but would never have. My mind could not help but imagine the things Torben had described, putting myself in the place of the woman in his bed. What would it be like to wake up to the warmth of his large body pressed against mine? Would my heart be able to withstand the overwhelming emotions that would flow through me when he touched my lips?

“Allete?” Torben said, his voice slightly hesitant.

“I am here,” I answered.

“Did I say something wrong?”

I shook my head but then remembered that he would not be able to see me. “No. That is the problem, Torben. You said everything right. That woman in your bed will be very lucky indeed.”

“She might not feel that way after being stuck with me for a few decades,” he chuckled. “I am a warrior first and a lover second.”

“A warrior is what is needed first. A warrior is what keeps her safe, protected, and you alive so you can be a lover to her. I say, be the best warrior you can be to ensure you always return to her.” I did not know where these words came from, but they felt right.

I heard some commotion outside of the door, and then my sister’s voice. “Move out of my way, or I will skewer you where you stand.”

That brought a smile to my face.

“We are not the enemy,” Brant said gruffly. “I told you it was Cathal who hurt her.”

“You are her guards, are you not? So why in bloody hell were you not guarding her?”

“Dayna.” Torben’s voice, calm but firm, spoke up. “Cathal had his own men here. We could not have stopped them without resorting to violence. If we had killed his guards, it would have reflected poorly on your father.”

“Well, you could have done something,” she spat.

Deciding she had abused them enough, I stood, wiping the remaining tears from my eyes, and opened the door. The sight before me was quite comical. Dayna had a short sword in each hand. She had backed Brant up against the wall with one of the swords dangerously close to parts I was sure the poor man would not want to lose. My sister always did have a mean streak.

The other sword was held up to fend off Torben, who stood with his hands raised, trying, but failing, to make his bulky frame look nonthreatening. When their heads turned to look at me, Brant made his move. One hand grabbed Dayna’s wrist and relieved her of the sword, while the other wrapped around her waist, turning her until her back was pressed to his chest. At the same time, Torben grabbed the other wrist and took that sword. Their movements were coordinated, as if they knew instinctively what the other one was thinking.

My eyes were wide, and I was sure matched Dayna’s dazed look.

“What just happened?” Dayna said a little breathlessly.

“You made a fatal mistake, little warrior,” Brant said gruffly, though his eyes gleamed with humor.

“You took your eyes off your opponent,” Torben explained. “You allowed yourself to be distracted. It is a deadly error to make, and one you will only make once.”

My lips tilted up slightly as I watched my sister’s face redden as she frowned at Torben’s jest.

“Thank you for the tip,” she bit out and attempted to pull away from Brant’s hold. “Let me go.”

“Nay, I like where you are,” Brant said as he winked at me.

Dayna shot me a look that promised retaliation if I did not interfere. She had come to my defense so I decided not to let her torture continue. “Brant, please release my sister.”

The large man let his hand run across her stomach to her waist where he squeezed her gently before letting her go. Dayna whipped around and glared at him. Brant was not ashamed in the least.

“My sword?” she said, holding out her hand.

“I think I should hold onto it until you learn how to use it safely.”

She was about to say something more, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her back until she was standing beside me in the threshold.

“Thank you for fetching my sister,” I told Brant and then looked at Torben. I had felt his eyes on me ever since he had taken my sister’s sword, but I had not been able to look at him. I did not want him to see the longing that I knew would be in my eyes—longing for him and the words he had shared with me. “Thank you for…” I paused, unsure of what to say. Did I say thank you for talking to me through the door and distracting me? That seemed like a little more info than Brant and my sister needed to hear, at least until Dayna nagged the information out of me. “Just… thank you,” I finally breathed out.

I pushed Dayna behind me and walked backward into the room. As I was closing the door, Torben stepped forward, putting his hand out to stop it. “We will be out here all night. Just us. We will not be changing guards this evening.”

“That is not necessary. The other guards have been trained to protect me and have always done a respectable job,” I said, mentally stomping on the butterflies that were currently throwing a ball in my stomach.

“Good is not sufficient,” Torben said. He narrowed his eyes at me, and his lips grew taunt across his handsome face. “After what that bastard—” He paused. “Forgive my crudeness. But after what he did, you need superior guards. Guards willing to die for you. Are any of your guards, with families of their own, really willing to die for you?”

I was taken aback by his blunt question and irritated that he thought himself to be so much better than the men who had guarded me for so long. I did not want to admit that he did have a point. Some of my guards did have families of their own. I would not want them to put their lives before my own when they had people depending on them.

“You only met me a week and a half ago. And now you are saying you are willing to die for me?” I asked as I crossed my arms across my chest and began tapping my foot. My shoulder was throbbing, but I attempted to look fierce and hide the discomfort. Apparently, I was not convincing.

“We do not need to get into this right now, Princess. You are tired and in pain.” He leaned in closer, and his silver eyes seemed to be swirling as the flames of the torches on the wall were reflected in them. “For now, just trust that you will be safest in my care.”

I was done arguing. There would be a time later when I would have my wits about me. Then I would be able to question him further, but not now.

“Fine. Have a good night.”

Torben dropped his hand and stepped back, allowing me to close the door. My eyes held his until the door blocked my sight of him.

“Sit down,” Dayna commanded as she gathered the wash basin and a cloth. She pulled a small vile from her dress pocket and set it on the vanity. “Now, I am going to clean up this bite and you are going to tell me what the bloody hell happened. And then you are going to tell me what is going on between you and Torben.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, feigning puzzlement.

“Oh, come on. There are sparks between you a blind woman could see. No, wait, those aren’t sparks. It is more like a blazing inferno.”

“That is ridiculous,” I scoffed. Inwardly, I was screaming that I needed to be better about hiding my attraction to him. I knew I glanced at him entirely too often. I thought of him way more than a betrothed woman should think about another man.

“I know you,” Dayna said softly as she moved the dress from my shoulder and then let out a string of curses. “That man is mad. There is no way a sane man would do something like this.”

She began cleaning the wound and poured a bit of the liquid from the vial into the puncture marks. It smelled rank and burned like fire. I flinched and gritted my teeth.

“Ouch, what is that? Are you cleaning the wound or trying to kill me?”

“Just a bit of something I picked up from an acquaintance in the market. You’re not the only one with healing powers. You’ll be good as new in the morning. Now, quit being a baby and spill your guts.”

Just as I suspected, she continued her inquisition. “All right, start from the top and do not dare attempt to spare me from the grizzly details. I am not a child, Allete. If you do, you get the whole bottle.” She shook the putrid green vial at me.

I looked at her in the mirror as she stood behind me. “I know you are not a child. You are growing into a remarkable, albeit foul-mouthed, woman.”

“You bet your arse I am.” She grinned. “Now, get on with it.”

And so I did. I relived every detail for her and somehow managed to keep the tears at bay. After all, I was truly beginning to wonder how long I would be alive once I returned with Cathal to his kingdom—probably just long to bear him an heir. Once he had a male child, I would no longer have any value to him, unless he decided to keep me to meet his carnal needs. If that was what was to happen, then I would take matters into my own hands, literally. I would not live as a man’s slave. Death was a much better alternative, and one I would gladly embrace when the time came.

“The worse part of it wasn’t what Cathal did,” I said. “The worst part was Torben seeing it.” My stomach clenched as I remembered the look in his eyes and the embarrassment I felt at having him witness something so vile.

“He didn’t do anything?” Dayna asked.

“He wanted to, but Cathal was just waiting for a reason to have his guards stab Torben and Brant. I didn’t want that.”

“You have feelings for him.”

I nodded. How could I deny it? She was right. There were sparks between us, and I liked him so much more than I should. “I can’t be with him. Not only am I getting married, but he’s a guard. No matter how I feel about him, even without Cathal in the picture, I could never marry Torben.”

“It’s so wrong,” Dayna grumbled. “You shouldn’t have to be with someone you don’t love just because you’re the firstborn daughter to a king.”

I shrugged. “I don’t want to let Father or Mother down.”

“If they knew what Cathal was doing to you, they would never allow you to marry him.”

“And our kingdom would fall to ruin,” I reminded her. “We need what Cathal can offer.”

“We need to just kill him and take his kingdom,” Dayna growled.

“Bite your tongue, Dayna Auvray. That’s treason.”

“I don’t care. That man doesn’t deserve to be king of a mole hill. He needs to get a taste of his own medicine, preferably the kind that would stop his wicked heart in his chest.”

I wanted to disagree with her but I couldn’t, so I just kept my mouth shut. Instead, I let my thoughts drift to Torben, a man who was slowly stealing my heart. How was I going to marry Cathal when I wanted so desperately to explore what my guard and I had between us? It was a hopeless situation. I wanted to fall asleep, wake up, and realize it had all been a nightmare, or at least the parts that had Cathal in them.