Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

" Y ou're wrong, Rawlin, he cannot be The Monk," Shade's mum said. "Shade would never wed such a cruel man."

"She didn't know," Quint said, seeing that Shade had turned pale and stood staring at the ground. He wanted to reach out and take her in his arms, remind her of the man she knew not the man who was a stranger to her, but he thought it was better that he didn't, at least not just yet.

The other cleric spoke up. "The marriage is not valid until it has been consummated. It can be annulled."

"NAY!" Quint said so strongly that all but Shade jumped and stepped back several paces. "Shade is my wife, and she will remain my wife."

Shade heard the talk going on around her, but the voices were muffled as if they were at a distance, and she was straining to hear them. All she heard clearly was that she had wed The Monk. But how could that be? Quint hadn't said a word about being the notorious Monk. Why hadn't he told her who he was? Why had he kept the truth from her? And how had she fallen in love with The Monk? She hadn't. She had fallen in love with Quint. But he was The Monk. How did she ever make sense of it?

"That is Shade's decision to make," her mum said, seeing her daughter wasn't speaking up for herself. "Shade, do you want this man as your husband now that you know who he is? Shade. Shade, do you hear me?"

"Shade," came the soft whisper near her ear and then the tender touch of a familiar hand.

"Quint," she said and turned her head, her lips nearly grazing his cheek.

"You're all I need," he whispered.

She was about to lie her head on his shoulder when her mum's screech stopped her.

"Shade! You don't have to stay wed to him."

Rawlin called out, "Disavow the marriage and?—"

Quint didn't let Rawlin finish. "Never will she disavow our marriage."

The cleric with Brother Peter was quick to speak up, though there was a tremor in his voice. "You desecrated Coggshall Abbey when you viciously murdered our fellow monks and desecrated its hallowed halls again when you murdered more men. You never answered for the deaths of those eight monks, so now you will answer for the deaths of these men."

"I answer to no one," Quint said with a vicious scowl on his face and a powerful tone to his voice that only a fool would dare challenge.

Shade's mind was clearing and hearing her husband being wrongly accused she defended him. "Those ten men were evil men. They intended to kill us after we sought shelter at the abbey during a vicious rainstorm. Quint made sure they didn't."

"What is his excuse for killing eight of our fellow monks?" the cleric demanded. "And his reputation suggests he went right on killing, in battle and randomly. He has an evil heart, and his evil will destroy you."

"Let us save you from him," Brother Peter said and stretched his hand out to her.

Quint didn't give her a chance to respond, he stepped in front of her. "No one will take my wife from me. Now leave and go tend to those warriors who lie dying or wounded from the battle and need your comfort. And make sure you spread the word that The Monk has wed the healer. If you say otherwise, I will hunt you down."

"I will pray for you, Shade," Brother Peter said.

"Do not waste your breath, Brother Peter," the other cleric said, scrunching his nose in disgust. "Do you not see the talismans hanging in the trees? She is as evil as he is." He glanced from Shade to Quint. "You will get what you deserve and burn forever in the fires of hell." He turned and hurried away.

Brother Peter shook his head and before leaving said, "I will pray for you both."

"Shade."

She turned and it pained her to see Rawlin reach out and stop her mum from going to her.

"No one will seek your healing once it is learned you wed The Monk. They will be too fearful," Rawlin said. "Send him on his way and save yourself."

With her head finally clear, she knew what she needed to do. "I need to go help Ula and her clan in any way I can and the only way for me to get there safely is for Quint to take me. I can waste no time on anything else until I help Ula."

"How can you trust him?" her mum asked anxiously.

It hurt Shade to see her mum upset and she wasn't sure how to console her since she had no answers herself. The shocking news was still settling in, and she was not sure what to make of it.

She was sure of one thing though… "I trust Quint."

Tears began to roll down her mum's cheeks. "I don't know whether to be more concerned about your marriage or that you are going to help Ula. There is danger in both."

"I won't let anything happen to Shade," Quint said.

"You certainly have the skill to keep her safe, slaughtering eight men with ease," Rawlin said as he kept a firm hold on his wife so she could not go near her daughter, or near The Monk.

"Did you ever once consider that Quint didn't kill the monks?" Shade asked, finding it difficult to believe that Quint could kill pious men and ones who had offered him solace in a time of need.

"There was blood all over him," Rawlin argued as if that was enough to find Quint guilty. "And why was he the only one to survive and why were there no other bodies found? Not one body to prove others had been responsible for the vicious attack." Rawlin shook his head. "Nay, he is a madman and will do you harm if you are not wise enough to send him on his way and denounce the marriage."

Her mum pressed her hands to her chest, fear mingling with her falling tears.

Shade stepped forward to go to her and stopped abruptly when Rawlin yanked his wife back.

"Nay, I will not allow the evil that has touched you to touch my wife," Rawlin warned.

Quint stepped forward. "Give Shade a moment with her mum."

"He threatens already," Rawlin said, tucking his wife closer.

"That was no threat. My husband knows how I feel and spoke for me," Shade said.

Her mum shook her head. "You acknowledge him as your husband?"

"Please, Mum, sit with me under the tree and talk with me as we did so many times through the years when something troubled either one of us," Shade said, her heart hurting that her mum kept her distance from her.

Her mum's face softened, and she looked ready to step forward when Rawlin tightened his grip on her.

"We are leaving now. Your mum loves you, Shade, and would do anything for you. But I beg you, do not bring evil down upon her. When you are ready to do what is right, come see us. You will be welcomed," Rawlin said, his eyes glassy with tears.

"I understand, Rawlin, and I am glad my mum has you to care for her," Shade said, not knowing where she got the strength to say it. It took even more strength to watch her mum turn around and weep in Rawlin's arms as they walked away. Their horse followed behind them with his head hanging low as if he felt their sorrow.

Rawlin was right. If word reached the farms nearby or local clans that her mother accepted Shade's marriage to The Monk, no one would speak with her. She would be shunned along with Rawlin and that would not be fair to either of them. She faced several dilemmas and on a day that turned out to be shocking in several ways.

She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and turned to face the biggest dilemma of them all. Words failed her as she stared at her husband. He stood tall, defiantly so, as though he was waiting for her to accuse him. But there was no stormy color in his blue eyes, only concern. She realized then that her thought had been of her husband not The Monk.

She surprised herself when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him and lay her head on his chest.

Quint hadn't expected her to embrace him. He expected harsh words, endless accusations, and copious tears, the news of who he was finally sinking in. He closed his arms around her to ease her against him and rested his head on the top of hers.

She loved him. That was his only saving grace… that she loved him.

A cold wind swooped around them stirring up the leaves at their feet and sending them swirling in the air around them.

Quint felt her shiver and, keeping an arm around her, hurried them into the cottage.

After hanging her cloak on a peg, Shade went to warm herself in front of the hearth, keeping her back to Quint, uncertain what to say, where to start, or what to do. It didn't help that she loved him deeply and didn't want to lose him or maybe it did. Maybe it was what would make the difference.

"We will remain wed," he said as if there was no debating it.

Though she had no plans of ending their marriage before it even began, she said, "I need to know more before I agree to that. You owe me that much, Quint, since I wed one man and got another. Who is The Monk?"

"A ruthless warrior born out of revenge," he said as he walked toward her.

She shook her head slowly. "I don't know him."

"I would prefer it to remain that way, but I can't promise you that you will never meet him."

Shade felt as though a heavy weight suddenly rested on her and she went to the bed and sat. "I have no idea what to do about this."

He went and sat close beside her, their arms and legs brushing. "There is nothing to do. We are wed and we will stay wed."

"I need to know more. What brought you to the abbey, Quint?"

He preferred not to dredge up the past, but he owed her the truth. "Anger, sorrow, heartache, rage."

"All of it due to the death of your wife?"

"Aye. My wife, Amara. We were wed only a few months when I was called to battle. In my absence, three men brutally killed her. I swore revenge. I killed two. I am still searching for the third. "

"Why did they kill her?" Shade asked, her heart aching for him.

He shook his head. "I don't know. I have yet to find out which makes it even more frustrating and makes me that much angrier, but I plan to find out and have my revenge."

She couldn't blame him for wanting revenge, but it frightened her. He could easily lose his life in his quest for it.

"So, your rage and heartbreak brought you to Coggshall Abbey," she said, wanting to learn more.

"My rage was out of control. I needed to rein it in, tame it, use it only when necessary before I continued my mission."

She had to ask. "What happened to the monks?"

"After spending many moon cycles with them, my rage began to calm to the point I had more control over it. Since I was skilled at hunting and fishing, I was assigned the task of supplying food for the abbey. I was out hunting when the monks were murdered, absent when needed just as I was with Amara."

He paused and Shade could see in his eyes that he was reliving not only the guilt of not being there for the monks but his wife as well. She could not imagine the weight of such guilt.

Quint continued. "I returned to find them dead, all but Brother Emmett. I was covered in blood in my effort to help him."

"Did he say anything to you?"

"Aye," Quint hesitated, his hand drifting to take hold of hers. "He begged me to get you. He believed you could save him, but I could see it was too late. Nothing would save him."

She squeezed his hand, relieved to feel his strength as tears gathered in her eyes and her heart filled with sorrow that she had not been there to help her friend.

"Not daring to mention you to the other monks, he often spoke about you to me. He praised your healing skills, referred to you as an exceptional healer, and that if I was ever in need of healing, I should seek your help."

"So, Brother Emmett brought you to me," she said, thinking fondly of her friend and wishing she could have helped him.

"That he did, and I am grateful to him."

"And you want to avenge his and the other monks' deaths as well."

"I owe it to them. My time spent with them helped me to contain my rage and only unleash it when necessary."

"Have you found any of the men and did they tell you why they murdered the monks?"

Quint nodded. "There were six men in all, and I found four. Two more and it is done. From what I've gathered so far, the men believed that there was a large number of coins kept secretly at the abbey and I can only assume they brutally murdered the monks in a fury of finding no treasure."

"It is well known that Coggshall Abbey survived because of its benefactors. There was never any talk of treasure at the abbey. It makes no sense."

"I thought the same, but nothing else makes sense," Quint said.

"And when you were found covered in blood you appeared guilty. So, you left that day to prove your innocence?" she asked, though that made more sense than anything else.

"That and I didn't want to wait and lose any tracks they left, or chance being hung for something I didn't do."

"Rawlin said that everyone who helped with the burial of the monks feared going near you."

"I believe my rage returned stronger than before I arrived at the abbey. I was blind with fury when I came upon the brutal murders of such pious men. That I had not been there to prevent it just as I had not been there for Amara enraged me even more. Revenge was foremost in my mind."

"You could have died along with them," she said, the thought so dreadful she pushed it away.

"Not likely, just like you are an exceptional healer, I am an exceptional warrior. If I had been there, I could have saved them, or at least most of them, depending on how the attack happened."

"So, you need to find three more men, one concerning Amara and two concerning the monks, to complete your revenge," she said, considering what that would mean. "It could take you years."

"Nay, it will be done soon enough."

"How can you be sure?"

"The men I search for are mercenaries and they go where the coins take them. Lord Torrance pays warriors well to fight for him. They will be in this area."

"But the battle is done. Won't they take their leave?"

"Not yet. They will linger to see what other work Lord Torrance has for them and to spend their coins on women and drink. With Lord Torrance sending mercenaries to hunt MacLeish warriors, then oversee Clan MacLeish until his arrival, it will give me time to find out if who I search for is among them."

"So, revenge is why you could not stay with me."

"Aye, I need my revenge, and I need to prove I did not kill the monks."

"What then, Quint?" she asked.

"Then there is only Quint. The Monk is no more."