Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

After dinner, I returned to the cottage to read by the light of the fire. The words began to blur, and I knew I needed to rest.

I glanced at the door, wondering what rest meant now. Did they still want me to sleep near them? If so, why? Was it helpful, or wasn’t it? And if it wasn’t helpful to them, did I still want it?

Unsure, I set my book aside and unrolled a single stuffed mattress.

No one appeared at the door despite the noise I made. I stripped off my boots and covered myself with a blanket as I faced the open door. Would they come? Did I want them to?

My eyelids grew heavy, and I gave in to the need to sleep before I had an answer.

I woke shivering and regretted not closing the door before bed as I tucked my cold fingers under my arms. The dying coals were barely enough light to illuminate the hearth.

Torn, I debated what to do. I could leave my blankets to add more wood or ask them to join me. One required more time and effort on their part—to chop additional wood. The other might help me learn more about the spell binding them.

The decision was easy.

“The fire is out, and I’m cold. Is anyone awake to warm me?” I called softly.

The flurry of movement drew a snort from me, but the sound of numerous boots hitting the floor as they discarded them almost drowned it out.

“Ox.”

“Oaf.”

“Bast—“

“Who cuffed me?”

“Shut it.”

“I was assured you would never fight due to me,” I said over the scuffle.

“This isn’t a fight, Princess,” Darian said, lying in front of me. “It’s a competition to see who can get to you first.” He pulled me into his arms.

I pressed my cold nose against his warm neck.

“Shite!”

His head jerked as someone cuffed him.

“No cussing,” Garron said from behind me.

I reached back for his arm and used it to pull him closer. The heat of his chest warmed my back, and the shivering eased slowly, helped by Darian’s roving hand that drifted over my hip and up my arm. I sighed contentedly, enjoying the feeling as I debated how to gather more information about the curse binding them.

After mistaking their previous advances, I hesitated to presume anything. Yet, I also knew I couldn’t question or state what I thought I knew as it could lead to a hint. Perhaps subtlety was the key.

Lightly tracing the breadth of Darian’s chest, I said, “I’m glad there is more of you to warm me when you’re inside.”

“More of us? Did we gain a brother?” he asked with a soft laugh. I could hear the underlying uncertainty, though.

This time, I ran my hand from his shoulders to his waist.

“We both know the gain was not in the form of another brother. Goodnight, Darian. Thank you for keeping me warm.”

Silence followed. They would either acknowledge what I knew or continue to pretend that they did not change size when entering the cottage. I could only choose my next step once I knew their direction.

As I waited for them to decide, I closed my eyes and enjoyed their warmth.

When I woke next, the sun was up, and I was not alone. Brandle held me from behind. I didn’t know how I knew it was him; I simply did. Wrapped in his arms, I felt warm and comforted…until his lips brushed the back of my neck.

“I understand there are things you are not permitted to tell me, and though I’ve tried not to let it frustrate me, it has. Considering my dangerous lack of control when my emotions overwhelm me, perhaps it would be wise not to provoke me until I have a better understanding of the help you require.”

“I well understand your frustration, Kellen. I’ve lived with it for years, waiting for the right person to appear to help us. You ask for our patience? We have none. It left us with Henry.

“If you’re frustrated and wish to throw a book or a chair, then throw them. But don’t give up on us, Kitten. Please. That is the only way you could truly hurt us.”

“I have no intention of leaving, Brandle.”

“Not leaving, Kitten. Giving up. Allow us to do as we will, and in return, react however you wish. If it’s the heel of your palm to our noses or a chair thrown by magic, so be it.”

He punctuated his request with another kiss on my neck.

“You make very little sense, Brandle. Was it not only yesterday that you expressed your disappointment that I yielded to your advances? And now that I’ve requested they stop, you’re again asking me to allow them?”

As soon as I spoke the words, I understood. The trouble lay in my yielding to their desires, not the advances themselves. That he wanted me to allow the advances and to react however I would meant simply yielding wasn’t what they’d wanted. And they saw refusing their advances all together as giving up.

A sound of frustration escaped me, and I took three calming breaths.

“Very well,” I said. “I will do as you say. However, if you find yourself bandaging any of your brothers’ bruised bollocks, the fault is not mine but yours.”

He snorted a laugh behind me and nuzzled my neck.

“I will keep your wise words in mind.”

“Are we going to speak of the real reason you’ve lingered at my side after daybreak, or should I continue to pretend I do not know?”

His arms wrapped around me and held me more firmly against his hard chest.

“Tell me what you think you know,” he said softly.

“You grow larger when you are in the cottage and are smaller when you are outside. I believe you’ve been cursed, and that is why you need my help. I can think of no better explanation for such a cryptic letter left by Henry than that.”

Brandle was quiet behind me, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t say anything or due to indecision over what to say.

Turning in his arms, I faced him. His face looked different but still familiar. Still very handsome.

“Does it frighten you?” he asked softly.

“Which part? Your curse? Or the need to break it without any help when I’m completely clueless about all things magic?”

“My size. You did not have a favorable opinion of men who tower over you.”

I was surprised he’d remembered that.

“Your size has never mattered, Brandle. Who you are as a person always has.”

His hungry gaze swept over my face.

“I want you to kiss me, Kitten.”

“And I want honeyed biscuits to break my fast. It would seem we must accept that we cannot always have what we want.”

Instead of getting angry, his eyes crinkled with his wide smile.

“Garron, I believe Kellen is ready for her honeyed biscuit.”

My eyes rounded, and I twisted to look at the door. Garron entered, holding a plate. I barely noticed it as I watched him shift from the size I knew to the larger version. Uncertainty pulled at his brow.

Brandle caught my chin and nudged me to face him.

“My kiss, Kitten?”

I considered him for a moment. He didn’t want false affection, I realized. He wanted whatever I truly felt. What did I feel? Afraid. Afraid that it would be easy to lose my heart to him and each of his brothers. Where would that leave me?

“I have no wish to be heartbroken and alone, Brandle.”

His gaze searched mine.

“And you fear that’s what will happen if you kiss me?”

“You’re not asking for a simple kiss. You’re asking for my affection. I have lost everyone I’ve held dear. Do not ask me to care for you. Please.”

He crushed me in a fierce hug that should have felt suffocating but didn’t.

“Trust me. Trust us,” he said with a raw whisper. “We will not leave you, Kellen. Ever.”

“Death is the one certainty in this world, Brandle. We will all leave.”

“Kitten, I?—“

“Enough, Brandle,” Garron said. “Let her be.”

I felt Brandle’s heavy exhale and the kiss he placed on the top of my head before he released me and stood in one fluid motion.

Garron crouched down beside me as Brandle left.

“Hungry, Snow?”

He offered me the plate.

“Do you know how frustrating it is to feel as if you are always making the wrong choice?” I asked.

He smiled slightly.

“A choice isn’t right or wrong; it’s simply a choice. It’s not until you see the result that you can decide if it was right or wrong. And you’re still in the middle of your choice. So stop thinking and just enjoy your biscuit.”

When he started to rise, I caught his hand.

“Will you sit with me while I eat?”

I sat up on my mattress to make room for him.

“Who is staying with me today?” I asked.

“We all are.”

“Do you believe the men are healed enough to try something?”

“None of us wants to take that risk,” he said.

I nodded and took a bite.

“This is good. Tender. Perhaps, once I break your curse, you’ll become a baker.”

Garron ducked his head as a flush stained his cheeks.

“Or do you think you’ll stay here?” I asked.

“We wish to return home,” he said quietly. “It’s a memory for Brandle but only a story told by Henry for the rest of us.”

“Will you tell me about your home?” I asked.

“I would rather see it for the first time with you,” Garron said.

I met his gaze, seeing the hope there.

“It’s a deal then. I’ll help you, and after we help my sister, I’ll see your home with you.”

He glanced down. “We’ll need to go to Adele for the help we need to free your sister and ensure her safety. It may take some time.”

I didn’t care for the way he wasn’t meeting my gaze.

“How long, Garron?”

“A fortnight, perhaps.”

Dismayed, I set my half-eaten biscuit on the plate.

“That long?” I asked.

“Adele is nothing like Drisdall. The people don’t trust easily.”

I nodded in understanding even as my heart sank. Another fourteen days before I could reach Eloise? And it would likely take me double that to figure out how to help break the spell binding these men.

Could Eloise endure that long? Maeve had deceived Eloise and me and kept us alive for a reason. I had to believe she would continue to do so. The thought didn’t comfort me, though. I knew the suffering one could withstand and still live.

“Rather than think of it as time lost,” Garron said as if hearing my thoughts, “Perhaps you can devote yourself to learning.”

“Learning?”

He held up the book I’d been reading the night before. “If you don’t understand something, ask. We may not have your ability, but Henry did, and he taught us what he knew.”

I nodded and accepted the book.

Garron didn’t linger in the cottage, and I watched him leave and marveled at the spell that held them. What purpose did it serve?

My gaze returned to the book I held. Could the answers to breaking their spell lie within the pages of the books Henry left behind? Brandle thought not, but couldn’t a cast spell be uncast?

They left me to read in peace as I nibbled on my biscuit. However, when I rose to use the privy, Daemon hurried toward me and took my arm.

“Of course I’ll escort you to ensure your safety, Lamb,” he said in a normal tone before whispering, “Please invite me into the cottage with you. Any pretext will do.”

Undoubtedly, he was up to no good.

“And what will you give me for this favor?” I asked.

“My currently unrequited love and devotion?”

“No thank you.”

“Anything you wish, then.”

“Your agreement to a future request,” I said.

His gaze grew suspicious. “What request?”

“I’m not yet certain. However, I vow it will not cause harm to others.”

“Very well. I agree.”

With a suspicious glint in his eyes, Darian watched our return. Rather, he watched Daemon. Knowing that Daemon was likely provoking Darian in some way, I played along and threaded my arm through Daemon’s.

“If no one minds, I would like to claim all of Daemon’s unrequited love and devotion for the day.”

Without waiting for a reply, I steered him toward the cottage with me.

“Bloody git. He bribed her,” Darian grumbled.

“A deal is a deal,” Garron said. “You wash the dishes.”

I glanced at Daemon, who was grinning from ear to ear and already kicking off his second boot. He guided me to the bench and knelt before me.

His hand slid up my calf in his quest to remove my boot and earned him an ear tweak. He chuckled but properly adjusted his hold.

“And how would you like me to spend the day with you?” he asked.

“In silence. I wish to read.”

He followed me across the room where someone had already stacked the bedrolls under the window. He removed a chair from the stack for me.

“Would you like it before the window or the fire?” he asked.

“The window, please.”

I settled onto the chair and opened my book to where I’d left off.

Daemon was completely attentive. He brought me food and drink, fed the fire, and found ways to subtly provoke me into giving him attention.

He sat on the floor and rubbed my feet—which resulted in more calf touching and earned him a kick to the side. He asked to comb and rebraid my hair then claimed it was too dirty and needed washing.

The others hauled in water at his behest. I ignored them and read.

When Daemon tugged me to my feet, I paid him little mind…until he started untying my lacings.

“Unhand my clothing, Daemon.”

“Keep reading, Lamb, and pay me no attention. I will have you washed, clean, and redressed before you reach the end of the book.”

“You are not bathing me, Daemon.”

“Not presently. You’re still dressed. Come, let’s remedy that.”

His fingers plucked the ties loose before I could tug them from his hold.

I caught his hands as my bodice loosened.

“I’ve already seen you in your shift, Lamb. There’s no need for feigned modesty between us.”

“Feigned?” I arched a brow. But rather than lose my temper, I decided to teach him the meaning of feigned.

“You believe me to be immodest, then?” I asked, giving him my pitiful, sad look—the same one Eloise often used on Judith when caught stealing pastries.

“No. Never,” Daemon said quickly, concern and a hint of panic creeping into his gaze.

I released his hands and slowly tugged at the top of my dress.

“Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps I am immodest.” The ties loosened enough for my dress to fall off my shoulders. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, yet his gaze heated.

“Did you like seeing me in my shift?” I asked softly.

His gaze swept over my face. “Yes. I liked it very much, Lamb.”

“And would you like to watch me bathe?”

He swallowed hard and nodded once. I let my dress fall to the floor and closed the meager distance between us.

“Brandle wanted me to kiss him this morning. Do you want the same?”

He ducked down just like I’d hoped he would. With his focus on my mouth, he never saw me reach for the new pitcher beside him. As I stood on my toes, I lifted it over his head. My aim was true, and the cold water drenched him.

I watched it cascade down his face and drip from his nose.

Laughter echoed from outside.

He blinked at me as he slowly straightened. Several seconds passed before he began to smile.

“Does this mean I don’t get a kiss?”

“No kiss and no helping me bathe. I’m quite capable on my own.”

He shook his head, sending water flying. He didn’t leave, though. His gaze swept over my face again. Considering. Devious.

“I need to check something,” he said softly before pulling me against his damp chest and pressing his lips to mine. The kiss was sweet and too short.

When he pulled back, he watched me warily.

“Either leave on your own, or I will ask Darian to help you. I believe he would be willing.”

“Very willing!” Darian yelled from outside.

Daemon smirked at me, darted in to kiss my forehead, then strode out the door, closing it behind him.

I listened to the low murmur of their conversation as I glanced at the window, then removed my shift to bathe.

The steaming water melted away my tension as I leaned my head against the tub.

Daemon and Darian both liked to play and cause trouble. Daemon did so to avoid work, and Darian did so for fun. Was that why Daemon kissed me? Was it simply a playful thing to do? What had he been checking?

“Do you need any help with your hair, Lamb?” Daemon called through the door. “Edmund is willing.”

“I’ve entertained you enough for today, Daemon,” I said. “Leave me in peace.”

“Was he bothering you, Princess? Should I have Garron cuff him?”

Deciding to ignore them all, I closed my eyes and focused on the feel of the water around me. The heat of it. Its comforting embrace.

In my mind, I could see it—a glowing mass surrounding me.

The energy in the plank boards of the floor appeared next. Then, the bound clumps of grass that made up the thatching. I could feel its energy in its brightness. The water glowed vividly, the floor more mutely, and the thatching fainter yet, except for the place they patched.

And outside, seven men shone like the sun.

“Kellen, love…are you angry?” Liam asked

“No.”

“Are you casting, Trouble?” Edmund asked, worry lacing his words.

My eyes snapped open, and I saw it in the air around me—energy. It moved like mist, slowly circling and curling around me.

“I…don’t know. Something happened.”

The door banged open behind me. With a gasp, I sank lower into the water as I glanced over my shoulder.

Edmund stormed in like an enraged bull. Garron was only a pace behind him. His eyes widened as his gaze swept the room.

“Do you see it?” I asked.

“I do,” Garron said.

“What is it?”

“What is what?” Edmund asked.

“The colorful mist,” I said, sweeping a wet hand to indicate the room.

The glowing particles moved as if I’d disturbed them.

Edmund’s gaze stopped searching the space for danger and settled on me. I saw the moment interest replaced his concern in his gaze and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Edmund, out.”

Brandle reached in through the door and pulled his brother out before Edmund could do anything more. The door closed softly.

I glanced at Garron, who was running a hand in the air, staring at the swirl of colors.

“Do you know what it is?” I asked.

He glanced at me, flushed, then focused on the room.

“Energy, but I’ve never seen it like this. When Henry cast the spell for the barrier around the glade, it was close to this.”

Garron suddenly rushed over to me and pulled me from the water. Shocked, I didn’t think to fight him when he turned me away from him and then back again.

His gaze swept over my nakedness without hesitation until it met mine. A flush exploded on his face, and he released me like a hot coal. I hurriedly sank into the water.

“Forgive me. I—” He swallowed hard and looked frantically around the room. “Henry lost twenty years of his life when he cast that spell. I feared?—”

I watched Garron tuck his trembling hands into his pockets.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

He let out a slow breath. “What spell did you cast?”

“I didn’t cast any. I closed my eyes to relax and focused on the feel of the water. Its energy was there in my mind—bright and glowing, like what you see in the air now. Then I could feel the floor and the thatching. I could see it all, even with my eyes closed. I didn’t know that I was casting until Edmund asked. How did he know?”

Garron tapped the amulet tucked away under his tunic. “It glowed.”

I nodded slowly and rested my head against the tub again. “I could see all of you too. You glowed so brightly. If not for your protective charms, what would have happened, Garron?” His silence was answer enough. “I’m a danger to all of you.”

He touched my hair lightly. I kept my eyes closed, knowing I should send him out but needing the comfort.

“Brandle doesn’t lie, Snow. The only way you can hurt us is by giving up. We rushed in here because we were worried for your safety, not ours.”

“Foolish,” I muttered. Yet, so like my sister. “Why could you see the colors but not Edmund?”

As soon as I asked, I knew.

Sitting up, I turned to look at him. His fingers feathered against my cheeks.

“You can cast, can’t you?”