Chapter Nine

Rowenna’s hands shook as she threw her few possessions into a sack.

‘Tis best not to show fear with Jasper Glendenning. He is a terrible bully, and fear just spurs him on,’ Morag said unhelpfully from the doorway.

‘How can I not fear when I am to be torn from my home, family, everything I have ever known?’

‘Your father said you are to go with Glendenning before he changes his mind, so there it is.’

But Cecily was still missing. How could she recover her when she was at Jasper’s mercy. Did he even have any mercy?

‘You must help my father find Cecily, Morag.’

The woman snorted. ‘She’s not coming back, and I’ll not have a minute to myself now you are gone, and I must do all the work,’ she said.

Rowenna stifled the urge to slap her hard. ‘You will do your fair share, or I shall hear of it and punish you.’

Morag pouted and picked at a nail. ‘Shame you did not take Morgan when you had a chance. A fine match, he was, and too good for the likes of you, but you turned your nose up. I don’t know what that Glendenning fellow wants with you, but whatever it is, I don’t envy you, Rowenna. If you fall foul of that man’s temper, you’ll not be coming back any more than your sister is. You’d best flatter him. All men like that. And never laugh at him, or you’ll get the back of his hand.’

‘Morag, I will not flatter that monster.’

‘Then you will have to bear your banishment as best you can and keep your head up, no matter what occurs.’

‘What do you mean? What will happen? What will he do?’

‘Tis clear as day, he fancies the look of you, lass. Many do, though you are blind to it. Jasper Glendenning is a man like any other, always sniffing after a bonnie face. If you want my advice, use his desire to your advantage.’

‘He will not try to dishonour me,’ said Rowenna. ‘I am to be a hostage and work off the debt until my brother pays what he owes.’

The woman snickered. ‘Bran will not pay. We both know that. And a man will say he is honourable right up to the moment when the urge to dip his wick grows too strong. And then he will take what he wants with violence and rip into your innocence and ruin you, lass. If you want to avoid a Glendenning bastard in your belly, you need to be cleverer than you are.’

Rowenna tried to drown out Morag’s spite, but the woman sauntered over, hands on hips. ‘Desire denied, love denied - that is power lass. You are a clever one. Bring him on a little and then repel him.’

‘Is that how you handle my father?’ said Rowenna quietly.

They locked eyes. Both knew it was true. Morag coloured. ‘Whatever you think of me, lass, I am just making my way in this world and using what I have. And my advice is kindly meant, for ‘tis a dangerous game to toy with men’s feelings. You need guile to manage it, and that Jasper Glendenning is terrifying, so I’d not push him too far.’

‘I do not take your meaning?’

‘Aye, you do. Glendenning is ruthless, greedy, lustful and no worse than most hereabouts. Men are all the same in the Marches, taking what they please, whenever they please. And he is better by far than that Wymon – all cold hands and withered cock, nought but a bit of gristle. Aye, you’ll get some rough handling from Jasper Glendenning, what with his appetite for flesh. But you can be more than a soft body to cushion him, is what I am saying.’

‘Since when have you cared about what’s best for me?’

‘That’s fair. But, listen. It is best for all our fortunes if you stay on Glendenning’s good side, and it’s better for Cecily to stay lost than come back here to another vile suitor. You may not like it, but that’s the way it is. Nought you can do about it but survive.’

‘Morag, I will not listen to you anymore. Be gone.’

But the woman hovered like an annoying wasp. ‘Believe it or not, you have my pity, lass. And you should know there is another reason that brute chose you, beyond your bonnie face.’

‘What reason?’

Morag just shook her head and cast down her eyes.

Rowenna grabbed her arm, digging her fingers into the flabby flesh as hard as she could. ‘You will tell, Morag, or I will slap you.’

The woman glowered. ‘I cannot say with any surety, but all I know is this. Jasper Glendenning was once in love - passionately, truly. ‘Twas a great love which would not be denied. He defied his family to pursue the lass, and then he was let down and humiliated. She all but gelded him with her rejection. That fiend bled for love, you see, and he can bleed again.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘I have seen her, the lass he wanted, so I know why he wants you, though you are but a shadow of Brenna Curwen.’

‘Stop your blathering woman.’ Jasper Glendenning leant against the doorframe. The words were softly spoken, but they held an undercurrent of steel. His eyes slid from Morag and fixed on Rowenna. What a strange look he bore - not anger, more a sudden devastation, gone as soon as it came, like a sudden squall of rain. He beckoned with his hand. ‘Come. It is time to go.’

There was no point in arguing. Jasper pushed his bulk off the door frame and grabbed her pack, and with a backward look at Morag, Rowenna followed him out of the castle with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The ground had only a light dusting of snow, but the wind was bitter, and it cut her, making her choke back tears. Rowenna was confronted with flinty looks from Jasper’s men, ready to ride out. None smiled or showed any softness when she looked up at them, save one, a vast bear of a man with a fearsome countenance and missing an ear. He gave her a rueful smile, revealing a black gape where his front teeth should have been.

How she wished she had more time to prepare herself. Beyond a dirk shoved down her boot, she was defenceless, and Morag’s threat chilled her heart. What would this man do when he had her alone?

‘Do you have nothing warmer for a cloak?’ Jasper was right beside her and made her jump. ‘Is this rag all your father gives you when he lets me take you?’ he sneered, his fingers picking at the cloak she had worn since her youth.

‘It is sufficient for my needs,’ she replied.

Jasper Glendenning sighed and looked up at the sky. ‘More snow is coming, and we have a long ride on bad roads. I do not want a prize that is frozen solid.’

‘Is that what I am – a prize?’

He shrugged. ‘If you like. Or maybe you are a burden. Time will tell me which it is.’

Rowenna met his unblinking stare. What beautiful eyes he had, this cruel, unfeeling man – blue as the deepest part of the river where the water would be inviting on a summer’s day but treacherous to the unwary. Her gaze was drawn to the thin white line of a scar on one of his lips. That scar had touched her mouth, and it came closer as Jasper leaned in.

Rowenna took a step back, and with one smooth movement, Jasper reached up, unclipped his fur and swept it about her shoulders, fastening it at the neck. Where his fingers briefly touched the flesh on her neck, goosebumps rose on the skin. Rowenna shuddered, and he caught it and frowned.

‘I do not need it,’ she said.

‘Defy me like a fool, if you must, but do not be a cold fool. You are already shivering, or perhaps you are not as brave as you like to think. And whether you need it or not, you will wear this fur to please me and salve my conscience.’

‘I hear that you don’t have one.’

He smiled. ‘Has that old drab been telling you what a monster I am? Well, I am nought but a man, like any other.’

‘Men are all the same, taking what they please, whenever they please.’

As Morag’s words echoed in her mind, Rowenna stared into Jasper Glendenning’s face – rough, scarred by life, too rugged for softness – hoping the woman was wrong.

He ran his fingers through a strand of her hair. ‘When you are in my home, you will discover the truth of what I am. And Rowenna, you should try to please me as often as possible if you know what is good for you.’

‘And if I don’t want to please you?

In reply, Jasper gave her a wolfish grin and whistled through his teeth, circling his hand in the air to ready his men to ride out. How easily he commanded with a word or gesture – all power and confidence, not slithering and manoeuvring like her brother and father. That meant he was a man to be feared, and once she was inside his lair at Kransmuir, she would be at his mercy.