Chapter 12

There was a man, a very ugly man, hiding under Kenna's bed. She knew he was there, but she could not move, either to escape or chase him away, because her hands were tied in front of her and her feet were bound together. She was so frozen with fear that when she tried to scream, no sound came out.

The man came crawling out toward her, and for a few moments she thought he was some kind of monster. But he was definitely human, although his features were twisted and irregular, and his teeth were black and rotten. It was his eyes that terrified Kenna most, though. They were completely black, opaque, and no light reflected from them; they almost looked like holes in his hideous face. It made her feel sick just to look at him.

Kenna turned her head away, hoping to find someone to help her, but the room was empty. She remembered that someone else had been there, though. Where was he now? She tried to roll over to look for him, but a moment later the creature had its hands around her neck and was squeezing so hard that she began to choke.

The pressure of his fingers was excruciatingly painful, but when she clawed at them with her bound hands and tried to prise them off her throat, it became even worse as they tightened further. Stars appeared in front of her eyes as she thrashed and hit out at the horrible man, but the pressure on her neck became even harder, and the more she struggled, the worse it became. Then the stars disappeared, and she could no longer feel the pain. Darkness was descending over her eyes, and at last, she could see no more.

Maxwell turned over in the bed, surprised to find himself lying on the soft mattress when the whimpers he could hear were coming from somewhere on the floor. It must be Kenna, he thought, then looked around, but the fire had almost gone out, and the candle had burned down to half an inch, so he could barely see anything.

He reached out a hand to touch Kenna, who was making the strange coughing and choking noises from the floor; he climbed out of bed and shook her shoulder gently. When she would not wake up, he shook a little harder, and suddenly her eyes flew open and she opened her mouth to scream, but he clamped his hand over her mouth to stifle it.

"Kenna," he whispered urgently. "You are having a nightmare. Wake up!"

"Wh-What?" she gasped. Then she began to shuffle backward on her elbows away from him. "Leave me be. Get away from me!"

Maxwell had never seen a more terrified expression. In desperation, he lunged forward and threw his arms around her, then pulled her to him roughly, holding her so tightly that she could not break away from him. Her face was pressed against his shoulder, stopping her from screaming, but still she fought against him with all her might, pushing against him and trying to punch him. She even tried to bite him, and he could feel the fear that was flowing through her, almost consuming her.

"Shhh…Kenna," he said as quietly as he could. "Shhh… You are having a bad dream. Wake up."

Gradually, Kenna stopped thrashing and took a deep breath, then looked up at him. Her eyes were confused and unfocused for a moment, then she seemed to realize where she was. She looked around, then gazed up at him for a long moment before he loosened his grip a little, and she pulled away from him.

"Better?" he asked softly. "You looked truly terrified. Are you all right?"

Kenna nodded. "I am sorry to wake you," she whispered.

He laughed softly. "I am sorry to have taken your bed. You should have woken me up, Kenna. I am comfortable enough sleeping on the floor, and you have to work in the morning."

"I did not have the heart," she replied. "You looked so peaceful, so restful. I could not bear to disturb you."

A wave of tenderness washed over him as he watched tears of pure fear trickle down her face, and he reached out and rubbed them away with his thumb.

"You should have," he replied gently. He wanted to wrap her in his arms again and hold her to stop the nightmare from coming back. "Maybe you should tell me about your dream. Perhaps if you shared it, you would chase it away. I know a few people who have been helped that way. Was it the usual dream?"

"No." Kenna shook her head. "I dreamt that a horrible, hideous man was crawling out from under my bed to attack me. I thought at first he was a monster, but then I realized that he was a human being, even though he was a very ugly one. I was tied up, then he tried to strangle me, and I was just about to pass out when you woke me up. It was the worst dream I have ever had."

Maxwell took her hand.

"Maybe if you had been sleeping in your own bed, it would not have been so bad. They say dreams have meanings. Do you know what it could have meant?"

Kenna shrugged. "No. But I have never been so afraid in my life. Have you ever had nightmares?"

"Indeed I have," he replied grimly. "When my friend pushed me out of a tree, I had nightmares about hitting the ground for months, and my mother made me take a sleeping draft, but I hardly ever took it. I still feel sick when I think about it."

He shuddered, remembering the vibration that had gone right through him that day, the headaches, and the sickening aftermath.

"Have they stopped?" she asked hopefully.

"They did after a while," he answered. "But for a while, like you, I was scared to go to sleep."

"It must be one of the worst feelings in the world," Kenna sighed.

Maxwell stood up and put another log on the fire, then stirred it with a poker until the wood burst into flame before coming back to sit on the floor with Kenna. To his surprise, she laid her head on his shoulder and put her arm around his waist.

She sighed and closed her eyes, then smiled.

"Please don't move," she whispered.

"I will do anything my lady commands," he said, laughing as he put an arm around her shoulders and leaned his cheek on her head.

For a few moments there was a comfortable silence, then she murmured, "You are a very kind person, and please don't deny it! I don't want to hear another word about it."

"But—" he began, but Kenna put a finger over his mouth to shut him up.

Kenna sighed as she settled herself beside him, sitting on the floor with her back against the bed. She had not felt so comfortable in ages, and when he shifted her so that she laid her head on his lap, she felt as though she was drifting on a cloud. She was resisting going to sleep, however, since the remnants of the dream were still at the back of her mind, but when he began to stroke her hair, she felt herself beginning to drift away.

"Kenna, you must go to bed," Maxwell said softly. "Or you will not be able to work in the morning."

"Will you come with me?" Kenna asked drowsily, before opening her eyes and looking up at him. She chuckled when she saw that his silver-grey eyes were wide with amazement.

"Of course not!" he replied, looking outraged. "It's… It's not that I don't want to, Kenna, but it is not proper."

He looked away from her at the fire, but she reached up and turned his head back toward her again.

"I am not asking you to do anything improper, Ewan. I feel safe with you, that is all."

"The bed is not big enough, anyway," he pointed out.

Kenna got to her feet and pulled the mattress from the bed and onto the floor. Maxwell laughed and lay down, then she lay down beside him, pulling up a blanket to cover them. Once she had snuggled into the warmth of his body, she began to experience the strange feelings that he always seemed to inspire in her.

She felt a pleasant pulse begin to throb between her legs, and she had the almost irresistible desire to kiss him, but she resisted it. She could feel his strong, steady heartbeat under her ear, and its rhythm was so soothing that she began to doze again.

"Goodnight," she murmured, looking up.

He was gazing down at her, and for a timeless moment, they locked eyes, mesmerized by each other, before he tilted her chin up and bent to kiss her, rolling her over so that he was lying half on top of her.

Kenna answered with her heart on her lips, answering the caressing movements of his mouth with her own, her tongue tangling with his until she was dizzy. She could feel the pleasant rasping sensation of his new beard, and it sent a jet of pleasure straight to her core. He drew away from her at last, breathing heavily, his eyes half-hooded with desire.

"You are so lovely, Kenna," he whispered as he kissed her forehead. "I am so glad I met you."

"Thank you," she murmured. "You are quite lovely too."

"A man cannot be lovely," he answered grimly. "Especially not this man."

Kenna began to become angry at his constant self-abuse.

"What is wrong with you? Why do you hate yourself so much? You always tell me what a dreadful person you are, but you have been nothing but kind to me. Tell me what you have done that is so terrible."

She looked at the despairing expression on his face with a mixture of exasperation and concern. She had never seen such a magnificent man, perfect in every facet of his character and appearance. It was beyond belief to her that he could despise himself so much.

Maxwell hesitated for a moment, and Kenna could tell that he was struggling to find the words he wanted to say. Eventually, he began to speak.

"My sister is a much better person than I am," he said sadly, shaking his head and running his hands through his shaggy black hair. "She always treated our servants with respect. Looking back, I realize that I was a vicious little brat."

"What did you do?" she asked curiously.

"I can't tell you that," he answered, his voice a deep growl. "I am too ashamed."

Realizing that it would do no good to press him any further, Kenna nodded and let the matter go.

"So you learned your lesson?" Kenna smiled at him. "But surely that was not what made you run away?"

"No, but if you don't mind, I would rather not talk about that," he replied bitterly.

"You made mistakes, Ewan," she said in a soothing voice. "We all do. Forgive yourself."

For an answer, he kissed her once more on the lips, a short, sweet meeting of lips, then pulled her into his arms and said, "Go to sleep, Kenna, and no more nightmares."

"Goodnight," she answered.

Then she closed her eyes and remembered nothing else until morning. It was the best night's sleep Kenna had enjoyed for months.