Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

" A rne! Arne! Please, come back," Raven called after him, desperate to make him understand. "Why did he nae just read the letter?" she asked herself, dissolving into a storm of tears. Feeling like her heart was being torn from her chest, she wanted to rush after him and explain, but she knew he would not listen, and she had no time. It was close to midnight already, and she was late. If she was not at the meeting place on time, what would happen to Thorsten?

Maybe 'tis better this way. They'll be better off without me in their lives, she tried to convince herself .

She dashed the tears from her eyes and gathered herself. She hoisted her bundle and ran to the village, all the way to the old kirk yard. She was out of breath and panting when she arrived, but all was deadly quiet amid the ancient headstones behind the crumbling old building.

She waited and waited, her heart pounding in her ears, fear expanding in her chest at every tiny noise. She was almost vibrating with fear, starting to wonder if it really was all another of Struan's cruel ruses, when she heard a step behind her and something hard collided with the back of her skull. She toppled to the ground, and the last thing she heard was the cry of a nightjar before darkness closed around her.

Arne was in his chamber, a bag open on the bed, throwing his clothes and other things into it, determined to be on his way before dawn. His heart was in shreds, and he did not want to hang around and have to explain things to Everard and Maxwell. Let them find out fer themselves what a compulsive liar their sister is. I've had enough. I'm goin' home.

So, he was very surprised and annoyed when someone suddenly hammered on his door. "What?!" he shouted impatiently, at the end of his tether.

The door opened, and he saw Everard and Maxwell standing in the hallway. They pushed into the room, looking around as though searching for something, but he was so engrossed in his own heartbreak, he could not summon much interest as to why they were there.

"Have ye seen Raven?" Everard asked urgently, eyeing the bag on the bed.

Why nae tell them? "Aye, I've seen her." he said, prepared to tell them she was the reason he was leaving in such a hurry if necessary.

"Where?" Maxwell asked.

"About ten minutes ago, outside. She was going out of a side gate."

"What? A side gate? Why was she going outside the castle at this hour?" Everard demanded, exchanging looked with his brother. There was something in the tone of his voice that made Arne pause and look at them. He immediately noticed their worried expressions. 'Tis naethin' tae dae with me, he told himself.

"Did she say where she was goin'?" Maxwell wanted to know.

"Nay, but she was running away, like she did three years ago and so I let her go. If me son and I are nae enough for her, she is free tae go!"

"Christ!" Everard exclaimed, looking at his brother with a panicked expression.

"She lied," Maxwell said. Arne could not help noticing how the color left his face.

"Of course, she lied. That's what she does," Arne told them with a bitter laugh.

"Nay, I mean she lied about the night of the meetin'. She told us it was tomorrow night," Everard explained.

"Wait, what meetin'?" Arne asked, his stomach dropping.

"Aye, Struan sent her a message through some man she met in the market place the other day. He said he has Thorsten and is gonnae kill him if she daesnae go back tae him. She thinks she's givin' herself up tae save Thorsten," Everard told him, "But 'tis all a trick. We just had word from yer braither at Castle MacLeod. The lad's fine. 'Tis just another way fer Struan tae get her tae dance tae his tune."

"We have tae go tae the old kirk right now and find her before somethin' bad happens," Maxwell said, sounding frantic. "She's in terrible danger. Are ye comin', Arne?" he added as the two brothers moved towards the door.

"She thought me son, our son, had been abducted and she didnae tell me, acting on her own accord?!" Was all he could utter.

"Are ye jokin'? This is nay time fer recrimination. Her life is in Struan's hands!" Maxwell shouted, going up to him and staring into his eyes in a way that made him feel very uncomfortable.

Arne was hurting, and he was angry, but when Maxwell put it like that, he knew he could not just leave Raven to die at the hands of her evil husband. Especially knowing now that she did it all to save their son. "Of course I'm comin'. Let's go!" He said.

It was the pain in her head that woke Raven, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her heart when she looked around and realized where she was. She was back where she had started, lying on her old bed, in her old chambers, at her husband's castle on Barra, the same castle she had escaped from just a few weeks prior.

Her sorrow bore down on her, a hard, cold, painful weight on her chest that threatened to crush the life out of her.

A sudden thought hit her, and she sat upright against the pillows. Thorsten! Where is he? Is he safe, or has that monster hurt him?

The door opened abruptly and she turned her head to see who it was. Fear gripped her when she saw it was Struan. Determined not to let him see how terrified she was, she quickly pulled herself together. She sat up and dashed away her tears with the back of her hand, lifting her chin proudly.

"Where is me son?" she demanded.

He slammed the door behind him and strode over to the bed. He stared down at her and laughed, though his smile never reached his cold, dark eyes. "Welcome home, wife. Nay beatin' about the bush with ye, is there?"

"Where is Thorsten? If ye've hurt a hair on his head, I'll?—"

"Ye'll dae what?" Struan sneered, leaning over her menacingly. "Dinnae go makin' worthless threats tae me, ye wee whore. Or maybe ye think that MacLeod is gonnae carry them out fer ye, eh?"

Raven's heart broke all over again to hear him mention Arne. The pain was too great, but she forced herself to focus on finding out if Thorsten was all right.

"Where is me son!" she shouted, her fists clenched in frustration.

"Where d'ye think he is?"

"I gave mesel'' tae ye up because ye said ye'd let him go home if I did. Well, here I am, so I want tae ken he's safe."

He threw her a scornful look. "Are ye such a child that ye believe everythin' everyone tells ye?"

Light began to dawn on her. "It was a trick, a bluff. Ye never had him at all, did ye?" she said, getting up from the bed and advancing on him.

"Aye, and ye fell fer it. Ye didnae even ask fer any proof, woman. That's how stupid ye are," Struan said, cackling.

Although she was relieved to learn that Thorsten had never been in any real danger, the anger and frustration for what Struan had put her though, and at her own gullibility, welled up from inside her. Before she knew what she was doing, she slapped him resoundingly around the face.

"Ye vixen!" he shouted, his eyes gleaming with fury. He let fly a savage backhanded blow that sent her flying across the floor to hit her head on the bedstead with a painful thud.

She lay there dazed for a few moments as the pain mingled with that from the earlier blow to her head. A sense of hopelessness descended upon her like a black cloak. Whatever he daes tae me now, none of it matters , she thought. Thorsten is safe, and so is Arne.

But a small voice deep inside her whispered not to succumb to that man as long as she still could breathe.

Making a supreme effort, she hauled herself up from the floor and lifted her chin defiantly as she faced him.

"Dinnae ever strike me again, woman, or it'll be the worse fer ye," Struan growled at her, still rubbing the red hand mark on his cheek.

A bitter laugh burst from Raven's lips. She was so weary of his games; she simply spoke what was on her mind. "Why did ye bring me back here, Struan? Ye despise me, and I hate ye. Why could ye nae just let me go?" she asked, trying to sound calm though she felt far from it.

Suddenly his face was inches from hers, his eyes glittering, his teeth bared. "Because ye're me wife, ye wee trollop, whether I despise ye or nae. And that means ye're me property. Ye'll leave here only if I say ye can leave." He stepped back but continued glaring at her, his arms crossed.

"But what's the point of it all? Is that really how ye want tae spend the rest of yer life, miserable, with a woman who hates yer guts?"

The way his eyes gleamed in the firelight then was truly terrifying, and a splinter of icy dread pierced her heart. "Who says I have tae spend the rest of me life with ye?" he asked.

"What d'ye mean by that?" She tried not to let him see how she was trembling.

"The only way this miserable marriage can end is if one of us dies," he sneered.

"D'ye mean tae kill me then? Because if ye dae, I wish ye'd get on with it," she bluffed. "Ye've always been more of a jailor than a husband. Death would be a reprieve."

His self-satisfied expression vanished and turned to anger. "Ye little bitch. This is all yer fault. If ye'd been a proper wife and given me the bairns I wanted, none of this would have happened," he shouted, spittle flying. "But nay, ye had tae run away and go with another man like the whore ye are, and ye gave him the son ye should have given me! Ye've made me a bloody laughingstock."

"Well, if I have a son, then it proves that the problem lies with ye. ''Twas ye who couldnae give me the bairns, nae the other way around."

The blow came out of nowhere, his balled fist impacting her face with a sickening crunch, sending her to the floor. She lay dazed, sickened, blinded by pain. She groped for the source of the agony, and when she looked at her fingers, they were stained with red.

"Ye're useless tae me. Ye've always been useless. If ye cannae give me bairns, then the only way ye'll ever be any good tae me is if ye're dead!" he shouted, looming over her. He grabbed her arm and yanked her up, making her cry out.

He drew back his fist and clenched it. Raven steeled herself for the blow, but at that moment, a miraculous thing occurred. The door opened, and someone came into the room, then stopped dead.

Seconds passed in tense silence. Then, Struan snarled, "D'ye nae ken how tae knock before ye come bargin' in?" Suddenly, the iron grip on Raven's arm was gone, and she dropped to the floor like a stone. She lay on the rug, watching with bleary eyes as his boots went past her. She saw him push past someone, someone in a dress, and stalk out of the door.

The door slammed, and light footsteps immediately ran towards her. Gentle arms went around her, lifting her up so her head was resting in a soft lap. Raven looked up into a pair of bright eyes, and a smile came to her lips.

"Melady, are ye all right?" came a familiar voice, full of concern.

"Ava," Raven whispered before her vison wavered, and she fell into darkness.