Again (35 page)

Sara’s eyes flashed dangerously.
 
“Am I so undesirable that no man would wish to wed me?”

“Do not twist my words, Sara,” Galen snapped.
 
“What will you do if he will not acknowledge that you bear his child?”

She cried, panic in her voice.
 
“He will!
 
He must!
 
I have been with no other, I swear!”
 
She flung her arms around Galen’s waist and buried her face in his chest.

Pressed against him now was not the woman she wanted to be, but a scared child.
 
His anger rested heavily on Lord Oakley.
 

“Hush now Sara.”
 
He comforted her as well as he could, but he knew he was ill equipped to deal with such matters.
 
“Go to Catherine.
 
She will know what to do.”

“She will hate me.”

Galen lifted Sara’s chin so she would see him.
 
“She will not.
 
She is not our foe.
 
She loves you and only wants what is best for you.”

“I wish that were the truth,” Sara muttered.
 
She took a step back and squared her shoulders.
 
“You will leave Lord Oakley alone and you will not speak of this to anyone.
 
I will make him see how blessed we are and prove to him that I shall make him a good wife.”
 
With her chin set in determination, she pushed past Galen and hastened to the door, ducking into the corridor before her tears started anew.

≈

“You are what?” hissed Catherine.

“I am with child,” said Sara, her lower lip quivering and tears pooling in her eyes.

Catherine was unable to speak, her shock so great.
 
Her little sister, so young, so innocent, was telling her she was carrying a babe.
 
Gone was the manipulating, selfish girl that had continually defied her at every turn.
 
Sara’s eyes were searching hers, pleading for some understanding and compassion.

“Please Catherine.
 
Please do not look at me like so!
 
I did not know!”

“Did you not stop to think of the consequences?”
 
Catherine, finding her voice, allowed her anger to saturate her words. “Who was it that bedded you?”

Sara shook her head, tears steaming down her cheeks.
 
Her words tripped over choked sobs. “I tried to tell him, but he would not accept it.
 
He called me a whore.
 
He told me if I ever told anyone it was his child he would never admit to it!”
 
She covered her face with her hands, tears spilling out between her fingers.

“Whoever took advantage of your innocence will surely pay.”
 
Catherine lowered her voice in an effort to control herself. “You must answer me, Sara.
 
Who was the vile creature that seduced you?”

Sara looked up, eyes red and puffy, but chin set in defiance. “I am not an innocent child, dear sister; not a little girl that no man would notice.
 
While the most handsome nobles and even lowly merchants court you, everyone thinks me too young, too plain to have suitors.”
 
Her face became hard with hatred.
 
“But I am not too young to be a seductress!
 
It was your beloved Jonathan I seduced, Catherine!
 
It is
his
child I carry!”
 

She turned and ran from the room.

Catherine froze where she stood.
 
Sara’s parting words echoed in her ears, so loud she thought her head would split.
 
Her heart was aching in a way she did not know possible.
 
Had Jonathan indeed play her for a fool?
 
Had he given his kisses and touches – and his seed – to her sister?
 
Had he merely told Catherine all the things she wanted to hear, meaning none of them?

She thought of the softness of Jonathan’s kiss, the warmth of his touch upon her skin, and the words he whispered as he claimed her as his own.
 
Her knees could no longer hold her and she sank heavily to the floor.
 
She buried her face in her hands as if the darkness behind her lowered lids would shield her from more pain.

But no such relief would be gifted upon her.
 
She was forced to look up when Jarrid ran in breathless.

“Milady!”
 
His chest heaved with effort.
 
“Something is not aright with Lady Sara!
 
She has taken her horse and ridden out of the gates like the devil himself was on her heels!”

Catherine barely heard his words.
 
Sara…horse…gates.

“Milady!”
 
Jarrid crouched before her.
 
“She looked to be a madwoman!
 
She is headed to the cliffs!”

The cliffs.
 
Shame struck her heart.
 
Sara had come to her seeking help, and Catherine had chastised her, shouting instead of soothing, accusing instead of understanding.
 
Though Sara’s revelation cut her to the bone, she was nevertheless Catherine’s sister.
 
Sara, in her blind rage, was headed for danger and Catherine would not fail her now.

Surging with resolution, Catherine was instantly on her feet.
 
“Find Galen and tell him I am following Sara to the cliffs!” she commanded.

The courtyard was empty, the servants having taken shelter from the pelting rain.
 
The clouds were black and ominous, the thunder moving closer and closer.

Catherine was quick to saddle her horse and even quicker to mount the mare. “Run hard!” she urged.
 
“We must find her!”

The storm that threatened to unleash itself held out no longer.
 
Its rage challenged Catherine’s fear, but it did not deter her urgency as she raced to the cliffs.
 
The horse bolted across the space between the castle gate and the cliffs, heedless to the thunder above or the slick mud below.
 
Catherine held tight, squinting against the taunting rain.

As she drew near, Catherine saw her sister’s small body silhouetted against the darkening sky.
 
To Catherine’s horror, Sara was standing dangerously close to the edge with her head low against the growling wind.

Catherine reined her horse in sharply and slowly dismounted.
 
Not daring to frighten Sara, she inched forward, her hand outstretched.
 
“Please, please come away from the edge.
 
We can talk over here where it is safer,” Catherine said, trying to keep fear from her voice.

Sara did not move.
 
“I have always loved you, Catherine.
 
You are everything I wished I could be.
 
And I also hated you for being everything I knew I could not.”
 
The wind whipped her hair wildly about her head as she turned to face Catherine.
 
“I’ve always felt so alone.
 
But now I have this babe.”
 
Sara stroked her belly. “It will be just the two of us.”

The wind began to rise with more intensity, pushing rain down upon them.
 

Catherine could hardly hear her own voice above the storm. “I am sorry if I have wronged you.
 
Please come away from the edge and let us talk!”

Sara’s clothes were now soaked through, her hair plastered heavily to her head and shoulders.
 
Her expression remained calm.

“You fear for me?” her voice raised against the wind. “Why? Is it because I have something you want?
 
Have no worries, Catherine.
 
I have no intention of plunging to my death.”

Catherine dare not turn at the sound of an approaching horse.

Galen reigned in his stallion and slowly dismounted.
 
He quietly approached Catherine.
 
“What does she mean to do?”

“I do not know!” Catherine cried.
 
“’Tis my fault, Galen.
 
She blames me.”

Out of the drenched air arose a tune.
 
Sara was humming a sound that sang of peace.
 

Catherine and Galen stared at Sara, who stood with both hands on her belly, face raised to the sky, her expression almost angelic.

Long minutes passed and the slow smile that began to form on Sara’s face sent chills down Catherine’s spine.

“Sara, please.
 
Come to me.”
 
Catherine took a step forward, slowly reaching out with a shaky hand.

The humming stopped and Sara looked at her sister.
 
No knife could have impaled Catherine deeper than the soundless words Sara’s eyes said to her, for in them were malice, revenge, and triumph.
 

Catherine drew her hand back to stifle a scream.
 
She saw in Sara’s eyes what she now meant to do.

One backward step.
 
One small step that would separate them forever.
 

Catherine and Galen lunged to catch her, reaching out for her hands, but missing completely.
 
They stared in horrified shock as Sara toppled backwards, dropping with the falling rain, and crashing onto the rocks below.

“Sara!” Catherine’s scream was lost in the storm, becoming part of the slashing rain and the roaring wind that surrounding them.
 
Galen grabbed her around her waist, pulling her back from the edge.

They huddled in shocked silence as they looked down at Sara’s lifeless body, draped across the rocks below in a grossly unnatural position.
 
The black waters pushed against her arms and legs as if urging her to rise.
 

Disbelief robbed Catherine of her breath until panic welled up inside, stretching, until a scream finally broke free.
 
Her hands covered her mouth, but she could not stop the noise.
 
She covered her ears to shut out her shrieks, but doing so only made it louder.
 

Stop!
 
She willed herself.
 
Think!
 
Think!
 
Sara needs me!
 
Clamping her mouth against the scream, she looked around wildly, frantically searching for a way down the cliff.

Galen grabbed her by the shoulders, but she cried, “Let me go!”
 
She let loose a barrage of fists upon his chest.
 
“I have to fix her!”

Thrust against Galen’s chest, she continued to her fight to escape.

“Catherine!
 
It is too late!”

She twisted from his grip, but he caught her and forced her to look at him.
 

Wild, crazed eyes met his, fists slamming into his chest.
 

“No!
 
It is not!
 
It is
not
too late!”

“Catherine…”
 
Galen’s voice cracked with grief.

And suddenly, she knew he spoke the truth.
 
He had never lied to her, nor would he do so now.
 
She began to shake uncontrollably, chilled with pain and grief.

Without a word, Galen pulled her against him, wrapping his arms protectively around her.
 

Burying her head in his chest, Catherine closed her eyes tight, trying to shut out the look in her sister’s eyes and the ache of her heart as it broke apart, piece by miserable piece.

Chapter 35

“Brandi!”

Eryn bolted violently upright and drew her arm across her lips to rake away the sweat that had beaded above them.
 
She looked frantically around her bedroom, her heart pounding against her chest.
 
The sheets next to her were cold and undisturbed, the ceiling above white and unblinking, and the walls seemingly gave her wide berth as she tried to catch her breath.

Her mind frantically backpedaled from the nightmare that stared her down.

She and two others, one of them a painfully thin girl, the other a tall man, stood on a cliff high above jagged rocks engulfed by black water that was being thrashed about by the storm.
 
With the thin girl teetering precariously on the edge, they were oblivious to the gale that whipped around them.
 
Eryn was terrified that the girl would be toppled by the force of the wind or perhaps the rain-soaked ground beneath the girl’s slippered feet would give way.
 
Eryn looked to the man to implore his help…only to find Bryce staring at the girl with his usual cool and unreadable expression.

Eryn followed his gaze back to the edge of the cliff where, instead of the thin girl, Brandi now stood.
 
Through the wind, she heard Brandi humming a tune, so eerily peaceful and disturbingly calm, but it gave Eryn hope.
 
Eryn thought if only she could coax Brandi away from the edge, they could talk.
 
Eryn just knew she could help her.