The Darkland (16 page)

"Ah,
Micheline," Johanne purred seductively. "You have returned for
more?"

Micheline raised an
eyebrow. "I have not," she said flatly. "First, I have come to
ask where my sister has gone. Lady Valdine and Lady Wanda informed that she
left for Quernmore Castle this morn."

Johanne answered
irritably. "The woman is a thorn in our side. We have sent her to Quernmore
Castle in the hopes of finding her a husband."

Micheline's eyes widened
but she said nothing; apparently, Johanne knew nothing of the relationship
between Kirk and Mara, and Micheline had no intention of elaborating. But she had
also been told that Kirk had led the escort to Quernmore, and she wondered if
the man was aware of the motives behind Mara's presence. Surely, he had asked.
Surely, he knew.

But still...
Mara was on her way to Quernmore.
Perplexed, Micheline struggled not to be diverted from the subject at hand.

"I see," she
said quietly. "With my first question answered, there is but another
matter to discuss. I have come to say that I refuse to tolerate this... this
lewd behavior any longer. The relationship between the two of you is nothing
short of ghastly."

Edmund fixed her with a
bland expression. "We do not require your opinion. Leave the room unless
you plan to join us."

Micheline refused to
back down, musing that some of Mara's boldness had finally taken its toll on
her. "I do not plan to join you nor will I leave. I have come to settle
this situation and I would see that accomplished."

Johanne propped herself
up on an elbow, her smile fading. "What do you intend to settle, dear?
Last night you made no mention of your displeasure with our arrangements."

Micheline swallowed,
recollecting the events of the previous night and struggling not to succumb to
bone-numbing shame. "It was my wedding night, Lady Johanne." Her
voice quieted. "I was not even allowed the privilege of knowing my husband
privately, but with you to comment and explain every move, every step. Your
mouth to my breast, his mouth to my breast, it made no difference to either of
you. I was like a new toy, to be explored and belittled. I could have allowed
the circumstance to destroy me, but I will not. I refuse to allow the two of
you to do what you please with me."

Edmund sat up, annoyance
on his face.  "You are my wife, woman. You will do as I say, without
reserve or question, and I am unmoved by your pathetic speech."

"'Tis no speech, my
lord, but fact."

Edmund lifted his
eyebrows. "Fact? If that is so, then   you have failed to realize that
above all else, you are my wife. It is your duty to do what you have been told
and bear me strong sons to carry on my dynasty. That, woman, is the only true
fact!"

Micheline labored to
keep the quiver from her voice. She wasn't very good at maintaining her courage
in the face of strong opposition. "I shall be an obedient wife and bear
children for the House of De Cleveley, but I will not be used as... as an
object of lust. The more I think on this situation, the more it sickens me. Let
Johanne find her own husband, for by the rules of marriage, you belong to me
and I will not share you with your own sister."

Edmund was up, his
usually pale face pinched with emotion. "You will do as I say," he
hissed. "I never wanted you to begin with. How dare you confront me with
your demands as if they hold any meaning to me!"

Micheline could feel her
entire body trembling. "They should hold meaning to you, as I am your
wife. And it is not a demand I give you, but a threat. You will cease this
sinful relationship or I shall inform the church of your deeds. And they, my
lord, have the power to punish you for your actions and well you know it."

Edmund stared at her. He
couldn't help it. After a moment, he glanced at Johanne as if hardly believing
what he had heard. "You seek to threaten me?" he repeated, his pale
eyes focusing on Micheline once again. "Are you so daft, woman? Are you
truly so daft that you would threaten the man who holds your very life in his
hands?"

"I am not, my lord.
But what you do with your sister is wrong and I refuse to tolerate it."

"But you tolerated
it last night when..."

"I had no
choice!" Micheline's voice soared with emotion. "I was numbed by the
circumstance and you, my lord, saw fit to take advantage of me. But now that I
have had time to clear my head, I realize that I will not tolerate such abuse
and the rules of conduct must be established. The first rule states that Johanne
is never to share our marriage bed again, and the second that you will cease
this horrific relationship with her."

Edmund’s neck bulged
with pulsing veins. Gazing into Micheline's blue eyes, he shook his head with
disgust. "You have no idea the powers you toy with," he breathed.
"I would sooner squash you like a bug beneath my boot than bow to your
demands."

Micheline labored to
maintain eye-contact; the urge to shy away from him was overwhelming. Just this
once, she vowed to stay firm. She had come too far to turn back.

"I am not asking
you to bow. I am asking that you graciously conform to the rules of marriage.
This is a union between you and I, not the three of us."

Edmund studied the
woman, finding himself wondering how Kirk would react when he returned from Quernmore
to find her vanished. But he certainly could not permit her continued
existence, not after she threatened his relationship with Johanne. If the
church were to discover their liaison, he could expect nothing but trouble. And
there was only one way to avoid the trouble.

Micheline never saw it
coming. One minute she was standing her ground, and in the next she was
sprawled on the floor somewhere between light and dark. The room was spinning,
a great pain pounding in her head. She tried to rise but the moment she made an
attempt, another blow to her head brought a curtain of darkness.

Edmund stared at his
wife, collapsed in a heap. His knuckles hurt from striking her and he rubbed
them gingerly as his sister hovered at the edge of the bed, her eyes wide.

"Oh, Edmund,"
she breathed. "I must. I truly must."

Edmund nodded
unsteadily. "Aye, you must." His heart was pounding in his chest.
"Do it, Johanne. Wish her away and be done with it."

Johanne nodded, madness
in her eyes. "We tried, dearest. We tried to accept her, but she refused
to see the rightness of our devotion. We simply cannot allow her to
tell..."

"I know," Edmund
said, his apprehension mounting.
Kirk had sworn to protect this woman.
But he couldn't think of that now. His desire to rid himself of the threat
outweighed the fear of his captain for the moment. "Do it now, Johanne.
Wish as hard as you can."

Johanne glanced at
Micheline, completely emotionless. Unlike the other ladies she had wished away,
Micheline’s interest hadn't been in Kirk. It had been her condemnation of her
husband's relationship with his sister that had brought about her ending. Closing
her eyes, she bowed her head in prayer. A prayer for death.

Edmund watched his
sister as she lost herself in a stupor. Opening the door, he barked breathless
orders to a guard and the man disappeared down the hall. Edmund closed the
door, biting his nails as Johanne continued to hex Micheline.

A knock on the door came
several minutes later and Edmund yanked the panel open.

"My lord requires
me?" Corwin asked quietly.

Edmund nodded,
practically dragging the man into the room. When Corwin saw the heap on the
floor, his nostrils flared.

"Dear God," he
breathed. "You... you cannot mean...."

Edmund refused to
listen, shoving him in Micheline's direction. "Take her," he
commanded. "Johanne has wished her away and it is your duty to fulfill her
desire."

Corwin was pale.
"Not again." He turned beseechingly to Edmund. "Kirk will return
tomorrow. There is not enough time to..."

"There is plenty of
time!" Edmund shoved him again. "Take her and be rid of her. It is
your duty!"

"My lord, I
cannot!" Corwin was trying to stand his ground. "This woman is not
like the others!"

"She is!"

"She is your wife,
my lord, and Kirk has taken a personal interest in her. He already suspects my
participation in these vanishings!"

"He does not. 'Tis
Niles he suspects thanks to the seeds of doubt I myself planted. Now
move!"

Corwin would not be
swayed. "But Niles is with him. He'll know it is me if...!"

Edmund grabbed him,
slapping his open palm over the man's mouth. Hurling Corwin against the wall, Edmund’s
face was ashen as he faced off against the reluctant knight.

"We are only doing
as Johanne demands." His lips were against Corwin's cheek, the foul stench
of his breath pervasive. "This is her doing, not ours. We are merely
instruments through which her mighty powers work. We are but servants!"

Corwin was terrified of
the glint in Edmund’s eyes. "We are murderers!"

Edmund yanked him away
from the wall, tossing him toward the fireplace in his dementia. Corwin
stumbled over the billows, landing next to Micheline's feet. Before he could
scramble away, Edmund leapt on top of him, grabbing him by the hair and forcing
him to look at the lady's limp form.

"Look at her,"
he hissed, yanking the knight's hair until the man gasped in pain. "
Look
at her
! She is not worth the price of your worry, Corwin, for just as
easily she could be your wife if you do not cooperate. Do you understand me
clearly?"

It was always the same
threat. A threat Corwin always succumbed to because he believed Edmund would
carry it through. Ever since Corwin had married his cousin, a woman he had been
in love with since childhood, his wife had been wielded against him like a
weapon.

"I refuse to do
this again. You cannot threaten me with...!"

"Do it or I tell
Kirk the vanishings were all of your doing. He will have no choice but to
believe me and after your execution has been carried out, I will make sure Lady
Valdine and Lady Wanda live nothing short of a hellish existence!"

God help him, Corwin
knew he spoke the truth. And he was disgusted that the man was able to control
him so easily. Edmund released his hair, rising unsteadily from the floor.
Corwin rose to his knees, struggling to recover his composure.

"Remove her,
Corwin," Edmund said again, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
"Remove her and we will see her no more."

Swallowing hard, Corwin
cast Edmund a loathsome glare as he stood on quaking feet. As Johanne continued
to pray and Edmund poured himself a chalice of wine, Corwin scooped Micheline
up from the floor. He was silent as he moved to the door.

"Corwin," Edmund
called to him before he could quit the chamber. "Leave the lady's clothes
in her chamber. Everything shall remain untouched."

Corwin paused. He could
hardly speak through his disgust. "And what will you tell Kirk?"

Edmund savored his wine,
feeling the calming alcohol flood his veins. "We shall tell him that the
lady threw herself from the tower window, her reasons unknown." He turned
to the pale-faced knight. "That is what you intend to do with her, is it
not? I believe the tower would be a proper exit for my distraught wife."

Corwin did not reply for
a moment. "I suppose, considering you drown the last one. And the one
before her. If I drown another, the lake will be floating with bodies and our
activities will be obvious."

Edmund looked to his
sister, eyes closed as she wished her brother's wife far, far away. He knew her
simple mind hadn't heard a word of what had been said. "Not our
activities, Corwin." He gestured to his sister with a raised goblet.
"Johanne's activities. This is her doing, after all."

Corwin shook his head,
slowly. "Why must you blame her? Her thoughts may be evil, but it is you
and I who carry out the sentence."

Edmund drained his cup,
moving to the bed where his sister continued to pray. Reaching out, he stroked
her tangled hair. "We must keep Johanne happy, Corwin."

Corwin left the chamber
without another word, Micheline's limp body flopping in his arms. The sun was
setting, intermittent rays of light streaming through windows as the knight
mounted the stairs for the tower.

The cylinder was narrow,
the steps winding an endless circle skyward. Micheline stirred, groaning softly
as Corwin neared the top. Just as he entered the dusty, unused chamber at the
summit, Micheline raised her head, her eyes struggling to focus.

"Sir Corwin,"
she mumbled. "What... happened?"

Corwin was beyond all
rational thought. He dumped Micheline on the floor, his eyes wild.

"You will stay
here," he gasped, wiping the sweat from his brow. "You will not leave
this place if you value your life. Do you understand me?"

Micheline stared at him,
her stomach lurching and her head spinning. Tears filled her frightened eyes.
"What has happened?"