The Lady and the Earl (32 page)

“Now look what you’ve made me do,” he scolded.  “You’re pretty face will suffer from that one.”  He leaned down to kiss her now swollen eye. 

Allana felt so weak, but his touch repulsed her, feeding her strength.  Grabbing a handful of his hair, she pulled him away from her f
ace and swiped her fingernails
across his cheek. 

He cursed viciously
, grabbing at his face and jumping to his feet.  Angrily, he kicked her hard in the ribs. 

Allana’s ribs were in agony.  The pain was the worst she’d felt so far. 

“No more games, Allana.  I’m sorry I have to do this, but
,” Lucas paused long enough to kick her again,
“
I’m here on business not pleasure
.
” 

He
was
crazy.  She tried to move and get up, but he kicked her again.  She thought she heard cracking in her ribs
. 
Tears were streaming down her face as she curled up into a tight ball, trying to protect her body from further damage.  She couldn’t fight anymore.  He was breaking
her
with each kick
.  She just wanted the pain to stop. 
Please,
she thought,
lose consciousness.
  But it never came.  She curled up tighter and sobbed.

“Please stop,” she tried to say.

“What was that, my darling?  I couldn’t quite hear you
.
”
H
e rolled her onto her back and sat on top of her stomach. 

If
she’d
been able to, she would have screamed from the pain this caused, but she did not have the strength to do anything except whimper pathetically. 

“Not much fight left in you now, is there
?” he
asked, running his fingers over her now exposed breasts. 

He sounded so evil.  A small sob broke from Allana’s chest.  All hope was lost.  He would take her virtue and ruin her for
Declan
.  She would lose the man she loved forever.

A call from the other side of her locked doors brought her hope.

“Allana?”
  It was Connor.

“Help,” she called out.  But it was only a hoarse whisper, and it brought searing pain through her chest. 

“Shut-up,” Lucas hissed, slapping her to silence and listening to the door for the sound of a key. 

“Alla
na, what’s going on in there?”
Connor called, pounding on the door and jiggling the handles.  “I thought I heard you scream.  Are you
alright
?”

Please help me
, she thought.

“
Allana,
let me in.  Come on, Pet.  Open the door.”  There was a pause while he waited for an answer.  “I’m coming in whether you want me to o
r not, so open the damn door!”
Connor yelled, pounding once more. 

“It looks like your big brother saved you this time, but next time you won’t be as lucky,” Lucas began.  “If you tell anyone it was me, I will kill your meddling brother and hurt your lovely stepmother.  Pregnant or not, she is still a t
empting woman.  And to prove I’
m serious, see how Lancelot fares when I am done with him.”

“No, please don’t,” Allana pleaded in that hoarse whisper. 

Lucas grinned wickedly.  “Just do as you’re told, and everything will be fine.  Understand?” 

She nodded. 

“Good.  Now give me one last kiss before I leave.”  He pulled her head up to his, causing her to groan in pain, and kissed her roughly.  “Until next time, my darling,” he said letting her drop back to the floor in a heap.  He jumped to his feet
, grabbed something—a rope perhaps—and
leapt over the balcony.  

She lay there breathing shallowly.  Was he really gone?  She couldn’t see out of her left eye, for it was swollen shut, and her body hurt all over.  She tried not to cry because it caused even more pain, but the tears wouldn’t stop flowing.  Why had he done this to her?  She tried to move, and cried out from the agony it caused.  The dark room began spinning. 
Now it comes,
she thought as she fought to stay conscious. 
Please hurry
,
Connor
.  The last thing she heard was the click of a key and the doors to her room crashing open.

Connor burst through the doors to Allana’s room in a frenzy.  Darkness met him, causing him to stumble over an object that was out of place.  He stared at it for a moment, letting his eyes
adjust to the darkness in order to decipher what
he’d
tripped over.  It was a round table which used to be on the other side of the room over by
the
terrace doors.  What was it doing over here?  His stomach dropped as he took in the rest of Allana’s dark, disheveled room.  It was a disaster.  

“Allana!”
Connor called out.  Where was she?  Fear gripped him as he searched for her. 

He was
un
sure what he would find, but he definitely was
not
expecting to find her unconscious body on the floor in the condition it was in.  Her face was bruised and swollen with dried blood smeared across it and fresh blood oozing from her
nose and
bottom lip.  Her left eye was turning a nasty purple color and was swollen shut.  Her hair was sprawled out around her head tangled in knots, and her clothes had been torn around the bodice, exposing parts of her chest that brought anger and fear to Connor’s soul.  Had she been defiled?  There were bruises around her neck and arms, and she had blood spatters across her gown.  She looked
as though
she’d
been run over
by a stampede of horses. 

Connor glanced around the terrace for signs of her attacker but knew he would
not
find anyone there.  He had announced himself before entering the room, giving the intruder time to get away. 
Connor
was furious.  Who had done this?  If he ever found out, he would kill the man. 

He
moved over his limp sister, heart aching for her.  “Allana, wake up,” he said soberly.  She moaned when he lifted her head to his lap. 
“
Oh
Lana
, who did this to you?”

A woman gasped from
behind him. 
Connor looked just in time to see
Martha f
a
ll to her knees
where she
wept
from
the sight of her mistress.

“Martha,
you must
fetch
my father.  Martha?  Martha!”  She was in shoc
k.  “Martha, did you hear me?”
Connor said loudly, g
aini
ng her attention. 

She nodded. 

“Good
.  Go, and on your return,
bring warm water to clean her wounds
.
”

“Yes, Sir.”
  The old, gray-haired woman climbed to her feet and left the room quickly.

Connor put his arms under his sister to pick her up.  She felt his presence and panicked, struggling against his hold.  It was a weak struggle, but it almost caused Connor to drop her. 

“No, please,” she whimpered when he
refused to
let her go. 

His heart broke at the sound.  “Allana
,” Connor said soothingly.  “It’
s Connor.  You a
re safe now.” 

She tried to open her eyes, but they
were too swollen.
  She sobbed from frustration and fear. 

“
Shhhh
, I’m
here.  You’re truly safe.  He’
s gone.”

She relaxed enough for him to carry her to her bed and cover her exposed body with a blanket.  He brushed her matted hair away from her face, and his own tears slipped down his cheeks. 

“Connor,” she began hoarsely and so quietly Connor h
a
d to lean in to hear her.  “He’
s going after Lancelot.  Please, you
must
save him.”  It was a struggle for her to
speak
. 
The pain was visible
even with her unrecognizable face.

“
He’
s still here?”
Connor asked uncertainly.  Could he be so lucky?

Allana nodded.  “Please Connor, help him,” came her feeble reply.

Connor hesitated slightly before acting.  If her attacker said he was going to hurt Lancelot,
perhaps
Connor still
h
ad a chance to catch him.  “I’
ll go investigate
.  Father shou
ld be along any moment.  Will you
be alright
until he comes
?” 

Her lips moved in reply
as her head made the barest
of nods
. 

He kissed her forehead before swiftly leaving the room and racing to the stables.  Rage drove him.  He would make Allana’s attacker suffer for hurting her. 

Once in the stables,
Connor
drew his sword and cautiously entered.  His blood was pumping as he listened for any odd noises.  Unfortunately, he heard none, only the soft voice of
Dalon
coming from Lancelot’s stall.  Connor
strode over to the stall
and found
Dalon
and his
grand
son Fredric
nursing a scared, bloodied Lancelot. 

“What happened here?”
Connor asked.

“Someone tried to beat the poor beas
t with that board over there, t
he one with the nail sticking out of it.  Then it looks
as though
he switched to a razor ended whip.  Or maybe it was the other way around.  I don’t know exactly.  All I know is it was a cruel hand that did this,”
Dalon
replied in disgust. 

“How long ago did this happen?  It
doesn’t
look recent.”  Allana said the intruder was going to the stables to do this, but from the looks of the wounds,
he’d
done it before he attacked Allana.

Dalon
glanced at Fredric.  The boy quickly looked away. 
“Don’t rightly know when the poor boy was attacked.  Most of the wounds had clotted over and dried by the time
we discovered
him
.
He was quite the mess and full of fear.  Freddy was the only one who could calm him.
” 

Connor felt ill.  Had he just left his sister in the hands of her attacker once more?  Did the
intruder
tell her he was going after her horse to get her rescuers to leave her so he could finish the job
he’d
started?

“Is something the matter
?”
Dalon
asked.

Connor shook his head.  His father was with Allana.  The intruder would have known Connor would send for him
,
surely. 
It would have been too dangerous for
him
to linger. 
Allana was safe now
, but she needed medical attention
. 
“
Fredric, we need the doctor.  Take our fastest
horse and go fetch
him.  Can you do that for us?”
Connor asked.

“For
Lancelot
, Sir?” t
he boy
asked in confusion.

Connor didn’t have time for this. 
No matter what he told himself, he still feared for Allana
’
s
safety
.  He needed to get back
.  “No. 
Lady Allana ha
s been injured.”

The boy’s eyes widened in horror.
  No further questions were asked.
  He darted from the stall
, oddly grabbing at his ribs as he ran
to do as Connor had asked.

Connor sighed in relief.  He turned to
Dalon
.  “
I have to get back.  Take care of Lancelot.”

Dalon
nodded, staring after Fredric with a look of worry on his face. 

             
Connor had no time to contemplate it.  He rushed back to the house
,
frantic for Allana. 
He’d
left the master keys in her room.  If the intruder truly hadn’t left, they would have to hack their way through the doors without those keys. 

Fear soared through Connor as he bound up the stairs two and three steps at a time.  What if he was too late?  If the attacker killed Allana, Connor would never forgive himself.