"Since we now believed that the men had taken her, we abandoned the tracks of the lone horse and went after that of the group that took her. We followed them and they took us to William Dodd's castle." Owen felt his heart tearing apart. He had already deduced that from the moment he realized they had taken her. But hearing the man confirm his fears was too much for him to bear. He knew the plans William Dodd had for her. She had escaped her uncle because of it. Owen was worried. He could not very well allow those monsters to have their way. But what if they had expected that someone could try to save her? And because of that, William Dodd had gone ahead with his plans to make sure that there was nothing they could do about it if they did indeed come for her.
"Owen, dae nae worry. She will be all right." Owen heard Rory say as he was walking toward them. He had not realized that his emotion was clear for everyone to see until he looked around and saw his family members staring at him with pity. The guards had been excused after they finished recounting the details, and now they were alone. Owen nodded, but how could he not worry? What if irreparable damage had been done? Charlotte would never be all right if William Dodd had gotten what he wanted already, and it would all be his fault. How was he going to pick up the pieces of they had done something to her. All Owen wanted was to save her.
Owen would kill the two men with his bare hands if they had hurt his Charlotte. She had already been through a lot for them to put her through any more torture.
"We have tae go get her," Owen walked over to his brother and stood before him, his eyes pleading in ways that words could notdescribe. Charlotte was his everything, and he did not want to think of how lost he would be if anything happened to her. He looked at his brother, who appeared to be weary. They had only just finished with one battle after all, and he felt guilty for asking them to go into another. He needed them if he had any chance of getting Charlotte back and he had no other option, at least not one that enabled him to get to her on time.
"Brother, I ken that ye are tired and have already been through so much, but I can nae leave her there tae him. We need tae go and save her," Owen said, turning to the rest of his family, particularly Hamish and Evie. He would need their men if they were to go against someone like William Dodd.
"All right, I need tae tell ye all something. Something I have kept hidden for years. It-it was me who set the fire at the wedding," he started. If he was going to get their support, then maybe he needed to tell them everything.
"Ah, so that was ye," Hamish gasped in shock. Owen nodded, ashamed of what he had done.
"Aye, it was me, but I promise it was nae intentional. I only set the fire because I was trying to save Charlotte. But the fire had gotten too big and before I kenned what was going on, it had gotten so out of control that I could nae put it out like I had planned to. All I wanted was tae get her away from the people who were trying tae hurt her." He looked at Hamish as he spoke so he could see that he really had meant nothing by it. "All I did was save her from the fire and escape. Unfortunately it endedup costing her something important and I have nae been able to forgive meself since then."
"I understand. A man has tae dae all that he has tae dae, especially tae protect those he cares for," Hamish said, clapping him on the back. Owen was once again filled with gratitude. Here he was trying to save Charlotte from her own uncle, while he had been blessed with family members who were very understanding and caring, and she was so much better than him. Life was unfair.
Owen knew he should let them be, let them have some rest after the battle they had just fought, especially since they had done it for him; however he also knew that leaving Charlotte there for even an extra hour could prove detrimental. He already did not know what the circumstances would be once they got there, so he needed to make sure that no time was wasted and for that to happen, he needed his family by his side. He had made the mistake of losing her once, but he would not be doing so again. He would do all that was necessary to get her back, even if he had to go alone.
"Aye, it is why I am begging ye. Please, help me save her. This is what I have tae dae. I would nae be asking this of ye if I did nae think that it was crucial tae go now. Charlotte has suffered a lot, and she does nae deserve tae go through all of that. She can nae fall into the hands of the same man after escaping him some years ago. Please, I need tae ken that she be safe, and the only way that she will be is if she is nae bound tae him or her uncle."
Owen looked around at his family members, and he could see the conviction in their eyes. They had made up their minds to rescue Charlotte from the terrible fate that awaited her. He felt relief course through him when he saw this.
"Aye, ye are right, we can nae leave her there with those wretched men," Rory approached him and rested a hand on his shoulders. "Let us go get yer woman back, little brother."
Despite already expecting this response, Owen felt the relief flood him. He wrapped his hands around his brother and buried his face in his shoulder, laughing when the others cheered and whooped. He really had the best family.
"Well, ye ken what tae dae. Gather yer men and sharpen yer weapons. It is time tae go save our own."
I am coming tae get ye, Charlotte.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Charlotte felt hollow as she walked down the aisle with her uncle. Although she had tried to convince herself that she was all right, especially now that she had been given new memories of her mother, Charlotte was broken. She felt hurt beyond repair. She felt hopeless and empty. A part of her had gone into hiding to protect itself from the trauma she constantly faced, not that there was much of anything left to protect. Her uncle had made sure that he stripped her of every will she had to live for herself. A part of her wanted to fight, but the other part had chosen to give up. After all, what was there to fight for? Everything that could have gone wrong in her life had indeed done it.
She could see William waiting for her with the priest at the front. It was the first time she was seeing him in a long time, and it ignited a deep-seated hatred within her. As she got closer and closer to her husband-to-be, all she could think about was how she would rather kill him or end herself instead of being married to a demon like him. In fact, the only person she considered more disgusting than he was the man with his hands wrappedtightly around hers, almost as if he thought that letting it be a little looser would give her the opportunity to run away.
Charlotte could not understand how they had gotten a priest to agree to this. Had he been so greedy that he was willing to do this despite the circumstances, or had he been tricked into believing that this was a marriage both parties had consented to? Knowing the men who currently thought that they controlled every aspect of her life, it was probably the former. Charlotte could not believe William had agreed to marry her after all these years. Was he so desperate to wed her and finish what he started? Well, he was in for a shock if he tried to touch her.
William's face was stoic and unsmiling when he turned toward her as she stepped next to him. Charlotte could never forget the memory of him, no matter how much she tried. He had changed for the worse, if that were possible. The last time she had seen him all those years ago, his sandy blonde hair had been longer and sat comfortably on his shoulders. Now it was shorter, barely reaching his nape. His slim build had bulked up, and he seemed to have lost even more of his soul. Now, as she stared at him waiting for her at the altar, she was both repulsed and scared.
Charlotte had experience with dangerous men, but seeing William chilled her in a way her uncle never could. She could sense the danger lurking in him, ready to be set free. His dark eyes which seemed to pierce into her soul troubled her if he was reading her every thought. Charlotte was frozen in place while his eyes raked up her body. She willed her legs to move but found that she could not. Her uncle pushed her closer to William, breaking the spell he had wrapped her in. Charlotte tried to move discreetly away from him. She took a step in theopposite direction and stopped when he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.
Charlotte fixed her gaze on the priest as William said his vows. She couldn't figure out why this farce of a ceremony was taking place. Everyone, including the priest, knew she was being held against her will. When she continued to stare at him, the short, stocky man in a robe turned his eyes away from hers, looking uneasy.
Charlotte couldn't understand a word William said. Her thoughts kept returning to what her uncle had told her and how different her wedding would have been when she was younger. She imagined her mother sitting in the front, beaming as her father walked her down the aisle, the two of them looking proudly at her. She had pictured herself smiling up at the man she would swear to love and respect because she already did, and she had chosen him for herself. She had envisioned a beautiful sunny day with birds chirping as her friends and family celebrated her wedding.
She hadn't had those silly dreams in a long time. She had given up on the idea of ever marrying. When she heard someone clearing their throat, Charlotte came to. She looked around, trying to remember where she was. When she noticed William was staring at her again, her heart rate increased.
"You need to say your vows," the priest said, looking slightly irritated. Charlotte was confused. What exactly did they want her to say?
"Please say your vows so we can proceed with the ceremony." Now it was Charlotte's turn to be irritated. What ceremony was he speaking of? This was the furthest thing from that. He was a priest, and yet he was not doing what he was called to do. He hadn't even spared her a single glance before now because his silence and his conscience had been bought. Was this how things had become when you couldn't even trust those who were appointed for that very purpose?
Charlotte's mind flashed to Owen, her monk. She had ruined what they had. Sure, he may have set fire to his enemies, and one of them who happened to be her dad, but she had ruined it. She had met no one more honest and sincere than he was. She had known that she could trust him from the very beginning, even though she did not know him. He had taken care of her and made sure she was comfortable, even though he did not know her. Charlotte brought her hand up to her aching heart. She should have stayed back and listened to what he had to say. She should not have left. It had been difficult to hear that he was responsible for her father's death, but they had hurt him as well, and he was responding from a place of pain and hurt. Besides, he had not known that he was her father. The one thing she was certain of, which she had been too blind to remember because pain and rage blinded her; Owen would never do anything to hurt her, not if he could help it. She knew he cared for her. She had seen it in his jealous outbursts. She had seen it in his looks and most definitely seen it in his actions.
Owen might not have been a true monk, but he was what every monk and priest should aspire to be, instead of this corrupt man putting on the appearance of a priest when in his heart, he was anything but that. There was nowhere Charlotte would rather bein that moment than back in the healer's room with the man who cared for her. She would not be in this mess if she had stayed there instead of letting her anger rule her. Was it too late for her? Would she ever be able to get out of this bind she had placed herself? Or would she die trying to escape the terrifying life she knew awaited her if she could do nothing to stop this man?
Charlotte opened her mouth to speak words she was uncertain of. She could see her uncle in the corner becoming agitated, his face red as he directed his hate at her. She could see William Dodd's eyebrows raise, as if her reluctance surprised him like he had expected her to be docile and simply accept her fate. She did not care for the farce of a priest who glared at her as opposed to his inability to look at her in the first place.
