Nessa lowered her voice to a whisper. “I heard a severed head has been found, though no one is saying who it belongs to and since all ghost warriors are accounted for,” —she shrugged— “who knows who it could be.”
“That is awful.” Heather shivered, feeling terrible for the poor soul and wondering how she could get into the barn and see the head for herself. “Is that where my husband is now?”
Nessa shook her head. “No, my lady. He spent the morning in his solar with Pitt, and then took to the practice field about an hour ago. He is usually there a couple of hours or more each day.”
That would give her enough time to see if she could get into the barn. “Does the door remain guarded?”
“Aye, though the guard now remains hidden, and eyes will remain on you wherever you go, so Fife tells me.”
Heather smiled. “A romance brews with Fife?”
Nessa blushed. “I believe it does. He grows upset when he sees Pitt talking with me.” Shegiggled. “I think he is jealous, though he has no reason to be, I have no interest in Pitt. I do wonder why Pitt bothers with me. I give him no cause to think I have any interest in him and yet it is as though he seeks me out.” She smiled. “I must admit that he is interesting to talk with and easy to look upon and a woman could get lost in his deep blue eyes.” She shook her head. “But he is not for the likes of me. One good poke and he would not look my way again.” Nessa gasped. “I am sorry, my lady, I should not speak of such things with you.”
“I am glad that you do,” Heather said. “It reminds me of when I would talk with my sisters and helps me to miss them a little less. Now I should dress and be about, for I have wasted too much of the day already.”
* * *
“What areyou trying to do, kill them?” Pitt asked, handing Rhys a cloth.
Rhys took it and wiped the sweat from his face. He ignored the sweat that clung to his naked chest. He was not done yet; there was more fight left in him. “They will face a mighty foe and I want them prepared.”
“Prepared is one thing, dead is another. If you do not go easy?—”
“Easy? You think the enemy will go easy?” Rhys turned to the group of his warriors, looking ready to collapse. “Do you wish to live?”
All the men nodded vigorously.
“Then fight like you mean it or die cowards.”
The men straightened and drew their shoulders back.
Rhys walked into the middle of the practice field, sword in hand. “You think your enemy will give you pause to rest, to catch a needed breath? The enemy will strike again and again and not stop striking until every one of you lies dead and the ground is soaked with your blood.” He raised his sword. “The first one to leave a mark on me shall be generously rewarded.”
The warriors lunged forward, attacking the Dragon.
In minutes, they all laid at the Dragon’s feet.
Pitt shook his head as he handed Rhys the cloth once again. He kept his voice low when he said, “My words will stir your wrath, but better your wrath be stirred than you kill your men. Go to your wife and let the Dragon loose. He needs feeding.”
Rhys turned a furious scowl at him.
It did not deter Pitt from continuing to speak. “That day you found me in that pit I was no longer the man I had once been. He had to die so that I could live and so that day Pitt was born. You did the same. The Dragon was born out of necessity. It is who you are now and who you will always be. You are being unkind to your wife to let her think otherwise.” Pitt turned and went to help the fallen men to their feet and wake those still unconscious.
Rhys stood there, cloth in hand, Pitt’s words leaving him to think on something he had not wanted to since he woke this morning. He had refused to let the Dragon loose last night, though God help him he had wanted to, but he feared the results. He would frighten his wife and forever keep her from their bed, and he did not want that. Yet he also did not want it to be the way it was last night between them. He had found no pleasure in making love to her and he could tell her pleasure was not what it had been in the solar when he made her come.
But the Dragon was a hungry one, having had two or three women in one night and had still been left hungry. He was also more demanding than gentle, but perhaps it had been because he was always trying to assuage his sexual hunger that never seemed to abate. He thought perhaps with Heather it might be different. The only difference was how disappointing it had been.
Pitt was right. He was not who he once was and never would be again and he was foolish to think he could somehow revisit the past and make it right.
Rhys turned. “Those who can still stand better be ready to fight me.”
* **
Heather left the keep,knowing eyes followed her every step. The question was...how could she avoid those eyes?
It was an overcast day with a light breeze in the air, making it feel more like early autumn than summer. The village was busy, women tending their gardens, children playing, and men making repairs on the few things still in need.
Heather smiled and returned greetings as she walked around the village, making certain she could see the barn from different angles. One guard stood at the front, the barn door closed, not that she could gain entrance that way. And there was no point in trying to gain entrance the way she had the last time. Her husband no doubt had had the loose board sealed.
