Our plan went disastrously wrong from the start. I arrived at dinner to learn that Henry had chosen to skip it. Panicked that he might see Kip and Mary readying our things and take preventative actions to keep me from leaving, I went in search of him.
It didn’t take long. Only a few steps outside the dining hall, I could hear Henry screaming at someone. His tone was angry and violent. I hurried in its direction to see what was happening. He was in one of the castle’s four main towers, and I ran up the steps.
The charming, seductive man I knew was unrecognizable as he stared down at a girl younger than me who stood shaking before him.
I didn’t know what she’d done to upset him, but the moment I stepped into the circular room, he slapped her. Without hesitation, I launched myself between them, pushing him away as I ushered the girl from the tower, whispering in her ear for her to run.
When I faced Henry, his face had drained of color. He preferred to lose his temper in private, when no one was watching. He believed this was the first sign of it I’d seen, and he was visibly embarrassed for being caught.
He attempted to give an explanation, but I held up a hand to interrupt him.
“No, it doesna matter what the lass did to ye, ’twas no reason to hit her.”
Glancing down, he pretended to be regretful.
“Ye are right. The stress of all the work that awaited me when I returned here wears on me. I shouldna have lost my temper.”
I was so angry that the sole reason for finding him was no longer at the forefront of my mind.
“From what I’ve heard, ’tis not the first time ye’ve lost yer temper with a servant.”
His left brow twitched ever so slightly—a small flash of anger that he masked quickly.
“Have my servants been speaking to ye, lass? They know they are to leave ye be unless ye require them.”
“’Twas not anyone here, though I suspect they are all too terrified of ye to say anything. ’Twas friends from Conall Castle. No one thought I should come here with ye.”
He seemed to be searching for someone to blame—someone he could take his anger out on.
“’Twas Kip, then. Aye, I yelled at the lad once. He deserved it. I was verra clear on which stall I wished for my horse to stay in. He disobeyed me.”
I could feel the magic begin to twitch within my fingertips. Even with only two weeks of training, my powers were more integrated into my being. It took little for me to call on them now, and my anger had it at the ready.
“Kip doesna take orders from ye. Not at Conall Castle and not here. I am sorry to break my word to ye Henry, but I canna marry ye.”
He laughed and stepped forward to pin me against the wall.
“I’ve tried to be patient with ye, lass, but ye have overstepped. Ye are in my home. I shall treat my servants however I wish, and I doona allow anyone to break their word to me.”
“The man I see before me now is not the man I agreed to marry. I’m under no obligation to stay here. My brother will welcome me back with open arms. My horses are ready. I plan to leave at once.”
For a moment, I thought he would step away, that things would end peacefully, but as the silence stretched, I watched him change his mind. One moment, his palms braced the wall on either side of my head, the next his hands were on my waist, squeezing as he pushed me into the stones so hard that I feared my ribs would break.
He leaned in close, and the warm breath that once threatened to seduce me now made my skin crawl.
“Ye bedded him, dinna ye, lass—the stable hand? I heard talk of it and still I was willing to wed ye. Ye dare chastise me for my anger when I have treated ye with nothing but respect. I believed ye to be the kind of lass who would go to her marriage pure. Had I known ye were a whore, I would’ve bedded ye myself long ago. Mayhap ’tis time for me to do so now.”
I had hoped to leave MacNeal Castle without revealing my powers to a man undeserving of the knowledge, but the moment his hand grabbed at the center between my legs, I let go of any apprehension I had about spelling him.
My first instinct, however, wasn’t to utter a spell. In my haste to get his hands off me, I did the only thing that came to mind. I lifted one hand in the air and jabbed two fingers so deeply into his eyes that I swore I heard one of them pop. He fell back screaming and gasping as blood poured from his eyes.
“My eyes! I canna see. I canna see.”
He screamed the words over and over as I retched onto the ground.
I couldn’t imagine the pain he was in, but I suspected I’d not blinded him permanently. His rage gave him the strength to stand. Just as he tried to charge me, I spoke a spell that bound him against the wall, making him unable to move anything other than his mouth.
I stood back and watched him as he realized what I was.
