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“And you believe this will solve the problem?” Bryce asked.
“How would it not?” Reeve said. “Tara weds me, which makes me entitled to her bride price. Who can argue with it? The deed is done, and I’ll make certain our vows are consummated. No authority would dare rescind the vows.”
“That leaves one problem left before all this can be done,” Bryce said.
“What’s that?” Reeve asked.
“You have to get Tara to accept your proposal.”
Chapter 22
Tara was relieved when she found that Bliss had time to speak with her. She was also remarkably surprised to see that the redness around Trey’s wounds had diminished considerably. And that his fever hadn’t returned since she had gotten there. If Bliss had such notable healing powers, then was it possible that she could help Tara?
“Is there a private place where we can talk and share a hot brew?” Bliss asked, as they left Mara to watch over Trey.
Not that Mara had wanted Bliss to leave, and Tara couldn’t blame her. It had been only a short time since her arrival, and already there had been marked improvements in Trey. Tara had no doubt that Mara would find a way to keep Bliss with the clan until Trey was healed to her satisfaction and relief.
“My cottage is not far if you don’t mind a brief walk in the snow,” Tara said.
Bliss smiled. “I love the way the snow paints the land in swatches of winter white. It’s such a beautiful sight to behold.”
“I never thought of it like that,” Tara admitted.
“Because you have never taken the time to look.”
Bliss was right. She hadn’t. She had been too absorbed in her lonely world to see beauty anywhere. Now, however, it was different. It was as if colors suddenly appeared brighter to her, scents richer, and touch simply divine.
She blushed, turning her head away, thoughts of touch producing naked images of Reeve that she was quite enjoying.
“You’re afraid to love Reeve,” Bliss said, startling Tara.
Tara sighed and nodded, too taut with anguish to speak.
Bliss rested her hand on Tara’s shoulder. “Get your cloak as you intended, and let’s go to your cottage and talk.”
Tara was only too eager to obey, and it wasn’t until they had left the keep with a sprinkle of snow falling upon them that Tara stopped abruptly.
Had it been a logical deduction that Tara intended to get her cloak? After all, they were going out in the snow.
Tara shook her head. “How did you know—”
“Sometimes I simply know what people intend to do, and other times I don’t,” Bliss said. “It is a strange skill I have and one that I have still to make sense of.”
The two women were soon sitting at the small table in front of the hearth in Tara’s cottage. Hot cider filled their tankards while a pitcher was kept heated on the hearth.
Tara didn’t waste any time. “Can you remove curses?”
“Curses are a difficult lot.”
Tara’s shoulders sagged, and she felt hope drain away.
“It depends on the curse and who cast it, but it’s intention that matters the most.”
Hope returned, though cautiously, as Tara said, “I don’t understand.”
“When curses or spells are cast, they are done so with intention. Whether it is to hurt, to harm, for joy, for love, for help, it is the intention of the caster that gives it power. If someone is angry and wishes harm or hurt to another, then the cast is made with the power of hate. If it is with annoyance or as a nuisance, then its sting is not as strong.”
“So the stronger the intention, the more difficult it is to be rid of the curse?”
