The Crimson Castle (13 page)

Her days of confinement had allowed her to fade out the memories of
their short time together, his cold reaction to her brother’s death convincing
her of his demonic nature, erasing the kindness and decency she had seen within
him. In her mind his features had been replaced with that of a monster, a
twisted and blackened version of his handsome face. Now he was here in the
flesh, her carefully constructed resentment seemed to crumble and all she saw
before her was a lost soul whose dark eyes seemed to wrench at her heart.

Stepping around the bed in a false show of bravado, she was gratified
to see a flicker of uncertainty at her unexpected move.

“Why this show of compassion?
We both know you
have little care for my welfare, as you have so proved.”

Watching his hands flex at his sides, she waited for him to grab at
her, knowing she was frustrating him, but he maintained his position, his jaw
working with tension.

“You know not of what you speak,” he said tersely.

She took a step forward, close enough that she had to angle her face up
towards his to meet his eye, daring him to grab at her, desperate to prove her
beliefs of him correct.

“I know enough, I know-”

“God’s teeth,
Evie
, I love you!”

Evelyn froze, his unexpected outcry crumbling any confidence she had
felt and all she could do was gape at him.

He retreated from her, a weary hand pushing through his thick hair.
With a sigh he looked back at her. “I did not intend to say that.”

Watching him wide eyed, she felt a pang of disappointment which she hid
beneath a spiteful tone, “You did not mean it? I should be not surprised. You
are so very experienced in deception.”

He glowered at her, her tone provoking irritation. “I meant no
deception. I am not in the habit of saying things I do not mean.”

Evelyn realised he was right, he had never lied to her, even when she
had probed him with awkward questions.  Ones he knew she would not like
the answers to, he still answered with absolute honesty. She began to doubt the
incarnation of him she had created over the past days. His wearied and trouble expression
caused her to cease her manipulations as an unanticipated sense of remorse
settled upon her.

“I am not unwell,” she admitted and watched as a look of relief swept
over his face. “I needed time to think.”

He nodded his understanding. “What will you do?”

“I know not.”

She noted his look of dismay as tears sheened in her eyes and she
suspected he wished to pull her into his arms, almost as much as she wished to
be embraced in them, but she held firm, holding
herself
and the tears at bay, unable to forget the hurt.

“Then
run
, Evelyn, I beg of you. I have money,
‘
twould
see you settled elsewhere and I can put you
in touch with men who can offer protection.”

She could not deny she had considered it. She had thought about
selfishly abandoning
Beldersert
to its fate and
securing the freedom she so anxiously sought.

“You cannot offer it yourself?”

“I would that I could. I must stay.”

“Why?
Because of him?
Look at what he has
turned you into. You owe him naught Gabriel!”

Unable to understand his loyalty to such a man, her frustration and
anger built once more.

“You are wrong. I owe him everything.”

“What do you owe him? Why will you not seek the redemption you so
desperately crave? I have seen it Gabriel, in your eyes and in your words. You
do not live this life as other men do because you enjoy it.”

“That may be so, but ‘tis the only life I have known. I will not throw
away years of toiling to an uncertain fate.”

“This is about your land?
‘
Tis
for the sakes of greed that you sell your soul to
Tibald
?”

“Nay, Evelyn. You would yet again misjudge me. Mayhap if you would take
a moment to put aside your blind judgments you would see that I am but a lowly
man and men make mistakes.”

Surprised and hurt by the truth in his words, she shoved at his chest.
“Aye and I can see I was mistaken in believing you to be a better man!”

Her push had little effect on his broad chest but he allowed her to
manoeuvre him back towards the door. Tears of frustration beaded in her eyes
and, upon seeing this, he turned and opened the door which groaned open as if
reluctant to release the pair from their quarrel.

He looked to her briefly and spoke quietly, the deep timbre of his
voice seeming to reverberate through her, sending a shiver to her toes. “‘Twas
not my intention to upset you,
Evie
, you must believe
that.”

Unable to meet his eyes, she kept her head lowered until she heard the
heavy thud of the door shutting. With a short dash, she threw herself onto her
bed, her mind a tangled web of confusion. Was he right about her? Had she spent
so long being pandered and protected that she behaved as if she were better
than others? Admittedly she knew little of hardship but she believed herself to
be a fair judge. Mayhap if she had lived a less privileged life, she would not
condemn him so harshly.  She lay on her bed as time passed, thoughts
converging in her jumbled mind.

Unsure of how long she had been there, a sudden urge to flee struck
her, the need for escape that she had so valiantly fought against taking over
her and, with a flurry of
hands,
she threw on her
riding gown. Before she was even aware of what she was doing she hurled open
her door and dashed to the stables.

***

Gabriel was up on the curtain wall, recovering from their
confrontation. Her lack of faith in him, though warranted as far as he was
concerned, gnawed at him. He could not face the irritating presence of his
master, so he escaped to the edge of the castle walls in an effort to regain
some control of his emotions.

A figure caught his eye and he realised it was Evelyn making a dash
across the damp mud of the bailey in the direction of the stables.

A foreboding sensation struck him and he lost no time in making his way
down the stone steps towards the front entrance. His heavy chain mail clanking,
he hurried towards the stables. She was nowhere to be seen but a young stable
hand was attending to the horses.

“Have you seen Lady Evelyn?”

“She took off in great haste not a moment ago, Sir.”

Gabriel growled in frustration and the stable hand looked at him with
fear, expecting retribution for Evelyn’s behaviour.

“Saddle my horse, quickly!”

He set off at a fast pace, the hooves of his destrier beating the
ground into submission.  His horse was more powerful than her palfrey and
he knew he could catch up with her if he headed in the right direction. He
reasoned that if she was trying to run she would make for
Beldersert
,
so he directed his horse towards the forest path, just over the brow of the
gentle slope running in front of the lake. The sound of his hooves stirred the
residents out of their small, ramshackle homes skirting the lake, the urgency
of his gallop frightening the peasants.

He quickened the pace as he spotted her slender figure making towards
the entrance to the woods. He was angry with himself, knowing it was their
heated exchange that had likely caused her to flee. He couldn’t help but feel
frustrated at her foolhardiness though, had she not already had taste enough of
the dangers of the woods? Why could she not have just accepted his assistance
and put aside her pride? He knew, however, that her wilfulness was one of the
reasons he so ardently loved her.

Nearing her, he was close enough
now to see her turn briefly to view the source of the sounds of hooves, but he
could not see her expression. As she spurred on her horse, he realised it was
not one of relief and she was attempting to escape him. His heart sank, knowing
there was no hope of any kind of reconciliation and, although he hadn’t really
believed there to be anyway, he desperately craved her forgiveness nonetheless.
If she could only give him the chance to prove himself to her, he would do all
he could to bring back that look of admiration he had seen that day by the
lake.

Evelyn turned again and realised with a stabbing sense of fear that he
was gaining rapidly on her. She was not afraid of him but more of her reaction
to him. She could not face everything that had passed between them and his
earlier words echoed within her, heating her cheeks. She found herself heartily
ashamed as to how she had dealt with her anger, using everything he had shared
with her against him. Now she would have to admit to the recklessness of her
behaviour, knowing he would surely admonish her severely for attempting to make
an escape without his aid.

With a glance over her shoulder, she saw that it would be moments
before he caught up with her and she would have to finally confront recent
events. In an impulsive move, she pulled her palfrey to a stop, jumping off as
she took a mere second to fling the reigns over a branch. Picking up her
skirts, she ran away from the forest path, into the dense trees, in a desperate
attempt to lose her pursuer. She hoped the snaking wilderness would swallow her
up and allow her to elude him.

Encumbered by her skirt, she stumbled as the branches tore at her skin,
the damp smell of the earth pervading her nostrils, while the dim light forced
her eyes wide as she desperately searched for a hiding place. Her soft shoes
offered little protection against the twisted limbs of trees crawling through the
ground and rocks jutting proudly though the soil stabbed into her feet causing
her to yelp. She could hear his impending footfalls but she continued blindly
on, her hair and skirts catching on the trees forcing her
to
painfully tear herself forwards. Her toe snagged on a large stone and she felt
herself tumble forward, bracing for a painful fall to the ground.

A hand grabbed at her arm, its heat and roughness seeping through the
sleeve of her gown, breaking her fall but forcing her to spin unsteadily until
a hand grasped her other arm, pinning her upright. She could not bring herself
to look at the owner of the hands, knowing a glance into his eyes would bring
her starkly back to reality.

“Evelyn,” he bit her name out sharply, his breath coming quickly from
the hunt. “Why do you run from me?”

She did not answer him, just kept her head hung as he relaxed his grip
on her, massaging circles into her upper arms with his thumbs, causing more
confusion inside her already jumbled mind.

“Do I really scare you so that you need run from me?” he asked more
gently, a hint of vulnerability sat within his voice, dreading her answer. He
brushed at her hair, pushing it back from her face, forcing her to look at him.

She saw that he too had suffered the wrath of the forest and likely
reflected her image with scratches to his face and hands, his dark hair tousled
and strewn with foliage.

“Nay, I am not afraid of you.”

Gabriel looked so relieved at her statement that it almost softened
her, but she could not help but remind herself of everything that had befallen
them, the blissful ignorance of their tender moments at the lake a distant
memory. Her fury resurfaced and she tried to pull from his strong grasp but he
held firm.

“Then why do you run from me?”

“I am not running from you!”

Infuriatingly, a smile touched his lips at her indignant tone but he
said nothing of her lie as her eyes darted from side to side, looking for a way
to free
herself
from him.  They fell upon his
sword, rationality far from her mind as grief and uncertainty still filled her.

Gabriel saw her glance and his smile twisted. He pulled out his sword
and handed it gently to her, her eyes wide in astonishment. She found herself
grasping the handle and he put his chest in front of the tip of the blade.

“Do you wish to kill me,
Evie
? I could think
of no sweeter death than one by your hand,” his voice lowered to a whisper as
her hand shook and she continued to gape at him. “I would not blame you.”

The blade dropped to the ground as she released it as if it were
scorching her hand. Her anger left her as quickly as it had consumed her at his
trusting action and the barrier of hatred, that she had so carefully nurtured,
fell with swift ease.

Waiting for his next move, she half expected, and hoped, that he would
take her in his arms but instead he moved to pull out a leaf from her hair. She
watched him reach towards her and she wondered at her reaction, allowing him to
behave so intimately with her once more. It seemed that all good sense departed
her in his presence, an affliction she had already experienced on many
occasions.

He looked at her seriously after flicking the leaf to the ground,
pulling at her arm once more, forcing her attention upon him. “Where are you
running to? I offered you aid,
Evie
, and I would but
help if that is what you so desire.”

“I have made it clear I have no want of your assistance,” she tried to
inject anger into her voice but failed miserably, feeling acutely vulnerable to
his dominating presence. “I do not need your aid.”

“I will not leave you to harm. Do you wish to escape?” He prodded once
more, locking his eyes with hers with such force that it caused her to shudder.

“
Aye
..nay
…” she
sighed, “I know not.”

In truth she had not thought of her next step. She couldn’t leave
Beldersert
to its fate but desperately wanted to flee from
all that had transpired in
Tibald’s
clutches. Without
Gabriel, she felt there had been nothing to keep her there. He was lost to her,
his actions had been inexcusable and yet, in spite of the hurt he had caused
her, she found herself regretting her treatment of him, wondering if she should
have given him a chance to explain.