The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (35 page)

Some time later, consciousness returned
.
Genevieve
was leaning against Donal, who was holding something to her lips
.
She drank down
a
sweet liquid
that tasted of herbs and sunshine
.
She knew instinctively that it was no human drink
.

A strange muffled calm flowed over her
—
as if she were hidden in the innermost part of a large stone house while a terrific storm raged outside
.
They were speaking around her
.

Declan said, “
Show
me,” and then her dress flashed up and down
.
Just the air brushing
against her backside
made her wince in agony
.
Declan said, “I take it you have nothing to treat that?” 

Derek answered, “No sire.” 

“Unbelievable!  Sire
!
”
It was Damian
.
She’d never heard him like that
—
his voice was shaking with
fury
.

“Walk to the edge of the trees now
!
” snapped Declan
.
“Both of you!”

Declan turned back to her and gave her a kind smile
.
“Genevieve, listen to me, little one,” he said softly
.
“No one is angry at you
.
You’ve done nothing wrong.” 

She felt laughter bubbling up inside of her
.
Nothing wrong except cheating on her husband with his own brother less than a week after her marriage
.
Could there be a greater monster
?

“Talk to her, Donal
.
D
on’t sto
p
.
Get her to finish the draft
and see if you can get her promise to do nothing rash.”

Donal kissed her forehead
.
“You mad girl
.
I swear on Titania’s na
me that we will get this sorted
.” 

The tears started flowing then
.
Genevieve wanted desperately to cling to his kindness, but there was no part of her that felt she deserved it
.

Donal
held the cup to her lips again
.
“Ti
me to drink, little sister
.
That’s right, all of it
.” 

When she’d finished, he kissed her nose
.
He was smiling
.
He had a glorious smile
.

“I’m sure you don’t want to hear this right now, Genevieve, but after spending my life going without dessert, being cursed as the devil’s own get, and being thrashed daily by my brothers or Declan,
I
am overjoyed that at last there is someone else in the family who causes trouble
.
Damian is far too responsible, and Derek… well… thanks to the oversized stick up his rear end, he never broke a single rule during his entire childhood
.

“
I never imagined one little sister could wreak such havoc
—
truly you are a miracle!  Though I must say, you are still but an imp in training as it were
.
Fortunately, I am currently at liberty and would be happy to act as tutor
.
If we joined forces, I have no doubt within a fortnight we could get up enough mayhem to drive everyone in the house stark raving mad.” 

Genevieve let out a weak giggle
.
He was truly mad
.

“But in return for my help, I must have a promise from you
.
”
H
is tone had gentled
.
“Genevieve, swear to me you won’t try to hurt yourself over this
.
Please, sweetheart.” 

Beneath his smile, she could see his concern
.

“Please,” he whispered, clutching her to him
.

Somehow she couldn’t refuse him
.

“I swear,” she said sleepily, feeling the draft take over
.

Declan watched as Donal miraculously managed to coax
a promise from his new daughter
and felt a tiny wisp of hope in what was otherwise a complete disaster
.
He hated that she felt such fear of him
.
Though Declan would
never
touch her, had never touched any woman since his beloved wife’s death centuries ago, he understood it
.

T
his strange, extraordinary girl was like a divining rod when it came to the men of his family
.
Some part of her instinctively sensed the needs that drove them, needs that found an all-too-fertile ground within her
.
He would never lay a finger on her
,
but
she saw him as head of the family, and that dark corner of her soul
that
believed she deserved the harshest imaginable punishments fixed on him.

He whistled for Nightshade
.
Donal stood with Genevieve in his arms
.
He
passed
her
to Declan
and then
mounted the horse
.

Damn Derek for a fool
.
He couldn’t even seat
Genevieve
on the
horse
without putting her in danger of ripping open the welts and risking a serious infection
.
Instead he gently
laid
her over the front of the saddle on her stomach
.

He gripped Donal’s arm
.
“I know she gave her promise, but do not leave her for any reason
—
not for so much as a second.” 

Declan
watched as the import of his words sank in
.

“I would go so far as to advise you to keep her in your arms
.
F
ollow your instincts,
anything
she needs to find comfort in this, you will give to her
.
Until your brothers resolve this quarrel, she must be able to rely
on
you
.
You can save this, Donal.” 

He’d never seen this youngest, happiest of his sons
appear so sober
.
Donal nodded
and nudged Nightshade into motion
.

Th
at settled,
Declan
could turn his full anger on the two sons who deserved it
.
Both had been chastened enough by
Genevieve’s
misery to end their
brawl, but Damian seethed with
rage
.

“Why have you sent her away?” he demanded
.
“I should be with her!” 

“You will not go near her until you have mastered your anger
.
Whatever Derek’s sins, it was your rage at him that pushed her over the edge!”  Declan turned to Derek
.
“How far did it go?”  For the first time in his life, this most rigidly honor-bound of his sons couldn’t face him
.
“Was there intercourse?”
he
demanded
.
Derek nodded
.

Damian attacked again and Derek, never one to tamely take a blow, struck back just as savagely
.

“Enough!” Declan roared
.
Thankfully, his word was still enough to separate them
.
“Whatever anger, guilt, injury either of you thinks you feel is nothing,
nothing
to what Genevieve will experience
.
The moment she awakens she will begin lashing herself, taking on all of the blame for this fiasco
.
I
s that your will, Damian
?
Because if you cannot forgive Derek, she will never forgive herself
.
She would not be the first bride to break under the needs of the men of my family.”  Both sons were properly sobered by this
.
“Derek, you owe an explanation for this.”

“I gave her a word
.
S
he understood I would stop the moment she wished
.
When I asked if she wished to continue, she said yes.” 

“So it is her fault, then!”  Damian sneered
.
“Unbelievable.” 

“I did not mean to excuse myself at her expense, sire.”  It was the closest to contrite he’d ever heard Derek
.

“I should hope not,” Declan retorted
.
“I had actually warned your brother that you would find it difficult to resist punishing her if she provoked you, but I never expected to find a young woman completely inexperienced in rougher forms of play in such a condition.”

Derek looked stricken
.
“I did not realize she had gone so deep
.
I was sure she would stop me.” 

Declan alone knew what it cost Derek to say that
.
It was a hideous failure, unforgivable except that Genevieve would be far more damaged if this rupture could not be r
epaired
.

“And afterwards, when you saw how far you’d gone, you discovered that you could not punish her like that, fulfill one need, only to deny another that was equally great
.
That she must have evidence that she was deeply desired and cherished by you.”  Derek nodded
.
“Damian, you will find this hard to believe
.
I ask you to trust me
.
Derek’s injury in this was to you, not Genevieve.”

“Sire, did you see her?” 

“I did
.
It’s the kind of mistake that must
first
be made in order to be prevented
.
Neither Derek nor Genevieve understood the need for limits until they were crossed
.
I sympathize with your reaction, though I deplore your brawling in front of her
.
No man could sit quiet when his beloved was in such a state
.
But that state means something entirely different to Genevieve
.
As I said, the true injury was to you
.
Derek t
rampled your prerogative
.
B
rother must defer to husband in matters regarding his bride
.
T
he rules are there to prevent exactly this situation.”  Turning to Derek,
Declan
said, “
K
nowing you as I do, I cannot imagine were your positions reversed that you would react tamely if Damian had seduced or punished your bride without your permission.” 

All three of them knew that Derek would have reacted far more violently than Damian had
.

Declan paused to make sure they had followed him this far
.
“Damian, all things being equal, it is the husband’s right to refuse
contact
, and I would sympathize should you wish to now.” 

Derek’s eyes blazed at this
.

“However,” Declan added sternly
,
“
a
ll things are not equal
.
You are a Black
.
Your bride’s needs always come first, and she has made her wishes clear
.
It falls to you now to accept her decision
.
This is my decree: you and Derek will lead the hunt for the stragglers
.
Talk, fight it out, do whatever is necessary
.
But make no mistake
.
Y
ou will return together, at peace, prepared to put her needs first, or do not return at all
.
In the meantime, I will do everything I can to make sure that she weathers this crisis
.
Be warned that I instructed Donal to hold nothing back, to give her anything she needs to find comfort including physical affection
.
The time when you could object has passed
.
Now go!”