Their eyes hold fast, and the wind inside the Great Hall picks up to gale force. Another power has entered the storm – Rhauk’s. Emmeline screams, yet I hardly hear it as the wind keeps growing violently. She clings to Isabel, who’s after answers, but her Lord Richard doesn’t have any. He’s struggling just to stay upright. Neither Jarrod nor Rhauk move. Their eyes remain locked.
The wind thrashes everything, tables empty, stools upturn, tapestries fly across the room. Everywhere is chaos.
Rhauk finally breaks the spell, swings his eyes to mine and says softly, ‘How very interesting.’
The wind dies as quickly, and Jarrod stumbles to his knees, grasping his head. Richard demands to know what happened, but Rhauk ignores him. Instead he says to me, ‘Blacklands is on the northern peak. I’m sure you’ve seen it, Lady Katherine.’ He pauses so that I understand his meaning. ‘You have a clear view of it from the tower.’
My eyes widen with surprise. He knows I slept in the tower last night. It gives me the creeps. He gives me the creeps. It’s exactly what he wants, to let me know how strong he is. So with an attempt at calm I reply, ‘So you noticed the rush lights were lit. How observant of you.’
His laugh is sarcastic. ‘Clever girl. I like your humour. Please, join me for dinner tonight, at dusk.’
Before I have a chance to reply, Richard interrupts. ‘Forget it, Rhauk. You can’t get your claws into this one. Lady Katherine is already married.’
Rhauk’s eyebrows shoot up at this. He glances at Jarrod and scoffs loudly. ‘To you!’ He laughs as if he’s cracked a hilarious private joke. ‘Oh well, I guess you’d better come too.’
He leaves a trail of devastation behind him, and a lot of nervous conversation. I help Jarrod to his feet, who remains unsteady and dazed. I pull up a chair in which he gratefully sits.
As servants start straightening the chaos, I think about Rhauk. Sensing Jarrod’s powers, he showed some of his own. But he was only playing with Jarrod, trying to gauge his strength.
And it didn’t take much for Rhauk to sum Jarrod up as being no challenge at all.
Jarrod
I recall the look in Rhauk’s eyes the moment he spotted Kate. It will stay with me forever, carved into my brain like an engraving on a headstone. It’s as if he found something he treasured, something he’s been looking for all his life.
He wants Kate all right. But I have to wonder why? What is going on here? It’s more than just an instant attraction. It runs much deeper. This is what’s wrong.
This unusual man has to be the one we’re looking for. The one who cursed my family. He has a certain strength about him, the Great Hall is a shambles. Richard is running around like a headless chicken while servants and soldiers alike rush about at his orders straightening the mess. The mess can go to hell for all I care, I just want to get to the bottom of Rhauk’s vengeance. He spoke to Richard under the assumption of a blood link. I know part of this history already, but it’s still a good place to start.
‘Why does Rhauk say he is your brother?’ I ask Richard.
Richard pauses in the middle of issuing orders to his soldiers, and looks at me. ‘Unfortunately, nephew, it is what he mistakenly believes.’
‘Is that why he’s so resentful?’ Kate asks, putting a hand on my shoulder, encouraging this line of conversation.
Richard’s chest lifts and expands. He holds this breath for a long moment, then collapses into his high back chair. ‘I have something he thinks belongs to him.’
‘What would that be?’ I prod at his lengthy pause.
‘Our castle of course,’ Isabel replies. ‘And all our lands and incomes.’
‘Was Rhauk first born?’ Kate asks.
‘No!’ Richard yells, thumping a heavy fist on the table just righted before him. ‘Rhauk may claim he is Geoffrey’s true first-born son, but Rhauk’s birth was never acknowledged by my father.’
Kate frowns. ‘He doesn’t look old enough to be …’ Her voice fades.
Richard lifts his gaze to hers, his voice oddly hoarse. ‘It’s his magic, my dear. It’s rumoured Rhauk’s mother was a true-born witch.’
I can see Kate thinking: this will explain Rhauk’s unearthly powers, his ability to place a curse on the family that denied him, the family that shut him out. And Richard is a hard man, and cruel, he would never hand over ownership of his castle and lands.
‘Couldn’t Rhauk’s mother confirm his parentage?’ Kate asks.
‘Aha!’ Richard glances briefly at Isabel, who stands beside him, her hand comfortingly patting his arm. She is his rock, and this big man is not embarrassed to lean on her. Another quirk to his colourful nature.