Page 241 of The Daughters of Avalon
Ruthlessly, and without apology, he pulled her tighter against his body, quieting her with the force of this gesture. “Aye, Rhiannon, you will,” he said low, and with unmistakable menace. “Already, I’ve sent for the prelate. Once he arrives, you and I—” He squeezed her again when she opened her mouth toprotest. “Will stand before him and graciously accept our vows, with your mother and the Welsh kings as witnesses.”
Rhiannon blinked away tears, hoping against hope that he might at least give her some sense that he wanted this too. “To please my mother?”
His smile thinned. “Ask me no promises, I’ll give you no lies.”
“I—”
He squeezed her one more time, silencing her with the ferocity of his gaze. “Youwillmarry me, Rhiannon,” he said, with quiet menace. “You will bemylady. And I shall speak no more of my fealty to your mother—never again! Do you understand?”
Angry tears filled Rhiannon’s eyes—until he found her hand and pressed something small and sharp into her palm. It took her a full moment to make out the small object… a key?
To what?
He lifted his brows. “Do you understand?” he reiterated.
Dumbfounded, she lifted the key to examine it and blinked in shock. She hadn’t seen this key for five long years, and yet she knew precisely what it was. She knew it because it bore that same odd glimmer as the metal of her shackles. Lifting her eyes to Cael’s, she swallowed convulsively, finally understanding. He released her abruptly.
“My bride’s gift to you,” he said, searching her eyes for comprehension. “Only do me the inestimable favor of waiting before you use it. Speak your vows when the time requires, bide your time. Later, when the time is right, I’ll see you have the opportunity to escape.”
Vows?
Go?
“When?”
There was nothing gentle about his dark look. His jaw worked furiously. “You’re an intelligent woman. You’ll know,”he said. “And, in the meantime, put a smile on your face and pretend that wedding me is the one thing you most wish to do.”
After all this time… Rhiannon would be the lady of Blackwood… and then she would be free.
Dumbfounded, she closed her fist about the precious key. “Why?” she asked.
His lip turned cruelly. “Why do you think, my lovely termagant? The more your mother believes we are aligned, the greater your chance to escape.”
“No, I meant,why—why are you helping me?”
It dawned on her suddenly how much this would cost him.Everything. And still, he meant to do it.
“Whyis not important.”
Her brows collided. “Aye, but it is.”
His gaze softened now, his expression incongruous to his words. “If you must know, I do not take kindly to being told what to do. You are not the only one averse to sharing a marriage bed, my beautiful harpy.”
Rhiannon winced.Sweet fates. As much as it pained her to acknowledge it, she sensed the truth of his words, and still there was more that he seemed disinclined to say.
“Thank you,” she said, bewildered.
Did he believe her mother would kill her once their vows were spoken? Some part of her searched for a hidden motive she could live with.
Or did he truly not want her?
Unfortunately, she waited too long to speak.
Another horn blast sounded from the ramparts, and the lord of Blackwood turned on his heels and marched out the door, leaving Rhiannon alone, for the first time without guards. She stared unblinking in the direction he’d gone, and then she peered down at the key in her hand.
The key to her shackles.
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