Page 68 of A Duke Under Her Spell
“I do not know where the treasure is,” Marybeth protested. “I have never known.”
“I have searched every room in this castle and have found nothing. I had hope to purchase it and have it rendered asunder stone by stone, but was refused; however, I did not let that stop me, and I began removing stones. It was during this time that I found the tunnel leading to Arkley Hall. It occurred to me then that the Duke must already have the treasure in his possession; however, my hired man searched every corner of that manor house before his death and found nothing resembling a treasure.”
“You hired the intruder that plagued the walls at Arkley Hall?”
“Yes, I did. A rather ingenious plan if I do say so myself. I had hoped to get rid of you, witch, by using him to scare you as a ghostly apparition, but you did not go.”
“I do not believe in ghosts.”
“Unfortunately, neither did the Duke. At the very least I had hoped that he would remove you from his household when you failed to keep his mother alive, but your potions worked. Had you not arrived, the Duke would have wed Cordelia as his mother’s last dying wish and all would have been well. As the last remaining heir to the Arkley Estate, when the Duke died from a terrible accident, all would have gone to his dear grieving widow in hopes that an heir might still nestle within her womb.”
“You lied to me. You never had any intentions of killing the Duke if I did not leave him, did you? That would have ruined your plans.”
“Yes, I lied. Oh, not about wanting to kill the Duke, simply the reason and timing of it all. Once Cordelia and he had wed, I would have killed him, and taken his wealth as my own. I had it all planned out, but what I did not plan for was you. The witches of this forest have been a bane to my family’s existence for centuries. We would have killed you all were we not afraid of being cursed for it.”
“It was my ancestor in the legend who supposedly hid the treasure. Was it one of your men who searched my croft two nights past?”
“Yes, but only as a matter of course. I have long known that your family did not hold knowledge of the treasure’s location in spite of your familial connections.”
“How could you know such a thing?”
“Because it was my father and Lord Enfield who tortured the information out of your mother. After everything that they did to her, if the treasure had been in your family’s possession, she would have told them.”
“What?” Marybeth’s head reeled with his confession.
“Yes, Lord Enfield and my father were cousins. We are family. The quest for the treasure has been passed down from father to son for hundreds of years. My father died having given up, surrendered his birthright, leaving our family in ruins. I vowed upon his deathbed that I would be the one to find the treasure, break the curse, and set my family free once and for all.”
“Do you have any idea what he did to my mother?!” Marybeth screamed launching herself at the Earl with murderous intent.
The Earl jumped back laughing. “Tsk, tsk, Miss Wright. Another move like that and you will pay the price. I would not sully myself with a witch such as yourself, but I am certain that one of my men would be glad to do the honors on my behalf.” A chuckle from his men said that they indeed would be glad to do so.
“Leave her be!” Felix shouted angrily fighting against the men who restrained him.
The Earl’s eyes flashed angrily. “I will see you dead before this day is out, Your Grace,” he sneered. “Do not make me do something we will both regret before the proper time.”
A commotion at the entrance to the castle caught everyone’s attention as angry shouts could be heard echoing across the stone floor. “I want her dead!” Lord Enfield’s voice demanded as he entered the room. “I want to hold her still beating heart in the palm of my hand.”
“What has happened?” the Earl stepped between Marybeth and Lord Enfield blocking her view.
“Stephen is dead! She let him die!” Lord Enfield shoved an accusatory finger past the Earl at Marybeth. “I curse the day that you were ever born,” he hissed stepping around the Earl to loom menacingly over her. “I should have slit your mother’s throat making sure that she was good and dead. As it is, I should have killed you in your cradle.”
“Why did you not do so?” Marybeth asked. “You had ample opportunity, having had me watched for so many years. Why did you allow me to live?”
“I thought you might one day be useful to me,” he growled. “I was wrong, and have naught but the pain you have caused to show for it.”
“I did not let Stephen die. I fought to save him. I would never allow a man to die, let alone my brother, without fighting with everything I have to save them.”
“I do not believe you,” Lord Enfield spat on the ground at her feet and leaning down, grabbed her up by the hair. “And now you will pay,” he drew his knife from its sheath in his boot and placed it to her throat.
“Enfield!” The Earl stepped forward taking command of the situation. “I need her for leverage. Alive.” He placed a hand on his cousin’s arm and pulled the knife away. Lord Enfield released her, throwing her to the ground.
“You have no leverage,” Marybeth retorted angrily. “We know that you are going to kill us when you are done with us. How does it possibly benefit you to use me as leverage with such knowledge?”
“I will kill you quickly if you cooperate. If you do not, I will make it a slow and painful death. One in which the Duke will be forced to watch you raped and tortured before his very eyes. I will then hang, draw, and quarter you, feeding you to my dogs for the mere joy of having done so. Then I will castrate the Duke, cut out his tongue, and chop off his fingers, so that he may live with the knowledge of what was done to you, but never be able to seek justice by revealing who maimed him.”
“You are a sick, disgusting, perverse monster!” Marybeth cried out on a sob. The image his words painted caused her stomach to turn over and she swallowed back the bile that arose within her throat.
“I will kill you, Bredon, before this is done. Mark my words,” Felix seethed, his eyes shooting black arrows of hatred into the skull of their enemy. “I will kill you.”
