Page 94 of Winter's Scorching Kisses
Adorra gasped. “How horrible!”
“Rumor has it that Mathar was willing to put up with his father flogging him but when his father killed his mother… he lost it.”
“He killed his father.” Adorra supplied, knowing where this was going before her sister said a thing.
“So goes the story, but I have no idea if there is any truth to it.” Jasmine rushed to tell her.
“The poor man.” She’d grown up in a loving house, and although her parents had passed while she was young, she’d never had someone be so cruel to her.
Jasmine smiled grimly as she sat back in her chair. “That man has lived a troubled life that we can barely imagine. It doesn’t surprise me he is unwilling to tell anyone about it.”
“He probably won’t ever tell me the story lest I call him a murderer again.” Her heart faltered in her chest, sputtering like it was breaking.
Jasmine nodded her head. “Dryden gave him a special pardon for killing his father. After all the torture he went through as a child, it was amazing he hadn’t snapped earlier.”
“He was so sweet this morning.”
“How so?” Jasmine cocked her head to the side.
“He tried to help me remember more about Edmund.”
Jasmine’s eyes widened. “And did you remember anything?” Hope shown brightly in her sister’s eyes.
“There was one thing.” Adorra bit her lip before continuing. “Mathar helped me realize how strange it was that Edmund preferred me out of all the women who vied for his attentions.”
“And?” Jasmine leaned forward, ready for more details.
“We both agreed that it seemed strange he would choose me over all those other women, women with more wealth to their name until I realized why.”
“Sister, you are drawing this out.” Jasmine looked like she might pop off her chair at any moment.
“If Edmund had indeed wanted to kill me as everyone insists, then he would have chosen me because there was no family to ask questions when I died.”
Jasmine nodded her head slowly. “That would make sense. With no one to wonder why you died, he wouldn’t have to fear anyone questioning whether or not it was accidental.”
“We are assuming he had any intention to kill me though.” Adorra raised a finger in the air.
Jasmine bit her lip before saying, “I believe he intended to poison you. Can you think of any moment during your wedding night that he may have tried?”
Adorra shook her head, and then she paused. “Although, there was a strange moment when he insisted I have another glass of wine. This,” she held up a hand, “was right before Mathar showed up. I only had a sip of the wine, but there had been a taste in there… something more than wine.”
The room around her disappeared, and she thought back to the night of Edmund’s death. At least tears were no longer plaguing her when she thought back to that time.
“Could it have been poison?” Jasmine pressed.
“Can I say for sure either way? No, but it was strange how he insisted that I drink the glass of wine when I had already said I didn’t want to finish it and that I’d had enough.”
“It does sound a bit strange.”
“I didn’t feel the best after that ordeal, but I put it down to trauma, and now I have to wonder if that was the small bit of poison I did swallow.”
Jasmine nodded her head. “So what do you think about it?”
“I’m not sure it’s enough, but then I also have your side of the story, and I don’t doubt what happened to you.” Adorra met Jasmine’s eyes. “I just find it so hard to believe he could so easily fool me.” Adorra raised a hand when Jasmine opened her mouth. “I’m not saying he didn’t, but I am sorry he fooled me. If I hadn’t brought him into our lives, we wouldn’t be here.”
Jasmine shrugged. “It may sound strange to you, but I’m glad that Edmund did do what he did. Now I have Dryden and this child.” She rubbed her stomach. “In a weird way, he was a blessing.”
They stared at the flames in the hearth.
