Decimus turned dark glaring eyes on Magnus. “I heard a different tale. I heard that you took the earl of Culberry’s life in your dungeon.” He looked past Magnus to Reena. “Culberry tortured you did he not?”
Reena sat straight and placed a hand over her husband’s arm. “He tried but my husband rescued me.”
“Really? I heard it was the dog who rescued you.” Decimus threw Horace a scrap of meat.
Horace remained sitting beside Reena. He made no move to take the meat.
“A wise and obedient animal. I may have use for him.”
“Horace is mine and will remain so,” Reena said in a tone that had everyone at the table staring at her.
Decimus leaned his arms on the table and kept his dark eyes on her. “Foolish or brave; I cannot decide which one you are.”
“I have been known to be both.”
Decimus laughed and tension eased. “You speak with honesty.”
“To a fault at times, so I have been told,” Reena said.
“There is no fault in honesty.” Decimus turned to Magnus. “Your husband can learn a lesson from you.”
Reena was quick to defend. “My husband is a good, honest man.”
“Not when he harbors a heretic.”
Reena’s skin prickled from the seething anger that filled Decimus’s voice.
Magnus spoke up. “You have judged and condemned this woman without speaking with her.”
“She was raised by heretics, what would you expect?”
“Fairness.”
“Which I will offer her,” Decimus said.
“Marriage is fairness?”
“I give her a chance to renounce her evil ways and live a good, clean, holy life. She has the opportunity to marry a man who will deliver her from sin and lead her on a righteous path.” Decimus pounded the table with his fist. “You would be wise to pay heed to my words or I may think that you need a lesson in righteousness.”
Magnus gripped the arm of his chair and held his tongue. He could not defend his own opinions without causing a threat to the safety of those he loved.
Decimus calmed though his warning remained strong. “It would do you well to think on how my generosity would benefit Mary.”
“I will not see Mary harmed,” Magnus affirmed.
“Good, then we want the same,” Decimus said. “She will have a good life with me. I will teach her obedience and she will be a dutiful wife and serve me well.”
Decimus stood abruptly and his men followed suit.
“I will meet you at sunrise to inspect your dungeons.”
Without a word of gratitude for the meal or a kind good-night, Decimus pointed at his men. They turned and left the great hall, while he himself climbed the stairs to the bedchamber prepared for him.
“They obey like dogs to a master,” Thomas said.
“Like dogs fearful of their master,” Reena corrected, scratching Horace behind the ear.
“Decimus wields hefty power,” Magnus reminded them. “There is good reason to fear him.”
“It seems, then, that this woman has no chance of help,” Brigid said, sadly. “Decimus has sealed her fate.”
The two couples bid each other good night, Thomas and Brigid returning to their cottage and Magnus and Reena retiring to their bedchamber.
Reena sat on the edge of the bed. “I feel helpless just like I did when I thought there was no hope for my starving village.”
Magnus sat beside her, taking her hand in his. “But you found a solution.”
She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. “I found you.”
He kissed her hand. “And glad I am that you did.”
Reena lifted her head to look at her husband; her blue eyes filled with sadness. “Mary has no chance of a rescue, does she?”
“Her rescue would mean the lives of many.”
“I cannot bear to think she will suffer to save us.”
“I have a week before she must be turned over to Decimus,” Magnus said.
“You do not sound hopeful.” Reena grasped his hand in her hands. “This must be so very difficult for you.”
Magnus rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes. “Her parents have been constantly in my thoughts since I have received this news. I did not want their suffering to be for naught. I gave my word to them that I would see their daughter kept safe, and they trusted my word; they trusted me.”
Reena took his face in her hands and his eyes drifted open to look at her. “Good lord, Ree, I love you so much. I could not bear to see you suffer, and I would rather die than lose you.”
“I would not want to live without you,” Reena said and kissed him.
Magnus wrapped his arms around her and they fell back upon the bed; their kisses grew heated. But Reena pulled away, their breathing heavy, their hearts beating wildly.
“I feel guilty loving you, lying here in your arms, feeling your touch, your warmth. And I grow sad and angry to think Mary will never know such a love.”
Magnus gripped her arm. “I know you well, Ree, do not be foolish and think you can outsmart Decimus. He is cunning, shrewd, and more powerful than the king himself.”