“Secure him in one of the huts,” Odran ordered one of his warriors.
“No! No!” Bram pleaded. “I did not do this. I would never harm a woman. My lady, please, I beg you. You know me. Please help me.”
Lendra stepped in front of Elysia. “Bram is right, Elysia. You know he would not do something so vicious to a woman.”
“You will address my wife properly, Lendra,” Odran ordered.
“She is upset, Odran, and we were friends long before I became your wife. And I must admit, I agree with Lendra. This is not something Bram would do. He thinks far too highly of himself and wants others to think the same.”
“Anyone is capable of anything under the right circumstances,” Odran said and released her hand. “Return to the keep with Lendra while I see to this.”
“No,” Elysia said.
Odran’s brow shot up in shock at her refusal and he scowled at her.
Elysia ignored him, stepped around him, and headed for the cottage where Finch stood. She was jerked to a halt by a sudden hand to her arm.
“You are not going into that cottage,” Odran ordered.
“I need to see what happened if I’m to determine Bram’s innocence,” she argued.
“You don’t need to determine anything. It is obvious. Bram may act like he did not do this but he’s got blood on him, quite a bit of blood, which does not bode well for him.”
“So you claim him guilty without further thought or proof? That is the very reason I will see Glenis for myself. I will not see someone from my clan wrongly accused and punished,” Elysia insisted. “We waste time arguing while a murderer walks free among the clan.”
Odran shook his head, mumbled beneath his breath, and kept hold of his wife’s arm as he walked with her to the cottage.
“It isn’t a pleasant sight for a woman,” Finch said with a look to Odran.
“But for a man it is a pleasant sight?” Elysia asked.
Finch stood with his mouth agape and with a nod from Odran stepped aside.
An odor hit Elysia when she entered the cottage and she was reminded of Bliss explaining how the body gave off different odors after death depending on how long the death occurred. It always amazed her how Bliss would pay attention and keep track of the finest detail. That was what she did now—paid attention to the finest detail.
Glenis lay on the bed, blood soaking her shift from her chest down to her stomach, reaching almost to between her legs. Her eyes stared wide and her mouth hung open. From what Elysia could see, Glenis had suffered at least four stab wounds. Why so many? Two spots alone would have killed her almost instantly. So why keep stabbing her? Anger? Revenge? Elysia’s eyes traveled over the bed and she snatched up a blanket off the bottom of the bed and gave it a sniff, then dropped it back on the bed. She turned, almost bumping into her husband and stepped around him, paying no mind to the words he began to exchange with Finch.
She noticed the two tankards on the table, an overturned chair, blood splatter on it, and—she squatted down to have a closer look at the earthen floor. More blood.
“She struggled,” Elysia said softly.
“It appears that way,” her husband agreed. “Bram probably stabbed her near to where you stand. She must have staggered to the bed and dropped down on it.”
Elysia offered her own version. “Or Bram could have woken to find her on the floor, gone to her, and lifted her to place on the bed thinking he could help her.”
“The struggle would have woken him,” Finch argued.
“Not if he had fallen into a drunken stupor,” Elysia said.
Finch shook his head. “A poor excuse.”
“I would agree with that except that Bram thinks himself too wise to be fooled and yet Tavish proved him wrong,” she said with a glance to her husband. “Bram was here enjoying a night of coupling with Glenis.”
“How do you know that?” Finch asked. “She rarely invited men to her bed.”
Elysia pointed to the bed. “The blanket smells of it. So why couple with her, then kill her?” She shook her head. “Something is not right.”
“It appears clear to me,” Finch said. “Bram turned on her in a fit of anger and killed her.”
Elysia shook her head again. “Bram cajoles women, praises them, endears them to him—”
“And uses them to get what he wants from them,” Finch finished.
“Aye, for them to sing his praises,” Elysia said. “This is not something Bram would do. This was a vicious, angry attack and that’s not Bram. All I’m asking, Odran, is that you talk with Bram and take into account what you see here before you condemn Bram for the killing.” Her stomach roiled at the thought of what Bram might face.