Highland Intrigue - A Prequel

“That would be terrible,” Elysia said and looked to Bliss.

“I do not know what Chieftain Emory would do,” Bliss said, fearing the powerful dictates of nobles.” She turned a stern eye on Annis. “What I do know is that you need to keep as far away from those two men as possible. Give them no reason to take notice of you.”

Annis nodded and wrapped her arms tight around herself. “I heard some things about the cursed lord, but I am not sure if I should believe what I have heard.”

Elysia leaned forward at the table, keeping her voice low as if afraid someone would hear them. “What did you hear?’

Annis leaned forward as well. “I heard two men talking. They said that the cursed lord has gone insane. That after he killed his wives, he sailed off to foreign soil where his skin has shaded from the bright sun and where he got two scars on his face from the many battles he fought. They said his father sent men to get him and the men returned battered and bruised, some with broken bones, it not having been an easy task to return his son home. They said he is more a wild animal than he is human.”

Elysia shivered and Bliss’s stomach churned.

“They also talked about the other two men the curse touched. They say the one lost his voice the day his brother died while others say he killed his brother in a fit of madness. The other cursed man suffers differently. He is so cursed that death will not even touch him. He has been condemned to walk the earth and never die. He has suffered wounds that should have taken his life. He was even hung once but it did not kill him and he was caught in a rushing stream that spit him out soon after he entered it.”

Elysia turned fearful eyes on Bliss. “What are we to do?”

Bliss did not care for her own answer. “I do not know. There is no place for us to go, to hide. We can only pray the two men will not find favor with either of you.”

“I am frightened, Bliss,” Elysia said, pulling the shawl she wore tighter around her.

“I would admit this to no one but the two of you,” Annis said with a nod to each. “I am frightened as well.”

“I feel the same,” Bliss said, hating to admit it. “I have kept you both safe all these years, but I fear there is nothing I can do if one of you is chosen and the thought frightens me down to my soul. The only thing left to us is to stay strong and pray.”

Bliss laid awake on her makeshift pallet on the floor while her sisters slept soundly, tucked in the only bed in the one room cottage. There had to be something she could do. Something that would help keep her sisters safe. She recalled what the old healer had told her before she died. If ever a problem presented itself that was too difficult or seemed impossible to handle, she should go seek the help of the wise woman in the woods… Cumina.

Many were frightened of her, believing her a witch, though they sought her help when needed. She was known for her amulets and potions, but she refused to cast a curse. That meant she had knowledge of curses. And with that knowledge, she would know how a curse could be broken.

Morning dawned busy and with having to remain available to tend whoever it was the two men had told her would arrive today in need of care, Bliss had no hope of going to see Cumina today.

“I wish Annis would not have taken the chance and gone out this morning,” Elysia said, voicing her worry that was even more obvious in the cloth that lay in her lap and had gone untouched by the bone needle clasped between her fingers. Her fingers never stilled when she held a needle. They flew across cloth like magic.

“Annis’s endless curiosity would never allow her to remain confined to the cottage for long. Besides, the two men will not look in the fields or bother with the men busy building, leaving Annis safe for the moment.” Bliss hoped such reassurance would calm Elysia’s worry.

It struck some hope in Elysia as did her own thought. “Perhaps her lack and disinterest in wifely duties will save her.”

“A good thought and one I hope proves true,” Bliss said.

The door burst open, startling the two.

“Do you know who approaches?” Annis asked, her cheeks red and her breath labored from running, though the latter didn’t stop her from answering her own question. “The condemned lord. The one who cannot die, who is forever doomed to walk this earth.”

“No one escapes death,” Bliss said.