The Taming (Peregrine 1)

“Will you beat me now? Will you beat someone else who is weaker than you? Will you beat all your relatives? Me, your wife, your brothers. Why not get your children and tie them to the trees and flog them?”

Rogan knew the woman was crazy; she made no sense. He lowered his hand and turned away from her to walk back to the village.

Liana planted herself in front of him. “What were you thinking of to beat the boy so badly? You made him look like a fool.”

Rogan’s own temper came to the surface. He grabbed her shoulders and yelled into her face. “Did you hate seeing him made a fool of? Would you rather it was me on the ground? Would you have comforted him with his head in your lap?” He dropped his hands from her shoulders. He had revealed too much of himself. He walked past her.

Liana stood alone for a moment, staring at the ground as she thought about his words. His meaning came slowly to her and she had to run to catch him. She stood before him. “You were jealous,” she said, wonder in her voice as she looked up at him.

He didn’t answer but walked around her.

She stepped in front of him again and put her hands on his chest. “Did you really beat that boy so badly just to impress me?”

Rogan looked into the distance over her head. “I wanted to test his strength and quickness, and when I’d done that, I was finished with him.” He glanced at her, then away. “He is not a boy. He is my age or perhaps older.”

Liana began to smile. She didn’t like what he’d done to his half-brother, but oh how good it felt to think her husband was jealous of the way she’d looked at another man. “He may be as old as you, but he’s not as strong as you or as skilled nor as handsome.” She took his arm and tried to lead him into the forest, but he stood where he was.

“I have been too long away from my men. We should return to the castle.” His body was rigid.

“But the wager was for you to be my slave for a whole day,” Liana said, unable to keep from whining slightly. “Come, we’ll sit here in the woods. We won’t have to return to the fair.”

Rogan found himself following the woman. Somehow she was able to make him forget duty and responsibility. He had neglected his work more since he’d married her than he had ever done before.

“Come, sit here beside me,” she said, indicating a grassy, flower-strewn patch beside a little stream.

She could see by his face that he was still angry and she started to smile at him when a movement in the trees behind him caught her eye. “Look out!” she managed to shout.

Rogan instinctively sidestepped and so missed the knife that came at his back.

Liana stood where she was and watched, horror on her face, as Baudoin attacked Rogan with a knife. She saw blood on Rogan’s arm, but in the frenzy of activity, she couldn’t tell how bad the wound was.

This time Rogan did not have such an easy time of subduing his half-brother. Baudoin was enraged, and he meant to kill.

Liana could do little more than watch as the men wrestled with each other, tumbling, rolling over and over on the grass, the knife flashing between them now and then. Rage added strength to Baudoin, and Liana could see that Rogan was fighting for his life.

Glancing about her, she saw a short, stout tree branch. She picked it up, weighing it in her hands, then moved closer to the two powerful men. She had to jump back as they rolled near her, then step forward when they rolled away. The two heads, their faces buried in each other’s bodies, were so alike she was afraid she’d hit the wrong man.

Then there was a chance. Baudoin wrenched his right arm free and held the knife above Rogan’s throat.

The next moment he collapsed helplessly as Liana brought the club down on his head.

For a moment Rogan didn’t move. He lay there, his limp half-brother sprawled on top of him. He didn’t like to admit to himself that he might have been killed if it hadn’t been for a…a woman.

He pushed Baudoin off him and stood, unable to look at his wife. “We’ll go back and send the men for him,” he murmured.

“And what will your men do to him?” Liana asked as she examined the wound on Rogan’s arm. The skin was barely broken.

“Execute him.”

“Your own brother?” Liana asked.

Rogan frowned. “It will be quick. No burning or torturing.”

Liana was thoughtful for a moment. “You go and get the men. I will join you in a while.”

Rogan looked at her and his pulse pounded in his temple. “You mean to stay here with him?”

Her eyes met his. “I mean to help him escape your injustice.”