The forest lord, p.35
THE FOREST LORD, page 35
"Mr. Blake detected the presence of one of his wendigos, and thought it expedient to take Donal from the house. Unfortunately, that made it impossible for him to continue guarding the rest of us. I was rather good at picking locks when I was a boy." He turned back to Eden. "I learned within days that Claudia had not gone where I expected but had returned to Hartsmere. When I arrived and tried to take custody of the boy, she…" He grimaced. "She has hired a henchman to do her bidding, an American. He has prevented me or the servants from leaving Hartsmere."
"Is Donal well?" Eden asked, ignoring Claudia.
"I saw him briefly when I first arrived, but yes—he has not been harmed. Claudia—"
"Will you speak of me as if I am not present, Cyrus?" Claudia said, mocking to hide her hurt. "Here we are, all together again. Where is the happy reunion?"
"Happy?" He moved by slow steps to Eden's side. "Not while you hold my grandson."
"Ah. I will enjoy hearing the tale of where you have been all these years, and how you came to assist Eden after abandoning her for so long. But that can wait for a more opportune moment."
"If one ever comes."
"It will, along with peace for all of us."
He shook his head. "Whatever your game, Claudia, you must return Donal to his mother."
"So that she may lose him to his father?"
"His father?"
Claudia smiled. "Yes, Cyrus. He is alive… for the moment." She gestured toward Hartley. "Do you not recognize your would-be son-in-law?"
He looked at Hartley, and slowly the knowledge spread across his face. "My God," he whispered.
"The situation is quite complex, as you can see," Claudia said. "But I assure you that I am in command of it. The monster can do nothing while my 'henchman' has the boy in his keeping. You have avoided responsibility for the pain you caused, Cyrus, but you are too late. You would be best advised not to interfere."
"But I will, as long as you intend my daughter and my grandson harm, even if I must—"
"Your daughter, Cyrus?" Claudia said. "No. I think it is time to end that fiction." She swept the group with her glance. "Tonight we are speaking the truth in our hearts. It is time for you to do the same, dear Brother."
All eyes turned to him. "Papa?" Eden whispered.
He covered his face with his hands. "Claudia—"
"Tell her."
Slowly, he dropped his hands. "Eden, my dear—I had prayed it would never come to this. I have deceived you, hoping to protect you. In that, too, I have failed.
"You see… Claudia is not your aunt. She is your mother."
Chapter 22
Eden let the revelation sink into the calm, quiet center of her being, where it could neither hurt nor surprise her.
She supposed that she had always known in that same deep part of herself. She had simply never admitted it even to her innermost heart.
She met Aunt—Claudia's gaze. Claudia had behaved like a deranged stranger ever since Eden's arrival. Her obsession with Hartley was frightening in its power, and she posed a very real threat to Donal.
But now she looked at Eden and… waited. Did she expect her daughter to rush into her arms with a glad cry? Or did she find all this an entertaining pantomime that would somehow further her cause?
Half aware, Eden moved close to Hartley. He was the one person who had not changed beyond all recognition. He put his arm about her shoulder.
"I have been your father for four-and-twenty years," Lord Bradwell said, bowing his head. "I loved you like a daughter. But I am your uncle, Eden. My wife was your aunt." He faltered. "She loved you, too."
"Do not stop there, Bradwell," Claudia said. "Tell her the rest."
He closed his eyes. "Your… Claudia was married a year before your birth, Eden. It was a love match. But a tragedy occurred, and she lost her husband in a terrible accident on the fells."
Claudia laughed. "An accident, yes. That was what everyone believed. Do go on, Cyrus."
"Claudia was very ill for a time after that, and we learned that she was… with child." He flushed. "When the child… when you were born, Eden, she was still not in her right mind, and we feared for your safety. It was necessary that I and your aunt… care for you while my sister recovered from her grief."
"Recovered?" Claudia's eyes flashed with scorn. "Is that what you call sending me to an asylum for the mad?" She looked at Eden. "I was there for two years. Two endless years."
"We could not help you, Claudia," Lord Bradwell said. "Please, try to understand. You showed no memory of having given birth when you came back to us… and it was only much later that I suspected you did know. By then, she was our daughter, and you were content to be her aunt—"
"I was never content. You believed what you wished and neglected my child while you pursued your pleasures. I was a true mother to her when you all but abandoned her."
"I know. I know that now, Claudia. But I will make it up to her."
"As you have done so far? You would have served us all best if you had stayed away. Eden doesn't need you, and I certainly do not. Perhaps you should run now, or I may allow your daughter's suitor to take his revenge upon you before I take mine on him."
"I seek no revenge," Hartley said. He looked at Eden, gentle and sad and showing her everything she might have called love. "I hold no enmity against him. I… regret that I ever threatened to do him harm, as I regret the pain I caused you. I ask your forgiveness."
"Yes," Eden said. "Yes."
"And I—" Lord Bradwell shook his head. "I am beginning to believe that I, too, was mistaken." His glance was for Eden alone, and with it he asked a question and accepted Eden's silent answer. "There are many things beyond mere human understanding, but I… hope to learn."
Eden's eyes filled with tears. There was a tiny oasis of sanity in this grim desert of pain and sorrow. She was deeply proud of Hartley and her father. Peace, and an end to the fear and hatred, was almost within their grasp.
"Poignant, indeed," Claudia said with a lift of her lip. "But have you forgotten, Eden, that this monster killed your true father?"
The knowledge cast a baleful shadow over her hopes. She forced herself to meet Hartley's eyes.
"I have not forgotten," she said, very low. "I forgive you, Hartley. You did not know. You were different then."
"But I do not forgive," Claudia said. "You may have bewitched my daughter, Monster, but you have not paid what you owe me."
"Is my grandson to be the price?" Lord Bradwell demanded. "Do you hate him, Claudia, as you hate his father?"
"No. But he will destroy my daughter's life as long as he remains by her side. He is his father's son."
"Yes, he is mine," Hartley said. He stepped away from Eden and stood toe to toe with Claudia. "You will give him to me."
Claudia did not move. "Are you prepared for violence, Monster? Believe me when I tell you that not even all your magic will persuade me."
"No!" Eden grabbed Hartley's arm. "No, Hartley. There must be another way."
"She must be stopped."
Claudia looked over Hartley's shoulder, catching Eden's gaze. "It is he who must be stopped. Can you not see, my daughter? You must choose."
In place of the anger that should have come then, Eden felt pity. This woman had virtually raised her without benefit of a mother's name. She had taught Eden to thrive in Society and given her the strength to bear the past five years. The undying grief of a terrible tragedy had turned a decent woman into a pitiless stranger.
Eden could not stop loving her. In an odd way, that realization gave her the courage to go on and the determination to win. And it crystallized within her mind the decision she had been fighting since Hartley had revealed himself.
Donal would never be safe in a world containing those like Claudia Raines. Once he was with her again, she must choose—but not between Claudia and Hartley. She had already accepted that she must let Hartley go.
But he loved Donal. He could provide their son with the security he might never find in this world.
She moved between Claudia and Hartley and spoke to him over her shoulder. "Find our son. Take him where he will be safe."
"That will not be necessary." Claudia gestured toward the door. Eden looked, and gasped.
On the threshold stood a man, a stranger in buckskin and fur. Locked in his grip was Donal.
"Mother!" Donal struggled fiercely in his captor's hold, but the man was far too strong.
"Easy, lad," he said in an accented drawl. He lifted Donal off his feet. Hartley charged the stranger who pulled up a shotgun one-handed and jammed the muzzle into Hartley's chest.
"Iron shot," he remarked. "You'll die, Wendigo."
Hartley's nostrils flared. "You are the poacher who tried to murder us in the forest."
The man's gray eyes blazed with fanatical light. "It's my calling to rid the world of demons and evil spirits, Wendigo. Lady Claudia told me of the great wickedness you have caused. This innocent child won't be twisted to your shaping." He pressed Donal's head to his shoulder. "I sense your weakness. You'll soon be defeated."
"Lady Eden," Claudia said, "may I present Mr. Blake, of the United States of America."
Eden walked up to the American, jaw set. He refused to meet her gaze. "If you shoot him," she said, "you will also have to shoot me. Give me my son."
"That I can't do, ma'am." But he loosened his hold on Donal and set him down to face Eden.
She smiled brightly at Donal. "I am so glad to see you. Are you all right?"
"Yes, Mother." He stood very still in the stranger's grasp. "Da?"
Hartley reached for him. The American thrust bruisingly hard with the shotgun. Eden knew that Hartley was angry enough to risk a very painful and permanent death.
Why did he not use his magic? Did the iron in the gun prevent it, or was he weakened from the enchanted flight from London?
Lord have mercy.
She placed her hand on Hartley's arm. "What do you want, Claudia?"
Her mother moved for the first time since Hartley's appearance, walking stiffly to the center of the room. "We appear to be at an impasse," she said. "I could have Mr. Blake kill your lover now, but it would harm the boy to witness such violence. However cruel you may think me, I do not relish hurting him." She sighed deeply. "Before your arrival, I had planned to send Donal to America with Mr. Blake, who understands the ways of creatures such as your lover and could properly care for his child. But now… I am prepared to offer a bargain."
"Mr. Blake will return your son to you, Daughter, and you may leave Hartsmere, but only if your monstrous lover is willing to sacrifice himself. If he is not…"
"I will make whatever sacrifice you demand," Hartley said, never taking his eyes from Donal's captor.
Eden dug her fingers into the rigid muscle of Hartley's arm.
"You cannot do this," Lord Bradwell said, starting for his sister. "I will not—"
"I warned you not to interfere," Claudia said. "Do not mistake my sincerity."
"I beg of you. Stop this."
"You will thank me when it is done. And so will my daughter." She reached inside the her black cloak. A dark, heavy object appeared in her hands.
"I had this made, in case my shot should fail to kill him. It is fortunate that I kept it." She turned it in her hands, and Eden recognized it as a collar—an iron collar, shaped to fit a man.
"Take it, Daughter," Claudia demanded. She signaled to the American, who backed away, Donal still in his grip, and let the muzzle of his shotgun drop. "Your monster must willingly accept this binding, or you shall never see your son again."
Wave upon wave of sickness battered Eden's body. "I will not."
"You must." She felt Hartley's breath on the back of her neck, his warm hand at her waist. "I may die whatever we do, but this way one of us will have him."
"Remove Donal from the room, Mr. Blake," Claudia said. "He need not see this. If I do not come for you within the hour, do as we agreed and take the boy to America."
The hunter backed out of the room. Donal whimpered and struggled, but the sounds receded quickly until Eden could no longer hear him.
You will never see him again.
Like an automaton, Eden took the collar from Claudia. She was not of Faerie blood, yet the metal burned her just the same.
You cannot, her heart cried.
"You have no choice," Claudia said.
Eden let the collar hang from her hand and commanded her feet to carry her back to Hartley. He gazed at her, untroubled, almost serene. He lifted his hand and caressed her chin with his thumb.
"Do not be afraid," he said. "Let me think of others besides myself. Let me know that you and Donal are safe. Let me act… as though I have known mortal love."
A prism of tears blurred his face. "She means to kill you."
"I know."
She flung the collar to the ground and embraced him. "Hartley, no."
His Lips brushed her forehead. "I know you will care for Donal, my dearest mortal. I understand love well enough for that. Teach him to be proud of what he is, and to survive." He lifted his head and spoke to Claudia, and as he did, he became a magnificent creature once more, proud and otherworldly and untouchable.
"Hear me, woman. You may take my life. But you will first swear to me, upon your God Above All, that you will give Donal to Eden, and that you and your servants will not harm or imprison mother or son for the remainder of your days upon this earth."
His voice hung over them with the weight of power. Eden dared to believe that he might be strong enough to resist his enemy. That he knew something she did not and had a scheme to defeat Claudia.
Claudia was very still, and for once her expression revealed a hint of unease.
Hartley snapped his fingers, and Tod materialized at his shoulder. Claudia stared at the hob with horrified fascination.
"My lord?" Tod said, staring wide-eyed at the mortal company. "Tod has watched the boy. He is not hurt. The cold hunter is clever and hates all Fane, but not my lord's son."
"You have done well. Have you heard this woman's oath?"
The little man became a streak of light and appeared over Claudia's head. "Tod heard, my lord."
"Soon I will be your lord no longer. I have but one task left for you. When I am gone, you will remain to see that Lady Eden and my son leave Hartsmere in safety, using every means necessary to shield them from any who would follow. You will serve the lady and the boy for five mortal years and protect them with your life. Then you are free of all binding forever."
"Free? Home?"
"Home."
Instead of rejoicing, the hob looked at Eden with his bright button eyes. "My lady," he said. He twirled about and vanished.
Hartley set Eden away from him and held her shoulders. "I have done what I can. Now do what you must. Do not be afraid for me."
Love was indeed a miraculous emotion. Hartley saw it moving within Eden's eyes, limitless and mortal, giving her what she needed to bear these final moments.
She would never know that he was afraid. He smiled and lifted her chin with his hand. "Last night will live within me forever."
Her lovely eyes never left his. "As it will within me. Thank you, Hartley. Thank you… for my son." She stood on her toes and kissed him, pouring all her passion into that last caress.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I know." He kissed the tears from her cheeks. "Now, Eden. Quickly."
She fell to her knees and picked up the collar. Slowly she rose, holding the iron band tight to her chest.
Hartley bent his head. Her hands shook so badly that the Iron grazed his neck many times before she could fit it around him. Fire encircled his neck, the flames searing through his skin. The cool of her hands was the only relief, and it was nothing.
"Lock it," Claudia commanded.
Through a roar of pain he heard the click of the collar's latch. He thought Eden was weeping, but his vision was gone. All his body's defenses, drained by the swift and magical journey from London, were bent upon fighting death.
"I have done what you asked," Eden said, her voice flat and hard. "Give me my son."
"When this is finished," Claudia said. "I will not break my word."
"I pity you. And I will never call you Mother."
"Someday you will realize that there was one in this world who truly loved you. Let us end this quickly."
"What will you do?"
"We shall go up upon the fell, where he destroyed my Raines. There I will confine him in a cage of iron at the edge of his beloved forest, where he may watch it while he dies." Claudia's voice shifted as if she had turned away. "You will lead our captive to his destination, Cyrus. He has no power to hurt any of us now.
Hartley tried to laugh, but the collar choked off all sound. Do not fight her, dearest one, he willed Eden. Save our son.
Somehow, he knew that she heard. Someone—Lord Bradwell—took his arm and pulled him away. He staggered and reeled like a drunkard. Pain was his world. All but the most essential parts of his body shut down by the time they left the house.
Yet he still heard Eden's voice. It remained his lifeline as he stumbled over rough gravel and snowbound park, all but blind, unable to summon even the smallest creature to his defense.
"Do not do this. Claudia—Mother—I beg of you. If you only let him go, Hartley will leave this world forever. Let that be enough…"
Her words became an incomprehensible drone. Hartley sensed the change under his feet as they started up the fell. He nearly walked into the escarpment that marked the boundary of pasture and wood.
"I am sorry," Lord Bradwell whispered. "Do not give up hope."
Hartley's response was an animal grunt. On hands and knees he crawled over the rock. Then there was more climbing, and the ground leveled out at the edge of the forest.
Lord Bradwell stopped short. "Good God," he said. "It is barbaric."
Eden sobbed under her breath. Hartley made a great effort, and his vision cleared just enough to reveal what they had seen.
A cage. A cage, big enough for a man to crouch in, barred with iron. A heavy padlock hung from the door. It rested within a few brief yards of the nearest tree—salvation that lay just out of reach of the being it would imprison.
