Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“I expected nothing less from you.” She wiggled out of his arms and turned, holding on to his hands. “Tell me what you have learned from Magnus. I am eager to know where we go from here.”
Her reference to we did not escape his attention. She expected them to continue on from here, and he had wished the same, though he knew it was nothing more than a futile dream.
“I will not lose you,” she said, taking his prolonged silence as ominous.
“Mary,” he said slowly and softly. He attempted to pull her to him but she yanked her hands free and stepped away from him.
“You do not have good news for me.”
“I have news that I thought not to deliver.”
“It is not what you wish?” she asked cautiously.
He heard hope in her voice and it tore at his heart. “It is not what I wish, and I will do all I can to see that it never comes to pass.”
A shiver ran through her, leaving her with a sense of dread. “Tell me and be done with it.”
He clasped his hands in front of him, holding back his anger over what he must tell her.
She waited anxiously, her own hands grasping at the sides of her skirt as though grasping for sanity itself. She sensed she would not at all like what she was about to hear.
“Magnus had news from Decimus.”
She nodded, her stomach tightening and her heart pounding.
“Decimus demands you wed him.”
Chapter 17
Mary stumbled backward as though Michael had struck her. He reached out to steady her but she shook her head and righted herself.
“Wed me?” She repeated his words to make certain she had heard him correctly.
“Aye.”
“But why?” It made no sense to her.
“He wishes to wed you to show how a sinner can be made righteous. He intends to make you into a dutiful wife who obeys without question.”
“Who does he threaten to guarantee my surrender?”
“Magnus’s wife Reena to start with.”
“He knows I would not let another suffer.” Mary sighed. “My father taught me that for every action there is a cause that sets things into motion and creates consequences, good or bad.” She looked to Michael. “There is more to this plan than he tells.”
“Magnus and I also considered this to be a trick to force you to surrender—”
“And you reached the conclusion that Decimus is truthful in his evil,” she finished with a sad smile. “By becoming his obedient wife I surrender everything, my freedom, my will, my very life. My complete surrender demonstrates his complete power.”
She wondered . . . complete power over whom?—for she herself was insignificant in his quest.
“We must leave by tomorrow if we are to arrive at the prescribed time,” Michael said.
“Or Decimus will begin his torture of the innocent. And knowing Magnus he would never allow those he loved to suffer. And to kill Decimus would bring on the wrath of the king and the Church. Decimus has planned well.”
“You need not make a choice at this very moment.”
Her sad smile turned sadder. “The choice was made when Decimus delivered his ultimatum.”
“I swore to protect you.”
“And you have.”
Michael, standing near the hearth, pounded the mantel; the sound of worn wood cracking filled the momentary silence. “This is a life sentence for you. He will be your husband with all husbandly right. You will submit to his every need, his every whim. You will never be able to leave him.”
“Complete surrender is what he is looking for.”
“There must be something that can be done.”
Desperation edged his harsh voice and filled Mary with sadness. Decimus had complete control of the situation. There was nothing they could do but submit to his demands. She sighed heavily with the knowledge that for now Decimus had won.
Michael cursed beneath his breath as he walked over to Mary’s side and took her gently in his arms. He brought her to him.
Mary clung to him in hopes of never letting go, in hopes of discovering this was all a bad dream that she would suddenly awake from and life would be good.
She laid her head on Michael’s shoulder.
“I will always be there for you, Mary. Always.”
“I have no doubt of that,” she said and moved slowly out of his arms.
He released her reluctantly. There was no more that could be said between them. The truth presented itself like a blazing message in the sky, scribed by the finger of God.
“I need time to consider all this,” she said, backing away from him.
Michael urged her not to go far and she promised him she would only go to the stream. The flowing water helped soothe her mind, calm her worries, and bring her peace though she feared that never again would she know peace.
She walked with worried steps to the stream and sat beneath a large willow tree, its branches weeping around her.