Princess Avenger - Brightcastle Saga Book 1 (18 page)

The brown bear
lifted his muzzle from the ruined throat of the human, blood
dripping from his whiskers. His shoulder and chest throbbed. This
human had caused those hurts and the chase had been difficult. The
bear didn’t understand his compulsion to hunt and kill the man,
just as he didn’t know why he had spared the woman. Easy prey was
the best, but she had smelled
familiar
… and that confused him.

He felt little
desire to eat the flesh before him but the energy expended had to
be replaced and his wounds needed healing. He settled before the
corpse, groaning as the strange hard objects that had pierced his
body grated against bone, sending fresh agony into his chest and
shoulder. He tasted his own blood. This human could provide the
cure he needed. One blow of his huge claw opened the chest wall. He
seized the quivering heart and ripped it from the vessels that fed
it. The organ disappeared in one mouthful. Blood pooled in the
chest cavity and the bear drank from the fluid. Nature’s healing
energy flowed into him. He tore through the muscle that separated
the chest from the abdomen and feasted on the liver and the
spleen.

The bear knew,
vaguely, that he should be moving. Hunters would come, scouring the
forest with their sharp metal, and he must hide until it was safe.
A vague memory of the woman flashed though his mind again but he
did not understand. The huge creature dragged himself from his
resting place and padded off into the forest.

The buzz of activity
downstairs awoke Alecia mid-morning. After lying sleepless for most
of the night, she had fallen into an exhausted doze around dawn.
Her mind swarmed with thoughts of Vard and the bear, her betrothal
and the ball, skittering from subject to subject, not resting
anywhere for long.

Eventually she
had to acknowledge one truth. Vard was far from human. His
transformation last night into a huge brown bear was not her
imagination, and he had contemplated attacking her. Her survival
had rested on the whim of a wild creature and, worse, that animal
was her protector.

There was a
knock on the door. Alecia ignored it and pulled the covers over her
head. Perhaps whoever it was would go away.

“Princess
Alecia, my dear,” a smug male voice said from beside her bed.

Alecia sat
bolt upright to find Lord Finus leaning over her, his eyes fixed to
her bosom. “Why are you in my chambers?”

“
Ah, my
dear, you forget that I am your betrothed now. I can do
almost
anything I wish.” His eyes
roved over her face and shoulders and returned to the bodice of her
nightgown. “I have come to inform you that King Beniel and Queen
Adriana are about to depart. They wish to say goodbye.”

Alecia stifled
the impulse to order him from the room. She hated the way his eyes
caressed her body, as if it were already his. “I thought they were
to stay several days.” It would have been better for Vard to kill
her last night than to face the slow death of the spirit that Lord
Finus would inflict upon her. She tried to tell herself that
children would make her life bearable, but when she contemplated
how those children would be conceived she felt physically ill.

“The events of
last evening have unnerved the prince.” A look of fury passed
across the lord’s visage. “He has decided that it will be safer for
the King if he leaves now. I agree, even though it will mean the
monarch misses our betrothal ceremony.”

Alecia’s
stomach clenched at the mention of the ceremony but she would not
be distracted. “You look angry, my lord.”

“I was
frightened for your life, Princess. It is only natural. I could not
forgive myself if you had been injured.”

“You believe
the bolts were meant for me?”

“What other
conclusion could be drawn?

“
Surely
Captain Anton was the target? He was, after all, the one injured.”
She drew her knees up beneath the covers and wrapped her arms
around them.
Vard is out there somewhere, injured, perhaps dead. Vard is
a bear!
Her whole being
started to tremble and Finus did not even notice.

“Regardless,
Princess, we must assume it was an attempt on your life, and we
must be more vigilant.”

Lord Finus’
voice trailed away and his gaze narrowed, but what he saw in his
mind’s eye, Alecia could only guess. She was convinced that the
attempt last night had been aimed at Vard. Had Finus ordered it?
But why would he put her at risk like that, when a stray shot could
have ended his plans to marry her? No, that did not make sense
either.

“Perhaps we
shall learn more when Anton returns,” he said.

Alecia drew a
deep breath. “He is still missing? What of the assassin?”

“The soldiers
found the mutilated body of a man in the forest this morning, just
outside the grounds. There is no identification on the corpse but
there was a ring on the body…” Finus’ jaw looked so tight it was a
wonder he could speak at all, “a ring bearing the serpent design of
the guild of assassins.” The lord seemed uncomfortable in the
extreme and Alecia could well imagine her father had been harsh in
his treatment of his future son-in-law. Perhaps Finus was not
involved in the attack. After all, he had much to lose.

“The bear has
not been located,” Finus said, squaring his shoulders and peering
down his nose at Alecia. Her betrothed had a truly remarkable
ability to shrug off adversity. She could almost admire that. “Our
tracker is still out. Perhaps he will find the animal and it can be
killed. It would not do to have a man-eater roaming the
countryside.”

Alecia
shivered. “You think the bear attacked the assassin?”

“There is no
doubt, Princess. It seems the bear killed the man and then ate
various organs. We must find the creature and kill it before it
strikes again.”

Alecia had
gone cold. Her mind played the scene of Vard’s transformation into
the bear and she imagined the giant jaws tearing at human flesh.
She shuddered. It could so easily have been her flesh between those
teeth.

“Princess,
what shall I tell His Majesty?”

“What?” she
said. “Oh, please ask him to wait. I will be down within the
hour.”

Lord Finus
bent to kiss her cheek but Alecia turned away. His long fingers
gripped her jaw and she gasped as cold lips descended on hers. She
froze, terrified that he would push his claim right there in her
room. The hard fingers left her jaw and trailed down her throat and
breast. Alecia froze, unable to breathe, but just as she raised her
hand to push him away, Finus straightened, cold triumph on his
face. He left without another word and the tiny spark of hope left
inside Alecia died.

King Beniel and Queen
Adriana’s entourage had assembled on the palace drive by the time
Alecia dragged on a gown and made herself respectable. Ramón
stepped from his position in the line of palace staff to escort her
to the monarch’s side. She refused to meet his eyes, still angry
about his behaviour the previous evening.

Ramón leaned
down to her and she stiffened. “I am sorry for last night,
Princess. It will not happen again, now that you are
betrothed.”

Alecia stared.
“Your behaviour was inappropriate, betrothal or not!” she
snapped.

He frowned.
“It is just that I have waited so long for your love, Alecia. I
could not wait longer.”

“Be quiet,”
Alecia said. “This is not the time or the place.”

She swept a
deep curtsy for the King and then the Queen. “I am distressed to
see you depart so soon, Uncle… Aunt.” Alecia could not find it in
her heart to care. Her relatives supported her betrothal to Lord
Finus. She was truly alone. “Is there nothing I can say to delay
your departure?”

King Beniel
kissed her hand and then pulled her into his embrace. His breath
held the faint odour of garlic, a fault she had not noticed when he
had been the perfect uncle.

“My brother is
right, my dear,” said the King. “We cannot risk the life of our
Queen. We must take ourselves from this peril. By staying we
further endanger your life and Jiseve’s.”

Queen Adriana
stepped forward, resplendent in her cobalt-blue gown trimmed with
gold lace. “All will be well, Alecia,” she said, her voice low and
eyes serious. “You will come to love your husband in time.” She
gave Alecia a brief hug. “Do not fight your fate.”

Alecia’s heart
sank. The Queen’s words rang a death knell for Alecia’s future
happiness. Perhaps her aunt was also miserable? Alecia gave her
another curtsy and stepped back. She could not forgive her aunt and
uncle for supporting this union.

The royal
couple looked at Alecia a moment longer, as if they wished to
extend the conversation, then King Beniel ushered his Queen into
their coach. The royal conveyance rolled away down the drive to a
blare of trumpets and a cheer from the prince’s household. A few
townsfolk also cheered and clapped from outside the palace
gates.

Alecia trudged
up the drive towards the palace steps. Ramón caught her up on the
stairs.

“Congratulations again,” he said. “You will be busy planning the
wedding now, I suppose.”

“You think I
will be consulted on that?”

“What is the
matter?”

“I do not see
why I should accept this with good grace, especially in the company
of friends,” she said. “Lord Finus is the last man I would choose
to marry. I hate him!”

“You knew
yours would be an arranged marriage, Princess. You cannot be
surprised.”

“I thought my
father loved me enough to consult with me before choosing my
husband. Then to pick a man almost old enough to be my
grandfather…” Alecia shuddered.

“That is the
way of many arranged marriages, Princess,” Ramón said. “It is to be
hoped that Finus still has it in him to produce the royal
heir.”

“No one
understands! I will kill myself before I let that old lecher touch
me.”

Ramón clutched
her forearm. “You cannot mean that!”

Alecia stared
at him so he could be in no doubt of her sincerity. “I will take my
life, if I can. If not, he will have to rape me to get me with
child. Now, let me go.”

Ramón released
her arm but walked alongside her as she took the stairs to her
chamber. “Let me guess whom you would rather wed,” he said when
they stopped at her door.

“I am not
going to have this conversation with you. I am too tired.”

“Have you
heard that Captain Anton has not yet returned?”

Alecia
swallowed a surge of panic at the mention of Vard. “I had heard.
You did not find any trace of him last evening when you entered the
forest?”

“No. I soon
realized there was nothing I could do until first light.”

“What you did
was foolhardy, Ramón. The captain would not expect you to take a
crossbow bolt for him.”

Ramon’s clear
blue gaze clouded and sweat shone on his brow. “Your precious
captain will have some sticky questions to answer when he does
appear. Why he fled and left you alone, for instance.”

Alecia
knew the squire well enough to see he was hiding something but
right at this moment she did not care what it was. “I do not intend
to stand in my doorway and gossip,” she said. “If you have news of
Vard
-- the captain --
let me know. Please excuse me.”

She closed her
door in Ramón’s face and leaned against it, taking deep breaths in
the hope that she could bring the tide of her emotions under
control. Tears would not come but her entire body trembled. It had
taken everything she had to hold herself in check as Ramón
discussed Vard. She could not abide it if he did not return, or if
the hunters brought word of the killing of the rogue bear. Equally,
Alecia did not know if she could face the man who had awakened her.
Her body yearned for his even now, but she was terrified of the
animal that dwelled beneath his skin.

Vard knelt in the
shadows of the rain barrel and waited for the patrol to pass. He
was loath to approach the witch but she was the only one who could
help him now. He was weak, so weak. Dusk deepened the shadows. Just
a few moments longer and it would be dark enough to reach her front
door. There was no question of climbing in an upper-storey window
in his condition.

He wondered
what had occurred at the castle since the events of the previous
night. A flash of Alecia’s horrified face came to him and he drew a
ragged breath. She had seen his transformation and he had
contemplated attacking her. It could so easily have been her body
that he had ripped into last evening. The metallic taste in his
mouth was testimony to the fact that he had drunk the blood and
eaten the organs of a human. The foreign life force leaped through
his veins, even as his stomach tightened at the forbidden meal. He
might not know everything about the creature he was, but he knew
that to feed from a human was taboo. What would the consequences
be?

The hand that
reached for the stone at his throat trembled. Perhaps it would’ve
been best for him to lie down somewhere and die, but the time for
that had passed. He could’ve made that choice last night and he’d
not had the self-control. Now it was too late.

Alecia’s face
danced in his mind. She wouldn’t come within a mile of him after
what she’d witnessed last night.

That young
woman was an itch he couldn’t ignore. She stirred his blood, and it
was not only sexual. He cared for her more than he should, more
than was good for her. Theirs was a union that could never be,
especially after her betrothal. Vard rolled his shoulders and
shifted position, trying to ease tight muscles. Could he walk away
from Alecia, knowing she had fallen victim to the intrigues of
Prince Zialni and Lord Finus? She was brave, but could she deal
with this betrayal by her father? Could she survive a loveless
union with Finus? Vard didn’t believe so.