Magic.
Royce approached the tree and he felt Beatrice close behind him and when he stopped, he made sure she stayed well behind him by roughly pushing her there with his arm.
The figure was cloaked, the hood hiding his face.
“Who are you?” Royce demanded.
With a flick of her hand, the Esmeralda Crane unmasked the figure.
Royce drew in his breath as he heard Beatrice gasp behind him.
* * * * *
Colin stalked with menacing strides toward the figure pinned to the wall.
Marian was clearly holding it there with her arm still aloft. Colin didn’t even want to think what that meant.
He felt Sibyl close behind him and when he stopped, he made sure she stayed behind him by pushing her there with his arm.
The figure was hooded somehow, its face masked.
“Who the f**k are you?” Colin demanded.
With a flick of her hand, Marian tore the glamour away from the figure.
Colin drew in his breath as he heard Sibyl ask from behind him, “Who the heck is that?”
In a low voice, Colin answered, “Mrs. Manning.”
“Mrs. Man… the invisible housekeeper?” Sibyl burst out.
“You killed my son!” the woman screamed, her voice, Colin realised, used to sound old, damaged and scratchy. Now it was just old.
He should have thought of that earlier when Robert told him about the voice their attackers from the Centre had described. But he didn’t. He would have never suspected his efficient, mostly unseen housekeeper of plotting his murder. Now he stared at the woman who had not only kept his house but kept his aunt and uncle’s house before him.
“You killed her son?” Sibyl breathed.
Colin whirled with disbelief on his fiancée. “I didn’t kill her son,” he exploded.
“You killed my son,” Mrs. Manning shouted.
“She says you killed her son,” Sibyl stated and turned her eyes to Mrs. Manning. “You are a crazy lady,” she noted angrily, sidestepped Colin and started to approach the housekeeper, would have done if Colin hadn’t again hooked his arm at her waist and yanked her back hard against his body. Even though he did so, he could actually feel Sibyl’s fury boiling inside her. “You nearly killed us!” Sibyl yelled.
“He killed my son,” Mrs. Manning spat.
“He didn’t kill your son, you silly cow,” Sibyl spat right back and Colin would have grinned at Sibyl’s defence of him if it all wasn’t so bizarre and, of course, he wasn’t so f**king angry.
Mrs. Manning turned her malevolent eyes to Colin.
“He was your squire. You took him into battle. He died at your side.” She was talking, glaring, hatred oozing from every pore and not making a lick of sense. “He was so honoured to be your squire. To be the squire of the great knight, Royce Morgan. And then he died. And his blood will forever be on your hands.”
Colin felt Sibyl’s body freeze.
At the same time, Marian whispered, “You’re an eternal.”
“What?” Colin, Sibyl, and Colin could swear at least two, possibly three, other male voices said at the same time.
“An eternal, she’s used dark magic to live for centuries, to stay alive throughout time to exact vengeance, knowing Esmeralda had set her spell to restore true love,” Marian explained to her audience and then turned back to Mrs. Manning. “You killed Royce and Beatrice nearly five hundred years ago, it was you.”
“I did but now she saved them, the filthy witch whore,” Mrs. Manning spit, her eyes moving to Sibyl.
It was Colin’s turn to freeze and then he poised to strike.
“No, Colin,” Marian warned and at her tone, Colin’s eyes shifted to the older lady. To his surprise, she smiled smugly at him. Then she said something even more bizarre than any of the events of this night. “Let Royce take care of this.”
“Royce!” Mrs. Manning screamed, her voice hysterical and utterly, completely mad. “He nearly killed me before but he didn’t do it,” she crowed. “He cut my throat but he didn’t sever it.”
“There is no scar,” Marian informed her, the smile never leaving her face. “Not yet, at least.”
Mrs. Manning’s eyes widened.
“Royce didn’t kill your son,” Sibyl, still seething with rage, butted in. “You shouldn’t have blamed him. I’m certain your son died with honour. He wouldn’t have thanked you for killing Royce and Beatrice.”
“You don’t know,” Mrs. Manning snapped.
“I do know. My Dad’s a professor of Medieval History, of course I know! A squire would be honoured to train under a knight of Royce Morgan’s reputation, his strength, his character, it would be learning from a master.”
“You don’t know!” Mrs. Manning screamed. “He was stupid. Royce felt such guilt at Henry’s death, he let me into his home, he gave me food, clothing, he took care of me. Miss Beatrice told me he cared for my son, in his way, he loved him.” She shook her head, her eyes narrowing malevolently and she spat out, “Bah! He didn’t love him, he murdered him. It wasn’t his blade that brought Henry down but it might just as well have been. All the while I was at Lacybourne, I plotted their deaths. All the while I waited for the perfect moment when his guard would be down. When I came out of those trees on the night of their wedding, Royce smiled at me and bade me good eve right before he watched his bride snatched from his arms and her throat slit.” Her face split in a hideous grin. “It was the most beautiful moment of my life.”
At these words, Sibyl reared, tore from Colin’s arms and rushed forward.
* * * * *
“She will not stop.”
Royce was holding Beatrice back as the venom poured out of Mistress Manning’s mouth. His new bride was furious; he could feel it emanating from her body. Contrarily, regardless of her bloody-minded temper, Beatrice was the most gentle of creatures, had a heart so full of love, he worried it would burst. It definitely got her in a serious number of even more serious muddles.
But now, he knew, she could commit murder.
“She will not stop,” Esmeralda repeated. “She will hunt you for eternity. She will haunt your line. She will never stop.”
Royce thought of Sibyl, the woman from another time and just as he did, Esmeralda continued, “You were supposed to die this night. There is powerful magic in the air. I don’t know how it happened but you have been saved. Someone, somewhere, saved you both. You may live a peaceful life but this woman will be avenged. It might not be you and Miss Beatrice but it will be someone in your line somewhere along time. She will stop at nothing. She will have her vengeance.”