Miranda Read online

  “Oh no, no Ira, she can not mean to continue through with that idea. Not now, not when I have met… We have to do something.”

  “For now you have to go wash up and dress for dinner before she sends for you.” Ira looked down at the young lady he had watched over for the last two decades. She had shown promise of great beauty as a small child and had lived up to the promise. When she was small he and the missus had consoled her many times when her mother’s irrational temper had sent her flying for safety. Miranda had no idea how often her own daughter had cried in the arms of the various staff members. The complete opposite of her mother in every way, most of the staff would do all they could to shield her, and had over the years.

  Most of the staff was comprised of minor clan members and not one of them would choose Miranda over her daughter if they had the choice.

  Ira watched Merry until she reached the top of the stairs then he went in search of his wife. Jolene would know what to do, he hoped. He could see no way out of the engagement planned. He was certain, as were the rest of the trusted staff, that their little Merry had found the man she wanted to marry without the input of her mother but as of yet she had not brought the young man to meet them. Her slip of the tongue seemed to imply he was correct. He hoped she would bring him soon even if it meant sneaking him in the servant’s entrance so they could check him out. The staff were more than willing to help her, but only if they agreed the young man was worthy of her. Of course, no one would ever be worthy of their Merry, but if he made her happy and could keep her safe they would accept him. They just had to find a way to keep Miranda from trying to marry her off before then. If the child had just a touch more power she could stand up to her mother. Fortunately the staff had a plan.

  Soon he had gathered the rest of the staff loyal to Merry around to inform them of the slip she had made and the possible need to move the plan forward. Not one of the staff backed away from the betrayal they planned. Not when it meant Merry’s happiness.

  Chapter Four

  “How do you do this evening milady?” Lieth McNay bowed low over Merry’s hand. When he straightened again she saw the smirk on his face. His face held a hint of cruelness and she barely stopped a look of distaste from showing on her face.

  “Fine. Today was a beautiful day.” Merry tried to retrieve her hand but he tightened his grip and tugged. She knew a struggle would bring attention to them and the last thing she wanted was attention. She managed to keep her balance and gritted her teeth slightly when he tightened his grip. She saw the smile on his face and knew he was trying to hurt her deliberately. Why her mother could even think to marry her to someone like this man baffled her. She knew, no matter what she told Donovan, she knew she didn’t really come first with her mother, but surely her mother loved her more than to marry her to this cruel hateful man.

  Her mother had mentioned such an event when she was younger, but that was years ago. Until Ira had mentioned an engagement party and the McGregor clan’s visit she had forgotten about the conversation with her mother. But it seems her mother had not forgotten, nor had she wavered from her plans.

  Lieth would not release her hand no matter how often she tried to retrieve it and at one point she feared he would break it so tightly did he squeeze. When she whimpered she saw his cruel smile and knew he found pleasure in her pain. She lifted her head and refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing how badly her hand hurt.

  He moved from person to person speaking with each one and she noticed a few in her clan gave sympathetic glances her way. Yet not one person attempted to help her and her disgust for her clan began to grow. When the party sat down to dinner Lieth was seated to her right and she was able to rub her hand beneath the table to get feeling back when he released her hand. It wasn’t long before she regretting him not holding her hand.

  When she lifted the first bite of food to her mouth she felt his left hand creep across her thigh. The first startled squeak when he violently pinched her thigh caused all heads to turn in her direction. She felt the blush rise at the attention and wished the dinner party over. He turned his head toward her along with the others, his left hand in plain sight of all as he brushed it across her shoulder. His look of concern as fake as his smiles.

  Throughout the dinner party his hand attacked her inner thighs and higher. When she tried to brush his hand away he would viciously squeeze her hand until tears came to her eyes before releasing her. Then he would pinch her thigh and twist. After the third time she realized he would break her hand if she continued and the pain from the pinches was almost more than she could bear. After her initial attempt to leave the table her mother kept a closer watch on her. She didn’t seem to mind that the man sat closer than was seemly and she had to know he was touching her daughter but she just frowned at Merry.

  Merry waited with tears in her eyes, head bowed for the words that would release the women from from the room but when the words came they were not the ones she expected.

  Her mother stood up and got everyone’s attention before announcing, “I would like to thank you all for coming tonight. I know many of you have eagerly anticipated the day my daughter accepted an offer of marriage and I am pleased to announce that happened today.” Her hand waved toward Merry and the magic was swift and uncomfortable. Merry found herself frozen in place, a look of horror on her face, unable to protest the announcement. She could see the cruel smirk on Lieth’s face from the corner of her eye. “We will have a dinner party later in the week to make the formal announcement, but I wanted to share our joy with you tonight. Ladies, if you will join me we will leave the men to their ale.”

  Merry found she had little control of her body and none at all of her voice as she followed the few ladies from the room. She knew her mother could not keep up this type of magic for long as the past had shown. They were not equal in magic by any stretch of the imagination but the blood tie they had protected Merry to some degree. She had learned young that her mother had greater difficulty using her magic against her than against others. As soon as she felt the magic waver she asked to be excused. She wanted to rage against her mother but she knew from past experience any raging was best done in private. Her mother smiled and released her to her room with a nod to someone behind her and she found herself being led from the room by Lieth.

  She struggled to release herself but he only squeezed tighter and pulled her down the hall way toward the stairs. Before they had taken two steps Jolene came rushing up with a chamber pot, “Oh milady are you going to be sick again. I thought for sure you were well enough to go to the dinner tonight. Oh sir I am dreadfully sorry, she did not get sickness on you did she?”

  Merry leaned toward the chamber pot and made gagging noises which caused Lieth to release her and back away with a glare. “No one told me you were sick.”

  “Oh sir, I am dreadfully sorry. Milady has been sick for a few days but we thought her recovered enough for this celebration. To be sure she will be fine in a moment.”

  He glared at the two women before whirling around and heading back to the others without another word. The two watched him until he was out of sight, with Merry continuing to make noises which indicated she was indeed sick. After he was gone Jolene pushed the chamber pot behind a pot and wrapped her arm around Merry. As she led her down the hall to the stairs she murmured soft whispers in her ear. Her little one looked so broken. After helping her to her room she stayed to help her undress and ready herself for bed. She didn’t miss the numerous bruises covering her arms and thighs. She could feel the flames leap within her. She didn’t recall ever feeling such murderous thoughts toward anyone in her life as she felt at that moment. So many bruises from a dinner party with other people, how broken would her little one be if she had to marry one with such evil in his heart? Any second thoughts she could ever have disappeared at that moment in time.

  As she tucked Merry into bed she assured her Lily would be sent up to stay in her room that night. She rushed down the servant’s
entrance and after assuring herself the blackguard was still with the others she told Lily what she had seen and sent her up with instructions to lock the door behind her. She checked to make sure everything was running smoothly in the house before she rushed to her rooms where she could cry in peace.

  That night, as the party drifted off to the bedrooms assigned, Jolene waited for Miranda. She wanted to rage at her and ask her how she could subject her own daughter to such indignities and horror but instead she told her how sick her daughter was, blaming it on something she had possibly eaten earlier in the day. She mentioned sending someone to check on Bria, Merry’s old nanny, and how the messenger had reported back that Bria was sick also. She told all the appropriate lies she thought would explain Merry’s actions that evening and tried to lesson the fallout that was sure to occur.

  “Have someone stay in her room with her and send for the healer if she is no better come morning.” Miranda stated before turning away and heading to her room.

  Jolene watched her go with hate in her heart for the first time in over a hundred years.

  Chapter Five

  “I will not marry him mother. I will not.” Merry stared defiantly up at her mother from her sickbed. Jolene had told her of the lies she used to buy Merry some time. She had been sick during the night but from horror, not something she ate and the smell lingered in the air.

  “Not only will you marry him, you will have the child the clan needs to grow in power. I have planned too long and too carefully for you to dare think to disobey me in this.” Miranda hissed.

  “NO! I will marry for love or not at all. You can not make me marry that man. How could you even think of such a thing? Why? You don’t even like his clan.” Merry wailed. As the tears trickled down her face she stared at the mother she thought she knew. Donovan was right when he told her his love must be greater than the love her mother had for her if this was how her mother planned to use her.

  “Child, you will do as you are told. I do not have to like his clan, no nor do you, but no one can deny they have done as I have done. They managed carefully and planned well for the power he would carry. I can not fault them their plans, did I not plan your birth with the same goal in mind. I married the man from the most power, just as you will. After you give birth to a girl you can do as you please. He hasn’t the power in his own right, you know this yet you fight me. At this moment in time his family and mine carry equal power in their blood. With your marriage the child you have will be more powerful than both. That power will come to this clan. I will link that child to me, I will draw from her, and I will be able to bring all the clans under one rule. We will be united as we should be, but only with the birth of your child by him. Do you understand me? You will do as I tell you or I will make certain you regret it.” Miranda leaned over the bed and hissed “You will regret it.”

  “You want to use my child to become more powerful? You want to rule all the clans, draw power from all the clans?” Merry stared at her mother in shock. She shook her head, “I won’t let a child of mine be used.”

  The sound of the slap echoed around the room. Merry raised her hand to her cheek, unfazed by the sudden pain. Her mother had slapped her many times throughout her life, to Merry it was just a normal part of growing up. As a child she had not been the most obedient, too curious by half for her mother’s taste. But her mother had always explained later why she had to be disciplined. She wished for a moment Ira and Jolene were her parents. They had never raised their hand against her. Growing up her mother had told her they were merely servants and as such they could not touch her, but they had been the ones to hold her when she cried. This time she knew the slap wasn’t to try to get her to listen and learn. This time the slap was pure anger and rage.

  Miranda reached out for the bell rope and pulled. Merry watched the flames dance in her mother’s eyes and knew the flames danced in her eyes also, but she was beyond caring. The dinner party last night had been horrible, but the announcement at the end had shaken her to the core. She never dreamed her mother would make such a move.

  Jolene walked in the door and took in the pair’s eyes. She wanted to, well she wanted a lot of things but after last night she wasn’t sure where the clan was headed. She turned her attention toward Miranda and waited. She didn’t have long.

  “You will lock my daughter in here, water only, no food until she comes to her senses.” Miranda shot one last look of disgust at Merry before storming from the room.

  Merry turned wide eyes toward Jolene, “Oh Jolene, what are we going to do now? I can’t marry that man, I just can’t.”

  “Hush child, we will figure something out. I saw the way he treated you last evening. Come now, before your mother returns, lay down. Don’t fret now, I will send Lily with some water for you in a bit.” Leaving the room she turned and locked the door from the outside. Shaking her head she headed toward the back stairs that led to the kitchen. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. For all her power and all of her knowledge, the servants and Merry had always kept one major secret from Miranda. That secret could prove Merry’s salvation in this situation. She saw the guards at the end of the halls and one had positioned himself outside Merry’s door and watched her turn the key. That guard, she knew from experience, would check to make sure no one brought Merry food or entertainment of any sort. She kept her face straight as she opened the door leading to the servant’s stairway. Not all the servant’s were on the same side, some didn’t even know there were two sides. She needed to get word to Nathaniel. The man for all his unusual ways was one of the main focuses for the power of this clan, and he was more a fan of Merry’s than of Miranda. But when push came to shove, whose side would the man be on? Ira and Jolene were betting he would be on Merry’s side, he had helped raise the child after all.

  Chapter Six

  Donovan stared at the small castle. He had known where Merry lived for the entire time he had been courting her but she had never brought him to meet her mother. He had never gone a week without seeing her since they met. But it had been ten days since he dropped her off at her nanny’s house. He had gone to the little cottage first but the elderly lady had not seen Merry either. He had taken tea with her, as he had done many times over the last year. As they spoke he watched her movements and soon realized whatever had happened had terrified the poor woman.

  At first, when he had begun courting Merry, he had taken tea with the two often. But over time the old lady had stiffened against him and he could smell her worry. He had gradually gotten her to tell him why and he had not smelled a lie in her telling. But now he was beginning to wonder if witches, even minor ones, could tell a lie a shifter couldn’t smell. For if she had not lied then about the worry she felt, and she lied not now, then something had changed. When he left the small cottage headed for the castle he assured her he would approach through the servant’s entrance. He felt her fear lesson, but only a fraction, when he gave her the assurance.

  Now staring at the castle he wondered what could have happened to cause such fear in the lady. But his mate was inside, he could feel her, and if going through the servant’s entrance was the best way to get answers then through the entrance he would go.

  Jolene saw the man approaching through the kitchen window. She knew all the tradesmen around and most anyone else who would be approaching the servant entrance. This man did not have the look of someone looking for work. Those people usually had a certain downtrodden look about them that this man did not have. He approached with a purpose, his stride one of confidence. Her eyes widened as the realization hit and she ran from the room in search of Ira. Breathless she skidded to a halt outside the library, looking around cautiously she eased the door open. Ira was in the library with a couple of the maids explaining their duties. The maids were new and firmly on the side of the clans so instead of saying anything she looked at her husband, smiled, and widened her eyes. Turning she left the room. Over a hundred years together those subtle signs were all she nee
ded to use to tell her husband something startling and good had happened. At least, she hoped it was good. She had been almost glued to the windows for days hoping to see Merry’s man.

  She thought the man would be bold enough to come to the main entrance. If he was approaching the servant entrance he might not be the one for Merry after all. Ira had spoken to Merry’s uncle and Nathaniel had agreed to take Merry’s side if she had a side to take. He was in favor of the marriage Miranda planned only if it would make Merry happy. But after hearing the events of the dinner party and confronting Miranda he had set his face away from the marriage. Miranda would not let her brother speak with Merry, not yet, and Merry refused to relent to her mother’s demands.

  Miranda had gotten suspicious about the refusal to give in after a week but the guards had been able to assure her no food had been snuck into the room. Miranda had not believed them and after going on a rampage through Merry’s room she had found some fruit hidden in a cabinet. That had been three days ago. Ira and Jolene had been planning carefully and waiting and watching for the opportunity to spring Merry. The stable boy was loyal to Miranda as was the head groom so getting Merry out when they could not get her away would be pointless. So they waited for the man they suspected would show to arrive.

  By the time the man arrived at the entrance Ira was waiting for him. The man was cautious, Ira would give him that, but his curt, “I came for Merry” was not a good beginning. Ira said not a word as he gestured the man into the house and led him to his and Jolene’s rooms. After offering a cup of tea, and being refused Ira sat down opposite of the man in the small sitting room and waited. He did not have long to wait.