Gaia nodded. “Aye.”
“That man, MacDuff, was responsible for it.”
Gaia’s eyes widened. “What does he want from you?”
Corisande closed her eyes tightly before averting her gaze. “Oh, Gaia,” she whispered, feeling the horror and pain to her very bones. “For the first time in my life, I am happy. So happy. Cole and I are to be married. Did you know that? Papa gave his permission.”
Gaia appeared surprised for a moment but, just as quickly, her expression relaxed. “I suppose I knew it would happen,” she said. “Oh, I pretended I did not, but I knew he was fond of you. I could see it in the way he looked at you. And I saw the way you looked at him. I… I am sorry for pinching him. I should not have done that.”
Corisande looked at her and grinned, a moment of levity in the midst of a dire situation. “Not to worry,” she said. “Cole told me that his hand slipped onto your buttocks.”
Gaia grinned. “He spanked me!”
“You deserved it.”
Gaia’s expression of outrage held out for a mere second longer before she giggled. “I suppose I did,” she said, but quickly sobered. “I am glad you are happy, Cori. I’m very glad Cole makes you happy. But what does that have to do with what the man said to you?”
Corisande lost her humor almost immediately. Heavily, she sighed. “He gave me his terms for our release,” she said, struggling to get the words out. “He told me… he told me that one night with him would gain our release and the release of the English soldiers they captured with us. He’ll free all of us.”
Gaia’s eyes widened when she realized what she meant. “You mean…?”
Corisande nodded. “He wants to bed me.”
“And then he’ll let us free?”
Corisande nodded again. Then, she burst into tears. “My God,” she wept softly. “What will Cole say when he finds out? He will not want me after another man has touched me. But if I do not agree, MacDuff said that he will force himself upon you and make me watch. I have no choice if I am to protect you. Protect everyone.”
She buried her face in her hands, sobbing, as Gaia sat there in shock. It was true that she was young and silly, and flirted with men most inappropriately, but she was an intelligent girl. She understood what her sister was telling her and she further understood what such a terrible proposal meant to her sister’s happiness. Corisande, who was sweet and kind, who had suffered terrible luck with the knight from Hexham those years ago, and now had finally found love with Cole de Velt.
A happy future awaited her.
And now this.
Gaia had never done anything worthwhile in her life. She was vain and petty, and shallow if she was honest with herself. She wasn’t worth her sister losing her happiness over and that was exactly what it would come to. Corisande was right – what man would want her after another had touched her?
Gaia could feel her sister’s desperation, a horrible position to be in.
But there was something Corisande didn’t know.
Gaia’s promiscuousness wasn’t something she simply acquired when she returned home from Prudhoe. It was something that had been part of her for the past couple of years, ever since she’d cornered one of the squires at Prudhoe and coerced the young man into kissing her. She had been curious and nothing more, but she discovered that she liked it. Kissing became fondling, and fondling had turned into coupling.
Gaia wasn’t virgin.
In fact, she liked coupling a great deal. She liked the feel of a man between her legs. As she watched her sister weep over what would surely be a life-ruining event, Gaia knew she couldn’t let her sister go through with it. Corisande had tried so hard to protect her, to be a good sister. She was everything Gaia wanted to be but couldn’t. She didn’t have it in her.
Corisande didn’t deserve what the Scots bastard had heaped upon her.
Gaia knew she had to do something.
“Do not fret,” she said after a moment, stroking Corisande’s head. “Please do not fret. Mayhap it is not as bad as you think.”
Corisande had tears and mucus running down her face. “He was plain with his demand,” she said. “I did not misunderstand him.”
She continued to weep into her apron now, bunched up around her face. Corisande was usually much more in control of herself, but the battle march and the stress of the situation had her in its grasp. Gaia listened to her weep, feeling heartbroken and sad.
“Lay down,” she said, pushing her sister over onto the wagon bed. “Just… lay here for a while, Cori. Nothing is going to happen at this moment. You are tired. We are both tired. Lie down for a moment.”
But Corisande struggled against her. “I cannot,” she said. “If I must do this, then I’d better get it over with. God, if there was only another way. To think of that man… doing things that only Cole should do…”
She was off sobbing again and, this time, Gaia pushed her all the way down onto the wagon bed.
“Shush,” she said softly, stroking her sister’s head. “Rest, Cori. Just rest for now. There is still time… time to do what needs to be done. Just rest.”
Corisande stayed down this time. Lying on the cold planks of the wagon bed, she wept into her apron. She grieved for the situation, for the fact that, by choice, she would damage something solid and beautiful for the greater good. Not her greater good, but for her sister and the other English who had been captured.
For the greater good.
The ultimate sacrifice.
But her life, as she had hoped for, would be ended. As the mist grew denser and a think layer of water covered everything, Corisande wept herself into a fitful, exhausted sleep.
Gaia stayed with her sister as the woman slept, stroking her hair, trying to be of some comfort. But when it became clear that Corisande was in a deep sleep, Gaia stopped stroking. Carefully, she moved away from her sister and climbed down off the wagon bed.
The mist had grown heavier, but it wasn’t so heavy that she didn’t remember which direction MacDuff’s tent was in. With a final glance to the wagon to make sure Corisande was still asleep, Gaia headed off through the mist.
She was nervous and shivering, terrified someone was going to grab her before she could make it to the tent. One of her failings, among others, was her complete lack of bravery, but that didn’t stop her from going forth. Something deep inside her had stirred with her sister’s situation, something buried and dormant. But Corisande’s tears had awakened it.
Perhaps she wasn’t completely lacking in courage, after all.
She just had to have a catalyst.
This was her moment to do something good.
MacDuff’s tent was in front of her and she took a deep breath before entering. It was dark and smelly, but she caught sight of MacDuff lying on his pallet by the brazier.
She cleared her throat softly.
“I’m Gaia,” she said. “I know what you said to my sister. I want to speak with you about it.”
MacDuff sat up so fast that he nearly pitched himself off his pallet. He peered at her through the darkness of the tent for a moment. Once he was over his surprise, his manner cooled.
“What do ye want?” he asked. “Yer sister is supposed tae come tae me, no’ ye.”