The lord of the castle

chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Channa Leigh couldn't stop shaking.

At home, at her mother's bedside, she would have said anything, promised anything, to see her mother well again.

But now, standing here on Darkfest's doorstep, it was time to make good upon her promise.

"What is he like, Papa, this wizard?"

"I dinna know, Channa Leigh. No one really knows."

"What does he look like? Is his face cruel?"

Dugald frowned. "He is a tall man, with long black hair. His eyes are as changeable as the seasons. As for his face… 'tis a hard face, to be sure. I dinna know if you would call it cruel, but… 'tis hard. He is never seen without a cloak. A long black cloak that billows behind him like the hounds of hell."

"Papa, do you think—?" She bit off the words as the door opened with a faint creak.

The wizard stood in the doorway, towering over them.

He wore a loose-fitting white shirt, black breeches, and supple black leather boots.

A long black cloak fell from his shoulders to ward off the chill of early morning.

His eyes burned with an intensity that Dugald found unsettling.

Fear for himself and his daughter turned his blood to ice.

Dugald took an involuntary step backward. "I have brought my daughter, as promised."

He studied the wizard's face.

Was it cruel?

The eyes seemed dark and cold; the mouth was set in a firm line; the jaw was firm and square and well denned, the cheekbones high and proud, the nose straight and sharp as the blade of an ax.

"We…" He swallowed hard, unsettled by the wizard's unwavering stare. "We will expect her back in one year."

"Aye, old man, that was the bargain."

"You do not ask about my woman."

One dark brow rose slightly. "She is well, is she not?"

"Aye," Dugald replied.

Mara was well enough, though she had been inconsolable upon hearing that her dear Channa Leigh had to leave them for a time.

You should have let me die , Mara had raged at him.

Better that I should be dead than our daughter be at his mercy .

Channa Leigh drew in a sharp breath as a large unfamiliar hand closed over her arm.

"Come," said the wizard.

"Fare thee well, Channa Leigh," Dugald said.

He handed the wizard the small cloth bag that held his daughter's few belongings.

"I will come for you when the year is up."

"Fare thee well, Papa," she replied tremulously. "Will you not hug me good-bye?"

She felt the wizard's hand fall away from her arm as her father stepped forward to embrace her.

"Be a good lass," her father admonished softly, and she heard the unshed tears in his voice.

"Remember yer prayers, at daybreak and eventide."

"I will, Papa."

He hugged her, hard and quick, and then he was gone, and she was alone with a stranger.