“I must know which of those men will be responsible for my success. I require you to retire to my tower immediately. You will travel to Skuld’s world for me, seeking a very specific Vision of the future from her.” She had the ability. He’d seen her do such a thing before. That it was difficult and dangerous for her to challenge Skuld’s will was of no importance to him.
“I canna do as you ask.”
“What?” He turned on her, roaring his anger, allowing the beast within to rear its head. “I dinnaaskit. Iorderedit to be so. You’ll do what I say, whenI say it. You’ll no be about refusing me if you value keeping yer daft head upon yer shoulders.”
“I’m no refusing you, my laird.” She spoke without flinching despite his threat. “I simply canna do as you order. I tried to tell you earlier. It’s the reason I came here, the reason I’ve requested an audience with you for the past week. My supply of herbs is gone. To travel in the manner you require, I must have the tonic Orabilis brews for me. Without the herbs to prepare it, I have no control over where the Visions take me.”
Deep inside him, violence stirred. Control of the beast had become so much more difficult since that day in the forest when he’d unleashed its power. Even now, the beast clawed its way up from his bowels as his rage flared, demanding to be free, to wreak vengeance on those who would oppose him. To taste blood again.
But giving himself over to the beast meant relinquishing intellectual control, and that he could not allow. Now, of all times, his wits must remain keen.
“No,” he forced out between gritted teeth, his internal battle rampaging within.
“Then I dinna see how—” Christiana began.
“Silence!” he yelled. Or perhaps the command had come from the beast within him; he couldn’t be sure.
She backed away from him, her clutched hands held over her heart, her eyes filled with fear.
Fear that only strengthened the beast.
Torquil labored to close his eyes, finally turning his back on her, hoping it would be enough. An unearthly howl filled his mind as the beast shrank back into the depths where it lived, taking the bloodlust that colored his sanity with it.
He straightened his back, breathing in the sweet smell of control once more. Clarity of thought returned, he wiped the spittle from the corners of his mouth before turning back to face those waiting for his next move.
No alternative was left for him but to allow Christiana to visit her witch. But having this forced upon him didn’t mean he couldn’t use it for his own ends.
“Very well, I will consider your request. Leave me.”
“I will need to take flour along to trade.” Her voice shook and she took a step backward, away from him.
“I said I would consider it. Now do as yer told and leave me!”
He had but to raise his voice only a little and she complied. Complied? He clamped his jaw shut to keep himself from laughing out loud. She scuttled from the room like a terrified mouse.
A mouse who had no need to know his decision had already been made.
At last he turned his attention to Ulfr. The idiot stood, dripping blood to a puddle on the floor, his eyes round as loaves of bread.
“You will accompany my sister to trade with her witch. You personally, Ulfr. Not someone you assign to the task as you have in the past. Do I make myself clear?”
Had Ulfr done as he was told last time, Malcolm might not have escaped, although the women who helped him did so with a Magic of their own that even Ulfr would have been helpless against.
“Yes, my lord. As you say, it will be done.”
“Good. I want those two new men, O’Donar and his brother, assigned to accompany you. You are to observe their every interaction with Christiana and report it back to me. Observe, but you’ll no interfere with either of the men. This is of the utmost importance to me, Ulfr. I’ll no take well to yer failing me in this task.”
“As you will it, my lord.”
The man bowed his head, but not before Torquil saw the fear in his face.
“Now go. And send someone in to clean up this mess.” The odor of fresh blood made it all the more difficult to restrain the beast.
Ulfr nearly ran from the room, reminding Torquil of Christiana’s retreat.
Perhaps the time had come to replace Ulfr as captain of his personal guard. Noble had certainly defeated him easily enough. Perhaps that was the role the man from his sister’s Vision was destined to play. Champion to the Lord of Katanes in title as well as in deed.
He rather liked the sound of that.