and it destroyed him.”
Holding her hands up to stifle her pitiful sobs, Willow’s tears fell like precious rain against the stony ground.
“I was angry with you because you didn’t return to him,” Shauna told her honestly.
“Four of her ribs and her pelvis were broken. She could barely walk,” Seth defended her.
Shauna gazed at Willow with utter torment coloring her eyes.
The palace doors burst open and Caleb’s long yearned for voice filled every fiber of Willow’s being. “Shauna!” he called from inside.
Willow stopped breathing. She stopped crying so abruptly, Shauna eyed her to make sure she was still conscious.
“Here,” his sister called back to him.
Seth laid his hand on the hilt of his sword, and instantly Shauna’s blade was pointed at his throat. “You’ll be dead in three seconds if he sees you holding your sword. Trust me. I understand you saved her, and I’d rather not see you die.”
“Should I just stand here and let him kill me then?”
“You do not need to protect Willow from my brother, so don’t try to be a hero. And you certainly should think about the desire to protect that scum you call king. If you don’t reach for your sword, my brother won’t hurt you.”
Willow prayed Shauna was right about her brother as his footsteps grew closer. Caleb was the most compassionate, logical man she knew but she really had no idea if he would kill Seth or not. The seconds passed into eons with each soft footfall she heard. She would see his face any moment—or she could jump over the wall to her death and end this terrible agony. For an instant, she considered it. Looking at Seth, she knew what Caleb thought and it made her want to die. She stared at the opened garden doors and waited, listening as he came closer…closer…And then, dear God, he was there, filling up the entryway with his awesome presence. Her lips parted on a breath and she threw her hands to her mouth to cover them. He was there. And she remembered. She remembered him sitting among the desert people. She remembered how his face softened when he offered her his hand after being angry with her for running off and making him fight the Catchers, the way he looked at her when he gave her a perfect lily. Memories of his lean, corded arms flooded her thoughts as she gazed upon him. She remembered the breathless beauty of his chiseled face when he gazed upon his fields, and she realized that her dreams of him in the church could not compare.
He wore a thick black cloth tied around his forehead. His brows appeared darker, his aqua eyes deeper, and so much more haunted. Willow heard a tiny groan filling the air and didn’t realize it had come from her own mouth.
He took a step closer to her. His eyes drank her in like dry soil after a torrential rain. They penetrated her soul and saw all that she had suffered. Like a dream coming into existence, he walked right up to her and lifted his fingers to the smudge of dirt on her brow. He wiped it away and would have smiled at her if his heart had not been so broken for her. Beside him, someone let out a small groan when Willow sighed at his touch. Caleb slid his gaze to Seth. “Shauna,” he said, and the sound of his voice was Willow’s music. She closed her eyes, remembering the sweet melody of it. “Take him inside. I will deal with him later.”
His sister nodded and then put her hand on Seth’s elbow, her expression telling him not to resist.
Caleb waited for them to leave before he spoke again. “I’m so happy you’re alive, and so very sorry for what you’ve endured.” His voice shook, every word sounded as if it were being wrenched from his heart.
God help her! Help her! She loved him. If he didn’t hold her in the next instant, Willow was sure she would perish.
He didn’t move to touch her again. And Willow knew by the pain in his eyes why he didn’t. “I…I’ve just been able to walk on my own since a few weeks ago.”
It seemed her words tore his heart from his chest rather than helping him understand why she hadn’t returned.
“Where are all your servants?” He turned away from her and looked around, unable to bear the thought of her suffering. “The place is almost empty.”
“They’ve been set free,” she answered