Page 25 of Katherine the Vixen

He leaned in toward her, feeling like the brute she had likened him to many times. “I swear, my lady, if you don’t start speaking right now⁠—”

“Your foster brother, Cadell ap…something is dead.”

Siaspar’s chest caved in at the words. Cadell, always full of life and mischief, was dead? It could not be. It had to be a mistake. He could not have lost the man he considered as the brother he had never had and not know it.

“Who told you? How do you know?” he growled.

“The news came two days ago, while you were at this…castle of bones. I thought that, as your wife, I should be the one to tell you so I came as soon as you arrived.”

Yes… No doubt she had wanted to bask in his misery. She had come to tell him about Cadell’s death and yet she had not even offered a single word of sympathy, or even given him any details.

“How did he die?”

“He was killed in fight with a man whose wife he had seduced.”

“No. That cannot be. Cadell would never do something like that.” He was too honorable. Besides, with his mind full of Lady Johanna, he rarely bedded women, only surrendering to his masculine urges when celibacy became unbearable. “It cannot be,” he repeated.

Lady Malpas just shrugged, but a glint had flashed in her blue eyes.

Siaspar frowned.

Something was wrong with this story. Come to think of it, something felt wrong as well. His body had gone numb, his mind hazy. He tried to stand up. Found his strength gone, the simplest move impossible. The cup of wine he was holding tumbled to the floor. He blinked and made no attempt to clear the mess. He could not have. His arm had dropped to the side, limp as a rag doll’s. His legs were refusing to respond.

What the hell?

“Oh, dear,” Lady Malpas commented with a smile. “How clumsy you are, husband.”

Tutting to herself, she got up and retrieved the cup. Then she gathered the wet rushes and threw them into the fire, wiped the spilled wine from the stone floor with a cloth she also threw into the fire, before finally spreading fresh rushes over the stain. It struck him as odd that she should do these menial tasks herself instead of calling for a servant. It was as if she were trying to remove all traces of what had happened. But why?

Realization hit. The wine. Perhaps even the wafer…

At last he spoke, his tongue heavy, his words slurred. “You drugged me.”

Or perhaps even poisoned him. Bile rose in his throat.

“Of course, I did.” Lady Malpas sounded matter-of-fact and not the least bit contrite. “How else was I supposed to subdue a man like you? You are far too strong for me.”

She took his hand in what might to an observer have looked like a comforting gesture, but the smile on her face heralded her true feelings. She was filled with hatred for him. What a gullible fool he’d been! He had known that her sudden solicitude was suspicious. He should have trusted his instinct and sent her away without listening to a word she’d had to say or drinking anything she’d offered.

It was only with the mightiest effort of will that Siaspar managed to keep his eyes open. His blood had gone sluggish and his mind hazy. His limbs seemed as heavy as rocks. Despite his weakness he tried to snatch his hand away from the treacherous woman’s hold, but for once, she was stronger than he was.

“I’m afraid the distressing news I imparted has been a blow to you, husband.” She patted his cheek with a condescending gesture and let out a sigh. “Let me see what I can do to ease your suffering.”

With those words Lady Malpas lifted the hem of her gown.

Siaspar’s whole body convulsed in protest—or tried to. Was she going to seduce him and force him to make love to her while he was half conscious? Was that the solution she had found to remedy her situation? She would force him to take her maidenhead while he was too weak to stop her and hope he wouldn’t remember a thing in the morning. Did she want him to fill her womb with a child to secure her position as lady of the castle?

A groan escaped his lips but he knew he was utterly at her mercy. If she started to stroke him, his cock might well respond, even if his mind was rebelling. She would sit on him and get what she wanted. His only hope was that the potion she had given him ensured that he remained limp as a worm. It soon became clear, however, that seduction was not on her mind. Her purpose was far more sinister. From her garter she had produced a small knife.

She was not about to ravish him, she was about to kill him.

Somehow, he found the strength to break free from her hold but she caught him easily again.

“Not so fast, husband. I haven’t finished with you yet.”

From her place behind the curtain, Katherine watched the frightful scene unfold. Eyes wide with horror, she saw Lady Malpas run the blade on the inside of her husband’s wrist. At first, when the woman had lifted her gown, she had thought she would try to seduce him and that had been bad enough.

But no. She wasn’t going to make love to Siaspar, she was going to kill him. Blood had already started to pool at the foot of the chair.