Stealing Kathryn - Jacquelyn Frank Gatherers

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shall have a reprieve…for now.” Aerlyn didn’t like the smug look that crossed his features, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. As Adrian’s Companion, Cronos was exposed to a great deal of the energies Adrian managed. The backwash of it had poisoned him just like it had her brother, although not nearly on the same scale. Also, Aerlyn wasn’t certain she’d ever really liked Cronos to begin with. A relatively simpleminded creature, Cronos was very dedicated to his work, and to Adrian, but his motives had never been clear to her. Adrian at least had dedication to his people to compel him.

      But Cronos…

      “Your Master is at the foot of the stairs, injured and bleeding. See to him immediately.”

      Cronos jumped at the command, a look of despair entering his eyes for a moment. Whatever his motivations were from moment to moment, Cronos was devoted to his Master.

      Aerlyn gave the woman in the bed one last look, then left the room and bolted the doors.

      Chapter 4

      Kathryn moaned softly, stirring in her sleep.

      As she felt consciousness coming on herself, she felt piercing soreness in her throat, the heated, burned feeling of her face, and stiffness throughout her hands and her entire body.

      She opened her eyes, dreading what she would see.

      She saw a very normal-looking wood-beamed ceiling.

      Her eyes widened in shock. What had happened to the colored streamers? She sat up swiftly, twisting around…

      …and fell out of the bed.

      She landed on a wooden floor with a crash. Pressing her torso up on trembling arms, she stared in dizzy confusion at the pretty, but rather ordinary, Turkish-style rug beneath her. She looked rapidly around herself, turning her head like an owl’s as she tried to make sense of where she was. It was a large room, yes, but no bigger than her father’s bedroom. In fact, the four-poster bed, the polished wooden floor, and the stone walls were all very similar to the ones in her own home.

      But not quite. This room was somewhat newer, better kept, and of a more modern design. The ranch she had grown up on had been in her family for generations and the wear and tear of the years certainly showed, no matter how much she had tried to keep it up.

      Kathryn shook her head to clear it, wondering if she was dreaming. Truly, this was simply a figment of wishful thinking. She was probably still sleeping in that awful room on the floor before those horrid, entrapping doors.

      She looked down at her hands suddenly. They were black and blue and cut, as if she had been pounding on a door in desperate need to escape. Then she noticed her gown. It was plain white cotton, reaching neck to ankles, with ruffles at the borders of her wrists, hem, and throat. So simple and conservative. The fabric so wonderfully plain. But before she let herself get excited about any of what she was seeing, she narrowed her eyes and went about making a closer inspection of her surroundings.

      “What trick is this now?” she wondered aloud.

      Just then, the doors to the room swung open swiftly, startling a cry from her.

      Kathryn’s shocked eyes ran the entire course of the tall, stunningly beautiful woman who had entered. She had never fathomed that a woman could be so tall! Surely she must be almost six feet in height, only an inch or so shorter than Kathryn’s own father. Her entire carriage made her seem taller still, as she held herself in an erect and statuesque manner. Her figure was divine. Round and full at the hips and breasts, flat across the ribs, and almost absurdly thin at her waist.

      She was wearing a gorgeous dress made of ice blue linen, its tailored perfection and the elegance with which she wore it speaking volumes for her wealth and sophistication right off the bat. She had sleek black hair, peppered with shiny silver strands, that was swept into a high catch, only to let loose a cascade of coils and waves down the back of her head and neck.

      The woman’s eyes widened suddenly as they fell on Kathryn’s stunned, upturned face. Kathryn watched in fascination as the peculiar sterling gray color of her eyes gleamed in the light. Kathryn’s own eyes were gray, but this woman’s were so light and shining they were almost like silver.

      “Oh!” the woman breathed, an elegant hand sweeping up to her throat in surprise. Then her eyes warmed and her breathtaking countenance became the very epitome of concern and sympathy. “You’re awake, at last!”

      The woman swept into the room farther, gliding down to Kathryn’s level in a cloud of a divine lilac-scented perfume. She took up Kathryn’s limp hands in her own.

      “How are you feeling?” Then she was pressing her palm with gentle, fluttering concern all around Kathryn’s forehead and still-damp face. “You’re still a bit feverish, my dear. You really should not be out of bed!”

      “I…I fell,” Kathryn said dumbly. What on earth was going on? What place was she in this time? Who was this woman?

      “I can see that.” The woman smiled radiantly at her and Kathryn felt a little calmer for it. Whatever was happening, this woman was a marked improvement from the beast she had encountered in that horrid chamber. “Come now, back to bed. You need a bit more rest before you should be getting up. But I must say,” she went on as she helped Kathryn to her feet and back amongst the covers, “it is such a relief to see you conscious and lucid. You gave me and my brother a terrible fright.”

      “Your brother? Is he that awful creature I saw? With the hideous face?”

      The woman laughed, looking down at her as a mother would look down at her fanciful child.

      “I’m not sure my brother would take kindly to that particular description. He’s rather vain, all ego, you see.” Then the woman seemed to notice Kathryn’s fearful and suspicious expression and frowned with sudden worry. She sighed with a look of understanding entering her eyes. “I can see you are still not well.”

      “I don’t understand. What’s happened to me?” Kathryn was very confused.

      “Why, you’ve been ill. My brother was riding the estate when he came across you. You were acting quite out of your head, you poor thing, but it was obvious you were riddled with fever. Adrian scooped you up and rushed you to me as fast as he could. That was well on a week ago. You’ve been in bed with a raging fever ever since.”

      Ill? With fever? That could explain a lot, but…but it had all seemed so real! She looked down at her hands.

      “What happened to my hands?” She held them up defiantly. She wasn’t going to be tricked by a soothing voice, a convenient explanation, and a lovely face.

      “Well, you did that to yourself. You would become quite violent with delusion. You kept throwing yourself against the wall, demanding to be let out. I hated to see you hurting yourself, but there was nothing we could do to stop you. You’ve scratched yourself all over. But the doctor says he’s seen that and worse with the fever you’ve had. It seems to be going ’round the entire county.”

      Kathryn stared in shock at the woman. Was it true? Was she supposed to believe that this had all been nothing but a delusion? But…didn’t that make much more sense than what she had thought she’d seen? Kathryn looked piercingly into the other woman’s eyes, but she saw not even a glimmer of deception.

      “Are you all right? Really, you should lie back and rest.” The stranger put warm hands on her shoulders and pushed her down into soft—not abnormally soft, but just plain soft—pillows. Kathryn let herself relax a little.

      “What is this place?” Then she shot into an upright position again. “My family! How is my family?”

      “Your family? Well, I hardly know who you are, never mind your family. But if you tell me, I’ll send my brother out right away to find out. As for where you are, we call our home the Willows. Perhaps you have heard of it?”

      Kathryn shook her head slowly, her blue eyes wide with confusion.

      “Well,

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