Love And Honour (Book 2)

Chapter I

She glances over at him and a false sense of hope rises in his chest. Then he reads her face, complete and utter disgust. She rises and looks over to her brothers. Logan follows her gaze. Gavriel and Gethin carry over Jasiel's body, his head lolling backwards, his eyes staring out unseeing. They slowly lower him to the ground on to a large laid out blanket. They arrange his limbs, guiding his arms across his chest. Siren wanders over, pressing her lips together as her eyes blur. She kneels down beside him and places her hand across his face. Carefully she guides his eyelids shut and presses a kiss to his cheek. His right shoulder is stained with blood that has now dried to a red-brown colour. She does not look but places her hand on his.

"Goodbye Jasiel." She whispers, her voice cracking.

Tears fill Logan's eyes but he hides them the best he can. He will not bring her more suffering. He loves her too much. It is why he still does not speak. It is why he does not explain himself or persuade her of his innocence. It will only hurt her and he cannot bring her any more pain. He loves her too much for that.

Gethin looks across at him, her eyes glinting with a dark hatred. Gavriel nudges him and shakes his head, nodding towards their sister. Gethin sighs and nods back. He moves over to Zara, Logan's Siren, and directs her to her feet. She presses her face into his shoulder and he holds her close to him, his hand rubbing up and down her back as she cries.

Gavriel walks over and tests Logan's bindings. Satisfied they are tight enough he takes a step back and surveys the man in front of him. Broken, is the word that comes to mind.

"I will ride on to the nearest village and bring back a cart. I do not trust this man not to escape. You should drug him." Gavriel speaks; his voice cold and harsh. Tears are not present in his or his brother's eyes. Gethin disentangles himself from Zara and wraps a blanket around her shoulders. She drops her chin down and rests it on her knee.

Gethin roots around in his bag and produces a cloth and a bottle. He pulls out the cork and the smell makes Logan's stomach drop. A cruel drug that will not only send him into a deep sleep but that will also make him feel incredibly ill when he wakes. Now he struggles and the ropes cut into his wrists and burn them. Gethin steadily walks over, soaking the cloth in the clear liquid. He bends down beside Logan. Logan glares at him, his stomach tumbling around within. The urge to vomit is strong as the smell mixes with the blood coating his shirt and his hands.

"Stop." They all turn to look at Zara who has risen to her feet and whose grey eyes zero in on the cloth. Her eyes flicker momentarily to Logan. "He will not run; he is too good for that."

"Too good for that?" Gavriel echoes, his eyebrows rose. "He killed our brother! He ambushed him for there are no marks on his skin. Jasiel did not even get a chance to fight back and you say this man is too good to run. He has committed murder and yet running is beneath him?"

She gapes, unable to form a response. Everything her brother has said is true; a man who commits murder will take his first chance he can to run. Her heart breaks in her chest. She has lost not one she loves, but two. "Do it." She speaks softly, her voice only just loud enough for them to hear. Gethin wastes no time and secures the cloth over Logan's mouth.

Logan struggles not to breathe it in but he cannot fight it for long. The smell drifts up his nostrils and enters through his mouth. Drowsiness hits him and his eyelids solidly close. A hand wraps around him and drags him down into the darkness, down into oblivion.

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He wakes to find himself on the cart beside Jasiel's dead body. Logan manages to push himself up so he is in a sitting position. His stomach protests angrily at the movement of the cart and sick rises to the back of his throat. He swallows it down, squeezing his eyes shut to stop his spinning head. The smell of a slowly rotting corpse does not help. Neither does the blood they still haven't given him the courtesy to wipe off.

Eventually his head is stable enough for his eyes to open, however his lips stay tightly pressed as his stomach has not yet settled.

The Ricell manor looms up before them and Logan groans. Why did they have to be so close? A few more days trekking across the land may have given Zara time to think and perhaps given him a chance to explain. That will not happen now. She will be whisked away by her parents and he will not likely see her again until the day of his execution. They will not allow her to be near him and he knows it is unlikely she will fight against that.

Men jog out to meet them, dressed in full warrior garb. Their eyes fall on Jasiel and they sink to their knees in respect. Gethin orders them to stand with a flick of the wrist. "Escort my sister to our parents and alert the embalmer." The men bow their heads to him and Gavriel, their bodies stiff as they do so. Zara dismounts so she can walk among them and they walk alongside her to the manor.

More men jog over to them and Gavriel nods his head back to Logan. "Remove him." They grab his arms and yank him to the ground. Logan is unable to stop himself and empties his stomach's contents all over the ground and their feet. They curse at him but he simply wipes his mouth and straightens up. No longer does he feel quite so ill. "Take him to the great hall. We will be there shortly." These men do the same jerky bow before half dragging, half pushing Logan across the grass.

Purposely he trips up the steps leading to the manor's main doors and they have to take his weight and push him up. They grunt with the effort and let out a united sigh when they reach the top of the few stairs. The two warriors guarding the doors frown and Logan then look to the men escorting him for information.

"Jasiel is dead." The man to his left says in a gruff voice, one hiding emotion. The warriors' faces drop before they recover and their faces become expressionless. They open the doors and wait for them to pass through. They shove Logan through and pull him along until they get to the great hall. At the end sits two large chairs on a heightened platform. At this moment they sit empty. The men push Logan down to his knees about ten feet from where the chairs are. "Try anything and I will not hesitate to slit your throat for what you have done." The man to his left murmurs harshly.