A Nymph Without Mercy
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It was better not tofeel.

He was furious forher disobedience, as to his supreme horror, she had stumbled upon him in thevery act he had not wanted her to witness. As he had expected she had flinchedfrom him and looked so afraidwhen heapproached, and that was never his desire.

Not from her.

When she had run hehad almost considered leaving her. She had seen with her own eyes now the manshe had chosen as a companion, and as he had believed she could not bear thetruth. But with a growl he had stalked after her, not feeling the need tohurry. She would not get far, and he knew perfectly well that panic made one’sdecisions sloppy at best.

But seeing her run,run from him made him ache in placeshe did not wish to consider.

So it was better tofeel nothing at all, not in regard to her.

Garrick hated marketday.

He hated the peopleand the smells and the way that even in a crowded centre he could not disappearlike anybody else. He was at least a head taller than the lot of them, andwhile such was helpful for looking past and through the busy streets for sightof the long hair barely contained by his cloak, in general he thought it anuisance.

The anger flared anewwhen he discovered her speaking with a man. It did not matter that he waselderly, something in him prickled at always replaceing her in the company ofanother.

It was time theytalked—really and truly discussed the nuisances of their ways of life, becausehe could not continue as they had been. To ignore it proved inefficient as atevery turn it was once again obvious how she was not versed in how to approachhis world.

She had told him shewould keep after him until he accepted her as a mate, but did that mean shewould remain faithful should he ever relent? Or was she merely intending tofree herself from him by bedding him, their bond sealed and her duty done?

He bristled at thethought, and he determined that after he had collected her from this man’scompany, he would give her a stern talking to about what being his companiontruly entailed.

Being alone in withother males would not be permitted, not when they seemed drawn to her like afly to a honey pot.

The people gave him awide berth, as they often did whenever he was desperate enough to join them.

When he drew closerhe kept to what shadows he could, curious as to what they were discussing. Thepart of him that was convinced she could not possibly be as sweet and innocentas she appeared flared anew, and he needed to know if she abandoned the pretencewhen near another.

But she was as kindand gentle as she was with him—at least, until he provoked and badgered herinto a display of her own, less than formidable anger.

He was only mildlysurprised to hear this was the same man that had helped her on the road. Wemblewas the primary inlet from the small villages—so small in fact that he wouldhardly consider them villages at all—that could not possibly support themselvesshould any of their members have a more specialised trade.

She had seemed waryof him at first, but quickly, and to his intense astonishment, she had appearedalmost embarrassed. At first he assumed it was because of his own brusquemanner, but something tugged and whispered to him that she was ashamed for him. And though foreign, he foundhimself agreeing with that interpretation, and the annoyance and anger atreplaceing her began to wane.

Before he could quitthe man and his spools of thread—what respectable man possessed such atrade?—he placed an age-worn hand on Garrick’s gauntlet. “M’laird, a moment.”

Garrick glowered,wanting nothing more than to return to his horse and be free of all of this. Hedid not like people, especiallypeasants who would seek to presume upon his relationship with Mairi and givehim unsolicited advice.

“Speak quickly, Ihave matters to attend to.”

He glanced away fromthe man to ensure that Mairi was in fact waiting for him. He did not relish theidea of hunting her down twice in one day.

She was being luredby a smiling and rotund woman, evidently intent on a supposed noblewomanwearing her stock.

The interlude mightcost him a few coins, but she would be safe enough.

He turned back toHarold.

“Marriage is a trickybusiness at the best of times—I should know, I’ve been wed for... well... I canhardly recall a time before I was wedded to my Grace.”

Garrick’s glowerbecame an exasperated huff. “Is there a point to this that we might reach inthe near future?”

Harold was a frailman, that much was certain, but when he rose to what height he did possess andgave Garrick a disparaging look of his own, Garrick could see the remnants of aonce capable soldier. Now he might puff about with his pipe and sell his dyesand spools of thread, but there had been many wars in his lifetime andobviously he had been forced into the throes of them. “A wife is a treasure,m’laird, and I won’t apologise for sayin’ it. That girl is the best thing thatwill ever happen to ye, even if all the kings in the all lands grant ye landand titles. I was once gruff and surly and could snap at the best of them, butwith a wife that will only lead to her cryin’. And there i’nt much worse than awoman in tears, especially when her smilin’ at ye with all her sweetness makesye feel like the grandest of husbands.”

Garrick stared, tornbetween rebuffing his words on principle—he was not one to be lectured by anyman—but there was a truth and sincerity in his words that caught him unawares.Because whether he wished to acknowledge it or not, he already felt that he hadseen too much of Mairi’s unhappiness, and her smile was indeed one of the mostbeautiful things he had ever beheld.

But words failed himso he gave a curt nod instead before going to collect his companion from thewoman currently thrusting a cloak about her shoulders. “A fine lady such asye’self should have a proper cloak, not one that looks like ye stole if off aman’s back!”

She went to unhookthe clasp of his cloak and remove it from about Mairi’s shoulders, and an alltoo familiar anger flared anew. When he had given her his cloak it was thefirst time he felt as though he had treated her rightly—like the lady that shewas— and to see this woman disparage it left him feeling bereft.

But before he couldintervene and snatch her away, away from all these people with their advice andjudging eyes, Mairi was clutching it closed as she fumbled with the clasp andbegan to back away. “This was a present from my mate, and I’ll not have youtouching it!”

The portly womanblinked at her before her gaze settled on Garrick. She curtseyed low, hercheeks an unflattering crimson. “M’laird, I meant no harm in it.”

He knew that. Thiswas not his first experience in a market, and all of these sellers were tryingtheir very best to make their wares seem the best and most desirable. But shehad offended some hidden part of him that he had yet to examine, and althoughhe knew it would be wise to give Mairi a cloak of her own—he would have need ofhis own eventually—now was not the time. Not when the anger simmered and theshame bubbled, and all he wanted to do was flee.

Except fleeing nowincluded collecting Mairi, and as she followed the woman’s stare behind her shehurried to him, all wide eyed innocence as she looked at him expectantly. “Arewe leaving now? Was Harold pleasant?”

Garrick harrumphedbefore striding away briskly, wanting to be free of this place as quickly aspossible.

But before he couldget too far ahead he hesitated.

She was a lady,whether he found her in the woods or in the finest palace in all the kingdoms.So he stopped and waited for her to scurry to his side before he extended thecrook of his arm.

She stared at hiscuriously. “Is your arm injured? I cannot tend to it with your armour inplace.”

Despite himself, Garrickreleased a low chuckle, shaking his head. “Nay. Traditionally a lady would takea knight’s arm as he escorted her home. I was merely attempting at courtesy.”Belatedly he realised his error, and his arm fell away. She would not want to touch him, even with his skinsafely hidden away behind metal plates, and he was a fool for offering it.

Before he could turnaway completely she gasped—and were those tears in her eyes?—and she clutchedat his arm as she tried to reposition it as it had been. “I am sorry, I did notknow. Thank you for telling me.”

That was not what hewanted. He did not want her touch out of obligation or her misunderstandingthat custom and polite behaviour meant she was duty bound to comply. But as heopened his mouth to tell her this, to wrench away to nurse his hurts in peace,he saw her—truly saw her.

She beamed.

Her smile was onlysmall and soft, but there was a happiness in her expression that was impossibleto deny.

It made him despiseall the more the way he had treated her previously.

A flash of memory atthe fear in her eyes as he had approached her in the street after hisassignment had been dispatched haunted him. She was putting her faith and trustin a brute with little tenderness to offer a delicate woman such as herself,yet she did so all the same. And he had scorned and blustered and made herexperience terror—and he had never felt more of a monster.

He swallowed thickly,purposefully keeping himself from looking at her as he led them through thecrowd and back to Callum. “We are going to speak, you and I. We are going tocome to an understanding,” for my sanity,he added silently.

From the corner ofhis eye he saw the brief moment of worry cross her features before she hid itaway. “If that is your wish.”

They continued in silence,Callum waiting precisely where he had been left. He appeared a cross betweenforlorn and impatient at his abandonment, and Garrick patted his neck firmly incomfort. “My apologies, friend. But our companion felt the need to flee and itwould have been rude not to retrieve her.”

Callum jerked hishead obstinately, and Garrick could not help but chuckle as he gave one lastpat of good will. “You know that if I put her in charge of your carrots youwould come to love her in no time,” he murmured, and he glanced over hisshoulder to see Mairi staring with a furrowed brow.

“Are you speaking ofme?”

Garrick drew to hisfull height, resolute that he would not be ashamed of speaking to his horse, andapproached her purposefully. This time he did not hesitate before hoisting heronto the saddle. Hesitation meant she could squirm away, and he had experiencedquite enough of that this day.

There was another,more visceral reason he had to keep his movements brisk when necessity demandedhe touch her. He wanted to linger. Hewanted to replace a reason to keep his hands wrapped about her trim waist as heslowly and oh so gently placed her on the saddle, only to follow himself as hecontinued the torment by pulling her closer to the crook of his body as theyrode onward.

But such thoughtswere dangerous and wholly unwelcome.

So he kept his movesperfunctory and his touches quick so as to keep from bothering her overly much.

His grip on her asthey rode however could not be helped, and he reminded himself of that firmlyas he prodded Callum into a walk. There was no rush, no pressing task thatdemanded completion—and in truth, there was also little direction. Garrick hadpromised to talk with her of where they should go next, and he fully intendedto keep to his word. But first he would have to report back to the one who hadhired him, and that meant travelling many leagues eastward.

“Well? Your previouschivalry is waning if you do not give an answer. I shall be forced to assumethat you were whispering all kinds of dreadful things about me and now Callumwill never like me.”

To Garrick’ssurprise, she sounded perfectly serious. Her hands, which had previously beentucked firmly about his neck as she feared for her life as they galloped alongthe road, were now in her lap, inching ever closer to play with Callum’s mane.

He very nearlyincreased his pace simply to have her clutch at him again.

But he contentedhimself with his arm about her waist, holding her steady and necessarily closeto him—far closer than was good for either of them.

“I can assure you,his dislike of you would stem more from your flight and his master’s subsequentneed to catch you which left him without greens to nibble than anything I mighthave said.”

Her worried eyes methis, and he nearly regretted his dry words. “I was wrong to have run. You aremy bond-mate and I promised to remain at your side and I have already failed. Ibeg your forgiveness.”

Garrick groaned, notat all replaceing comfort in her words. He wasthe one who should shower her in apologies, not the other way around. For herto suggest that the fault was hers should have given him relief. His guiltcould be absolved for she was willingly accepting blame for all that hadtranspired.

The power would oncemore be his.

But that wasridiculous in the extreme for as his grip on her tightened when Callum stumbledslightly on an errant cobblestone, as he knew from the moment he first saw her,Mairi wielded more power over him than any other who had come before.

He swallowed thickly,reminding himself firmly that he was the one to tell her they would speak.Nevertheless, he had not intended to be on a horse. There would be a cracklingfire and food warming on the spit and he would have distractions should he require them. But instead she was stillwatching him with that imploring look, as if his next declaration should havethe ability to shatter her.

He rather supposed itdid.

“Mairi, why do youthink I bound you to the tree?”

That seemed tosurprise her, but she swiftly averted her gaze and resumed twiddling Callum’smane between her fingers.

Garrick sincerelyhoped she did not begin to braid it, for he would be damned before he rode awar horse gussied up like a prancing pony.

“You did not want meto follow. You did not believe that I would obey you when you told me to stay.”

He grimaced, the wordobey making him uncomfortable. Shewas not a dog for him to command, and he did not want her thinking that of him.

“I did so because Idid not want you to see me at work. You say you do not know much of my world,and that is true. That is good. Iwill... attempt to be more forthcoming in matters that are appropriate for youto know and understand, but you must also trust me when I deny you. Some thingsare simply better left unknown.”

She was quiet for along while, and Garrick would have enjoyed the fine breeze, the warm bodypressed against him, and the knowledge that he had completed his task well if notfor the tension coiled in his belly that her silence could not bode well.

“Why was his bloodred?”

She spoke so softlythat he would never have heard except that he listened and watched so intentlyfor any sign of her thoughts. He stiffened, not certain if he should respond.

They had exited the cityand Garrick allowed Callum to plod back from whence they had come. It had beenhis intention to return, and he would have if Mairi had not followed him. Heshould like to provide her a bed. Not only because he had begun to miss thecomforts of his own bedroll, but also because she deserved the ease andsecurity of a room with a lock, and the ability to have some peace without hispresence.

But she had made aninquiry, the second time she had asked it of him, and this time her voice wasentreating him and sounded so very lost that it sent an ache in his chest.

“What are you?”

He should not haveasked—it was an errant thought that he did not want to truly consider. She wasa maiden, fine and fair, and that was all. Raghnall might have implied theywere of another race, another kind, entirely,but that was nonsense.

And he wished hecould rescind his question even as she stared up at him, confusion evident.“You know what I am. You call me nymph, after my people.”

This was not theconversation he intended to have. They were going to settle matters betweenthem—decide that when he must complete an errand,she would remain behind so as not to be tainted by what he must do.

And certainly notdebate on whether myths and legends were true.

Garrick had killedmany. The tone of their flesh, their land of birth, it did not matter. All ofthem bled the same red—assuming he dispatched of them in such a messy way ofcourse.

But not her.

When his arrowpierced her, the blood that issued forth so profusely was not like any he hadseen. He had dismissed it at the time, as he had been terribly upset by thewhole dreadful business and was more concerned about her than her peculiar physiology.

“That is not why I call you that.”

His voice was hoarse as he grappled with the possibility of her beingnot exactly human.

Her brow furrowed, and he suppressed the urge to drop the reins andsmooth away the fine line with a fingertip. “Then why? I assumed it was becauseyou believed me.”

Garrick shook his head, groping through his mind for a response thatwould not be insulting. His tone when he used the term was usually biting,nearly hurtful in some way as if he was distancing himself from her unearthlybeauty.

It was not as though he could call her angel, even if it had been his first impulse.

Garrick saw the small divot in the forest that signalled their previousnight’s encampment.

He needed a moment. They should move on, replace proper shelter, warm beds,and a meal—perhaps frequent the tavern he had found this... creature in before.

Mairi seemed surprised to return, but meekly allowed him to help herdown from Callum, who immediately went to his favoured greens from earlier andmunched contentedly.

Garrick walked away, his mind revolting against the possibility ofaccepting that Mairi could be anything but a maid.

Her head was bowed as she stood where his bedroll had once been laid,and he took in her qualities, not for the first time. Hair longer than he hadever seen, remarkably untangled from her sojourns. She knew not of eating, shehad no shoes, and her people banishedher for merely touching the likes of him.

He swallowed, a peace settling over him the longer he pondered andmaybe—just maybe—began to think that it might be true.

“Does this mean I am entitled to a wish?”