The Apprehension (Unexpected Circumstances #6) - Shay Savage Page 0,3

words I could not hear. I watched with wide eyes as her head tilted backward, and she let out a long howl. The flames had reached her legs, the flesh blackening as her skirts burned away.

She screeched once more, and then Janet’s innocent, frightened eyes transformed into an expression I had not seen before. They narrowed, darkened, and glared in my direction as her lips turned up into an inhuman grin. She shook her head wildly as she looked into my eyes and screeched across the field.

“You are an idiot!” she screamed. “You will believe anything!”

I felt the hard steel of Rylan’s armor as I fell back against him, and it felt as though the words coming from the mouth of my…of my friend…were burning me as surely as the flames from the fire singed her skin.

“I knew!” The frightening image from the middle of the flames screamed out to me. “Every time you drank that tea, I knew it was killing any child that would try to grow within you! I knew his seed would never find purchase in your body! I knew it, and I was glad!”

I tried to step back further, the horror of her words hitting me dead center in my chest and knocking all breath from me. As I moved backwards, I was again met with Sir Rylan’s armored chest and strong arms as he held me against him and tried to turn me from the view of the field.

Janet laughed maniacally until the flames licked higher. She screamed as the fire burst out along the clothing around her chest and arms and then her hair. The brisk wind carried the smoke and filled the area, causing my eyes to clench shut when the smell of burning hair reached me. I could still hear her screaming though Rylan’s body now blocked my view.

The screams abruptly stopped though the crackling of the fire continued for some time. The stench covered us all, and I tried to block it from my mind as tears streamed down my face. I felt a new set of arms on my shoulders, and Rylan released his grip as I fell into Branford’s embrace.

“It’s over,” Branford said, his voice expressionless. “She cannot harm you again.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he pulled me against his body as I sobbed into his shirt.

“I thought…I thought she was my friend,” I whispered through my tears. The repulsive smell of charred flesh attacked my nose and made it sting.

“I know,” Branford said as he pulled me tighter against his chest. “I have felt that same way before.”

“Why? Why would she, after what we did for her?”

“I do not know,” my husband said, “but I intend to find out.”

His gaze fell to Nelle, still on the ground with two of Branford’s soldiers standing over her. Rylan was close by, his sword drawn to keep her at bay. Branford approached the prostrate woman and glared down at her.

“Tell me everything,” Branford said through clenched teeth.

Nelle’s gaze flashed from the charred corpse on the field back to Branford.

“Will you burn me, too?”

“I have not yet decided,” Branford said with a sneer. “It depends on what you reveal.”

I reached out and placed my hand against his arm, but he shook me away.

“Tell me everything. Now.”

Nelle sobbed and placed her hands over her face.

“It was Kimberly’s idea!” she moaned between sobs. “Kimberly and Whitney planned it all!”

“Planned what?” Branford yelled. He took a step toward her and kicked her with his boot as she tried to protect herself with her arms. “Tell me!”

Through her sobs, Nelle told us how she and Kimberly went to Hadebrand after their exile. There they spoke with Princess Whitney and a young man who apparently wished to win her favor—Sir Leland. He had a young cousin who knew the ways of witches.

“She knew,” Nelle whispered. “Kimberly knew what happened to your mother. She thought if the same thing was happening to another, you would be more likely take pity on her and accept her into the castle.”

“Janet…allowed those men…?” I couldn’t fathom such a thing.

“She did,” Nelle said. “They knew how you cared for others around you and hoped you would try to help her and ask Branford to help her as well. You believed her story and fell right into their plan.”

“Sir Leland planned to set it up as a wager between you with his slave as your prize. He never intended to win. That is why he opted for your second