Cree nodded and Dawn tugged at his hand. He turned to her and she pointed to Gerwan’s body. He scrunched his brow appearing as if he was about to deny her request to take a look at the body, so she didn’t wait for him to reply. She walked over to it tugging him along behind her.
Once there Cree seemed as interested as she was. He released her hand, though issued no warning for her to remain near. He didn’t need to; he trusted her to keep her word.
“I suppose Torr could be right. Kirk could have expressed his love for Gerwan’s wife, it enraged him, and he struck out at Kirk. But instinct takes hold and before Kirk lost consciousness he pulled out his dagger and stabbed Gerwan.” Cree rubbed his chin giving the scenario thought. “Torr is right about one thing.” He looked at Dawn. “I wouldn’t think twice about killing a man who claimed he loved you. Then I’d throw his carcass in the woods for the animals to feast on.”
The gruesome thought turned her stomach and she shook her head.
“You don’t know men, Dawn, they can be a lowly lot and unless a man stands in honor of the woman he loves; he is no man.”
Her heart gave a patter and her stomach calmed. Cree was more of an honorable man than anyone would ever realize and he belonged to her. She turned her attention back to the body and ignored the urge to run and kiss Cree. It would not be proper action to take with a man lying dead near her feet. She studied the prone body and as with Bree’s body something disturbed her about it.
After a few silent minutes Cree asked, “What is it that you see that I don’t?”
Dawn pointed to the dagger that appeared to have directly punctured the heart. She then gestured as if Gerwan and Kirk were arguing, suddenly throwing her head back as if struck and stumbling as she reached for an imaginary dagger at her waist and lunged with stumbling steps at her foe. She then straightened and pointed at the dagger again and at her own chest where it would have hit and scrunched her brow and shrugged.
“I never thought of that,” Cree admitted. “Your observation is a wise one. How could Kirk deliver such a precise blow after having suffered a severe head wound?”
Dawn held up two fingers, added one and then another.
“One or two others could have been here and delivered the deadly blow and near deadly one, or they could have thought they had killed Kirk.”
Dawn raised her chin as if haughty and held up her skirt and pretended to walk as if she was in a rush.
“You think perhaps Lady Ann was heard approaching and the culprits ran?”
She shrugged, suggesting it a possibility.
“Torr is right. The person or persons behind this have grown desperate and are now more dangerous than ever. It seems that they will stop at nothing now to see their plan succeed. But what plan?” Cree said shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. “With Gerwan dead what stands in their way? Lady Ann can openly admit that you are her daughter and that Lucerne is the daughter of a peasant which frees me to wed you.”
Dawn stared at him, her eyes wide her mouth open. He truly wished to wed her?
Cree thought there was something wrong when he glanced her way and then he realized what he had said. He went immediately to her side and took her in his arms. “I didn’t mean to spew it out that way. It had been my plan all along to wed you.”
Her eyes turned wider and her mouth feel open another notch.
“I’m making a mess of this,” he said more to himself than Dawn. “I intended to marry you all along. There was no way I would spend my life without you.” He turned away for a moment to gather his thoughts and his eyes took note of the dead body. “This is not the place for this.”
He hurried Dawn out of the stable and to her cottage, the guards following close behind them. He latched the door once inside and wasted no time in yanking Dawn’s cloak off her and taking her in his arms.
“I sometimes think of the moment that I knew that I loved you and I’m always drawn to our time in the hut together. You were fearful, yet brave, and your courage grew as I got to know you.” He grinned. “You intrigued me more and more each day. And I found my hands eager to explore you.” He shook his head. “If I were honest with myself I’d admit that I fell in love with you upon sight, which has been difficult for me to accept since I never thought that would be possible and yet…” he shook his head. “You claimed my heart long before I even realized I had opened it to you.”