She cleaned it good, the bleeding having stopped and smeared honey over it, then wrapped it. “Keep it free of dirt,” she told him, though had noticed how clean his hands and nails were. Most men had grime under their nails and hands that needed a good washing, not so Tarass. His hands were free of both.
“Are you prepared to pay the Slayer his due?”
His question so startled her that she took a step back. How could he know she spoke with the Slayer? He shocked her again when he answered her silent question.
“I make a point to know everything in the surrounding area that may or may not concern me. Do you realize why one summons the Slayer?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “He isn’t called on to protect the innocent. He’s called on to punish the guilty. The ones who evaded punishment, but deserved it.”
“Slatter isn’t guilty of anything,” she said, defending her husband.
“So you believe, but if the Slayer finds differently your husband will die. Eleanor told you what happened to the man in the abbey.”
Willow nodded, wondering how he had known about that, then realizing Eleanor must have told James and James must have told him.
“That man had brutally attacked two sisters, one died, the other survived and was left with horrible scars and a severe limp. He was an important man and he was never made to suffer for his crime. The surviving sister summoned the Slayer and he saw that the man suffered a brutal death for what he had done. The Slayer also was summoned by a grandmother who knew her daughter was killing her children, each bairn having died before they reached one year. No one would believe the grandmother when she told them she had seen it with her own eyes. When the woman gave birth to a fourth child, the husband told his wife that the grandmother would take the child and raise him so the lies about his wife would end. He was found dead a few days later. That’s when the grandmother summoned the Slayer, not only fearful for the child’s safety but for her own as well. It’s said that the Slayer came upon the deranged woman just as she was about to kill the bairn.”
“So the Slayer is no demon commanded by the devil.”
“Who else would want such wretched, evil souls, but the devil himself,” Tarass said.
“My husband is no wretched, evil soul,” Willow argued. “I told the Slayer that I wanted the person responsible for all the wicked deeds to suffer. And if this Slayer wants only malevolent souls for the devil, he won’t be taking my husband’s soul.”
Tarass stood and went to walk away, then stopped and looked at Willow. “You must love your husband very much to pay the Slayer’s price.”
“He has yet to set a price with me.”
“He has only one price… your soul.”
Willow’ stomach clenched. “You were willing to give yours.”
Tarass chuckled. “I can’t give what I don’t have.”
Willow watched him walk away and shivered. The Slayer was in for a battle if he thought she’d relinquish her soul. But just in case, she decided it was best if she saw this settled before the Slayer did.
Slatter kept his back to the wall, watching, as James, Tarass, and Sterling talked. He couldn’t believe how much Sterling resembled him. It was as if they were twins or brothers. There were some subtle differences, but not enough to take notice unless one was looking. He even walked with that same air of assurance that Slatter did.
“He struck me and I expect him to be punished for it,” Sterling continued to argue.
“You looked ready to strike his wife,” James said.
Sterling’s face pinched tight. “I will not tolerate disrespect from any woman.”
“Willow isn’t any woman, she’s my sister and I will not see her disrespected in her own home,” James warned.
Slatter listened as words were exchanged as if the three men would decide his fate. In past situations he would have paid them no heed, his fate his own to decide since he found his way out of any difficulty he had ever gotten into. Now, since Willow, it was more complicated. He didn’t want to leave her, didn’t intend to leave her, he loved her far too much. He wanted a life with her, a life far different from the one he’d been living.
So he continued to listen to see what he could learn about Sterling and try to make sense of why a nobleman resembled him and why the man wanted to destroy him.
Once Willow got to her mum’s solar, she sent Eleanor on an errand that would take time, but made sure Snow remained with her. She wouldn’t take the chance of Tarass confronting her sister alone.
Willow handed Maddie a tankard of hot cider and a piece of bread sweetened with honey and tears gathered in her eyes as she took both and ate and drank with haste.