“Tell me ye are lying,” she said softly.
“I am not,” Ronin stood firmly on his stance; unwilling to back down.
“How can ye even think that ye can just barge in here and marry? If ye wished tae marry, ye went and chose the one girl that ye most definitely should nae have. Have ye lost yer mind, Ronin?” Mara shouted and he flinched at her words. He was aware of the history between their families, and he understood his mother’s anger. Though after what he had found out today, he was not going to stand here and let his mother say anything awful about Edna.
“I did not ask for your opinion on the matter, Mother. Edna and I are already married and nothing in this world can separate us any longer. We fell in love with each other, and getting married was the only plausible option to move our relationship forward. Hence, we did not delay it. She is coming to the castle tomorrow and will stand beside me as my wife. I would suggest you keep all your hatred towards her to yourself and accept her as the future lady of this clan,” Ronin explained calmly; keeping his voice neutral.
“I will nae accept her. She is nae going tae step a foot inside my castle, dae ye understand that? That girl will bring nothing but trouble upon all of us, especially ye. I will nae allow her tae dae that,” Mara shouted yet again. Ronin knew the only way to settle this matter was to let his mother know he had the upper hand in this situation.
Ronin looked at her with resigned expression. He didn’t want to do this, but she left him no choice. He walked past her and went straight towards her bedchamber as she followed behind him while calling his name.
“Ronin, where are ye going?” He stood right in front of the curtain that the man was hiding behind.
“Who is behind the curtain, Mother?” Ronin asked; his tone calm. There was no reason for him to sound angry anymore. He simply needed to let his mother now that just the way she was allowed to make her own decision as an adult, so was he. She could not tell him if marrying Edna had been the right decision or not because it was his decision to make.
“Nae one.”
Before Ronin could pull the curtain aside to reveal the lie she was telling, the man jumped out, a knife in his hand. When henoticed the man lunging straight at him, his eyes widened. Just in time, he ducked and rolled to the side. Ronin drew his own dagger from his belt and counterattacked, quickly striking the man. Hisdagger pierced the man's lower abdomen, and he collapsed to the ground in agony. Ronin knew he would never have done such a thing if the man hadn't first attacked him, but it was done. At the very least, he hadn't killed him.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
“Ronin!” The man’s cry of pain was masked by his mother’s shouting of his name as she walked inside the bedchamber just in time to witness what he had done.
The stranger fell to the ground, and Ronin quickly turned him over to reveal his face. His large, stoic face was scrunched up in agony. He did not recognize him, but the band on his left arm indicated that he was a member of the castle guard. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach as he remembered that Edna’s father too had been a trusted soldier.
This further solidified his belief that the rumors could very well be true. Ronin shook his head, trying his best to not think about all the trouble that would cause if it were true. He did not know how he would face Edna after all this. She loved and trusted her father so much and this would simply break her.
“Before you try to tell me whether I can bring Edna to the castle or not, try to remember that you are also bringing people to the castle. At least I had the decency to marry the woman I love and bring her here respectfully rather than cloaked in the darkness of the night,” Ronin said as his mother bent down to check on the man.
Ronin could see blood oozing out of the wound in his lower stomach from the tear the knife had made in his shirt. Heknew the man would survive because the attack was minor and the cut was not deep enough to be fatal. Hehad been angry, but he was a well-trained soldier who could control the magnitude of his assault. After all, the man's only mistake was being in his mother's bedchamber in the middle of the night, and he was only there because she invited him.
“What have ye done, Ronin?” she cried; her voice filled with anguish.
“You should be glad he is still breathing, Mother,” Ronin replied.
“Please let him live, Ronin. He hasn’t done anything,” his mother begged. This was the reason he had never wanted to reveal the presence of the man in front of his mother. He hated to see the strong woman he knew in such a condition.
“I won’t hurt him, Mother. If I had wanted to kill him, I would have done so. I am not a murderer,” he replied; putting the knife back in his belt.
As he stood there, watching his mother crying over a strange man who was much younger than her, he felt as if he was in a dream. The things happening around him felt almost surreal. He couldn’t believe that his own mother, who had always acted pious and holy in front of everyone, had taken a secret lover. There was no denying that she had been carrying on an affair with this man, and with God knows how many men before him. Ronin suddenly felt rage build up inside his chest.
For a second, he wished he had killed him rather than just wounded him, but that wouldn’t have done anyone any good. It wouldn’t have changed the facts, and he would have simply been labelled a murderer. He did not wish for his name to be tarnished like that. The image of his father returned to him as he stood there.Had he too found out about Mara’s affairs the way I have? Had he been blinded by rage, and was this the reason he had killed Edna’s father? Was it his mother’s infidelity that had caused him to fall into a drunken stupor and murder his mother’s lover? Had he stood to the side as his wife cried for another man?Ronin felt sick.
“How long has this been going on, Mother?” he asked; his tone dangerously low.
“Not long,” she replied amidst her tears. Ronin wondered if her tears were real or just a ploy to draw sympathy.
“No, I mean how long you have been having affairs?” he asked again; clarifying the question. She turned to look at him; horror shining in her eyes.
“What dae ye mean?”
“Ten years ago, it was rumored that you were having an affair with Edna’s father and that is why father killed him. That is why Edna’s entire childhood, her entire life, was ruined. Is it the truth?” Ronin asked; his tone rising. He could no longer control his anger.
“Who told ye that?” his mother asked; her words slurred because of her constant sobbing.
“Answer my question,” Ronin said yet again.
“Ronin, let the matter rest.”