“Here,” she said in a gentle voice. “Sip at the broth. See if that helps. I’ll go down and fetch some water for ye in an instant.”
“Nay, dinnae bother.” He shook his head quickly. “I'd do with this. Thank ye again for caring for me.”
Jane gave him a little smile.
“Sit, lass,” he said, pulling her beside him.
Jane waited a few moments as he settled to eat the food. It was a slow and laborious process, but the hunger in him urged him on. He looked up when the plates were mostly empty, and Jane shot him a bemused look.
Darach chuckled. “Yer going tae tease me silly about my voracious eating, are ye nae?”
“I might,” Jane giggled. “But ‘tis a good thing ye’re devouring food this well. It’ll help ye build yer strength back quickly.”
“Aye, I'd like tae be back and strong as soon as I can.”
“How are ye going tae punish the man who did this?”
The question was random, and it stemmed from Jane's curiosity about what he planned to do to a man who had confined him to his bed for the past week. His eyes glazed over herwith something darkand unfathomable.
“I hope I never have tae find out. In truth, I am glad the man had nae been found because it would've sparked my condition, and it could become worse.”
“Condition?” Jane's brows furrowed.
A cuss rang from his lips, and he looked away from her to the fireplace.
“Darach?”
When he looked back, the shadows that were flickering in his eyes were of pure agony.
“I might as well tell ye. I am cursed by a Nicnevin, Jane. The gods damn her and all of her kind to the seven hells and worse, for she ruined my entire life. She ruined me.”
His nostrils flared as he spoke the words, eyes narrowed into slits and hands clenched into fists beside him. Darach was raging with helpless anger, and the frustration of bearing his curse weighed heavy on him.
Feeling her hands sweat, Jane was alarmed. She opened her mouth to talk, but he held up a hand.
“It was a curse for my faither, and I wouldnae say he didnae deserve it because he was surely a horrible man. But why ruin the lives of all of his male offspring by cursing them tae be the same beast he was?”
His voice was racked up with audible pain at the moment. She felt tears well in her eyes, and she shuffled toward him.
“Ye are nae beast, Darach. Ye’re nae ruined.”
She reached for his hands, but he pulled them out of hers, his eyes flashing dangerously as he looked at her.
“That's what I thought at first too, that I was a different man and had nae inherited the mad rage of my faither. I thought I was a man strong enough to break the curse, and of course, I was wrong. I killed Maira just as my faither did tae our maither. I pushed her, Jane. We argued. I thought she'd taken a lover, and I pushed her against the fireplace. She stood up and went about her day like nothing happened, but later that night she died. I am a beast, Jane, naething more.”
When he saw Jane, his eyes widened and his head dropped in shame. He expected her to be terrified of him. She was not. Instead, she felt sorrow for who he was and what he'd been taught about himself.
Jane reached out to him, refusing to let him push her away this time. She gently brushed her hand across his face, attempting to soothe the ache she could hear in his voice.
“Ye are nae beast, Darach.”
Her knuckles grazed his lips as she maneuvered to get closer to him. She knelt up and leaned over, lifting his chin to look into her eyes.
“Nae beast puts his family first,” she whispered softly as she stroked his cheek. “Nae beast cares for his sister the way ye care for Lorna.”
“I’m nae the man ye think I am…” he spoke haltingly, his voice raspy.
“Of course, ye are. And yer much better than I thought yer were—”