Virgin Bride Read Online Free

greeted Graeye—quite the opposite. Today the chapel was dim, its only light coming from the small window that had been opened to air out the room.
    Crossing herself, Graeye stepped inside. Instantly her gaze fell upon the high table that stood against the far wall. Her brother had been laid out on that table that first night, his ravaged, decomposing corpse emitting the most terrible stench. She could still smell it.
    Though she did not want to, she found herself reliving that night when Edward had brought her here. She'd been unable to cross the threshold for the horrible smell that had assailed her, and he had thrust her inside.
    "I would have you see Philip with your own eyes," he had said, "that you might know the brutality of his murder." Pulling her forward, he had swept the covering aside to reveal the festering wounds and Philip's awful death mask.
    "See the marks on his hands and chest?" he asked, running his fingers over the stiffened corpse. "These he survived. 'Twas the arrow that killed him."
    Fighting down nausea, Graeye asked, "Arrow?" She saw no evidence of such a wound.
    "Aye, took it in the back," Edward said. In the glowing fight his face turned a horrid crimson and purple as he stared into the sightless eyes of his son.
    Anxious to withdraw, Graeye touched his sleeve. "Come," she said, "let us speak elsewhere, 'tis not the place—"
    " Twas that Balmaine bitch and her brother!" His accusation cut across her words.
    Graeye's head snapped back. Balmaine? Was that not the family under which Philip had done his training to become a knight? Aye, she was certain their properties bordered upon those of Medland.
    "I fear I do not understand, Father," she said. "The Balmaines are responsible for this?"
    He looked up from the body, the hate upon his face so tangible, it gripped a cold hand about her heart.
    "Aye, Gilbert Balmaine challenged your brother to a duel, and when Philip bettered him, that wicked sister of his put an arrow through his back."
    Graeye gasped. Though her familial ties were indeed strained by the long years of absence, she was appalled that such an injustice had been done her brother.
    "Why?" she whispered.
    Edward gripped her upper arm. " Twas the Balmaine woman's revenge upon Philip for the breaking of his betrothal to her."
    Graeye had not known of her brother's betrothal. Despair over the lost years gripped her fiercely. Mayhap things would have been different had her mother lived and Graeye herself had been allowed to grow up at Medland.
    "Why would Philip break the betrothal?" she asked, and flinched when Edward's fingers bit deeper into her flesh.
    "She was a whore—gave herself to another man only days before she was to wed Philip. He could not have married her after such a betrayal."
    Graeye's hands clenched. What evil lurked in a woman's heart that would make her seek such means of revenge? she wondered. "When did he die?"
    "Over a fortnight past."
    Looking around her father, she glanced at the corpse one last time. "Why has he lain in state for so long?"
    "He was returned to me nine days ago over the back of his horse," Edward said, the corners of his mouth collecting a froth of spittle.
    "Whence?"
    "One of the northern shires—Chesne."
    "The north? But what was he—"
    "Be silent!" Edward stormed, giving her a bone-jarring shake. "I grow weary of your questions."
    Promptly, she closed her mouth.
    "The Balmaine is my enemy—ours!" he bellowed. "Do not forget what you have seen here, for we will have our revenge upon them."
    "Nay," she protested. "We must forgive, Father, for 'tis not for us to sit in judgment. That is God's place."
    "Do not preach at me!" He threw his arm back as if he meant to strike her. "I will have my revenge."
    She shrank from him, her gaze fixed on the hand poised above her. Then, suddenly, he released her.
    "You will remain the night here," he said. "I would have you pray Philip's soul into heaven."
    She shook her head. It was far too much he asked of