The last time she'd seen him, he'd been utterly distraught. She'd left him there, curled up around their baby girl, sobbing. She couldn't bear to look at him during the funeral. He just knelt before the grave, murmuring about lost time and pain. She couldn't bear to look as his brother took his arm and led him away from their child's grave. She hadn't seen him since that day. Now here he is: cold, unfeeling, and spiteful.
"What are you doing here?" he asked in a gruff voice.
"That's none of your business, Sean," she answered quietly.
He took a few steps towards her and folded his arms.
"I think it's every bit my business. Have you forgotten that this is my land, my property?"
She stood very still for a moment, carefully ordering her thoughts. It'd been so long since she'd heard his voice, she was scared of what he might say, or worse, do. He'd never been one for words.
"I'm here to visit Rhiannon ."
He narrowed his eyes and stalked towards her, overshadowing her.
"You will do no such thing. You left her behind. You don't deserve to live after what you did to her, to me." He looked at the dirt as he said the last few words. His body shook with anger and his eyes began to water.
"I know. I don't deserve your compassion or consent. I don't deserve to be here. I just want to say goodbye to her," she pleaded.
"No."
Her heart fell at his denial. She had hoped to say goodbye to her baby girl before she left.
She took a tentative step forward.
"Please Sean. Just let me leave her something. I promise this will be the last you see of me. I just want to say goodbye." He straightened and loomed over her.
"I said no. Get off my land. Go home to your new life and your new family. We don't need you here."
She looked up at him. Physically, he hadn't changed except for the light in his eyes had dimmed and all but dissappeared. When he came home to her and Rhiannon, his eyes would sparkle and the light would dance across his face. He would smile that dorky "wow I missed you" smile and give them both a kiss before taking Rhiannon and dancing around the room with her. She would go into the kitchen to serve her husband's dinner but he would always come up behind her, wrap his arms around her waist, and kiss her cheek, saying that he would take care of his own plate and was capable of feeding himself. He'd take her hand and twirl her around like a ballerina. He pulled her in close and kissed her softly before grabbing dinner and sitting with his girls by the fire. They would always share their evenings with each other, but their nights were reserved for more sensual activities.
"What happened to you, Aine? Why did you leave?" He took in a deep breath to calm himself before proceeding. "Why did you abandon me and Rhiannon?"
"I didn't know what was happening, Sean. Everything went wrong. Father and Mother were killed, you lost your job, I got so confused. I just wanted to find something that could help us get through everything. I wanted to take care of you for once."
Two tears fell from her cheeks, dampening the ground with their touch.
He'd seen her cry only three times before: when he proposed, when they were married, and when she gave birth to Rhiannon. She didn't even cry when she learned of her parent's death. She was a constant, smiling woman, full of hope and optimism. She'd never cry in sadness, not until now.
"Aine, I asked what happened to you. I asked why you left. I asked you why you had abandoned me and our daughter. I didn't ask for excuses as to what you felt. I didn't ask for a synopsis of the events prior to your leaving. I know what happened, Aine, I was there."
His voice had escalated into a yell by the last sentence. He'd waited years and yet she would not answer, she would not tell him her reasons. She'd just disappeared one day.
"I can't tell you what you want to know. I'm sorry, Sean but I can't."
He grabbed her arms tightly and pulled her to him violently.
"You're telling me that as my wife, the one woman who I pledged my heart and soul to, the only woman I can honestly say I've ever loved, that you cannot tell me why you left our home and our daughter. You can't, not you wont, but can't. Why? What happened when you left, Aine? Why the hell can't you tell me?"
"Because I can't!"
He let go of her arms and stepped away at the outburst. She fell to her knees and her hair covered her face from sight. He looked down at his feet as a cool breeze blew the trees around them. The night was closing in and the stars began to burst against the nighttime sky.
"Goodbye, Aine."
Her eyes widened and she looked to where he'd been not a moment ago; he was gone. She looked back at the ground and hugged herself. She'd wanted a goodbye after all, just not from him.
He watched as his little girl danced around the fire like a goddess. She looked so much like him, he couldn't help but feel proud of her. Her black hair had beads braided and twisted in, her skirt flowed around her small legs and her smile would make even Vlad the Impaler grin for hours. He just sat on the dry log, watching his little girl perform for him. Her eyes were lit up with joy and she hummed the song she'd learned over the past two weeks in school. It was the one song he remembered from his time in school. The boys would hum a low drone and the girls would sing softly as a group of younger students danced to the song.
"Hey daddy, are you watching?" Her small voice shook him from his reverie and he smiled at his daughter.
"Of course Rhia. You've done such a beautiful job, my darlin. Positively spectacular!"
She smiled at his praise and stood up straight, looked him right in the eye and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you, daddy!" And with that, they went inside.
"Time to tuck in for the night, my darlin. You need to get up bright and early for Mrs. Callahan. I hear you're going to the river tomorrow?"
He pulled the covers up and gave Rhiannon her favorite bunny doll. She took it and curled up.
"Yep! We get to go catch frogs. I think they're gross but the teacher says we have to go anyway."
She pouted slightly. She had her mother's stubbornness, that was for sure. He kissed her forehead and bid her goodnight before heading into his room next door to hers.
He sat down on the bed and put his head into his hands. She'd left him. She left their daughter. Every night he sees an empty bed and knife in his heart twists a little bit more. Every morning Rhiannon asks "did mommy come home yet?" and every morning he'd tell her "no, darlin." It'd been two years since she'd left yet he still could not imagine living this way, living without her.
He sluggishly changed out of his tunic and pants and into his long johns. He dreaded sleep. It was the one place where he could not escape her face. She flowed through his dreams and his nightmares. He'd dreamt he'd seen her die; he'd seen her with another man, with another family. He dreamt of their wedding and of their first kiss. Each night held a haunting memory and each morning he'd awaken to find an empty bed and the twilight fading.
This night, he did not dream. He simply lay in bed, awake, staring at the roof of their small cottage. It wasn't until he started drifting off to sleep that he'd heard a soft noise coming from Rhiannon's room. He put on his slippers and headed for his daughter's room. He opened the door only to find her in the arms of a man.
"Put my daughter down. You have no right to touch her." The man smiled and kissed her forehead. Sean's anger rose and he began to walk over to the man but he stopped suddenly. I small knife was pushed lightly against her throat.
"If you know what's good for you, you will go back into your room and stay there. I do not wish to kill you." The stranger's voice was cold as ice. Sean didn't move, he couldn't. His daughter, the one thing keeping him alive, was in the arms of a man who just threatened to kill him.
"Why do you want her?" Sean's voice was shaky and his body was quivering. "Why do you want my little girl?"
"See, I don't really want her. I just need her to deliver a message for me. It's nothing personal." His heavy accent made understanding him difficult. The man walked over to Sean and began to cut through Rhiannon's pale skin.
"Stop it! I'll go. Just please don't, don't hurt her." He looked away as he felt the shame of his cowardice seep through his body.
"Good man. Now turn around and go back to bed. I promise she wont feel a thing." Sean turned around but as he took a step, he realized what the man had said. His eyes widened and he turned around in time to see the man put her down and stalk toward him. The man grabbed Sean's wrists and lifted him off the ground. Sean kicked at the man but his efforts did not yield a result. The man simply grinned and threw Sean against the wall.
Sean fell as the man walked over, grabbed his throat and then lifted him off the ground once more.
"I told you to leave but I think I've got a better use for you." The stranger chuckled and squeezed harder on Sean's throat, effectively making him pass out.
Sean awoke to a warm feeling tickling his skin and heat creeping upon his face. The sudden burn awoke him from his slumberous state and made him attempt to get up only to fall down. His arms and legs were bound and he had been gagged. The man stood there with a red hot fire poker in his hand.
"I'm glad you decided to join us, Sean. Your daughter has been missing you terribly. Why don't we wake her up now." The man walked over to her bed where she lay softly sleeping and pressed the poker against her right ear. She screamed and attempted to sit up but she had been tied to her bed.
The man chuckled. "I've been waiting a long time for this, you know. Ever since Aine came to my father, I've wanted to show her what true pain feels like and here's my golden opportunity." He took the poker and ran it across the little girl's jaw and she began to scream.
"Why are you doing this? What did Aine do? Whatever she did, this is not equal retribution. Hurting my daughter is not equal!" Sean looked at his helpless little girl and began to cry. She'd done nothing in her six years of life to deserve what this man was doing to her.
"I am doing this because I want to. Aine came to my father looking for a job. Instead, she took my place on his will. He died last night and she inherited his estate. That wealth and nobility were to be mine! She even killed my wife and son. She murdered them before my eyes and right in front of my father. You know what he did? He congratulated her on a job well done while I was left with nothing! I've fantasized of ways to put her through the same misery I did. Now, I have my solution. Come here, Sean, my good man."
The man lifted him up with one arm and placed the hilt of a knife in Sean's mouth.
"I'm not going to do any more hard to your daughter. Instead, you will do exactly as I tell you. If you do not, then I will resume my work and trust me, it will be much more painful and drawn out if I do it."