Chapter Thirty: Deal
"I would never thought her to be so squeamish," Tyrell was saying as Dr. Broughten finished tying up her bandage.
"Especially since she stitched up my arm with barely a blink of an eye," Jarrod agreed, brushing back her bangs from her forehead tenderly.
"You can talk to her," Fiona said irritably, "as she was stabbed in the shoulder, not the ear." She was lying in her own bed, much to her relief. She had just been stabbed, for goodness sake. She didn't think she could put up with bad décor as well. Jarrod sat beside her on the bed, and she had her good hand entwined with his. Out of respect for her state of undress, Tyrell stood across the room.
Dr Broughten patted her thigh and stood. "You're very lucky. It didn't go through and bone and didn't hit anything major. It will heal fast. I don't worry. It's quite common to faint at the sight of blood."
"I don't faint at the sight of any blood," Fiona defended herself, "just my own."
"How odd," Jarrod teased, "considering they're all the same colour."
"If you're going to continue to tease me," Fiona told him with a frown, "then I might just ask you to leave." As she made no move to separate her hand from his, Jarrod wasn't particularly worried about her threat.
Fiona looked around and noticed that Dr Broughten was gone, along with Tyrell, leaving the couple quite alone.
"You think they did that on purpose?" Fiona asked dryly.
"Most likely. Tyrell's a very astute brother."
Fiona sobered. "What are we going to do about Warren?" she asked softly.
Jarrod sighed, his face going blank. "I don't know."
"His mind had definitely twisted," Fiona said, giving Jarrod's hand a squeeze. "I almost feel sorry for him."
"It's hard for me to feel sorry for a misogynist and a killer," Jarrod said, his voice slightly harsh. His expression softened as he looked at his wife. "But then, you were always the kinder of us." He ran his lips over their entwined knuckles. "It's very confusing for me."
"Why?"
He teased a lock of hair between his fingers as he answered. "Warren is responsible for my family's death. He lit that fire that killed them."
"I know," Fiona murmured, and he gave her a small smile.
"Yes, I guess you were there." His expression grew angry again. "Warren killed my mother, my father, and my brother. Then he tried to kill me. Then he tried to kill you. But through it all-" here, his expression became slightly confused- "he was a good friend to me. He did his duties superbly. He was always kind." He shook his head. "I'm hoping not all of that was an act."
"I'm afraid you'll have to figure that out on your own," Fiona said. "I didn't know Warren that well." She sighed and settled back into the pillows. "It will be nice to have a normal marriage now, though."
The corners of Jarrod's mouth tucked up. "I didn't realise we had an abnormal marriage."
Fiona snorted. "As far as I know, Bernadette didn't go through any attempted killings when she first married."
Jarrod laughed. "I guess that's true. We did have a slightly rocky start." He leaned down until they were almost nose to nose. "But we'll be able to fix that."
"Oh good," Fiona said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Fiona, be careful of your arm," Jarrod warned.
She just gave him her most seductive smile possible. "I have the utmost confidence that you'll make me forget about it."
…
Fiona was walking towards her husband's study, on her way to politely inform him that it was time for dinner. She didn't mind anymore, she had realised that it wasn't usually a personal thing, he just lost track of time.
But as she passed the entrance to the great hall, something caught her eye.
It was Jarrod. He was standing in front of the portrait of his parents, and he looked as though he was talking to them.
Intrigued, Fiona crept closer.
"I know, Mother, I was just as surprised as you," he was saying. "He didn't seem the type to do anything like that. We all mistook him. But don't worry, Fiona saved my life. Oh, Fiona's a wonderful wife. She's kind, loyal, funny, intelligent, beautiful. I'm extremely lucky to have her." Jarrod noticed caught Fiona's eye and smiled.
"But it's more than that. Fiona saved me. I was overburdened with terrible guilt, guilt I know realise that I had built up over and over again so it was greater than it was, and she helped me. She took my burdens on herself. She rescued me from the darkness of my own soul." Fiona reached him, and he reached out, taking both of her hands in his, turning to look directly into her eyes.
"I love her with all my heart, Mother. I don't think I could ever express how much I could possible love her."
Fiona's eyes filled with tears and she choked back a sob.
"Don't cry, darling," he said to her, brushing a tear away from her cheek with the pad of his thumb.
"I'm just so happy," she laughed through her tears. "I love you so much."
"I didn't think it could happen to me, but now I'm glad it did." His face dropped closer to hers as he whispered. "I love you, Fiona Par Drewery, and I always will."
Then he smiled.
This was what she had been waiting for since they had first met. His eyes were devoid of any sadness, and his smile was one of sweet sincerity and utter happiness. This was her husband's smile.
With a cry of delight, she crushed herself to him, burying her lips in his.
But then she broke off, giving him a mock frown. "If this is going to work," she said in a serious voice, "then I have to have you promise me something."
"Oh?" he said, brushing his thumbs over her temples. "And what would that be?"
"That I'm allowed to hit you whenever you start taking too much blame for something," she said.
He seemed to pause over it. "Alright, but only if I get a promise from you too."
"Which would be?"
"That I'm allowed to kiss you in any room of the castle."
Fiona grinned. "Deal," she said, and started with the Hall of Portraits