02

And after some time, as she held onto his hand, her father settled. Elle could hear her mother ushering the others out and as they exited their hut, Elle caught the intangible hush of a neighbor’s remark, meant only for the ears of his companion, but it struck her ears with alarming clarity for it made her heart skip a solid, frightening beat.

He owes the Rossetti Beast.

Gareth exhaled a breath, grimacing against the spasms running rampant through his back, but with every hearty swig of mead the pain dissipated to a dull throbbing. As he drank from his pottery cup, he slid a glance to his wife, his lovely Cora, who knew nothing of his wrongdoing.

It had been nearly a year since that night he’d sought the Rossetti Beast and since then he could think of nothing but a face so daunting and stricken with evil that it had left a residual feeling of perpetual dread. He had struck a bargain with the Devil himself and there was nothing he could do about it.

He had always been an honest man, especially to his wife, whom he loved and cherished above all things, but how could he tell her that he had bartered one of their daughters to the black-hearted Rossetti ?

Try as he might, he could not summon the courage to confess his deception and so he drank deeply of his spirits, consuming the cup with a heavy heart. He could do no more than hang his head ; ashamed and worsted with unimaginable guilt – and fear, fear of the day Rossetti would come to collect one of his daughters.

A man of his word, Rossetti had provided sufficiently for them, ensuring they had plentiful food and supplies, granting them a many speculative stares from fellow villagers. He always managed to thwart Cora’s growing curiosity as to how they were managing better than most, especially considering his hindrance to labor. He attempted to work the fields, to lay all suspicions to rest, but mostly in hopes to void Rossetti’s arrangement, hopeful that his efforts would prove to be of avail.

« Cora, » he called tentatively, drawing her gentle, smiling eyes.

« What is it, my love ? » her endearment struck a cringing chord in his chest, making it all the more difficult to formulate words of his deceit as a knot lodged in his throat.

His eyes wavered to where his daughters had disappeared outside, « I must tell you something. And ‘tis said without ease. »

He watched her expression carefully, observing the furrowing of her brows as she stepped toward him, « What is it, my dear ? »

Gareth hung his head, incapable of holding Cora’s warm, glimmering gaze without feeling a sharp twinge of guilt. He knew not how to tell her and so the words slipped readily, almost insensitively off his tongue, « I promised Rossetti one of our daughters. »

A white sheen came over her face, the paleness stealing the pigment from her cheeks as her eyes rounded incredulously with disbelief. « I don’t understand. Why would you do that ? » her voice gave way to a tremor, « Why would you do that, Gareth ? » she demanded again, horrified.

He chose his words conscientiously, « There had been no food, Cora. We had nothing to sustain our daughters. If I had not sought Rossetti’s kindness, we could very well be dead. We would not have survived the winter. »

« So offering one of our daughters up like dispensable chattel to that despicable, ruthless man was your best solution ? » she cried, grief-stricken, her voice straining with unshed tears, « Do you realize what you have done ? You have essentially destroyed our daughter. Do you know what will become of her, the one of his choosing ? » tears began to trickle her pale face, « What will she endure while in his possession ? Have you not considered that ? » her eyes brimmed over with more tears, « How could you, Gareth ? »

He flinched beneath the brunt of her anguish, realizing that every question thrown at him were the very thoughts he had turned over countless times since that night, since the unmasking of the Rossetti Beast.

He had painstakingly mulled every horrible, unimaginable fate that would befall his daughter. The very notion of whatever Rossetti intended, nauseated and shook the very core of his soul.

Gareth straightened his spine, wincing at the stabbing of pain that followed and squared his shoulders, his mouth forming a hard line as he suppressed the emotions threatening to undo him, « I did what I thought was necessary for this family. He has provided generously for us. He could have easily forced us from the village, no matter our objections or concerns, would you have wanted that for our daughters ? » he paused a moment only to add, « I am a man of my word, Cora. »

His wife had soft-smiling eyes of a cornflower blue, but at that moment they registered nothing but immense grief, and then, a snapping of anger. « Since you felt the liberty of bartering one of our daughters you can be the one to inform them of your justified actions. » She gathered her skirts and spun away from him, stalking from their hut.

It was just as the villagers had proclaimed earlier that day. Her father owed a debt to the Rossetti Beast.

Elle grappled with her emotions, struggling to withhold tears as they stabbed at the backs of her eyes. Her ears, normally so perceptive and keen, were deaf to her father’s reasoning. She heard nothing but the single pitter-patter of her heart, pounding in union to every grave thought that fell to mind, the latter – that Rossetti would come to claim one of them as payment.

« Surely there is another way ? » Esme exclaimed with dismay.

« Is there naught else we can do ? » Elsa asked warily, « Please, this cannot happen. »

Elle had been trembling until she felt an arm wrap gently around her waist, pulling her closer into her mother’s earthy scent.

« Nay, ‘tis naught more we can do. » Her father answered forlornly.

« Well, ‘tis clear Elle is excluded from this ! » Esme cried with a hint of resentment, and she imagined her sister’s expression set with bitterness. « What could a girl who is blind possibly do for a man like him ? She would be of little use ! »

« Esme ! » her father growled in warning, « You will curb your tongue ! »

Elle flinched against her sister’s stinging remark. She knew Esme’s disparaging comment was spoken merely out of fear, and though she didn’t take offense, it stung nonetheless. But her sister made a valid point. What use would their lordship have of her ? Which meant his decision was narrowed to either Elsa or Esme, and that latter thought wasn’t reassuring by any means.

Their cries bespoke discernibly of their fear and Gareth could do nothing but listen with a burdening heart.

His gaze averted to his youngest, who had not uttered a single objection.

He loved his daughters all the same, but Elle was his heart, and couldn’t imagine his blind, gentle daughter falling prey to the likes of Rossetti. He knew Esme’s callous remark was the subsequent of fear, and though not justified, there was no denying the truth of her words. Elle’s lack of sight hindered any means of servitude.

But there were other means to pay a debt, some that snatched horribly at his heart. He had spent many restless nights conjuring the worst for his daughters. And every thought had been terribly crippling next to the last. What if Rossetti wanted a woman solely for his bed ? He paled considerably at that terrible probability as sweat formed a line above his brows. He had done this, he was responsible for his wife’s heartache and his daughter’s fate, and there wasn’t anything he could do to prevent it.

Gareth studied his other daughters, both a striking resemblance to their mother, hair as fair as the sun, tall and slender and perfectly matched for any man that fancied them, so unlike his gentle Elle who had inherited his dark, brown eyes and jet-black hair. She was fragile in every way, soft-spoken and small boned. She couldn’t possibly withstand a life of servitude to a beast such as Don Rossetti.