A Vow of Revenge

Transcribed by Charity

To Carver, the world had come crashing down, even as he burst into the meeting house where Lorna had, only moments before, been safely under guard. He had sensed something at odds as he had thrown the torch onto his grandfather's body, had even glanced around suspiciously, but lordship demanded his consistent attentions to the funeral pyre, and it was only Charley's frantic cries that had brought him running from the flames.

Bursting in on an empty room, he found it chaotic. Shards of broken wood were scattered across the floor, and Marwood, nursing a bloodied nose, was slowly climbing to his feet, even as Charley lingered upon his heels. Fury that his dove had flown overpowered him, and he turned upon Charley with an angry, "All you had to do was keep her locked up for one night!"

Charley could read the intense, unbridled possessive anger in Carver's eyes, and that in itself lent to a fearful lie. "We were surprised," he cried, more afraid of Carver than the consequences. "There were half a dozen of them!"

Unbelieving, Carver's hand drew the revolver that was ever-present at his waist, and he turned upon the terrified Marwood, aiming directly for his brain. "How many?" he demanded, and the baron's son, staring into the face of death, could only whimper, "One... the farmer... John Ridd."

In a movement that was so swift that Charley could only let out a plaintive "No!" before the bullet entered his body, Carver stared down at the crumpled form of his former loyalist. Fire licked through his veins, and it was with terror that Marwood faced him, trembling like a leaf about to be crushed by a strong wind.

"If you weren't the baron's son," Carver slithered, "you wouldn't be getting a second chance."

"What are you planning to do?" It was a brave whisper from Marwood, who could hardly keep his lips from quivering as he stared into the boiling pale eyes before him. 

Carver's response was a cold, ill-meaning smile that sent shudders throughout the baron's son as he replied simply, menacingly... "Take back what belongs to me."