- No! - she shot me holding my arm and then made a face of pain. - He got what he deserved and I bet he doesn't want to do it again.
I took a deep breath and I nodded.
- All right! All right! - I whispered.
Then I knelt again in front of her to continue to bandage her hand. Annabel choked when the cold touched her skin. Although I was wearing a long-sleeved dress, I noticed that her skin crept the instant I touched her, through the square neckline, which left part of her shoulder and her neck showing it. I smiled internally and tried to concentrate on what I was doing. She leaned back on the wooden wall and watched me. Crossing the other arm just below the bust, Annabel remained silent for a few moments. Something caught her attention and the silence was broken.
- Can I ask you a question?
- You can do as many as you like. - I replied in an ironic way. - I'll answer those that are relevant.
Annabel rolled her eyes, but she didn't give up asking the question.
- How many scars do you have? - I frowned with surprise. - Can you talk about them?
Smile at the question, a little too curious. No one's ever been interested in my scars.
- Well! Actually, I've never counted, so I have no idea how many I own.
- Are they all of battle?
- With one exception, the others were acquired on battlefields or in duels.
- Which one wasn't?
- Why the question?
- Because, except for my sister, I've never seen a man carry so many marks on his body.
- So many? - I asked with a debauched smile and raised my head to face it. - Did you happen to see each of them?
Annabel blushed and I soon realized I understood the question.
- I... Huh! - she coughed choking and stuttered trying to respond.
I let out a laugh by shaking my head. I was just enjoying seeing her blush and blush. Now she knew how people felt listening to her nonsense. I took a deep breath before I started talking. You'd get into a delicate matter for me.
- The scar on my left shoulder. - I answered by throwing the cloth away and taking the other one to roll up his hand. - Cora wanted to learn how to hunt and since she didn't know how to use the right bow, she ended up hitting an arrow on me.
I took a break smiling.
- She was desperate when she saw me bleeding and it was very painful. At first I wanted to kill her, but we ended up laughing at the situation after everything passed. The way she was able to calm us down was extraordinary. It was hard not to forgive your mischief or your foolishness.
- You loved Cora, didn't you? - she asked.
I took a deep breath of sadness and nodded my head. It was hard to talk about my cousin and I avoided it as much as I could.
- So much so that I never thought I could love again.
She smiled like she understood what I was getting at.
- I was in love with her. - Annabel concluded. - I've heard a lot of similar stories. That sounds very romantic.
- Yes. You can imagine that, watching two men rape and then slit your throat, was not a very pleasant thing. - I answered. - even if it wasn't for Cora, I'd have felt hatred the same way. They were animals and could never be treated like men.
- But they still deserved a fair trial. - she fired.
Annabel lowered her head and closed her eyes for a few seconds.
- Listen, I didn't mean to sound insensitive when I asked you not to kill Morvan. - she paused as if searching for something in her memory and her gaze became sad. - I know very well what the feeling of powerlessness you mentioned is like.
I took a deep breath and with my index finger, I lifted her face up so she could look at me.
- It wasn't your fault! - I emphasized. - It was Ravenna who removed the guard and stopped the rescue. You did what you thought was right and necessary to save your sister.
- You don't understand! - she said in a bitter voice. - I was the one who helped Aideen get out of the castle. I taught her the passages and how she would come back. If I hadn't done that, he would never have attacked her.
- Roy would do it with or without help. Actually, he tried it other times with Ravenna's help. - I answered. - I know that scoundrel and united with a woman like Ravenna, he's become even more dangerous.
I felt like a fool when I tried to comfort someone who had the same feeling of guilt in his chest as I did. I could not convince myself that Cora's death was not my fault or my incompetence in protecting her, or Alec. How to convince a girl to get rid of the same feeling?
Annabel sighed, sniffling after that.
- Thank you! - she whispered trying to smile. - You should listen more to yourself.
- What's that? What's that? - I said confused. - I don't get it.
- Cora didn't die because of you or any of your cousins. - she said in a soft voice. - I don't think she'd want you to martyr yourself for it, just
