The Sorceror's Revenge by Linda Sole Page B

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                  ‘Kerrin…’ she said, forcing a smile to her lips.  ‘You have come at last.  I acquit you of the promise you made…’
                  ‘I kept my promise.  Montroy died much as your poor foolish lover.  Did Sir Jonathan have any idea of what you really are, Rhoda?’
                  ‘What am I?’ she asked and laughed as if her legs had not turned to jelly and her heart was not torn to shreds.  ‘Robert has discovered he hath no more use for me now that his first wife lives.  He gave me gold and jewels.  I will share it with you, Kerrin.  I will give you anything you desire – if you will promise to kill Robert and take back my son…’
                  Kerrin did not answer at once.  The way he stared at her turned Rhoda’s blood to ice.  What was he thinking?
                  ‘More demands, Rhoda?  What would you give me if I do as you ask?  You have already promised to be my wife.  Yet you were leaving with another poor fool who loved you.’
                  Cold shivers ran up and down her spine.  She knew what was coming as she gazed into his eyes and yet she was not truly afraid.  He would not harm her.  Kerrin loved her. In her fevered mind there was still the thought that he would do anything she asked if only he believed her.
                  ‘Look,’ she said going to her horse and taking down the leather bag that contained her gold and jewels and offering it to him eagerly.  ‘We are richer than we ever hoped we would be.  I shall keep my promise.  We shall lie together this very night, Kerrin – and then you will kill Robert for me…won’t you?’
                  ‘Yes. Yes, of course I shall, my love.’  Kerrin’s voice was soft as he moved towards her.  ‘We shall seal our bargain with a kiss, as we did in the chapel at Dyserth…’
                  Rhoda looked up at him.  His eyes chilled her for they were cold yet burned with a deadly hatred at their depths.  She smiled as he bent his head and took her mouth, parting her lips so that his tongue could invade her moistness, but then his hands were about her throat.  No, this was wrong.  He loved her.  He still loved her. She pulled at his arms, trying to break his hold but he was so strong…much too strong.
                  Rhoda could not die.  She must not die.  Surely he would relent at the last?  Looking into Kerrin’s eyes she saw hatred, anger and madness but beneath it all was the torment of love denied.  It was her fault.  She had driven him to this and he would take her life.  She seemed to hear demonic laughter and knew that the Devil had come to claim her.  The priests warned of hellfire and damnation in all those sermons she had ignored all her life, but she could see the pit of Hell yawning before her and knew that she was destined for the flames.
                  ‘ Please don’t do this. Forgive me… ’ her mind begged but no words left her lips.  Her sight was growing hazy.  She knew that she was dying.  Kerrin was mad with hate and the need for revenge.  He would not listen to her.  The pouch of gold and precious jewels slipped from her hand and fell to the ground unheeded.  As she lost her senses and slumped forward, her last breath done, Kerrin caught her in his arms. 
                  ‘You should not have broken your promise,’ he said and the tears were streaming down his face.  He placed her body on the ground beside Jonathan’s, bent and closed her eyes and then her lover’s eyes.  ‘You will betray no one else, my sweet Rhoda.  Sleep in peace.’
                  Turning, he saw the gold spilled in the road.  He hesitated, then bent to gather it in his hands and returned to the body of the woman he had loved so desperately.  He bent to place a gold coin on each of her eyes, then he