Greylen took Gwen back to their chamber where he left her for but a few minutes to have Anna fetch a tray. When he returned, their room was empty, but the doors of the bathing chamber were open. He hadn’t told her of the mirror, and she’d been so drugged and dazed those past few days, she hadn’t noticed when he or his mother had taken her inside.

She was standing in front of the chest, her hand reaching for the empty wall. He removed his shirt as he moved to her. Then he gathered her in his arms from behind, his bare feet encompassing hers as they stood there.

“Is it that bad?” she asked.

“You’ll heal, love,” he whispered in her ear.

“No wonder you’ve not brought Tristan to me.”

“Ah, Gwen.” He shook his head. “You are more beautiful than anyone I have ever known, even now.”

“Nay, Greylen,” she argued. “I am weak. They overpowered me so easily. And I am hideous, just as he said.”

He could only imagine what Malcolm had said to her. Guy had said that his words were unspeakable, and now she believed them. “You are none of those things, Gwen. You have never been weak, and that you could think that you are hideous, ’tis only words he threw to you.”

She brought her hands to her face and traced the stitches and swollen skin that still covered her eye. Then she lowered her head in defeat.

Greylen turned her around and lifted her chin. “You are beautiful, Gwen. Say it.”

“I—” She shook her head and pulled her chin out of his grasp.

He lifted her to the chest and stood between her legs, taking her chin once more. “You are beautiful, Gwen. Say it.”

’Twas barely a whisper, but she at last spoke the words that he had asked. “I am beautiful, Greylen.”

“Aye, wife,” he whispered back, kissing her gently.

“I don’t feel it, Greylen. They are but empty words. And I am just as empty for needing to hear them…just as shallow.”

If he could, Greylen would kill Malcolm again for what he had done to her. She was broken and defeated, and though he didn’t want to hurt her, he needed to show her how much he loved her.

He wrapped Gwen’s legs around his waist and carried her to their bed, lowering them both as he continued to hold her. He kissed her the entire time she lay beneath him. Kissed every part of her face, covered every scratch and bruise with his lips, and drank each silent tear that escaped from her eyes.

He knew she was in pain from the bruises that still covered her body, but he didn’t stop. And he knew that she didn’t want him to. He made love to her as he always had, as he always would.