Page 39 of Celtic Love and Legends (Lords of Eire)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“T his has just arrived, Lord Edmund,” Corwin’s voice was tight, his face beaded with sweat from racing up three flights of stairs. “From Wicklow.”
Edmund snatched the missive, damp and stained, from the knight’s hand. He nearly tore it in his haste to unroll the parchment, his faded green eyes greedily consuming the message contained. After a moment, he sighed with great remorse.
“My God…,” he breathed, his eyes still glued to the vellum.
“What’s happened?”
Edmund sighed again. The sun was beginning to set on the winter-dead fields of Lancashire, a break in the storm permitting a few weak rays to caress the landscape. The small solar was musty, dim, lit only by a tallow taper and a fire in the hearth. As Edmund rounded the large desk, the vellum still in his hand, Corwin struggled to make sense of the expression on the man’s face.
“So it comes,” Edmund said slowly, letting the parchment fall to the desktop. Running his fingers through his hair, he sighed again as if his entire body was deflating. “My foolish Irish vassals have finally managed to overrun the Castle. Kirk’s father has been killed in the siege.”
Corwin visibly blanched. “Christ,” he hissed. “We must send Kirk a missive immediately.”
Edmund nodded, watching the weak flicker of the hearth. “I have lost him completely.”
“Who?”
“Kirk,” Edmund turned away from the blaze, pacing. “The arrival of the le Bec sisters has driven a wedge between us. Kirk appointed himself their protector and his loyalty to me was weakened.”
“Foolishness, my lord,” Corwin chided softly. “Kirk is ever loyal to the House of de Cleveley.”
Edmund stopped pacing, shaking his head. “Not at all,” he insisted. “Certainly, I cannot give him what the youngest sister has. My loyalties would be swayed, too, by a beautiful face and sensual body.”
Corwin was silent a moment, knowing his liege spoke the truth. “It matters not that he thinks himself in love with her. His fealty is still sworn to you and he takes his oath very seriously.”
Edmund appeared not to have heard him. “He asked to take her with him on his journey to Quernmore,” he resumed his pacing, losing himself in thought. “He gave me some foolish explanation about her distress with her sister’s marriage and the disorientation of a new home, but I knew better. I knew it was because he was afraid to leave her here, alone.”
Corwin watched his liege, his expression guarded. “Do you blame him?” He turned away, jaw ticking with disgust. “Look what we’ve done to her sister. And should Johanne realize that Kirk is in love with Mara, then…”
“She shall never know,” Edmund’s expression was unusually harsh. “She does not suspect and I wish to keep it that way. With her attention on Micheline, Kirk’s feelings for the little hellion went unnoticed.”
Corwin cast a long glance at the fidgeting man. “When he leaves for Ireland, he cannot take her with him. What then?”
Edmund shrugged. “She will be untouched.”
“Why?” Corwin was genuinely curious. “There have been ten ladies in all, my lord. All but your wife showed Kirk too much attention and Johanne was determined to do away with them. Why would you leave the one woman Kirk has responded to untouched?”
“For the very reason you give,” Edmund’s voice was barely a whisper. “He feels for her, Corwin. I suspect that if something happened to her, I would see my last day upon this earth. Kirk would stop at nothing to seek vengeance.”
Corwin thought on that a moment. “So Kirk leaves her here while he sails to Ireland to quell the rebellion. There is a very strong chance that Johanne will learn the truth of the matter the longer Mara stays. Whereas you and I are capable of respecting the emotions Kirk holds for the lady, Johanne is not. She is fully capable of injuring the girl, if not worse.”
Edmund lowered himself into a chair next to the hearth. “She will not be here.”
“I do not understand.”
Edmund was silent a moment, contemplating the course of his actions. “When Kirk rode to Quernmore, he carried two missives with him. He was aware of the contents of the first. But he was unaware of the contents of the second.”
“And what was that?”
“A marriage contract,” Edmund turned to look at him. “A proposal of marriage between Lady Mara le Bec and Lord Lionel le Vay. If le Vay reacts to Mara as most men do, then I suspect he will accept and while Kirk is fighting to free my holdings, the young lady who has managed to turn him against me shall wed another.”
Corwin’s eyes widened. “And you do not think he will seek vengeance for your treachery?” he could hardly believe what he was hearing. “He’ll return from Ireland and kill you!”
Edmund looked away from the man, studying the weak flame. “After she is married, there is nothing he can do. He’ll simply have to resign himself to the inevitable and killing me will not solve the problem.”
Corwin shook his head. “Why would you do this, Edmund? To Kirk, of all people. You love the man!”
“Exactly,” Edmund struggled against the guilt Corwin was attempting to evoke. “I love him and I want this woman away from him. Away from us all so that things can return to normal. In time, he’ll understand. He must.”
Corwin stared at the man, long and hard, before turning away. “He’ll never understand,” he muttered, raking his fingers through his auburn hair. “He’ll kill us all.”
Edmund heard the knight, ignoring the truth of his words. He simply couldn’t think on the long-term implications of his actions, not with his Wicklow holdings in jeopardy. The flames in the hearth continued to snap and crackle as each man lost himself to his own turbulent thoughts.
“Send word to Kirk this night,” Edmund’s voice was faint. “He must be prepared to sail to Ireland immediately. In fact, tell him you will meet him at the port with our troops. He can ride from Quernmore with le Vay’s support.”
Corwin sighed heavily, feeling the familiar disgust for his liege. A man he was helpless against. “Do I tell him of his father?”
Edmund nodded. “Aye. It will feed his sense of vengeance against the rebels and move him faster to his duty.”
Corwin turned to glance at the man one last time, a man he wished he had the nerve to stand against. Without another word, he moved for the door.
“Corwin,” Edmund stopped the man in his tracks. “If you are also thinking to send word to Kirk regarding my plans for Mara, I would reconsider. You will be sailing to Ireland as well, leaving your wife at my mercy. Quite a bit can happen while you are away.”
Corwin turned shades of red, biting his tongue as he quit the room.
Within an hour, a messenger was speeding for Quernmore Castle.