Page 93

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Two weeks later

Bellham Place, London

E milie was seated in the lavish reception hall of Bellham, enjoying the bright sunlight that streamed in through the great Norman arched windows. She was working on embroidery for a dress for her daughter as the Lady Christina Louisa Amalia de Lohr played on the floor at her feet with a fat, orange cat. The cat was also enjoying the warmth beaming in through the windows, its tail snapping back and forth as the baby tried to grab it. The blond-haired, blue-eyed cherub would squeal with delight when she captured the tail and the cat would narrow its eyes irritably. But the fat, dumb cat wouldn’t move. Then the tail would snap free and the game would begin again.

Emilie grinned as she alternately watched her daughter and paid attention to her sewing. It was a peaceful, brilliant morning when she began to hear the thunder of hooves approaching from the road. She wasn’t close enough to the window to look and she wasn’t particularly curious about who the visitors were so she stayed focused on her sewing. The horses drew closer and she could hear male voices in the courtyard. Continuing on with the red ladybug she was stitching, she stabbed herself in the finger when someone pounded loud enough on the front door to startle her right out of the chair.

The cat scattered and her daughter jumped, frightened, and started to cry. Emilie swooped down on her daughter and picked the little girl up, comforting her, as David suddenly appeared from a neighboring solar. He held out a hand to his wife, indicating she remain in the reception room and away from the door. Emilie sank back, comforting her sobbing child, as David opened the heavy oak door.

“Where is Forbes?” Julian boomed.

David wasn’t surprised to see Buckland standing on his doorstep with several heavily armed men. In fact, he wondered what had taken the man so long to come. Kevin, having been in the solar with David discussing the logistics for the troop movement to France, suddenly appeared with his broadsword in his hand, positioning himself next to his liege protectively. But Julian ignored the armed knight. He was focused on de Lohr.

“Tell me where Forbes is!” he screamed.

David was calm. “Welcome to Bellham, Julian. Why do you want Gart Forbes?”

Julian’s teeth were clenched like a maniac. “Give him to me, do you hear? I will tear this place apart looking for him if you do not present him to me!”

David was starting to lose his humor. “You do not come to my home and make demands,” he growled. “If you cannot remember your manners, then I shall throw you bodily from my property and you can return at such time when you are better behaved.”

Julian’s small, brown eyes bugged crazily. “You are aiding a criminal?”

David’s expression was droll. “I am aiding no one,” he said. “If you calmed down and told me what the trouble was, perhaps I would know what you were asking. As it is, I have a madman on my doorstep screaming incoherently.”

Julian was so angry that he was sweating. Veins bulged and teeth gnashed. With a growl, he grabbed one of the men standing slightly behind him, thrusting him forward.

“Tell him what you told me,” Julian demanded. “Tell him!”

The soldier looked uncertain and exhausted. He was clad in Buckland’s colors of brown and yellow with well-made mail. He was older, seasoned, as he gazed steadily at de Lohr.

“My lord,” he said calmly. “I have just returned from Dunster Castle. I was sent to escort Lord de Moyon’s wife and children to London, but after we arrived, they disappeared without a trace. In fact…,” he caught sight of Kevin standing next to de Lohr. “That knight was at Dunster. I saw him the day we arrived but he, too, disappeared.”

David didn’t outwardly react but inside, he was cursing up a storm. He turned to Kevin, quite casually, knowing that Kevin must surely be kicking himself to have been sighted by one of the only people who had seen him at Dunster. Yet, he could not have known. Neither one of them could have. There was nothing left to do now but try to keep from digging themselves into a hole and incriminating Gart.

“My knight was traveling and since Buckland is an ally, he stopped at Dunster for respite,” he said evenly, then spoke to Kevin. “De Lara, did you see Lady de Moyon?”

Kevin nodded without hesitation. “I did, my lord.”

Julian was shrieking. “Where is my wife?”

Kevin looked him in the eye. “I do not have her, my lord. But I did see her at Dunster.”

“Did you speak with her? Did she say anything about Gart Forbes?”

“Why would she say anything to me about Forbes?” Kevin countered. “I saw the woman once in the hall, my lord.” And once in the bailey, and once fleeing the postern gate….

Kevin was walking a very fine line, not wanting to outright lie to the baron but compelled to answer the man’s questions. Julian had stepped inside the door and was now practically in his face.

“Did you see Gart Forbes at Dunster?” he demanded.

Kevin met his gaze steadily, wondering how he was going to get around a direct question with no good answer. Before he could answer, David intervened.

“I told you that I ordered Gart back to Denstroude Castle,” he said, not entirely a fabrication. He had ordered the man back to Denstroude when he finished his business at Dunster. “Why are you so certain he is responsible for your wife’s disappearance, anyway? Perhaps the woman simply ran off? It is not unheard of.”

Julian was so furious that spittle sprayed from his mouth. “Because Forbes tried to seduce her the night he arrived at Dunster,” he accused. “He tried to kill me when I attempted to protect what was mine. You were there, de Lohr. You saw him try to tear my head off. The man is truly insane.”

David was struggling not to lose his patience at Julian’s ridiculous twist on the story. The man was self-serving and pleased to be made the victim in all of this. David couldn’t help the anger rising in his chest.

“What I saw was a chivalrous knight protecting a lady from your brutality,” David stepped close to Julian when the man’s mouth flew open in outrage, bumping into him and pushing him in the direction of the door. “You hit the lady twice in our presence and had I been faster, I would have been the one to punish you. It is a weak and foolish man that beats his wife, Buckland. Gart did nothing but champion the sister of his long dead friend and if I were you, I would stop looking to blame someone for your wife’s disappearance. You are the only person to blame for the way you have treated her. Perhaps she ran off because she could no longer stand the thought of being with a husband who openly cavorts with his lover.”

Julian was verging on a hysteria attack. “You have no right to judge me, de Lohr,” he hissed. “You and your pious brother are nothing but rebels in disguise. You served Richard against John and….”

“And you are having conjugal relations with the king’s wife. Perhaps I should hold you here and send for the king. I am sure he would be very interested to speak with you.”

Julian exploded, lifting a hand to strike David, but David was faster. He slugged Julian in the mouth, sending the man reeling into the wall. Julian’s men began to unsheathe their swords and Kevin leapt forward, slamming the door and bolting it before they could rush forward. Meanwhile, David moved to Julian and yanked the man off the floor by his tunic. David’s sky blue eyes were blazing.

“If you ever make an attempt to strike me again, I will kill you,” he seethed. “Listen to me and listen well, leave Gart Forbes alone. He did nothing more than befriend a lonely, brutalized woman. If your wife is missing, then it is your own damnable fault for being such a reprehensible husband. Go back to your queen and look elsewhere for support for her lands in France, for I am officially withdrawing my support and the support of my brother. I would rather have an enemy of you than an ally because I do not associate with filth, de Moyon. And you are most definitely filth.”

Julian was missing two teeth, bleeding profusely from the mouth. He snarled and spit at David, trying to scratch him, but David slammed him up against the wall and nearly knocked him unconscious.

“Do you hear me?” David growled. “You are no longer my ally. If I hear that you have attempted any transgression against me or Gart Forbes, or any other ally or man under my command, I will come for you personally.”

Julian clawed at the fist that held him. “You will regret this, de Lohr,” he spat, blood flying onto David’s hand. “You will regret everything.”

David wasn’t going to respond to his madness. He pulled him to the door, unbolted it, and opened wide the panel. He tossed Julian out onto his men.

“Get him out of my sight,” he barked. “Leave my property before I have my army down around you.”

With that, David slammed the door and sent Kevin out the back entrance, going for the outbuildings where David housed his soldiers. There were at least one hundred men on the grounds and he wanted them on alert. David stood at the door, listening to Julian rage, intermingled with the softer voices of his soldiers. From what he could tell, the voices were fading away.

He caught a glimpse of yellow from the corner of his eye, turning to see Emilie standing in the reception room doorway with Christina clutched against her. Emilie’s eyes were wide with shock at what had happened and David left the door to go to her, pulling her and the baby into his arms.

“All is well, love,” he kissed her forehead. “He is leaving.”

Emilie was shaken, verging on tears. “That terrible, terrible man,” she sniffed. “What are you going to do?”

David smiled at his daughter when she reached up and grabbed at his nose. He kissed the little fingers.

“Not to worry,” he told his wife vaguely, mostly because he didn’t have an answer for her. “Men like Julian are an annoyance and little more.”

“But he did what you said he would do,” she persisted. “He has come to blame you for his wife’s disappearance.”

David could only nod in agreement, thinking on the trouble they would now be in for. His brother was due to visit London in a few days and he had to apprise the man of the situation immediately. Kissing Emilie one last time, he gently released her and went to one of the long lancet windows to see the activity outside. He could see Julian and his men mounting their horses, and Kevin and several de Lohr men ensuring they rode for the gates. He could hear Julian screaming threats as his party thundered away from the manse.

The group passed out of David’s line of sight but he continued to stand at the window, watching Kevin and his soldiers as they formed a defensive line around the front of the manse. There were at least seventy men now, protecting the house from Julian and his madness, waiting for the man to clear the main gates. Another twenty men were running after Julian’s party to close the gates when he left.

David breathed a sigh of relief and turned from the window. He was wondering how he was going to explain all of this to his brother, the extremely powerful Earl of Hereford and Worcester. Christopher de Lohr had served Richard the Lionheart during the Crusade to The Levant and had quickly established himself as the king’s mightiest warrior. He had even earned himself a nickname, the Lion’s Claw . A lion, even a Lionheart, was only as deadly as his claws, and Christopher had been exceedingly deadly. He still was.

His brother was, even now, on his way from his seat of Lioncross Abbey to Bellham, bringing troops that would reinforce Buckland’s numbers in France. David had sent word to his brother when he had left Dunster to send men and material for Buckland’s cause. Now, David didn’t relish the thought of telling him what had become of his alliance with Baron Buckland. He knew his brother would not be pleased.

David’s thoughts were interrupted by a shout from the courtyard. He returned to the window, quickly, to see his men bolting from their strategic positions at the front of the manse. They were running towards the front gates as fast as they could. Concerned, David made haste to the front door.

“Where are you going?”

Emilie, having recently regained her seat and her sewing, was frightened anew at the sight of her husband running to the front door. David waved her off.

“Stay here and bolt the door,” he told her. “Do not open it for anyone but me or Kevin. Is that clear?”

Emilie nodded fearfully and David threw open the front door, noting quickly that there was some kind of skirmish going on at his front gate. He raced into the solar and collected a sword from the small armory closet that was there. Running back at the front door, he passed by his fearful wife as he quit the manse. He heard her slam the door and throw the bolt behind him.

As David raced to the front gates, he truly had no idea what he would find. All he knew was that there was some kind of battle going on. He could hear shouts and see men pounding one another. Fast as lightning and fearless, David plunged into the fray, having no idea what he was fighting for. He tended to fight first, ask questions later. But the sight of a snapping, kicking charger, riderless, caught his attention. He recognized the beast as someone tried to corral it. In a panic, he began looking around for the horse’s rider.

It was Gart’s charger.

*

It had been a long ride to Bellham Place, the de Lohr residence in London. The weather from the Marches had been terrible and he had ridden through driving rainstorms for three solid days. Mud was his daily companion, up to his horse’s knees in the black and mucky stuff. He had stopped only to rest the horse and eat, plowing through the wet, green plains north of Salisbury and on across the softly rolling hills as he approached London.

He’d stopped the night before arriving in London at a livery he had patronized before, a big place with lots of fresh straw and comfortable for the horses. He’d put his big charger in an end stall and stretched out on a pile of hay in the corner of the stall, lulled to sleep by the sound of his horse chomping on grain and grass.

When he awoke a few hours later, the horse was still eating and he had to grin at the beast. The horse would eat until it exploded so he got up, brushed down his horse, put the saddle back on, and was along his way.

He calculated that he would arrive in Bellham around noon and he was precise in his estimate. It was just the nooning hour as he trekked down the shady, tree-lined road that led to the great gates of Bellham, the sounds of birds and the soft clip-clop of his horse the only sounds in his ears. Then he noticed a group of men leaving Bellham, soldiers, with one man leading the pack. The man was bellowing unintelligible words.

Gart couldn’t tell what was happening until he was nearly upon the group and then, with a jolt of shock, he recognized Julian. It was Julian who had been doing the screaming and Gart didn’t have to guess why. He also didn’t have to guess at the man’s presence at Bellham. Frankly, he was a little shocked to cross paths with the man but the truth was that, at some point, he had expected it. He had planned for it. Just not so soon.

Gart’s helm was on but his visor was up. It was too late to slam it down because Julian, unfortunately, had already noticed him. He was screaming something about making de Lohr pay and hurling curses. Gart reined his charger as far to the right as he could, trying to stay out of Julian’s way because the man was all over the road. His poor horse was frothy and excited. But Julian fixed Gart in the eye and the man’s jaw dropped. The disbelief in his expression was evident, a stroke of luck in the most unexpected of places. He began hollering at the top of his lungs, pointing in Gart’s direction.

“It is him!” he screamed, his voice cracking. “Forbes is here! He is here!”

Gart quickly assessed the escort with Julian. There were at least ten men, perhaps more. They were all scrambling and it was difficult to gauge an exact count. Gart didn’t stop to try and talk with Julian because he knew it would do no good. There was nothing to do but face the man head on. Unsheathing his broadsword, he was focused on the two men rushing him on horseback when something hit him from his blind side. Knocked squarely in the head, he lost his balance and toppled onto the ground.

Bordering on unconsciousness, Gart could hear weapons being drawn around him. He could hear men snapping, shouting, and somewhere in the middle of it was Julian’s shrill voice. He realized he still had his broadsword in his hand and he brought it up, slashing at men near him. He struggled to get to his knees, shaking off the buzzing in his head as he labored to defend himself.

Men were kicking him and pummeling him. His slashing broadsword made contact with someone because he felt the strike followed by a scream. He tried to get to his knees but there were too many around him, overwhelming him.

Since he was covered in armor, the blows weren’t doing any real damage but the initial strike to the head still had him reeling. He was starting to feel some rage at having been attacked, building as he realized it was him against a dozen armed men, and the sach , the madman, began to make an appearance. The rage began to grow, rising up through his legs to his chest until it reached his head. It was insanity unleashed.

He grabbed the leg nearest his head and he twisted the man’s leg brutally, flipping him onto the dirt. As the soldier screamed in pain, Gart dropped his broadsword to the ground and rolled to his knees. Massive fists began striking men in the vulnerable pelvic area and he sent at least two men down with blows to the groin. Staggering to his feet, he took out another two soldiers with savage blows to the face.

The heat of fury was rolling through him. His face was red and sweaty. One soldier ran at him and he grabbed the man around the neck with one hand, using his other to twist his head so hard that his neck snapped. Bones crumbled in Gart’s iron grip and he dropped the dead soldier, moving in for another.

Buckland’s men began to see that Gart was bent on murder and they withdrew every weapon in their arsenal, daggers and broadswords, moving towards Gart with the intention of killing him. It was no longer a case of simply beating the man senseless. Gart saw the weapons and knew the battle was about to get even more lethal. He spied his broadsword on the ground several feet away and made haste in its direction.

Before he could retrieve his weapon, Kevin was suddenly in his midst, intercepting Buckland’s soldiers. Several de Lohr soldiers also appeared and soon there was a vicious brawl going on. Gart watched David jump feet-first into the fracas, broadsword swinging. David wasn’t the biggest man in a fight, or even the strongest, but he was definitely the fastest. His speed was truly something to behold. As Buckland’s soldiers found themselves swarmed with de Lohr men, Gart searched for Julian.

He saw him on the edge of the fight, screaming at his men. His words weren’t even intelligible. They were simply screams and shrieks. Gart gazed at the man, envisioning the brutal bastard who had beat Emberley senseless, and it was all he could think of. The rage he felt only increased and murder filled his heart. With his massive broadsword in his hand, he began to make his way towards Julian.

Gart wanted to snap Julian’s neck. He really did. But as he approached the man, he remembered Emberley’s words– please do not kill Julian unless it is in self-defense. This was a situation that warranted it. Julian had attacked him, after all. He was simply defending himself.

But as he approached Julian, another thought occurred to him. He wasn’t sure how he could explain to Romney, Orin and Brendt that he had killed their father. He began to wonder if that kind of cloud hanging over his head would somehow scar his relationship with the children, boys he had come to love as his own. Perhaps not now, while they were young, but as the boys grew into men, he wondered how they would view the man who had killed their father, even under the pretense of self-defense. He didn’t think he could take it if they grew up to mistrust or even hate him.

Not that they had any love for their father, but still, the death of Julian at Gart’s hands would speak volumes of what Gart was capable of. He was a knight, sworn to chivalry and a moral code. Killing the husband of his lover, no matter how vile the man was, would tarnish that reputation. It would be viewed as dishonorable.

So he forced himself to take a deep breath and rethink his plans, trying to remove the emotion and passion from his view of the situation. He approached Julian, lowering his broadsword. Julian spied him on the approach, however, and backed off, holding his sword defensively as Gart closed in. There was great fear in his expression.

Gart’s eyes were intense as he focused in on Julian, yet he made no provocative action against the man. The terror in the air was palpable.

“Gart!” David saw what was happening and he made haste out of the mêlée, heading for Gart. “Stop! Go no further!”

Gart held up a hand to his liege, a calming gesture. “I am not going to kill him,” he said. “I am going to ask him a question.”

David reached Gart by this time, putting himself between Julian and Gart. David put a hand on Gart’s chest to prevent him from advancing.

“Go inside,” he jerked his head in the direction of the manse. “Get your horse and go inside. I will take care of Buckland.”

Gart was quite a bit larger than his liege, towering over David as the man tried to stop Gart’s onslaught. But in truth there was no onslaught. Gart was oddly calm for a man facing his lover’s vile husband– still, David didn’t trust him. He knew only too well what the man was capable of.

“I simply want to ask Buckland a question,” Gart said calmly.

David shoved him back by the chest. “You are not going to ask him anything,” he told him. “Get out of here. That is not a request.”

“You– Forbes!” Julian came alive, feeling safe now that David was between him and Gart. “What have you done with my wife? Where is she?”

David interrupted. “Do not say a word,” he told Gart. “If you value your life, you will keep your mouth shut.”

“Let him speak,” Julian was feeling braver. “I asked him a question and I expect an answer.”

David opened his mouth but Gart spoke first. “Clearly, I do not have her,” he said. “I am quite alone.”

Julian was quickly approaching a shrill tone again. “You took her from Dunster!”

“How would you know that?”

“Because she is not there!”

“And what proof do you have that I am responsible for her disappearance?”

Julian began gnashing around, swinging his sword. “You tried to seduce her, you bastard!” he screamed. “I know you have her. Where is she?”

Gart’s gaze held steadily on the man, someone he hated more than he could comprehend, and eventually he broke out in a smirk. Julian was just too ridiculous to believe.

“If it is true that she is gone from Dunster, why would you seek to blame someone other than yourself?” he asked. “Perhaps she could no longer take your abuse and fled of her own accord.”

Julian screamed and charged him, only to be shoved to the ground by David. David and Gart stood over Julian, quite calmly, while Julian writhed on the ground.

“I told you to get off my property,” David growled. “If you and your men do not clear out of here immediately, I will call out my entire army to escort you off and their orders will be to do it by any means necessary, including deadly force. Is that clear?”

Julian was far gone with madness, rolling around in the dirt until he managed to get to his knees.

“You will regret this, de Lohr,” he howled. “I have the ear of the queen and she will punish you. Do you hear me? She will punish you !”

David merely lifted an eyebrow at the threat, watching as Julian spat and cursed, gathering his men and collecting their horses. De Lohr’s soldiers began to break off, allowing Buckland to pull out his men and retreat.

The dust of the road flared up, filling nostrils and coating skin as the two sides settled apart. Gart and David watched the man race off, screaming at the top of his lungs in an embarrassing display of anger. As they faded off into the distance, David turned to Gart.

“Get inside,” he rumbled. “If you are not in my solar in a half hour with all manner of explanation as to the heart of this situation, I will have you thrown in the vault. Is this in any way unclear, Forbes?”

Gart simply nodded. David gave him a lingering glare, one of fury and disbelief and understanding, before moving off to assist in collecting the wounded. Gart’s gaze lingered on his liege a moment before he went in search of his charger.

He knew he was in trouble. He just wasn’t sure how much.