Page 94

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

T he blow from David had broken two teeth off at the gum line and the surgeon had to struggle to get the roots out else they would fester. Julian screamed throughout the entire procedure, howling threats at Gart and David when his mouth wasn’t full with pliers and other metal implements that were dirty and used.

In the newly built apartments that lined the east wall of the Tower of London, Julian had been issued three luxurious rooms as a guest of the queen. The king had his own women, in some cases the wives of his allies, and didn’t give much notice to the company his wife kept. As long as she was available for him when he wanted her, he was mostly unconcerned with her associations.

Therefore, Julian stayed at the castle, living in royal luxury as the lover of the queen. But she had been disinterested in him as of late, ever since a big French mercenary arrived from Bordeaux and caught her eye. Julian could see her attraction to the man and he had worked harder than ever to please her, spending lavishly on her and treating her kindly. He heaped attention on her, telling her how beautiful she was as many times as he could get it out of his mouth. He had a good thing going and he didn’t want to lose it.

Which was why the situation with his wife had him brittle and edgy. He had hoped that Emberley’s presence at his side would cause Isabella jealousy. Now his wife had vanished and his plans were going awry, the loss of control completely infuriating him. He wasn’t worried for Emberley’s safety– the thought had never crossed his mind, nor did concern for the children. It was the mere fact she had left him. He knew that Forbes was responsible for Emberley’s disappearance no matter what de Lohr said. He didn’t trust de Lohr, anyway. Anyone who had been so closely allied with King Richard deserved a measure of distrust.

As the surgeon yanked pieces of broken tooth from his mouth, Julian screamed and slapped at the man. The big, burly surgeon motioned to a couple of Julian’s men to hold him while he went to dig for a last portion of broken tooth and Julian tried to fight them off but was unsuccessful. They held him fast as the surgeon probed and Julian yelled.

“Bastards!” Julian yelled, garbled. “I will make them pay, every last one of them. They will all pay!”

The soldier holding Julian’s left arm was the same soldier who had led the contingent to Dunster to escort Lady Emberley to London and the same man who had recognized Kevin de Lara. His name was Donnell and he had served Baron Buckland for six years. He was used to the man’s moods and rages but he had no particular feelings about the man one way or the other. He was paid for his loyalties and nothing more.

Julian grabbed the man’s arm, digging his fingers into his flesh. “We will punish them, will we not?” he asked him. “We will burn Bellham to the ground!”

Donnell was used to his liege’s bouts with madness, as predictable as the rising of the sun. “As you say, m’lord.”

Julian spit blood out onto his lap, the floor. “I want Forbes,” he hissed through swollen lips. “I want you to go and get Forbes.”

“He is well protected behind the gates of Bellham, m’lord,” Donnell said patiently.

“He cannot stay there forever!”

Donnell sighed faintly. “We can lay in wait for him if you wish, m’lord,” he said. “But I am sure he will be on his guard. It could be a long wait.”

“I do not care!” Julian spat, spraying blood onto Donnell. “Wait for him! Kill him!”

“If we kill him, then we will never know where your wife went if our only source of information is dead.”

Julian growled and grumbled, cursing Gart and de Lohr yet again. The surgeon had him open his mouth one last time to pack in some rags to stop the bleeding but Julian didn’t care. He yanked himself away from the surgeon and his soldiers, exhausted and bleeding as he paced the wood floor of his lavish apartment. He was imbalanced even on a good day, now made worse with the beating he had received at the hands of de Lohr. The madness was growing.

“He has her,” he grumbled. “He must. He is the only one who would take her. Emberley would not simply run away and take the children with her.”

“Are you so sure, m’lord?”

Julian took the question as a challenge and puffed himself up. “You were at Dunster,” he hissed. “You saw what Forbes did.”

Donnell thought back to that night when there had been a scuffle on the walls of Dunster between Julian and Gart Forbes. He had come in on the tail end of it when men were trying to pull Forbes off of Julian. It had been a chaotic and loud scene with Lady de Moyon weeping in the middle of it. That was all he had witnessed but he had heard several versions of the story well into the night.

“I did not see it, m’lord,” he said honestly. “I heard tale.”

That didn’t seem to deter Julian. “Then if you heard tale, you know that Gart could be the only one responsible for her disappearance. He seduced her and took her away from me.”

“But I did not see Gart Forbes at Dunster when I arrived, m’lord,” Donnell said. “He was not there but de Lohr’s other knight was. I recognized him.”

Julian was preparing to rant again but he suddenly stopped and an odd gleam came to his eye. He held up a finger as if a brilliant thought had just occurred to him.

“Perhaps…,” he appeared oddly calm, thoughtful. “Perhaps I have accused the wrong knight. You said that you saw my wife at Dunster when you arrived but the next morning, she was missing.”

“Aye, m’lord.”

“And that knight you recognized was missing also.”

“Aye, m’lord. They were all gone, including your children.”

Julian threw up his hands. “Then we have focused on the wrong man. That knight took my wife! We want that man!”

“ Want him, m’lord?”

“Aye!” Julian was nodding vehemently. “We must capture him and force him to tell us where my wife is.”

Donnell could see the logic but cornering the knight would not be a simple thing. They had already tried to commandeer Gart Forbes and the situation had gone against them.

“M’lord, if I can make a suggestion,” he said. “We failed to capture Forbes and I do not believe it would be wise to try and capture another of de Lohr’s men. They are already on their guard. It will be another vicious battle and one we very well may lose. You know how powerful de Lohr is.”

Julian was only focused on capturing de Lara. He waved his arms around. “Then what do you suggest? Out with it!”

Donnell put up a hand to ease him so he wouldn’t fly out of control. Julian flew out of control quite easily.

“We should find out about the man,” he recommended. “Ask around to see if anyone knows him. De Lohr has allies, men that we know and men that are also allied with you. Perhaps other knights know of this man and where he is from.”

Julian liked the idea. His dark face lit up. “Of course,” he agreed. “Find out what you can about the man. Perhaps he has a home. Perhaps he has kidnapped my wife and taken her there.”

“It is as good a start as any, my lord.”

Julian was less agitated now that a plan was set, one he considered cunning and true. He would outsmart de Lohr and his arrogant brother. He would win.

“Go, then,” he told Donnell. “I will leave this up to you. Decide whom you wish to speak with and take no chances. They must not know our motives.”

“Aye, m’lord.”

Julian watched Donnell quit the room, feeling a great deal of comfort and happiness at the scheme. Forbes was no longer a suspect but this new knight was. He would track down where this man had taken his wife.

There was no telling what he would do to Emberley once he found her.

*

“Explain what has happened to me so clearly that there will be no doubt in my mind as to what you have done,” David was struggling to keep his patience. “I am waiting, Gart.”

Gart stood just inside the door of the solar of Bellham, a lavish room that generations of de Lohr males had made their own. Now it belonged to David and his brother the earl, a pair that was deeply entrenched in the security of England. Gart always thought the room smelled of power, a scent somewhere between leather and smoke and hot steel. Right now, it was a somewhat intimidating smell considering he was here to ask release from his oath. So far, things weren’t starting off in his favor.

“With your permission, my lord, I remained at Dunster Castle to become reacquainted with my best friend’s sister,” Gart began.

“I know that,” David snapped softly, leaning against his desk with his arms crossed. His expression was decidedly unfriendly. “Tell me something I do not know.”

Gart braced his legs apart, hands clasped behind his back. His manner was professional and non-emotional.

“I spent several weeks with the Lady Emberley de Moyon, my lord,” he continued. “I came to know her children as well. In spite of the fact that they attempted to rob anyone who entered the keep at Dunster, they are good boys. They will make fine knights.”

“Go on,” David urged impatiently.

Gart complied. “Although it was never my intention at the start, during the time I spent with Lady Emberley, I fell in love with the woman,” he finally met David’s gaze. “She is the most wonderful, kind and beautiful woman in the entire world and I love her with all my heart.”

David looked at him, waiting for more of an explanation. When nothing more was forthcoming, he lifted his eyebrows.

“And?” David demanded. “What else?”

Gart wasn’t sure what he meant but he continued. “And… and I intend to dissolve, break up or otherwise destroy her marriage to Buckland. The baron is a vile, repulsive excuse for a man and….”

David cut him off. “And his wife is pregnant with your child.”

Gart didn’t flinch. “Aye, m’lord.”

David just stared at him. Then he clenched his teeth and threw up his hands, pushing himself off the desk.

“You told me that you held no feelings for the woman,” he jabbed a finger at the knight. “You lied to me and wove me into your web of deceit.”

Gart was shaking his head before David even finished. “Untrue, my lord. I did not love her at the time we last spoke. That came much later.”

David grunted and growled, making a fist at Gart as if to punch him in the nose but then drawing back, running the same hand through his cropped blond hair. He was clearly agitated.

“I should, at the very least, turn you over to Buckland,” he growled. “It would serve you right for getting yourself into such foolish trouble. What on earth possessed you, Gart? You have always proven yourself to be far wiser than this. I would have never expected this from you, not in a million years.”

“If that is true, my lord, why did you send de Lara to Dunster to warn me of Buckland’s approach?”

David came to a halt, looking at him as if he truly wanted to punch him. But posturing was all he did, clenching his fists and growling to himself.

“Because I suspected you would still be there,” he told him, less bark out of his tone. “In fact, I was sure of it. I suppose all of this is my fault. When you asked me if you could stay at Dunster, I should not have allowed it. You told me that you held no feelings for the woman and I gave you the benefit of the doubt although I guess in hindsight, I did not believe you. I should have made you leave Dunster when I did.”

Gart could see that David wasn’t truly angry at him, simply at the mess the situation had become. Gart decided to lay it all on the line because at this point, he suspected honesty was the only thing de Lohr would be receptive to.

“Please believe me when I tell you that it was never my intention to do anything immoral or clandestine,” he lowered his voice to a beseeching tone. “In fact, even as I say that, it still does not seem wrong or immoral to me. I love the woman with all my heart and soul, as I also love those little ruffians she has raised. I love all of them, so much that I would die or kill a thousand times over for them. Buckland is an abominable, depraved man who flaunts his affair with the queen as if he is doing nothing wrong or immoral himself. He beats his wife senseless when the mood strikes him and has since the day they were married. Why is it wrong for me to love the woman and want to remove her from that hell?”

By this time, David was gazing at him with less anger and more understanding, reluctant though it might be. He sighed heavily.

“It is not as if I do not completely agree with your assessment of Buckland,” he said quietly. “But the fact remains that Lady Emberley is his wife. There is nothing you can do about that.”

“I can if you will help me.”

David’s eyebrows lifted. “Help you do what?”

Gart remained calm. “Help me persuade the Church to grant her a divorce.”

David looked at him as if he were mad. “That is impossible,” he said, “and even if it was possible, the Church would only grant a divorce to her husband and not to the lady. You know that the male is only considered in marital disputes– the wife is property. It would be no better if a horse asked to be given another master.”

Gart was struggling not to feel some despondency. “There must be something that can be done for I will never allow her to return to Buckland. Will you please speak with a priest on my behalf and see if anything can be done?”

David could see simply by Gart’s expression how serious the man was. He’d never before seen that countenance on Gart’s face, the deep longing in his intense eyes. He felt his anger abate completely, replaced by depression. The man had himself in a hell of a predicament. David leaned back against his desk again, folding his arms pensively. After a moment, he simply shook his head.

“My Rock,” he eyed Gart, irony in his tone. “I always called you my Rock because when everything around us was deteriorating, you always stood strong and firm. Nothing could crumble you, Gart. You are the strongest man I know. But what you have done… I understand that we cannot control who we fall in love with, but you have certainly created a mess for yourself. I do not know how we can get you out of it.”

For the first time since entering the solar, Gart relaxed. All of his defensive posturing left him and he stood there, a lone and weary shell. There was a fine, oak chair off to his right, against the stone wall, and he made his way to it, lowering his bulk onto the seat.

“I never knew that such happiness existed in the world,” he said softly. “Every day I spent with Emberley was the happiest day of my life. She is sweet and humorous and wise, and her children remind me of her brother and me as children. Living at Dunster these past few months was like living in a little corner of heaven reserved just for me. It was paradise.”

David could hear the adoration in his voice and it surprised him. He had no idea the man was capable of such feeling. But it also deepened his respect for the man, for Gart Forbes had grown in dimension since the last time he saw him. There was breadth and depth to the perfect knight that didn’t exist before. The man was learning what was truly important in life.

“Those children still have the money they stole from me,” David reminded him quietly, watching Gart grin. “I should take it out of your wages.”

Gart merely shrugged. “I will gladly pay it,” he said. “Those boys have shown me joy in life that I had forgotten about.”

David wriggled his eyebrows as he pushed himself off the desk. “Having a brother of my own, I understand that somewhat, but my wife has three sisters and now I have a daughter, so the womenfolk have the edge in my family. Girls do not rob or try to beat you with a stick.”

Gart chuckled softly. “I have hopefully broken them of that.”

“It was fairly bold for three small boys.”

“They are limitless in their courage.”

Now considerably calmer than he had been since he first entered the room, David was moving to the seriousness of the situation and what to do about it. Gart was a smart man but his brilliance lay more in tactics and battles. He was a knight and knights followed orders for the most part. Something like this was out of his scope of experience and David realized he had to help Gart or risk losing his best knight. Gart was begging for assistance. His mind began to work quickly.

“Speaking of the boys,” David began casually. “You realize that the eldest is Buckland’s heir.”

“Of course,” Gart nodded. “Emberley and I have discussed this at length.”

“Even if by some miracle the church should grant her a divorce, Buckland will not let her take the children,” David pointed out. “Would the woman leave without her children?”

“She will not, and neither will I,” Gart replied, averting his gaze and looking at his hands. It was clear that he was contemplating something. “My father was Viscount Tenbury, heir presumptive to the Earldom of Albemarle. But my father and my uncle, the Earl of Albemarle, had a disagreement and my father left the family and disregarded his titles. But the truth is that the title Viscount Tenbury is rightfully mine, as is Bridgnorth Castle in Shropshire, and I intend to regain my inheritance from my uncle. I will give it all to Buckland if he will divorce Emberley and turn her, and the children, over to me.”

David stared at him. “I knew you were related to Albemarle but I did not know how closely.” He cleared his throat softly. “You are aware that Albemarle is allied with my brother.”

“I am.”

“Have you not spoken with your uncle in recent years, Gart?”

Gart shook his head. “There was no reason to. My father severed those ties long ago.”

David sighed faintly. For a moment, he appeared at a loss for words.

“Gart, Albemarle has a son,” he said quietly. “I have met the lad, perhaps no more than eight years of age. It is the boy that carries the title Viscount Tenbury.”

Gart looked up at him, surprised. “I did not even know my uncle had a son. He had three daughters who were grown.”

David was trying to be gentle. “The earl’s wife died several years ago and he remarried. It is his second wife who gave him the son and the boy carries the title.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. I saw the boy last year when my brother had a meeting of his allies. Your uncle introduced the lad as the viscount and his heir.”

Gart stared at him for a long, painful moment before looking back to his hands. Then he hissed, a long and pensive sigh, and hung his head. His enormous hands ended up on his skull as if to hold his brains in.

“Oh… God,” he breathed. “My plans were to mend the rift with my uncle and regain what was mine, providing Emberley and the children with a suitable legacy to replace what they would leaving with Buckland. But with your news, the inheritance I was anticipating is greatly reduced. I still have a small inheritance on my mother side, but I am not entirely sure what it is or how much. I never cared until now. I was counting on my father’s inheritance to… now, I have… nothing….”

David watched the man’s lowered head, truly feeling sorry for him. More remarkable than that was the emotion he was exhibiting. Gart Forbes had never been known to exhibit emotion, in any situation, which was one of the aspects that made the man so frightening.

David made his way towards him, unsure how to comfort the man but understanding what it was like to love a woman deeply. He couldn’t imagine what would have become of him had he not been able to marry Emilie.

“Do not despair,” he told him quietly. “My brother is due here in a few days and we will ask him for advice. Christopher is a powerful man, Gart. If anyone can help you, it is him.”

Gart was struggling not to feel completely discouraged. All he could think about at the moment was returning to Trelystan Castle, collecting Emberley and the children, and taking flight to France or the Teutonic countries. Perhaps it was best if they simply fled and be done with it.

“I appreciate your offer, my lord,” he said, lifting his head to look at David. “But there is something more I wish to ask of you.”

“What is it?”

“I would ask to be released from my oath of fealty.”

“Why?”

Gart shrugged. “I should think that is fairly obvious. I am no longer an honorable knight.”

David frowned. “That is not true.”

“Please release me, my lord.”

David regarded him. Then he moved away, thoughtfully, pacing the floor until he reached his desk. He kept glancing back at Gart as if reluctantly considering his request.

“Go and rest now,” he told him. “We will speak of this later.”

“When?”

“Later.”

Gart gazed up at him, stricken at the real possibility that de Lohr would not release him. “But I must return to Emberley,” he stood up, weaving wearily. “I cannot remain here much longer.”

David could see how exhausted the man was, now mentally weakened with everything that was going on. He moved back in Gart’s direction.

“She is safe, is she not?” he asked. “There is nothing to worry over. You do not have to rush….”

Gart put up a hand to interrupt him. “Aye, I do,” his gaze was intense, almost imploring. “You do not understand. I cannot stomach to be away from her. Already, I have been gone from her for six days and I can hardly breathe for want of her. My lord, I must be released from my oath because I know that I will never again be an effective knight for you. My thoughts, heart and body are with Lady Emberley and always will be. You would order me to go to France and fight for Buckland but I will not. I cannot. That therefore makes me ineffective and worthless.”

David regarded him carefully. “You would disobey me?”

Gart shook his head even before David got the question out of his mouth. “Nay, my lord,” he said. “I would kill for you and I would die for you. But I will not go to France and fight for Buckland.”

David sighed in resignation and scratched his chin. “You do not have to worry about that,” he told him. “I have already withdrawn my support. Buckland was at Bellham today because he came to demand that I turn you over to him. Somehow, he knows you have his wife. He does not know where you have her because, presumably, if he did he would go and retrieve her. So he came here to demand you. I struck him in the face and sent him along his way.”

Gart’s eyes widened. “You… you struck him?”

“I did.”

Gart was taken aback at the predicament David put himself in. “You did this to protect me?”

David rolled his eyes. “Christ, Gart, must we truly revisit this? You saved my life in the France. I have always owed you a debt of gratitude. I am happy to protect you. I will also release you from your oath if that is what you truly want but I am hoping you will reconsider. The de Lohr war machine will not be the same without you. I need you.”

“She needs me more, my lord.”

David grinned. “Nay,” he said softly. “You need her more.”

Gart shrugged, nodded, conceding the point. “Please, my lord,” he begged softly. “Whatever you can do for us with regards to the state of her marriage… I cannot tell you how grateful I would be. I cannot live without her.”

David sighed again, clapping him on a broad shoulder. “You know I will do all that I can,” he said, giving him a shove towards the solar door. “You will go and rest now. I will speak with you later.”

Gart nodded, hanging his head a moment before speaking. “I am sorry to have disappointed you, my lord.”

“You did not disappoint me. But you did surprise me.”

Having nothing more to say, Gart wearily quit the room. David’s gaze lingered on the doorway even after the man’s bootfalls faded away, wondering what he could possibly do to help his knight. Any possibility he could come up with wasn’t particularly pleasant. Perhaps his brother would have a better idea when he arrived.

Until then, he did the only thing he could think to do– he sent de Lara into London to summon the same priest who had baptized Christina. Father Jonas St. John was a priest at St. Bartholomew’s, well respected and rigidly opposed to the king and his bawdy lifestyle. David had found an odd ally in the priest back in the days when his daughter was newly born. He held a great respect for the man’s opinion.

As Kevin rode from the heavily guarded gates of Bellham, David went in search of Gart only to find the man sleeping the sleep of the dead with his mail still on, laying haphazardly across a bed in a room just off of the kitchen. David peered closer and noticed a half-eaten chunk of bread in the man’s hand. He had been so exhausted he hadn’t even finished it. With a grin, David closed the door and told the cook to let no one disturb him.

Gart would need all of his strength for the biggest battle yet to come.