Page 13 of While Angels Slept (de Lohr Dynasty #1)

He struck her, then. Cantia’s head jerked with the force and she could taste the blood in her mouth.

Lifting her hand, she was fully prepared to strike back to defend herself when Charles suddenly grunted and fell backwards.

Cantia pushed the hair out of her eyes in time to see Tevin descending on the old man, moving in for a mortal blow with his enormously balled fist. She shrieked.

“No,” she grabbed his arm before he could strike again. “Please… no more, not in front of Hunt.”

The little boy was crying loudly on the ground. Cantia went to her son and swept him into her arms, whispering comfort to him as Tevin, exerting the greatest self-control, stepped away from the sprawled old man. His dark eyes were as hard as obsidian as he gazed at her.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She nodded, more concerned for Hunt’s state of mind than her own. But she tasted her blood and wiped at the trickle on her lip. “He did not hurt me.”

Tevin lifted an eyebrow. His entire face was taut with rage, so much so that his flared nostrils were white. He looked back down at Charles, still in a heap on the floor.

“Next time,” he growled at the old man. “I will kill you.”

Hunt wailed louder. Cantia shushed him gently. “Please, my lord,” she said to Tevin. “He… he is not himself. You must make allowances.”

“I make no allowances for a man that would strike a woman,” he said coldly. He stepped around Charles, circling him as a vulture would circle its prey. “You will remove yourself from this keep, Penden. I do not want to see your face again today.”

Charles gazed up at him, his eyes red and unfocused. Somehow, he managed to get to his feet and walk unsteadily from the room. He didn’t even look at Cantia. When he was gone, Tevin and Cantia focused on one another.

“What happened that he would do that to you?” he demanded quietly.

Cantia opened her mouth, but the lady knight in the corner spoke first. “She did nothing, Tevin. He attacked her for no reason at all.”

Cantia looked at the lady in the corner. She did not know what to say, ashamed that this stranger should witness such a scene. “He is not himself,” she said with some remorse .

Tevin took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting her head up to get a better look at Charles’ handiwork. Her lip was split, but she would heal. He held her face much longer than necessary, simply for the fact that he couldn’t seem to let go.

“Has he done this before?” his voice was low.

She shook her head. “Never,” she replied honestly. “Brac would have.…”

When she refused to finish, Tevin lifted an eyebrow at her. “What would he have done?”

She wasn’t going to answer him, but he shook her chin gently to prod her. Eyes averted, he barely heard her words. “Brac would have killed him,” she whispered.

Tevin let her go. Hunt was calming and she set the boy on his feet, wiped the remainder of his tears, and instructed him to go to the kitchens and get some watered wine for the lady knight. When the boy ran off with the dog close behind, she looked at Tevin.

“Charles was always a gruff, hard man, but he was never cruel,” she said. “I fear that Brac’s passing may have changed him. This madness shows no sign of letting up.”

Tevin put his hands on his hips, his dark eyebrows furrowed for effect. “I’ll not let him take his grief out on you if that is what you mean,” he said. “If I have to lock him in the vault for the safety of you and your son, I shall do it without hesitation.”

“I am sure there will be no more transgressions, my lord.”

He just stood there, looking at her as if he didn’t believe her. In the corner, the lady knight shifted slightly, grunting when her ribs pained her. It was enough of a noise so that Tevin and Cantia took their attention away from each other and focused on her.

“Are you in pain?” Tevin asked her.

Val tried to shrug, but with a broken collarbone, it was not a simple gesture. “As much as is to be expected, I suppose.”

“I shall bring you more willow bark,” Cantia turned for the door.

“Wait,” Val stopped her. “Though I appreciate your kindness, my lady, that brew makes me exceedingly tired. I find the pain tolerable.”

“As you wish, my la…lady.”

Cantia wasn’t quite sure how to address the lady knight and the room fell into an awkward silence. Tevin lifted his hand in Val’s direction.

“Lady Cantia, this is my sister, the Lady Valeria du Reims,” he introduced them. “I apologize that I am so late with introductions, but it did not seem the appropriate time yesterday. Please know that we are both very grateful for your delicate care of her injuries.”

Cantia dipped her head in Val’s direction. “A pleasure, my lady.”

“My pleasure as well, Lady Penden. And my thanks.”

Cantia gazed at the red haired lady knight, feeling foolish for staring at her and realizing that they both knew that she was staring at her. It wasn’t hard to read her thoughts. Val smiled a toothy grin that was both impish and charming.

“I know, it’s not usual to see a woman in armor,” she said. “Blame my brother. He would swordplay with me as a child and I grew to love it.”

Cantia looked at Tevin, an eyebrow lifted in mock reproach. “You turned this lovely woman into a warrior? How dastardly.”

He pursed his lips, knowing this was a battle he could not win but willing to make the attempt. “Do not believe everything she tells you. I had no hand in this. She would blame me when the truth is that I cannot get rid of her.”

As Val burst out in giggles, Cantia went on the attack, however in jest. “She should be married to a fine lord and have many children about her. Why are you so selfish that you would force her to bear arms? Haven’t you enough men at your disposal that you do not need to force your sister into armed servitude? ”

As Val hooted, Tevin threw up his hands as if to defend himself. “My lady, if you have any ideas on how to get my sister out of armor and into feminine garments, I am at your mercy. Perhaps you can succeed where I have failed. ”

Cantia fought off a grin, winking at Val as the woman stifled her snorts in her hand. “You are a wicked brother, my lord. See how your sister suffers because of you.”

Tevin, too, was fighting off a grin. He simply shook his head and turned away knowing that any further words from him would only be twisted by Cantia’s humorous tirade.

On the other hand, he was perfectly willing to be a target if it would help her forget Charles Penden’s brutality.

Moreover, this was the first light moment they’d had since his arrival to Rochester.

He was discovering that she had a delightful sense of humor.

Cantia, for her part, had indeed forgotten her cut lip.

The levity of the moment was helping her mood for the first time in days.

And she was pleased to see that the viscount also possessed a sense of humor, a surprising factor given the man’s warring nature.

As he walked away from her, smirking, she found herself admiring his broad back.

It was a rather nice back. But the uninvited thought shocked her, sickened her, and she abruptly lost her humor.

She suddenly felt very ill at ease, desperate to get out of the room and away from the inappropriate thought that had unexpectedly entered her mind.

“I will fetch your meal, my lady.”

Val watched her nearly run from the room, her own humor fading at the swift departure. She looked at Tevin, who himself had only caught the tail end of Cantia’s garments as she fled from the door. He met Val’s gaze.

“Why did she leave so swiftly?” he asked.

Val shook her head. “I do not know.”

Tevin nodded his head, wondering if he should go after her.

Val, not surprisingly, could read it in his eyes.

And having known her brother her entire life, she could read something else, something she had never seen before.

But just as quickly, she chased those thoughts away. It was impossible. Still…

“Why don’t you go after her,” she suggested, watching his expression carefully. “If we somehow offended her, then we should apologize.”

Tevin didn’t say a word. He merely nodded his head and left the solar.

Val sat there for several long moments, entertaining thoughts that she had never before considered.

There had never been any need. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought her brother held some interest in the lovely, grieving Lady Penden.

For Tevin’s sake, she sincerely hoped not.

Tevin caught up to Cantia just as she exited the keep into the kitchen yard.

Dogs scattered in front of her and much activity went on all around them.

Hunt was running in her direction, splashing the contents of the wooden pitcher he held, and Cantia directed her son to take the liquid to the lady knight.

As the boy ran on, Tevin came up beside her.

“Is something amiss, my lady?” he asked.

Startled at his voice, she nearly tripped on her skirts. He had to grab her to keep her from falling. “Nay, my lord,” she said.

“You left rather quickly. We were afraid we had offended you somehow.”

So she had made a fool of herself yet again. Cantia thought she was the only one who had noticed her swift flight. It seemed that all she did was make a fool of herself in front of her liege. Gazing up into his dark eyes, she began to feel extremely foolish.

“Of course you did not,” she said. “You could not possibly do anything to offend me. Even if you did, I would forgive you. But I am truly sorry if I seemed rude or abrupt. I did not mean to.”

Tevin gazed into her beautiful face, feeling a pull he’d never felt before.

It was enough to seriously disturb him, for whatever pity or compassion he had been feeling for the lady over the past few days was transforming into something that seemed to be affecting his mind as well as his tongue.

He should have fought it with all his strength, but at the moment, he couldn’t seem to.

All he knew was that any time he spent with Lady Penden, however brief or trivial or emotional, was unlike any time he’d ever spent before, with anyone .

“Say no more,” he said. “As long as all is well, I shall leave you to your duties.”

She nodded, watching as he excused himself.

Cantia stood there a moment, observing his powerful form stroll across the yard and back into the keep.

She’d never seen a man move with such strength before, with such commanding presence.

It was interesting to compare it to Brac’s presence, which was by far more relaxed and easy.

Brac had never radiated the power that Tevin did.

It was curious. Turning for the kitchen once again, she went about her business with a good deal on her already-strained mind.