Page 30 of While Angels Slept (de Lohr Dynasty #1)

Geoff listened with veiled patience to the history lesson.

He knew all of it, better than Cantia did.

He walked slightly behind the women, observing Cantia with glittering eyes.

He noted the delicious sway of her backside, the way her lustrous hair caught the light.

And he was particularly entranced by the lavender eyes and the soft, sensual way in which she spoke.

He could have listened to her all day. In fact, he suspected he wasn’t the only one interested in the woman’s charms and began to speculate that his cousin had the woman shut up simply to keep her to himself.

Tevin didn’t keep mistresses, nor was he known to show particular interest in women, but Lady Penden’s aura would be enough to seduce any man.

“And you, my lady,” he broke into her prattle by gently grabbing her by the arm. “I would like to hear about you now. Tell me of your family.”

Cantia struggled not to recoil from his grip on her arm. She had been so involved in her conversation, and in Val’s presence, that his gesture startled her.

“But we were speaking of Rochester, my lord,” she said. “I am of no consequence. The Penden line is far more interesting.”

He ignored her statement. “Where were you born?”

She didn’t like the look in his black eyes and a sigh of reluctance escaped her lips. But she answered. “Darland. ’Tis south of Rochester a few miles.”

“And your family name?”

“Du Bexley. My father was descended from an old Saxon line, nobility that dates back hundreds of years.”

“Is your father still alive?”

“Nay, my lord.”

“Any brothers? Sisters?”

“Nay, my lord. Just me.”

Geoff’s dark eyes glittered. He seemed to be enjoying the interrogation. “Val,” he said to his cousin, not taking his eyes off Cantia. “Go and procure us some refreshment. Lady Cantia and I will be in the solar.”

Val’s eyes widened. “But.…”

“Go, now. I command it.”

Val watched Cantia as her cousin held out his elbow to her. Her last glimpse of the pair was as they disappeared into the solar with Cantia’s reluctant hand on Geoff’s arm.

Val knew from experience that the only person who could help Cantia was Tevin.

He was the only man who had ever been remotely able to control their erratic cousin.

In fact, she shuddered to think how her brother was going to react when he found out Geoff had gone on the hunt and discovered the trove of ladies.

More than that, Tevin’s feelings for Cantia were bound to unbalance the normally balanced man.

Where Tevin had always dealt patiently with Geoff in the past, the event of emotion could see that drastically changed.

But he had to know. She was almost panicked to tell him.

Just as she turned for the great hall with the intention of crossing through the kitchens and into the bailey, the entry door suddenly flew open and smashed back on its hinges.

Val started as splinters of wood from the damaged door rained into the air.

But even before she looked, she knew that Tevin had arrived.

Val barely had time to turn around as Tevin stormed into the entry and straight at her. The expression on his face was nothing short of murderous.

“Where did he take her?” he growled.

Val pointed towards the solar, grabbing her brother’s arm as he shoved past her. Somewhere behind Tevin, she saw Hunt and the big yellow dog. The child’s eyes were wide with fear and Val correctly surmised that somehow, Hunt must have gone running for Tevin the moment his mother had left the room.

“Tevin, wait,” she hissed. “You must calm yourself. No harm has been done yet. Cantia is fine. There is no need for violence.”

Tevin glared at her, his nostrils flaring.

Val stared back at him. Having known the man her entire life, she knew what he was capable of.

He had two distinct personalities; the calm facade that most saw, and the battle-mode warrior who was sometimes more animal than man.

What she saw before her was the animal and she knew she had to soothe the beast or there would be blood at Rochester this night.

“Tevin,” she shook him, attempting to snap him out of his rage. “Cantia is fine, do you hear me? He has not harmed her. And you must maintain your calm above all else. If Geoff suspects you have interest in Cantia, it will create more of a situation. He’ll see it as a competition. You know this.”

His nostrils flared again, his obsidian eyes as black as night. “There will be no competition. I will kill him first.”

He started to move past her again but she dug her heels in.

It was like trying to stop a raging bull.

“Tevin,” she snapped softly. “Of course there is no competition. But listen to me, please. You must attend to this with calm and stay rational. Get through this situation with tact and then send Cantia away immediately. You cannot allow your relationship with Geoff to sour over her, for there is too much at stake.”

“Aye, there is too much at stake. She is at stake.”

Val grabbed his face, something she would have never normally done.

But it was imperative that he focus on her and understand.

“Nay, brother,” she shook her head slowly.

“Everything is at stake. Geoff controls everything. And you must be calm, for this situation is far bigger than Geoff having discovered your lady.”

He was looking at her, though not entirely calm. “What do you mean?”

She smiled weakly. “Think about it for a moment. He has always been competitive with you. He has also always been threatened by you. He loves you and envies you at the same time. What do you think he will do if he suspects you are interested in Cantia and hid her away for your own purposes?”

He glared at her unsteadily. “I’ve no time for games, Val. Tell me what you mean.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “He is unmarried, Tevin. If he thinks you are intent to claim her, he can take the competition further than you can. He can marry her and do not believe for one moment that he will not simply to emerge the victor against you.”

Some of the color left Tevin’s face then. He stared at his sister a long moment before finally wiping a massive hand over his face, struggling for composure. “Dear God,” he breathed. “You are correct. You are absolutely correct. And he would do it, just to spite me. ”

Val nodded, relieved he was coming to understand. “He loves you, but he loves himself more. He would marry the widow and see nothing but good-natured victory in it. He would laugh at you the rest of his life for it.”

Thankfully, Tevin was calming. But Val could see that his big hands were shaking with the internal struggle he was feeling. She gripped his hands tightly.

“Listen to me,” she whispered. “You distract Geoff and I will remove Cantia. Tell him… tell him she is still in mourning and that it is improper for her to socialize. Then I will excuse the two of us and take her someplace where he cannot find her. I’ll take her out of Rochester this night.”

He looked at her, considering her words, knowing she was thinking more clearly than he was. In fact, he was so shaken he could hardly think. “That is more than likely the necessary answer.”

“Of course it is.”

He took a deep breath, laboring to relax. “Cantia mentioned the manor house in Darland as somewhere she and Hunt could stay until this was over. Perhaps you should take her there.”

“We shall leave tonight.”

As much as Tevin did not want Cantia away from him, he knew it was for the best. With Geoff’s discovery of her, the situation was morbidly dangerous on many levels.

“Take Simon with you,” he said quietly. “Get away from here as quickly and as quietly as you can. I shall come when I am able.”

“You’d better not. He’ll follow you if he thinks a game is afoot.”

A flicker of pain ripped across his expression, just as quickly gone. But Val saw it.

“What is the matter?”

He averted his gaze, wiping the sweat from his brow as he looked anywhere other than his sister’s probing eyes. “Nothing.”

“I know you, brother. Why did you look so when I told you not to come? ”

He sighed, his black eyes moving in the direction of the warm light emitting from the solar. He could hear soft voices inside, Cantia’s voice, and he took another deep breath, struggling for calm.

“Cantia,” he began, then shut his mouth. When he opened it to speak again, his tone was barely a whisper. “When I told you earlier that I did not know what I was feeling for her, I know now.”

Val suspected she knew the answer before she even asked. “And what is that?”

“I fear… I fear that she has my heart, Val. More than that, she has all of me.”

“You love her, then?”

“I must. I cannot explain what else I am feeling.”

“Does she know?”

He shrugged those massive shoulders. “I’ve not told her if that’s what you mean. But I… I have demonstrated my feelings.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have bedded her.”

Val tried not to appear shocked. But it was too much. “She just lost her husband, Tevin,” she hissed. “How could you…?”

He could hear the concern, the pain, in his sister’s tone and he put up a hand to silence her. “I did not force her. It was the most natural of things, as if we were always meant to be. It was the most amazing experience of my life, Val. Do not diminish it with your judgment.”

She eyed him, swallowing what was left of her admonishment. She had never heard such emotion from his lips and a hand came up to gently slap him on the side of the head. “I do not judge, brother,” she said quietly. “But I am concerned for the both of you. This is a delicate situation.”

He gave her a wry expression. “You are telling me something I already know, all too well.”

They could hear more voices in the solar.

They even caught a glimpse of Cantia as she walked past the doorway, apparently showing Geoff something on the wall above her head.

Tevin’s eyes never left her and Val found herself watching her brother, envying him his feelings for the woman. She wished for such happiness, too.

“Well then,” she took her brother’s elbow. “Are you calm enough so that we may enter the solar?”

His gaze still lingered in the doorway. “I am. But I must make a slight alteration to our plans. You must go and find Simon and John. Tell them of our plans and tell them to prepare an escort immediately.”

“Of course. Anything else?”

“Send Hunt back up to Arabel and tell him to bolt the door. Have Simon come for the children when he is finished preparing the escort.”

Val nodded. With a deep breath, Tevin moved at a much slower pace towards the solar entry. He looked calm even if he did not feel it.

Val watched her brother disappear into the warm room beyond.

Slipping in the direction of the shadows, she held her hand out to Hunt, who was sitting in the darkened stairwell with the big yellow dog.

With a few whispered words to the lad, he disappeared up the stairs as Val disappeared into the bailey beyond.

*

“I came as quickly as I could,” John addressed Simon before he even entered the dimly lit stables. “What’s amiss?”

Simon already had three horses saddled. He was working on a fourth and swung the saddle in John’s direction. The slender blond knight caught it with a grunt.

“We need to get the women and children away from de Gael,” Simon rumbled as he tossed a saddle blanket over the leggy warmblood. “Val says he’s already cornered Lady Penden. No telling what the man will do to her.”

John swung the saddle onto the blanket Simon had just placed. “Then there’s no telling what Tevin will do to de Gael,” he commented quietly.

Simon looked up at him from beneath bushy eyebrows. “What do you mean by that? ”

Swantey met his gaze. “Do not play stupid, Simon. You see how he looks at her. The man is enamored with her.”

Simon scratched beneath his fuzzy beard. “And if he is? What about it?”

John moved to cinch up the saddle. “Nothing, I suppose. But if de Gael is stupid enough to make a move for her, we could have a damn bloody situation on our hands.”

Simon simply wriggled his eyebrows and went for the bridle slung from one of the posts.

“We already have a damn bloody situation on our hands,” he muttered.

“First Matilda, now Stephen. I do not even know whose side I am on anymore. I could be fighting for the bloody King of Joppa tomorrow for all I know.”

John grinned as he finished securing the saddle. “All I am saying is that Tevin is three times the man de Gael is. Everyone knows how jealous Geoff is of his cousin. If they both start tussling over the same woman, there could be trouble.”

Simon shoved the bit into the horse’s mouth. “So we’re removing the woman and her son to avoid any trouble. Val and Arabel are going, too. We’ve been ordered to take them to some manor house to the south and wait out de Gael’s visit.”

John watched his colleague finish with the bridle. “If we’re expected to ride to war, won’t de Gael notice our absence and wonder where we are? We’ve ridden to battle with Tevin for almost eighteen years. He’ll be expecting to see us leading du Reims’ men.”

Simon finished with the last strap. “That’s not my concern. I’ll do as I’m told and so will you.”

John merely shrugged. “It would be better to send Dagan and Gavril. I’d rather go to battle than sit idle with a woman and her son.”

“But we were ordered to do it.”

“We’re senior knights. We belong in battle, not minding women and children. Besides, let Sutton and de Reigate put their time in with escort duties. Why should we miss out on glory against Matilda while those two ride to victory in our stead? ”

Simon scratched his beard again. There was something nesting in it that itched. “I suppose you have a point,” he sighed. “Perhaps we should go and find Dagan and Gavril and give them the duty. I’m sure Tevin doesn’t care who escorts them, so long as they’re properly protected.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

They found Gavril in the knight’s quarters sharpening his broadsword. Dagan was found in the dungeons listening to Charles’ madness. Within a half hour, both men were suited up and ready to ride.