Page 49 of While Angels Slept (de Lohr Dynasty #1)
“I am. Dagan was killed while attempting to abduct Lady Cantia for the purpose of marriage, I am told, at your prompting. You were to provide the man a dowry for the lady if he married her.”
Charles’ gaze remained steady. He could see de Lohr and two of du Reims’ other knights standing behind him, big sentinels lurking in the shadows. Charles looked at Myles.
“You serve me, de Lohr,” he rumbled. “You will defend me against this… this usurper. He accuses me of something he cannot prove and I will have my satisfaction.”
Myles could see the madness in Charles’ eyes and it both saddened and enraged him.
He had been particularly close to Brac and knew the man would have been devastated by his father’s actions.
He found that he was furious on Brac’s behalf more than anything.
So many of Charles’ actions were disgusting in so many ways.
“Dagan confessed everything to Lady Cantia,” he replied, deliberately leaving out “my lord”. “She has informed us of your scheme with Sutton. I will not defend a guilty man.”
Charles flared. “You would believe that bitch over me?” he snarled. “I will have your hide for this.”
Before Myles could reply, Tevin stepped forward.
“That woman is the only thing standing between you and certain death,” he rumbled.
“ She has asked me not to kill you and as of this very moment, I will not. But if I ever hear you call her a disparaging name again, I will slit your throat and take great pleasure in your lingering and bloody death. Is this clear?”
Charles gazed at Tevin, a wicked flash in the dark eyes. Either he was too crazy or too arrogant to be intimidated. After a moment, a hint of a mocking smile creased his lips.
“You have wiped everything of Brac off of her, have you not?” he snorted. “My son was barely cold in his grave before you were bedding his wife. Have you flushed her veins with your scent and wiped all taste of Brac from her lips? You are a vile bastard to take advantage of a woman in mourning.”
“And you are a vile bastard to shame your son with your behavior towards his widow.”
The smile on Charles’ mouth faded and he turned away, the insanity in his veins building. Tevin could see the tremor in his movements, the twitch in his eye. He knew there was no reasoning with a madman, and Charles Penden was far gone with madness. It started the moment those arrows struck Brac.
“She is mine to do with as I please,” he muttered. “As the Steward of Rochester, she belongs to me.”
Tevin could feel his body tense, his fierce sense of protectiveness for Cantia overwhelming him. He pressed up against the rusted iron grate that separated him from Charles.
“And I am East Anglia,” he rumbled. “De Gael is dead and the title now belongs to me, which means Rochester belongs to me and everything about it. You take orders from me now, Penden, and I will have the truth. Did you offer Cantia in marriage to Dagan Sutton for a price?”
Charles was looking at Tevin without turning his head, a sort of ghoulish slant of the eye that was unnerving and piercing. “You boast like a fool,” he hissed. “How do I know you are truly East Anglia?”
“Because he is,” Myles confirmed before Tevin could. “Geoff de Gael is dead and Tevin du Reims now controls East Anglia. He is now your liege.”
Charles turned his head now, looking between Myles and Tevin with his sick-eyed expression.
“You have become his dog, de Lohr. I do not believe you. And given the chance, I will do all I can to destroy the chain of command until I am in control of Rochester once again.” He was focused mostly on Tevin now.
“I promised Cantia to Sutton because I wanted to be free of this unrighteous prison, but the idiot evidently perished before he could carry out my wants. I do not know how he died but I do not care. All I am sure of is that Cantia is the cause of everything and I swear, given the chance, that I will kill her. She deserves nothing less for everything she has caused.”
Myles stared at the man. He didn’t dare look at Tevin. After a moment, his handsome features twisted with confusion, for he was genuinely and truly baffled.
“What in the world has that woman done to you to make you hate her so?” he asked.
Charles’ expression didn’t waver. “She took my son from me,” he grumbled. “She took him from me and then turned him against me.”
“You mean she married him?”
Charles looked away. Myles simply shook his head. “She was your son’s wife,” he said. “Brac loved her. She was very good to him. She gave birth to your only grandson. Why should you hate her for such things?”
Charles wouldn’t answer. When the wait became excessive and Myles finally dared to look at Tevin to see what the man’s reaction to all of this was, Charles spouted off one last time.
“I am in this prison because of her,” he mumbled. “If it takes me to the end of my life, I will ensure that the woman pays for what she has done to me.”
“Then the end will come sooner than you think.” Tevin didn’t hesitate. He turned to Myles. “Brick up this doorway. The man is a poison that must be stopped because I believe every damn word he says. He will never stop unless I stop him first.”
Myles wasn’t shocked by the order. It was a cruel world and one did what one must do in order to survive.
To protect Cantia, Hunt, and the rest of them, the harsh deed had to be done.
They all knew that Charles would not be stopped and, short of running the man through with a blade, there was only one way to put an end to the madness-bottle him up in the prison that was to become his tomb.
Charles screamed until the last brick was seated.
When Cantia heard the news, for Brac’s sake, she wept.