Page 36 of Wolfehound (De Wolfe Pack Generations #11)

Scott held up a hand to silence Liam as he addressed Cassius. “What is happening, Cass?” he said. “You’ve come here to warn de Royans?”

Cassius nodded. “Aye,” he said honestly. “Canterbury is sending one of his spies to Sempringham to discover the truth, and I did not want you to be caught off guard if he came here. This knight… He is the worst of the worst. A man with no conscience.”

“Who is it?”

“Tyrus le Mon.”

Scott closed his eyes for a brief moment, his jaw flexing dangerously. “Damnation,” he said. “I’ve heard that name. And what I’ve heard is not pleasant.”

“Nay, le Mon is not a pleasant man,” Cassius said. “He is an emotionless ghoul. He’ll get to the bottom of this situation any way he can, and that means… Christ, are you telling me this is all true? That Poppy really did orchestrate the fate of Gwenllian of Wales?”

Scott didn’t hesitate. He nodded, glancing at Carlton as he did so. “He did,” he muttered. “It is true. I was part of it, as was your father. In fact, it was your father who found the infant sent to Sempringham in Gwenllian’s place. We’re all involved.”

It was Cassius’ turn to close his eyes for a moment as the impact of the truth hit him. “Bloody hell,” he murmured. “And I defended Poppy to the king. Right to Edward’s face, I told him that my grandfather would never do such a thing. But he did.”

“Aye, he did.”

“Why?” Cassius said. “In God’s name, why ?”

Scott faced his confused, angry nephew. “Because Uncle James had just been killed in Wales,” he said quietly.

“You know Poppy, Cass. You know that he would have killed, or died, for any of us. He could not let James’ death go unanswered, so it was answered in a way that would haunt those responsible forever. ”

Cassius frowned. “How?”

“To send a decoy child to Sempringham was to punish Edward for sending James to Wales in the first place,” Scott murmured, his gaze intense.

“But for the Welsh, who actually killed James, he had something more planned. By marrying the Welsh princess to an English knight, it would guarantee that for generations to come, Welsh blood would be part of English knights who would fight, and kill, more Welsh. By breeding the princess to a man from England, Poppy could continue to punish the Welsh for decades. And that was his vengeance for James’ death.

But it could have been for me, or your father, or even you.

He would have done the same thing. No one takes the life of a de Wolfe without penalty. And Poppy had determined this penalty.”

That made tremendous sense to Cassius. He knew how devoted his grandfather was to his family, and Scott was right—William would have done the same thing had any one of his children or grandchildren been killed.

William’s plan had far-reaching implications, so much more than Canterbury or Edward or even the priest that heard de Lara’s confession would ever know. It wasn’t some petty act of rebellion.

It was a legacy of punishment.

“So his plan has come to fruition,” Cassius finally said. “I understand what he did and why. But when Uncle James returned from the dead, why not call a stop to it? Why not send the princess to Sempringham as planned?”

Scott shrugged. “Because by that time, she had become the daughter of Carlton and his wife,” he said.

“You do not have children yet so you do not understand, but relinquishing their adopted daughter was out of the question. By that time, she was a de Royans and she was English. Sometimes it is better to simply let things lie.”

Cassius could comprehend the logic. It made sense. But something else also made sense to him, and he turned to Liam, on his right side.

“You are going to marry her, aren’t you?” he asked. “That is the wedding we have been speaking of.”

Subdued, Liam nodded. “Aye,” he said. “But there is so much more to it, Cass. I love Cambria. She has become my sun and my moon, my stars and my sky. She is all to me and I am all to her. It is true that our children will have Welsh and English blood and I am sure it is true that, if we have sons, they will end up fighting the Welsh. But that is not why I am marrying her. I am marrying her because I love her and nothing more. I do not have the same feelings for this marriage that your grandfather did.”

Cassius could see that. He could hear it in the man’s voice as he spoke. With a faint smile at Liam, suggesting that he was happy for the man’s good fortune when it came to love, he returned his attention to his uncle.

“I understand everything,” he said. “And I do not condemn you or Poppy or anyone else for seeing these plans to completion, but the fact remains that we have a very big problem on our hands. Tyrus le Mon is on his way to Sempringham and I am certain that if he does not receive the answers he seeks there, he will be coming here. I do not know what orders he has from Canterbury, but I would say that de Royans’ daughter is in a great deal of danger.

You must get her out of here and let le Mon return to London empty-handed. ”

Scott could feel the urgency in Cassius’ manner. “Now that we know he is coming, you are absolutely right,” he said, looking to Carlton. “We must have the wedding now and let Liam take her north. She needs to be far away from Folkingham when Canterbury’s man comes.”

The attention shifted to Carlton, as the father of the woman in question, and the truth was that he was shaken.

He’d just listened to the entire exchange between Cassius and Scott and it was his worst nightmare come to life.

He had a wife and daughter he loved and he only wanted them to be safe and happy.

He’d been very happy living in a fantasy world for the past nineteen years, a world where Cambria was truly his daughter and there was no danger to be had.

Now, finding out that he’d been betrayed by a man who had served him for years brought him back to reality.

Cambria was someone very special, and his greatest fear was that he couldn’t protect her from those seeking to do a Welsh princess harm.

He didn’t know Colm’s reasons for divulging something that should never have been spoken of, but he was furious. Furious and terrified.

Damn the man!

He looked at Scott.

“When your father came up with this idea, I was not wholly comfortable with it,” he said, struggling with his composure.

“But the truth is that it was a very complex situation at that time. We all believed your father wanted to kill Cambria in vengeance for his son’s death, but when he spoke of allowing Fair Lydia and I to raise her under a different name, as our daughter, I could hardly refuse.

Fair Lydia was already in love with the infant we had brought from Wales and I knew there was no separating her from the babe.

Warenton could see that, too. He saw an opportunity and he took it, and for nearly twenty years, we have lived in peace.

It has been the happiest time of my life.

But I will be honest when I tell you that Colm was never comfortable with the situation.

I knew he did not agree with it, but I never believed he would betray us. That comes as a great disappointment.”

“He is dead, my lord,” Cassius said. “It is my understanding that he told the story as a deathbed confession, so the man is gone and you will never know her reasons. But I know Tyrus le Mon, and if Canterbury had sent the devil himself after your daughter, a more fearsome man could not be in pursuit of her. Believe me when I tell you that the time for questions and conversation is over. Le Mon and I left London around the same time, so if he is not here today, he will be very soon. It is only a matter of time.”

They were all waiting for Carlton to make a move.

Everything hinged on him and what he wanted to do at this point, but they could see the sorrow in his features.

He had been reluctant to allow the marriage between his daughter and Liam simply because he had wanted more time with her, but now her safety was at risk. He couldn’t delay any longer.

She had to get out of there.

“War,” Carlton finally said, “will you send for a priest? And do not send for one at Sempringham. There is a church in the village to the east, so go there. Bring him back here and we shall have his blessing in the great hall. And then you must be prepared to take Liam and Cambria away tonight.”

“I will fetch the priest, but I brought a contingent of men with me,” War said. “It will take too much time to assemble all of them. Liam and Bria can leave on their own, just the two of them. They’ll travel faster that way. I will follow with the escort once they are assembled.”

“I’ll send Jeremy and Nathaniel with them,” Scott said. “Those two may be immature, but they are excellent knights. If Liam runs into trouble, he will want assistance.”

“I can send Kyle and Logan with them, too,” War said. “Much like the de Wolfe brothers, they can be young and excitable, but they both have excellent swords. They may be needed.”

“And I’ll go,” Cassius said. When everyone looked at him, he shrugged.

“I am supposed to be going home anyway. Besides… someone needs to keep all of those young knights in line. I fear what will happen if we allow Jeremy and Nate and Kyle and Logan to run wild. But I agree that their skills will be most useful to protect the lady and get her safely to Bamburgh.”

“I was going to take her to my garrison of Easington,” Liam said quietly, looking at the men around the table. “It is a big garrison and quite defensible, but should I not even do that? Should I take her straight to Bamburgh? God himself could not breach Bamburgh.”

War glanced at Scott, who shrugged faintly. “I would say Bamburgh would be safer, at least for now,” War said. “At least while we know that Edward is on her scent. But it might be even safer to take her to Castle Questing. I doubt anyone would look there.”

Scott nodded. “Quite honestly, I’d send her to Northwood Castle or Pelinom Castle,” he said.

“Theodis de Velt commands Pelinom and you know how wary Edward is of the House of de Velt. He would not risk their anger. And Northwood Castle is commanded by Hector de Norville, my brother-in-law. I do not think anyone would think to look for her there.”

Liam looked to his father. “What do I do, Papa?” he asked. “Where do we go?”

War considered the question carefully before answering.

“Your betrothal to Bria is no secret,” he said.

“If Edward, or le Mon, is truly looking for her, anyone they ask can tell them that Carlton’s daughter married you.

That will lead them to either Bamburgh or Easington.

Warenton is correct—Castle Questing or another allied castle might be better for now.

At least until Edward realizes that whatever tale de Lara spun is simply untrue. ”

“Will he?” Liam asked, sounding doubtful. “Give up the search for her, I mean. Will he eventually forget about it or are Bria and I going to be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives?”

War grew serious. “Edward is old,” he muttered. “His health is not good, though I suppose Cassius can tell us better than anyone.”

The attention shifted to Cassius, who nodded in agreement.

“His health is not the best,” he said. “But he is still strong, still lucid. However, he has so many problems with the Scots that I’m surprised he’s spared this matter any attention at all.

It is Canterbury who seems to be pushing it, and I am certain it is because he hates Edward and wishes to see the man weakened even further.

Liam, I do not think you and your wife will be looking over your shoulders forever, but for now, you will be.

At least until the Scots surge against Edward again and he forgets about rumors of a hidden Welsh princess entirely.

But it is le Mon that we must first deal with. He’s here for Canterbury, not Edward.”

There was both hope and caution in that statement. If anyone knew what was going on with Edward, it was Cassius. But there was someone else beyond the king and Canterbury who might pose an issue, and Scott was the first to speak of it.

“Does young Edward know about any of this?” he asked his nephew.

Cassius shook his head. “Young Edward only cares for his favorites and his wine,” he said.

“Even if he did know, he will not care about the rumor of a Welsh princess. Why should he? The Scots are the most important problem now and probably will be for years to come. So are the warlords who wish to keep his favorites away from him.”

“Young Edward has bigger worries than a lost Welsh princess,” War said, watching the attention turn to him. “You will not be running for the rest of your life, Liam. But for now, I believe we will have to depend on the kindness of our allies to help until that time comes.”

He meant Scott, and the man gave Liam a half-grin. “Do not fear,” he said. “I will put you to work. I’ve a pele tower on the Scots border that is in need of a commander. It is desolate and smells of Scots, but no one will find you there, I promise.”

Liam smiled weakly. “Sounds perfect for a newlywed couple,” he said, watching Scott chuckle. But his humor quickly faded. “And I will be grateful for it. For anything you can do to help me protect Bria, I am forever grateful.”

He meant it. Scott reached around Cassius and patted Liam affectionately on the head. “Then we have a plan,” he said. “I suggest we get on with it. Quickly.”

No one needed any encouragement.

Liam, first and foremost, was on the move.

He had a woman to see.