Winter of Solace (The Executioner Knights Book 5)

by Kathryn Le Veque

  “I do not know who told you that, but you offend me greatly by calling me a liar,” he snarled. “I do not care if you are my liege. The king shall hear about this… this slander.”

  Edward grinned at the man’s ridiculousness. “He will,” he said. “For I intend to tell him myself. I shall tell him everything. I shall also tell him that you married Alice de Gras for the army she could provide through her uncle, but your bold plan is going to fail. Because you have been the aggressor against a castle that showed no transgression against you, and because your foolish schemes have brought a peaceful castle to its knees, I have sent word to William Marshal about the truth of the matter. I will be taking my army home this morning, the de Lohr army will also be returning, but Caius will remain here with The Marshal’s army, waiting for The Marshal’s decision on what he wishes to do. You cannot use it against Hawkstone until he gives you his final word. You have no control over the army whatsoever.”

  Covington was so enraged that he stood up from his chair, his face turning red. “You have insulted me one time too many, de Wolfe,” he said. “I shall…”

  “Sit down,” Caius growled, shoving him back into his seat. Then, he added as an afterthought, “My lord.”

  The formal address was delivered with a hint of sarcasm. When Covington looked up at the big knight in shock and perhaps even fear, Edward continued as if nothing at all had happened.

  “Until Caius receives word from The Marshal, his army shall not move,” he said. “We are sending word to every Marshal ally along the Marches, telling them not to respond to a military summons from you until this is settled, so if I were you, I would think very carefully about my next move. And let me be perfectly clear about this – if you think to punish Alice because your plan to use her uncle’s army failed, I would think twice before doing so. If you think to harm her in any way, William Marshal will bring a massive army to your doorstep and raze Winterhold. The best you could pray for is a quick death, because if he catches you alive, he will ensure your death is as painful and drawn out as possible. And when he is finished with you, he will find your son and make sure your entire family line is destroyed. If you do not believe me, look around you – these are William Marshal’s Executioner Knights. They will destroy you as if you had never existed.”

  By the time he was finished, Covington was pale and trembling with rage. He was, however, smart enough not to act on it. He may have been braggadocious and reckless, but he was not stupid. He knew that, at least for the moment, he was caged. The man who was always supremely in control of every situation was no longer in control at all, and that was a bitter pill for him to swallow.

  “Is that why you brought me here?” he asked through clenched teeth. “To threaten me? To insult me? You could have told me all of this in private, de Wolfe. You did not need an audience to humiliate me.”

  Edward grinned, but it was without humor. “I brought you here so these men would be witnesses,” he said. “It has nothing to do with humiliating you. You have done that to yourself, over and over again. I had no hand in it. Now, my suggestion would be that you remove your army from Hawkstone until William Marshal decides what is to be done. If he decides to support you, then you will take your army, and his, and defeat Hawkstone. From what I hear, it is no condition to withstand a siege, so a few weeks or months will not make any difference.”

  Covington’s jaw flexed. “You seem to think you have the power here,” he said. “I have my own army. I do not need The Marshal’s, though his support would have been appreciated without sending his minions to insult and undermine me. His army can sit out in the field and rot for all I care. I will take the remainder of my army to Hawkstone today along with my prisoner, and I shall force Caspian de Thorington to surrender the keep or I will kill his sister. This is a private matter, de Wolfe. You have no say in it.”

  Edward remained calm. It was a trait that made him such a good diplomat. “Lady Emelisse has asked for my mercy,” he said, though it was a lie. “I shall grant it. In fact, The Marshal’s army shall be at her disposal, to protect her. I am moving the woman into my protective custody.”

  Covington flared. “You cannot take my prisoner in a personal matter,” he said. “If you do, your allies will know that you superseded your position and took something that did not belong to you. You will jeopardize your alliances with that behavior because it will prove that the Earl of Wolverhampton believes he is above personal issues. You are not the king, de Wolfe. You cannot take my prisoner.”

  Technically, he was correct. Edward really couldn’t take his prisoner, but Edward was hoping that Covington would surrender Lady Emelisse if he was forceful enough.

  “I will not allow you to kill her,” he said. “Nor will I allow you to mistreat her. If you will not give her to me, then you must make your next decision about her wisely, for I am here and I will defend her.”

  Covington was backed into a corner. He was deeply humiliated that all of these knights had heard Edward berate him and push him around, but he also knew that he had little choice at this point. His pride was wounded and demanded satisfaction, but not here.

  Not now.

  He would do what he had to do to make it out of there alive.

  “If I refused at this moment, it would be Hallam’s duty to protect me,” he said. “Since I do not want to lose a good knight against these trained dogs, I will spare his life and acquiesce to your demands for now. You want the lady preserved for some reason, although you are married, de Wolfe. I have heard your wife is extremely young, so mayhap you simply like younger women and have set your sights on the de Thorington lass. I cannot understand why else you would be so determined to safe a worthless de Thorington life.”

  Before Edward could reply, a hand went around Covington’s throat from behind as Caius reached around and squeezed. He did it before he even realize he had and, suddenly, Edward was out of his chair, removing Caius’ hand and pulling Covington away from him as Maxton and Kevin pulled Caius back, far back, out of striking range.

  The Britannia Viper had been silent in his attack.

  Startled, Covington both clung to Edward and massaged his neck where Caius had managed to get in a good, strong squeeze. It was enough to truly frighten him, for the knight with the black eyes was perhaps more menacing and dangerous than the rest of them.

  He jabbed a finger at the man.

  “You want me to show the woman mercy, do you?” he nearly shrieked. “Then I will tell you this – her freedom for Hawkstone’s surrender. Take her to Hawkstone and have her convince her brother to surrender the castle and I will let them both go free. Is that what you want to hear? That is as far as my mercy goes, so do what you must to pry her brother from Hawkstone. If he refuses, or if she refuses, I will throw her in the vault for the rest of her life and I will purge Caspian de Thorington from Hawkstone with fire. I will burn the place to the ground and him in it. Do you understand?”

  Caius was looking at the man with deadly intentions, but he could also see Edward nodding his head at him, although he was clearly displeased that he’d tried to strangle the man in front of them all. Not that he blamed him, but it was a delicate situation that Caius had made worse.

  Caius knew that. It had been an instinctive reaction. He still wasn’t sure what had happened. All he knew was that the man was speaking of Emelisse’s death and something inside him snapped. Innate protective instincts took over, instincts he didn’t even know he had when it pertained to a woman.

  But Emelisse wasn’t just any woman.

  Taking a deep breath, Caius knew that Covington’s offer wasn’t an unfair one. At least he wasn’t adhering to his original idea of Emelisse’s life in exchange for Hawkstone. More than that, it was a way to get Emelisse out of Winterhold. Once she was out, escape would be a simple thing…

  “I will take her to Hawkstone,” Caius said. “And I will take Sir Hallam with me. He will ensure that your wishes are followed.”

  He must have said
it a little too easily because everyone in the chamber looked at him strangely, Hallam include. In fact, Hallam appeared somewhat aghast by the suggestion, at least in the way his eyes widened. Caius saw it but he doubted Covington did. In any case, it was a way to get Emelisse out of Winterhold.

  Perhaps it was the chance they’d been looking for.

  While Caius was silently grateful for the opportunity, Covington didn’t quite see it that way. He only saw it as a way to get what he wanted, to save his pride in front of these men loyal to William Marshal. He still had an army.

  And he intended to use it.

  “Very well,” Covington said. “Ride to Hawkstone and see if you can convince that stubborn bastard to surrender the keep. Meanwhile, I will have the army prepared to march. If Caspian does not surrender by tomorrow, I will march the bulk of my army to Hawkstone and we will resume the bombardment until not a stone is left standing. Make sure both de Thorington siblings know that.”

  Caius was growing weary of Covington’s demands. “I will.”

  Covington’s attention lingered on Caius for a moment before turning to Edward. “And we can also make it clear to the de Thorington siblings that if they surrender their castle, I will return their father’s corpse to them,” he said. “That will sweeten the deal.”

  Edward’s eyes narrowed. “I asked you for his body yesterday so the man could have a proper burial,” he said, grossly unhappy with Covington’s attempts to manipulate the situation. “Where is it?”

  Covington stepped away from him, lifting his shoulders as he moved. “We are still looking,” he said casually. “We will look harder if Caspian surrenders the keep. If he does not, I will stop at nothing to locate Rupert’s corpse and happily send it back to them in pieces.”

  He was at the door by the time he finished, yanking it open as Hallam stood aside for him. As Covington stomped through, out into the bright white landscape of the outer bailey, Hallam passed an apologetic glance at Caius before following his liege. When the door shut behind him, Caius turned to Edward with an expression of pure disgust.

  “I am going to kill that bastard when this is all over,” he growled.

  Edward snorted humorlessly. He’d seen a lot of spoiled men in his time, but Covington de Wrenville was up at the top. If it hadn’t been so appalling, it would have been ridiculously funny. Fools were always laughable.

  But there was no humor to be found in this situation. He looked at Caius.

  “Me, first.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Emelisse had never seen so many men.

  Great armies were departing and heading south, for she could see them from her window, in the distance beyond the outer wall. The countryside looked magical, covered in white beneath a bright sun and blue skies, and the armies were moving through that white, down roads that weren’t particularly passable, but they were moving anyway.

  They were determined to return home.

  It had been Hallam who had come to her chamber to inform her that she would be escorted back to Hawkstone that morning, but little beyond that. He’d simply told her to prepare and departed the chamber as Lady de Wrenville rushed after him. Shocked, Emelisse had waited for Lady de Wrenville to return and explain more of the situation to her. But when the woman returned, it was with cloaks and traveling dresses, boots and gloves against the snowy conditions outside. She didn’t tell Emelisse much more than Hallam had, which left her both terrified and thrilled.

  She was returning home.

  After a quick wash in hot water that smelled of fresh pine, Lady de Wrenville and her well-clad maids dressed Emelisse in at least two heavy shifts followed by a traveling dress made from wool, dyed a dark green. It was all one piece, meant to travel well and to be easy on, easy off, and because the front of it was trussed up with ties like a girdle, they were able to tailor it to Emelisse’s figure.

  In fact, it looked quite fine even if it was a little long because Lady de Wrenville was taller than she was. The maids put woolen hose on her legs and leather slippers on her feet. They took to combing her hair, arguing about the best way to style it when Emelisse, who had never had a maid in her life, politely asked that they should simply comb it.

  That evidently wasn’t enough for the maids. Nay, they said. You shall be properly groomed, my lady. Therefore, Emelisse sat in silence, afraid to speak up again, as they braided her hair and dressed it beautifully with a silk net. Part of her braids were wound at the back of her skull while a single braid trailed from that, draped over her right shoulder.

  But the end result was spectacular. Emelisse was better groomed than she had ever been in her life, with a silk net in her hair and fine clothing on her body. She even smelled good, as the maids had put perfume on her neck, behind her ears, in her hair, and on her wrists. She smelled like flowers and she kept lifting her arms, smelling her skin.

  The final piece came once she was finally scrubbed, dressed, and brushed. Lady de Wrenville, who had been supervising the entire event, approached her with a necklace. It was a golden chain that had purple stones upon it, as part of the chain, and there was an elaborate pendant on the very end with dark purple and dark blue stones set within a cross that also had pearls as part of the design.

  It was magnificent.

  “My lady,” Emelisse gasped, grasping the woman’s arm. “I cannot wear this. I do not know when I will be able to return it to you.”

  Lady de Wrenville smiled faintly. “You need not return it,” she said. “It is a gift.”

  Emelisse stared at it, astonished that Lady de Wrenville should gift her with something so expensive.

  “But…” she protested. “Surely this cost you a great deal of money and I…”

  Lady de Wrenville shushed her quietly and as Emelisse shut her lips, Lady de Wrenville ordered her maids from the chamber, instructing them to pack a small satchel for Emelisse to take along. As the maids rushed off, shutting the chamber door, Lady de Wrenville took a step towards Emelisse and reached out to lift the pendant of the necklace between them.

  “Can you read what this says?” she asked.

  Emelisse peered at the back of the pendant. It was solid gold, but there was something etched into the back of it. She turned it so the light from the hearth fell upon it and she could see the words clearly.

  “It says ‘Quia Oportet’,” she said. Then, she looked at Lady de Wrenville in surprise. “Because I must?”

  Lady de Wrenville nodded, putting the pendant back where it belonged and making sure it was hanging straight around Emelisse’s neck.

  “I received that from my husband on the eve of our wedding,” she said. “It is an exquisite piece of jewelry, and very costly, but instead of inscribing something pleasant on the back of it, he inscribed ‘because I must’. He meant that he gave it to me because it was required of him. Not because he wanted to.”

  Emelisse looked at the woman with some sympathy before returning her focus to the bauble.

  “That was not very kind of him,” she said quietly.

  Lady de Wrenville shook her head. “Nay, it was not,” she said. “Therefore, I am giving it to you. I have a feeling you will not be returning here, Emelisse. May I call you Emelisse? My name is Alice and you may call me by my name. I would consider it an honor. Now, I want you to sell this necklace at some point, take the money, and use it to help rebuild Hawkstone. Will you do that?”

  Emelisse looked at Alice, a smile spreading across her lips. “I will, Alice,” she said. “Thank you for giving this to me. I wish I could say that I will treasure it always, but I will not. I shall be glad to sell it and take the money to repair what your husband has damaged.”

  Alice started to chuckle. “Good girl,” she said. “But I do hope our paths will cross again someday. I feel as if we could be friends.”

  Reaching out, Emelisse took her hand. “As do I,” she said. “I wish we could be friends and neighbors instead of… instead of whatever this is. I am sorry if I was unpleasant or diffi
cult. You have been so very kind to me. I hope to repay you someday.”

  “You will,” Alice said, “when you sell that necklace. Little does my husband know that his money shall help rebuild that which he has destroyed.”

  Emelisse nodded. Then, she embraced the woman, her gratitude so great. Alice hugged her tightly before releasing her.

  “Now,” she said. “Sit down and eat the remainder of the food on the table. There is no knowing when you will eat next, so feed yourself well.”

  Emelisse did as she was told. She picked up a piece of bread with butter and was about to take a bite when there was a soft knock at the door. Alice went to open it, revealing Caius standing in the opening.

  He was dressed as if he were going into battle, a mode of dress that made him look even more imposing than he already did. His black hair was slicked back and the beard he had been wearing since Emelisse had known him was gone. The man had shaved it off, which was odd considering it was wintertime. Most men kept beards so their faces wouldn’t be cold.

  But Caius was clean-shaven.

  And extraordinarily handsome with his pale, pink complexion.

  He didn’t even look at Emelisse, at first. His focus was on Alice, who greeted him pleasantly and informed him that Emelisse was prepared for travel. Caius thanked her and that was when he happened to look at Emelisse.

  The moment their eyes met, it was as if everything stopped.

  Time stopped.

  Emelisse could feel it.

  Confused, and perhaps even embarrassed, she lowered her gaze as Caius and Alice exchanged a few more pleasantries. Then, Alice departed, leaving Caius standing just inside the door. Emelisse could hear his footfalls as he came into the chamber and shut the door. She dared look up at him again.

  “I… I hope I did not keep you up last night, my lord,” she said. “You were the last thing I remember when I went to sleep, but you were gone this morning. I fear I have put you to a great deal of trouble.”