Winter of Solace (The Executioner Knights Book 5)

by Kathryn Le Veque

  Hallam nodded. “Aye,” he said. “I will have them departed before Marius arrives.”

  “Good,” Caius said, his gaze lingering on Hallam and Alice. “You realize, of course, that with Marius out of the way, Alice will indeed be the sole holder of Winterhold as the dowager baroness. She has already mentioned this. You could remain at the fortress and rule with her, you know. Probably more prestigious than being a knight at Richmond.”

  Hallam looked at Alice, who shook her head. Hallam shook his head, too. “Nay, Caius,” he said. “We have already discussed this. That place only holds terrible memories for us both. Let it revert to the Crown. I would rather start a new life with Alice than rule that place at her side.”

  Caius understood and he admired the fact that Hallam truly wanted a peaceful beginning with Alice rather than help her rule over a castle that bore such an awful history for them both. But he had wanted to make sure, which was why he’d brought it up. With Hallam and the remaining Winterhold army taken care of, his attention turned to Emelisse.

  She had so far remained silent during the exchange, seated upon her palfrey and looking a bit distant. He squeezed her hand.

  “There is no danger to you, sweetheart, I promise,” he said. “All you need do is sit in the hall. The rest of us will be around you, in the shadows. Marius will never get close enough to harm you, but I am sorry if this frightens you.”

  She looked at him, smiling wanly. There was a good deal going through her mind, not the least of which was the fact that she was closer to the end of the hostilities with Winterhold than she had been since the situation started. God, how she’d prayed for a miracle, praying for Covington and Marius to cease their aggression. But she’d never prayed for what she received – a knight, a husband, who would be the answer to everything. She’d only prayed for help.

  Help had indeed come.

  How she wished her father and brother were alive to see it.

  “It does not frighten me,” she said after a moment. “I was simply thinking… wondering… if you would give me a weapon, too. I have a father and brother to avenge. When Marius breathes his last, I want him to know I had a hand in it. I want him to see my face and know that, ultimately, a de Thorington was the last one standing. He tried to destroy us but, in the end, he did not. Does that sound too terribly brutal?”

  Caius’ gaze lingered on her a moment, glittering darkly. Reaching into his tunic, he pulled forth a small but razor-sharp dagger with a pewter hilt. The hilt, in fact, was in the shape of a viper’s head. Flipping it over, he handed it to her, hilt-first.

  “Put it someplace he cannot see it,” he whispered.

  The stage was set.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Hallam was nowhere to be found.

  In fact, Marius had not seen Hallam for quite some time. After his father’s body was discovered early that morning, Marius’ first order of business had been to assemble the remaining men he had at Winterhold. William Marshal’s army still sat on the perimeter of his outer wall, their tents covered in a layer of melting snow and ice, and completely inactive. Marius had been furious about the lack of action and the lack of support from William Marshal’s commanders, but his father seemed to think the situation needed to be handled with more tact.

  Marius didn’t.

  He was now the Lord of Winterhold Castle. Baron Darliston was now his title, his hereditary title, having belonged to his father and his father before him. This was what Marius had been groomed for his entire life and the sense of power he felt upon learning of his father’s death with something he had never imagined. He wasn’t even sorry for his father’s passing; nay.

  He was grateful for it.

  Now, he could do everything his father never would, including the final destruction and seizure of Hawkstone Castle.

  He wasn’t going to wait any longer.

  As the servants took his father’s body away and put it into the vault next to Rupert de Thorington’s decaying corpse, Marius assumed control of Winterhold’s destiny. It wasn’t long before he forgot about his father completely as he demanded to see his commanders, Hallam most importantly, but Hallam seemed to be missing. No one seemed to know where he was, and Marius suspected the man was off somewhere, grieving his father’s death.

  At least, that’s what he thought.

  He wasn’t happy about it, in truth. As the new Lord of Winterhold, he expected Hallam to be supremely loyal to him now. Hallam was a legacy knight, his father having served the House of de Wrenville for many years, and his grandfather as well. The entire Chadlington line, three generations back, had served the House of de Wrenville, so Hallam, in that sense, was really part of the family. Marius had known the man all of his life and he’d never had any particular feeling towards him one way or the other. Hallam was simply a legacy servant who had served his father quite well.

  But now, Marius wanted that loyalty.

  In Hallam’s absence, however, he was forced to muster the army himself, which thoroughly frustrated him. He hadn’t seen Lady de Wrenville either, but it never occurred to him that there was a link between Hallam’s disappearance and the lady’s absence. He wasn’t that sharp when it came to personal relationships. More than that, he simply didn’t care. He had been doing Hallam’s job most of the morning when he received a missive from Hawkstone Castle.

  Caspian had surrendered the keep and Lady Emelisse had been found.

  Marius didn’t even care that the missive came with terms. It said that he was to leave any armed escort behind, but that didn’t matter to him considering there were already Winterhold soldiers at Hawkstone. This was the moment he had been waiting for, the victory he had sought. He had his warhorse quickly saddled and took off on the muddy, mucky roads to the north, heading for Hawkstone.

  He could almost taste triumph.

  Hawkstone finally belonged to him.

  Better still, he didn’t have to share it with his father. Now, this grand empire of Winterhold and Hawkstone belonged to him alone. He was the sole heir of a great and rich empire.

  It almost made kissing the king’s arse for all those years worth it.

  … almost.

  As he rode north to Hawkstone, he didn’t see himself returning to the king anytime soon. Now he had what he wanted and there was no reason for him to ever go back to hanging on the John’s coattails. He had what he wanted now and he would ensure that it flourished. He would well marry a wealthy local woman, have heirs of his own, and be lord over his own domain.

  That was all he had ever really wanted in the first place.

  Thank you, Father, for being drunk enough to kill yourself!

  His arrival to Hawkstone took longer than it should have because of the impassability of the road. When he had been about halfway to his destination, he saw The Marshal’s army in a field off to the side of the road, but he did not acknowledge them. He did not need them any longer. In fact, he started laughing. All of the manipulation to marry into William Marshal’s family had been a waste of effort because, in the end, they hadn’t needed the alliance, after all.

  None of that mattered anymore.

  After having been on the road almost two hours, the damaged walls of Hawkstone began to come into view. Marius hadn’t seen Hawkstone in quite some time, so the sight of the crushed red walls, damaged gatehouse, and general destruction was both pleasing and impressive. He knew it would take time and money to repair the place, as he intended to use the castle as a garrison, but that was what The Roden Twins were for.

  They would soon belong to him.

  Everything would soon belong to him.

  To the southwest side of the castle, outside of the walls, he could see the remnants of an army encampment that he assumed was from Winterhold. He could see smoke trickling into the air from doused cooking fires, but there were no longer any men or structures. He thought it was rather strange, but he couldn’t concern himself with it now. With the de Thorington siblings preparing to surrender to him, th
at was all that mattered.

  He charged in through the gatehouse like a conquering hero.

  The bailey, cluttered and destroyed and smelling like human habitation, greeted him. It was eerily empty, but Marius was so damned happy with the outcome of this day that it didn’t occur to him to be cautious. He dismounted his horse at the gatehouse, tethering the animal before charging headlong into the bailey, looking for either of the de Thorington siblings. Only desolation greeted him, so he finally came to a halt in the middle of the bailey and started shouting.

  “I have arrived!” he called. “Unless you want me to send to Winterhold for my entire army, you had better show yourselves. Well? Come out to greet me!”

  His voice echoed off the old walls and even off the trees beyond, the ones on the slope of Hawk Mountain. The snow from the previous storm had mostly melted, revealing dark green, winter-frozen trees. Marius put his hands on his hips, growing increasingly perturbed at the lack of response, when he caught movement over near the hall.

  A woman in white stood in the entry and it took him a moment to realize that it was Lady Emelisse. At least, he thought that was who it was. She looked ethereal and angelic standing there silently. Before he could shout at her, she turned and walked into the hall.

  Grossly frustrated, he stomped after her.

  “Lady?” he called. “Lady Emelisse, if that is you, come to me. Do you hear me? Come out here so that I may see you!”

  He stomped and sloshed his way across the bailey, finally coming to the stone step that led up into the half-burned great hall. In fact, he smiled when he saw the damage, proud of the job his army had done with their war machines.

  His army.

  This was going to be the greatest moment of his life.

  The interior of the hall was cold and dark but for the light coming in through the damaged roof. Marius spied the lady over near the hearth, simply sitting there in perhaps the only piece of furniture in the hall that hadn’t been stolen for firewood or damaged. She was looking at him as he entered and Marius slowed his pace, his gaze fixing on the woman.

  The sunlight was streaming in on her, illuminating her where she sat. In the white woolen dress, with her blonde hair draped over one shoulder, she looked like a queen. Marius came to a halt, planting his fists on his hips as he looked at her.

  “Lady Emelisse, I presume?” he asked.

  She nodded, once. “It is I.”

  “Where is your brother?”

  “Dead.”

  Marius couldn’t help the surprise that washed over him. “Dead?” he repeated. “When?”

  “Two days ago in the same battle that claimed my father.”

  Marius frowned. “But my father was told he was willing to negotiate the keep.”

  “It was a lie.”

  Marius stared at her a moment. “Lady, if you think to play games with me, I would advise against it,” he said. “Your castle is destroyed, your father dead, and you have nothing left.”

  She smiled faintly, though it was without humor. “I think I do,” she said. “If I did not, you would not be here.”

  Marius’ hands came off his hips and he made his way towards her. “You are all that is left of a bereft family,” he said. “You have Hawkstone, but that will soon be mine. Once I marry you, all of this will be mine, and what I do with you after our marriage depends on how you behave. I have no use for a wife I do not like or will fight me at every turn. Know your place and it is possible that you will live. Displease me and there shall be consequences.”

  She didn’t say anything. She continued to stare at him, without moving, and Marius inched closer to her chair. She wasn’t responding to his threats and he didn’t like that. He wanted to see a submissive prisoner and, so far, she hadn’t displayed that.

  He pushed harder.

  “Do you know how this all came about?” he said, pointing a finger upward as if to indicate the destruction around them. “It’s all quite interesting, actually. I wonder if your father had the courage to tell you.”

  She was still looking at him with that emotionless stare. “Tell me what?”

  Marius grinned, but it was an ugly gesture. So very ugly. “I did not think he had courage,” he said. “Rupert de Thorington never had a measure of courage in his life. You see, my father believed that my mother and your father had a love affair years ago. He even speculated that I was your father’s son. Did you know that?”

  For the first time, her features darkened. “That is a lie.”

  Marius shook his head. “It is not, I swear it,” he said. “Why do you think this all started? Because of The Roden Twins? Certainly, that escalated matters, but now that you and I are to be wed, it is time you know why this all happened. It started when your father could not keep his hands off my mother.”

  She was out of the chair in a flash, her calm façade vanished. “That is a nasty lie,” she snarled at him. “My father was a true and noble man who loved my mother. He would have never carried on with another woman!”

  Marius was enjoying her rage, pleased he finally had a reaction from her. “Ah, so you have fire,” he said. “I like that. And you. You shall be a tasty morsel upon my tongue, Woman. I had heard you were fine and now I see that the rumors were true.”

  She stiffened, struggling to regain her composure. “And I heard that you were a beast,” she said. “I see that those rumors were true, too.”

  His smile faded. “If you are trying to please me, this is not the way to do it,” he said. “Careful or I will do to you what my father did to your father. You do not want to end up in Winterhold’s moat. Nasty place.”

  She looked at him with horror, which pleased him immensely. He dragged his gaze up her body, lingering on her breasts. He even reached out to touch them, but she slapped his hand away. Then she slapped his face as hard as she could. His response was to swing at her with a closed fist, catching her on the side of the head, forcefully enough to send her flying.

  As Emelisse landed in a heap, Marius laughed and moved towards her crumpled form, preparing to stand over her and gloat, but a strange thing happened. He felt a breeze; just a faint one, but along with that breeze came something cold and painful ramming into his back. He could feel it sliding into his body.

  Shocked, he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came forth. More cold things were jabbing at him and he realized they were daggers. One was a broadsword. Blood was pouring as men swarmed around him. He caught movement out of the corners of his eyes, looking up to see Hallam standing in front of him with a bloodied dagger in his hand.

  Marius didn’t even realize that it was his blood.

  So this is where Hallam went, he thought.

  But it was the last thing he would ever think in this lifetime as a massive blade carved into the side of his neck and his head went rolling.

  And just like that, Marius de Wrenville was no more.

  Caius stood over the man whose head he just cut off, but not for long. Sheathing Negotiator, he bent over Emelisse as she was pushing herself off the floor. He put his arms around her, lifting her up, holding her against him.

  “Are you well?” he asked anxiously. “Did he hurt you? I am so very sorry I did not get to him before he struck you. God, tell me you are unharmed.”

  Surprisingly, Emelisse was smiling at him, her hand on her stinging cheek. “I am not harmed,” she assured him. “I hit him first. I expected him to strike back, but I didn’t move away fast enough to avoid it.”

  She said it with some irony, but he wasn’t over being mortified that she’d been struck and he hadn’t been fast enough to stop it. He pulled her into a crushing embrace, heaving a sigh of relief that the damage was minimal.

  “God be praised,” he murmured, his big hand on her head as he held her against him. “You were magnificent, Em. I’ve never seen such bravery.”

  She tilted her head back, looking up at him. “It was a simple thing,” she said. “You were here, Cai. I knew that I had nothing to fe
ar.”

  “And you never will, so long as I am around.”

  “I know, my love. I know.”

  “Say it again.”

  “What?”

  “My love.”

  She smiled faintly, with the greatest reverence. “My love,” she whispered.

  He cupped her face in his big hands, kissing her gently, before turning to Marius’ supine body.

  At that moment, the rage he felt was indescribable.

  Hallam, Maxton, Kevin, and William were all milling around the headless corpse. Maxton instructed William to find something to wrap the body up in and the mood was lightened when William gagged at the sight but gamely went in search of an old blanket or cloak or something similar. Maxton shook his head humorously at the pale-faced squire.

  “If he wants to be a great knight, he is going to have to overcome the urge to vomit every time he sees blood,” he said. Then, his attention moved to Emelisse, who had fulfilled her role in this so ably. “Are you well, my lady?”

  She nodded thankfully. “I am fine,” she said. But she pulled forth the small dagger Caius had given her, holding it up. “I wish I’d had a chance to use this.”

  Caius smiled faintly. “It does not matter in the end,” he said. “He is finished and we shall never think of him again. For Rupert and Caspian, we were honored to do what we did in their names. And yours.”

  Emelisse knew that. Her gaze moved to the headless body and she felt… free. Such a powerful sense of freedom now that the end to her family’s struggles had come so abruptly. By the swords of avenging angels, the end had finally come.

  That was how she would always remember this moment.

  Saved by Executioner Knights.

  “Cai,” Maxton said, interrupting her thoughts. “How do we explain all of this to The Marshal when he asks?”

  Emelisse looked up at her husband, who was still standing there with his arms wrapped around her protectively. He seemed to be deep in thought.