“We don’t,” Caius said after a moment. “Covington slipped on his wine and Marius was a casualty of an outlaw attack on his way to Hawkstone. That is all William ever need know.”
Maxton nodded. “Fair enough,” he said. “What do you want done with the corpse?”
Caius looked at him, then. “Put him and his father in the moat with all of those men they so gleefully tossed into it,” he said. “Let them rot with their victims. A fitting end for that pair, don’t you agree?”
Maxton grinned. “I do. Fitting, indeed.”
It was Hallam who ended up making one more trip back to Winterhold Castle with the army he’d sent back, only in Hallam’s case, he was carrying wrapped cargo that he explained to the soldiers was none other than the body of Caspian de Thorington.
They had no reason not to believe him.
Later that night, as the army feasted in the great hall and men began to speculate that Marius de Wrenville had run off to marry the de Thorington heiress, Hallam made his way to the outer moat in the darkness, pulling a small handcart with him. There were men on the walls, but it was so dark that they couldn’t see much of anything other than Hallam tossing chunks of something into the moat. Arms and legs of an enemy they assumed to be Caspian.
But it wasn’t.
And that was the last anyone ever saw of Hallam Chadlington.
The next morning, random pieces, including heads, were seen floating in Winterhold’s disgusting swamp of a moat. Some thought it was surely Caspian until another mentioned that one of the heads looked a little like Marius. By the time they fished it out, the rot and putrid fungus of the moat had eaten away at it, making it positively unidentifiable.
But most knew who it was.
They simply didn’t speak about it.
The moat at Winterhold kept its secrets… and dispensed justice.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Farringdon House, London
One Month Later
“And that’s what happened,” Caius said. “You now know the entire situation, my lord, as it happened.”
He was sitting in William Marshal’s lush solar, facing William, who had an odd expression on his face. Somewhere between shock and disbelief. As the fire in the hearth blazed on this cold winter’s night and the warm wine flowed freely, there was a stunned mood filling the chamber.
None more stunned than William.
“God’s Bones, Cai,” he finally said. “When I received your missive in the middle of this situation, telling me what you had discovered so far and asking if I still wanted you to proceed with supporting Covey’s army, I had to admit that I was undecided. My worry was still for Alice. But now…”
“Now, you know everything that happened, Uncle William,” Alice said. “With God as my witness, it is the truth. Caius has not embellished in any way. Everything he told you about Covington and Marius was the absolute truth. Covington only married me for the alliance with you, and he only wanted your army to destroy lands he coveted. It is as simple as that.”
She, too, was in the chamber, along with Emelisse, Hallam, Maxton, Kevin, Peter, and Edward, who had trekked to London with Caius and the others when they stopped at Warstone Castle to inform him of everything that had happened after he had departed, including the fact that Winterhold was now without a lord because Lady de Wrenville refused to live there. Edward had immediately sent two of his most trusted knights and about five hundred men to secure Winterhold until a decision could be made as to who, exactly, would assume control of the property.
Even Edward was astonished by the mess that had occurred after he’d gone back to Warstone. It wasn’t a simple matter. In fact, it had never been a simple matter. What had started out as something that had been a seemingly straightforward dispute between neighbors had turned into bloody chaos.
“I should have known when I arrived just how volatile the situation was, William,” Edward said wearily as he poured himself more warmed wine. “Covington was bordering on madness from the moment we arrived. He truly felt there was nothing to stop him from using your army to destroy what was left of Hawkstone. The moment he was denied your army was the moment the situation started to turn. I could see it. We could all see it. But I had no idea just how entangled it would become after I left.”
William looked at the powerful Earl of Wolverhampton. “I did not expect you to personally become involved, you know.”
Edward nodded. “I know,” he said. “But I could not help but see the situation for myself when Caius came to collect the de Lohr and Pembroke troops. De Wrenville was my vassal, after all.”
William didn’t blame the man for personally seeing to the situation. He returned his attention to Caius, focusing on the man who had been sent to assist what they all thought was an ally, but who ended up having to go to extreme lengths to settle a situation that had grown into a monster of a mess.
“I suppose I am still trying to grasp all of this,” he said. “Of course, my only concern is for Alice and now that she is safe, I am satisfied, but what you have told me is quite astonishing. And there is nothing more you can tell me about Marius’ death? The king is going to know that my army was at Winterhold. You were seen by a great many Winterhold men, so someone is going to talk. I want to know what to tell John when he demands to know what happened to one of his courtiers.”
It was a dark secret the Executioner Knights shared, something they would never tell William. Not that the man would fault them, or even mind, but it was better for his sake if he did not know the truth. It was possible that John might become irate about the death of Marius and William could deny any knowledge of it.
What they did, they did for The Marshal’s protection.
“We were at Hawkstone when we received word of Marius’ death,” Caius said. “We can only assume it was outlaws. He was riding alone, on the road between Winterhold and Hawkstone.”
“What did you do with the body?”
Caius looked to Hallam, who had taken care of that particular issue.
He had insisted on it.
“Buried him with his father, my lord,” Hallam answered the question. “Lord de Wrenville and his son are together. That is the way they would have wanted it.”
It was the truth, though Caius found himself fighting off a grin at the perfectly appropriate and nasty ending for the pair. But William didn’t see his expression. He was fixed on Hallam, a man he’d never met before now.
“I do not know you other than what Caius and Maxton have told me,” he said. “You were Covey’s knight.”
“Aye, my lord.”
“Caius says that you served flawlessly through this situation and were of great help to him.”
“It was my pleasure, my lord.”
“He also said that in the event of Marius’ death, you have agreed to serve him at Richmond.”
“I have, my lord.”
“You must be a good man. Caius is very discerning about those who serve him.”
Hallam wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he simply nodded his head. Frankly, he was a little intimidated being in the solar of the great William Marshal, mostly because he felt guilty about being in on the plot to keep the total truth from William Marshal, but on the other hand, he was grateful for it. He wasn’t sure The Marshal would appreciate the fact that he’d dumped Covington and Marius into Winterhold’s moat.
“Hallam is an excellent man, Uncle William,” Alice spoke up in support of Hallam. “He gave me a great deal of comfort during my marriage to Covington. He was a horrible husband and the marriage was simply a sham. No woman should have to tolerate what I was forced to tolerate. It was most distressing.”
William genuinely liked his niece, who seemed more attractive to him since the last time he had seen her. She had a glow about her that was charming.
“You can take comfort in the fact that it is over now,” he said with surprising sympathy. “Do your parents know?”
Alice shook her head. “I have not yet h
ad the opportunity to send them word, but I will before we leave London.”
“Why not simply tell them when you return to Winterhold? You are a dowager baroness now, Alice. You can take your time selecting a husband that suits you.”
“I already have.”
William’s bushy eyebrows lifted. “Who?”
Alice had been sitting down. But at her uncle’s question, she stood up and faced him.
“Hallam and I were married two weeks ago,” she said bravely. “I am now Lady Chadlington and I have never been prouder of anything in my entire life. Before you rage at me and tell me how foolish I am, I am going to tell you something that I promised I would not tell, but I feel it is necessary. Uncle William, Covington did not slip on wine and break his neck. His death was not an accident. He tried to kill me and Hallam saved my life. In the process, Covington was killed. I owe my very life to Hallam and I love him very much. I have, therefore, married him and we are going to live at Richmond Castle with Caius and Emelisse. I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life and if you scold me for it, I shall never speak to you again.”
By the time she was finished, she was clearly scolding him. William looked at her, wide-eyed with surprise, before looking to Hallam, who remained stoic and strong in the face of the news that he had killed his liege.
But it had been a noble action.
William understood that. Clearly, after what he’d just heard, Covington needed to be punished. The man had brought about so much wickedness that his death was justice served, in many ways. After a moment, he simply shook his head and chuckled, but it was not a laugh of humor. It was more a laugh at the bizarre nature of the entire situation as more and more of it was becoming evident.
It had been days of madness in Shrewsbury.
“I see,” he finally said. “Then I would say Covey deserved what he received for trying to harm you. Sir Hallam, you have my thanks. Alice, I shall not scold you for anything since you feel so strongly about it, but I cannot guarantee how your parents will react. In any case, it is none of my affair. And in speaking of marriages, Caius, you are now the Lord of Hawkstone Castle, are you not?”
Caius fought off a grin as Alice and Hallam looked visibly relieved that The Marshal had taken his focus off them. Now, it was back on Caius and he nodded his head.
“I am,” he said. “When I married Emelisse, the property became mine.”
William sighed heavily, shifting in his chair as he fixed on Caius. “And that brings about another question,” he said. “I had this same conversation with Maxton and Kress and Achilles and Sherry after they married. And now you. What are your plans, Cai? Do you plan to leave me now that you have married?”
Caius looked at Emelisse, who smiled at him. The light of a great future twinkled in her eyes, something he could not resist. But then he caught sight of Maxton from the corners of his eyes, smirking at him as if to welcome him to the Brotherhood of Besotted Husbands. Caius laughed softly.
“Once, I taunted Maxton and Kress and Achilles for finding love,” he said. “I viewed those men as weaklings for surrendering to something as common as an infatuation. But now… now, I understand why they did it. We are now all brethren in that we have wives we adore and, much like Alice, I do not think I have ever been so happy in my entire life. I will still continue to serve you, my lord, if you will still have me. But… but mayhap not as actively as before. I have lands and a wife now. I should like to devote some time to both. But if you have need of me, I will come.”
William had heard that before, from all of the men under his command who had fallen in love and married. He grunted.
“It seems as if love is catching, like a disease,” he said, watching Caius grin. His gaze moved to Emelisse, sitting in a chair as her husband stood next to her. “And you, my lady? I take it you are in agreement with this arrangement?”
Emelisse nodded. “Very much, my lord,” she said. “You did send Caius north to mediate the situation between Winterhold and Hawkstone, did you not?”
“I did.”
She looked up at Caius, reaching up to take his hand. “He not only mediated it, he settled it,” she said. “Hawkstone will return to the peaceful home it once was. Winterhold is no longer aggressive, and the land can heal. We can all heal. But none of this would have happened had you not sent an army to help Alice. Mayhap it did not turn out the way you expected, but the heart of what you sought was to help us all find peace. You did, in a most unexpected way.”
William’s old, yellowed eyes were glimmering at her weakly. “Nay, it was not in the way I had expected. But from everything I have heard, it was definitely for the best,” he said. His attention returned to Caius. “Where will you go now?”
Caius looked down at Emelisse. “To Richmond,” he said. “I have not been home in some time, so I shall return there and show off my great outpost to my wife and Hallam and Lady Chadlington. It’s strange… when I left Richmond those weeks ago at your summons, I left alone. I have always been alone. But now… now, I return with the part of me I never knew I was missing.”
William rolled his eyes. “Cai, if you say anything more like that, I swear I shall become ill,” he said, standing up wearily. “Enough sentiment. It is time for supper and I have been smelling the beef all afternoon. Let us feast and speak on things that do not involve death and destruction and sappy love stories. Alice, darling, allow me to escort you.”
He held out his elbow for Alice, who rose from her chair and gladly took it, smiling affectionately at her uncle as her husband followed a few feet behind. Caius moved to go with them, with Emelisse on his arm, but he could see Maxton and Kevin and William muttering between them. He came to a halt.
“Aren’t you three coming?” he asked.
Maxton shook his head. “I believe we are going to find our evening’s entertainment elsewhere,” he said. “My wife will not let me go to The Pox when we are in London together, and she is not here right now, so I do believe I shall visit our favorite tavern.”
“I’ve never been,” William said, excitement in his tone. “I’ve heard my father speak of it, but he says it is a terrible place. I want to see it for myself.”
Caius rolled his eyes. “God,” he groaned. “And you with your penchant for gambling. Max, if you take de Wolfe, you may find yourself in more trouble than you can handle. The lad will rob even the sharpest man blind with his gambling ways.”
As William’s face fell, Maxton simply shrugged. “What’s wrong with that? It wasn’t a month ago that you were there, drinking other men under the table. We made a fortune.”
Caius gave him a look to kill, tipping his head towards Emelisse as if to suggest he not say such things in front of her. But Maxton laughed.
“Come with us, Cai,” he said. “Who knows when we’ll have this chance again. You can keep your squire out of trouble.”
Caius realized that he wanted to go. Badly. But there was no chance he was going to take Emelisse there.
“I should not,” he said. “Emelisse cannot go and I will not leave her alone.”
“Why not?” Emelisse said. “If you want go to with your friends, then go. I will probably be conversing with Alice all night, anyway, so you may as well go and enjoy yourself. I do not mind.”
He was greatly tempted, but as he looked at her, he felt the need to be completely honest. “Sweetheart, The Pox isn’t simply a tavern,” he said. “The filth of society goes there. The gambling games are… unique. Sometimes dangerous.”
“Do you at least have a good time?”
“Always.”
“Then you should go,” she said. “I suspect you do not see your friends very often. You should enjoy the time you have.”
Caius didn’t know what to do, but Maxton stepped in, giving him a shove towards the chamber door.
“Cai, are you mad?” he hissed. “She is giving you permission. My own wife will not give me permission to go to The Pox, so take this great gift from her. Go.”
He wasn’t going to miss this for the world.
It was an evening to remember for all concerned.
Much later that night, as Emelisse slept soundly in the borrowed chamber in William Marshal’s townhouse, Caius returned to her very drunk and very happy, having won a beautiful new warhorse from his squire, who had been foolish enough to test him in a drinking game.
William de Wolfe had learned the hard way, as Marius de Wrenville had also once learned, that men who compete against Caius d’Avignon seldom win.
In any arena.
The Britannia Viper was now, and forever, a champion for all seasons.
EPILOGUE
August, 1219 A.D.
Hawk Mountain
It was raining at Hawk Mountain, not an unusual occurrence, but the silence surrounding the rock formations was. Considering his wife and children were up here, Caius didn’t like the silence at all. He was fairly certain they hadn’t moved on to other areas; he would have heard them.
Coming up the path from Hawkstone Castle, he followed the rocky trail that led to a rock formation known as The Gatehouse. His eldest son had given the rocks that name, even though they didn’t look much like a gatehouse at all, but Rupert d’Avignon thought they did.
Caius was happy to let his child think so.
As the mist gently fell, Caius left the path and crossed through The Gatehouse and into a cluster of rocks that his children called The Castle. It was really just a big area of rocks to climb on, and having three boys, they climbed on them regularly.
This was their magical domain.
It was lush with growth and trees, a perfect place for children to play. His smile broadened when a black-eyed boy with a big stick in his hand suddenly appeared before him. Caius opened his mouth to speak but the lad cut him off.
Winter of Solace (The Executioner Knights Book 5) Page 32