The Du Lac Princess: (Book 3 of The Du Lac Chronicles)

by Mary Anne Yarde

  “Because you wouldn’t be here if something hadn’t happened between the two of you,” Josephine said wisely, turning to look at him.

  “Nothing happened,” Garren lied. He didn’t want to discuss Alden with her, for it was none of her business. A great fatigue overtook him, and with reluctance, he pulled himself into a sitting position. He yawned and rubbed his eyes to stay awake. He was shattered — the lass had worn him out.

  “Did he tell you about your wife, is that why you left?” Josephine asked, raising one eyebrow as she did so.

  “Alden told me that she was dead. Annis was very kind to me. She sat with me while I digested the news.”

  Josephine scoffed, “Annis? Did the two of you speak to each other, or did she simply sit next to you like a useless lump of lard?”

  “We spoke,” Garren answered, a touch of annoyance in his voice. He hoped Josephine wasn’t the jealous type as well. His first master’s wife had been the jealous type. She had made the life of his master’s youngest wife hell. Horrid bitch.

  “I bet that was a riveting conversation. All Annis talks about are her children and how much she wants another baby. She can’t keep her legs closed — that is why she has so many pups. Annis was not pretty to begin with, but reasonable in her appearance when first we met. Motherhood has done her no favours. Have you seen the size of her hips? I have no idea what Alden still sees in her. I certainly would not want her in my bed if I were a man. There is always a stain of baby sick on her shoulder, which she wears like a badge of honour. Look at me, aren’t I great? Oh look, I have just birthed another baby, aren’t I clever?” Josephine mimicked Annis’ voice in a cruel and offensive way that resembled Annis’ voice, not at all. “And there are always knights around her, did you notice that when you were there? The knights are her special protectors, but I have my suspicion. The last brat she birthed looked nothing at all like Alden. I fancy she is so deprived that she would share her bed with them all. But then, she is a Saxon. We cannot expect her to be anything different.”

  “You know her better than I,” Garren answered cautiously, and he realised that he was right to be wary of what he spoke of to her. “I thought Annis, a pleasant woman. Not as beautiful as you, but I can see why Alden is so taken with her. She mothers everyone and that isn’t always a bad thing.”

  “So she told you what happened to your wife then? She didn’t leave out any little details? Like why Amandine was attacked in the first place.”

  Garren frowned, and he wondered if he should stop this conversation now. He didn’t mind having Josephine in his bed, but he knew now that he didn’t want to hear anything that she had to say. “Philippe usurped Budic. There was bound to be bloodshed. Amandine got in the way.”

  “Bound to be bloodshed,” Josephine scoffed again. “You don’t know, do you? They didn’t tell you.”

  “I know that Merton died trying to defend her.”

  “Of course he was trying to defend her,” Josephine jeered. “Amandine was his lover.”

  Garren looked at her in open-mouthed astonishment, and he had trouble registering what she said. His Amandine was pure and innocent, a child. She wouldn’t have betrayed her vows to him with Merton of all people. “Say… Say that again…”

  “Amandine and Merton were lovers — I thought you knew?” Josephine said innocently.

  “Lovers? My brother and my wife were lovers?” Anger penetrated his words. How dare Alden keep this from him. Damn him. Alden had made Merton sound like a saint and instead Merton had just been protecting his territory. Like Budic would no doubt defend his when he found out about him and Josephine. That thought pulled him up short. What right did he have to judge Amandine or Merton? His own behaviour was hardly exemplary.

  Josephine giggled. “Don’t tell me you are going to be morally offended by the truth. You were more than happy to plunge your member into me, and I am your brother’s wife. Isn’t that what the du Lacs do? Share and share alike. I lost my virginity to Merton. I am Budic’s wife and your lover. Perhaps the next time I am in Cerniw, I can persuade Alden to lower his trousers, which shouldn’t be difficult considering what he has to put up with in his bed. Then I would have had you all.”

  “Get out,” Garren growled, for although he was not a man quick to anger, when anger did strike it was like an out-of-control fire. He felt a great burning in his chest and an uncharacteristic urge to lash out. “Before I do something we both regret.”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “Oh I see, what is good for the gander is not allowed for the goose. You know when Merton made love to your wife we could hear her screams of pleasure throughout the castle,” Josephine stated, with a smirk. “Oh Merton, harder please, harder. I can’t take it anymore. Please. Please,” Josephine mocked Amandine’s voice. “Amandine would get us all hot and bothered with the way she screamed. Many times I had to touch myself to relieve the tension. And they were hardly discreet. They often didn’t even make it to the bedroom. I caught them doing it on the staircase once.”

  Garren threw back the covers and stood. “Get out,” he said again, the warning all too evident in his voice. “I have no issue with killing women or babies,” he looked pointedly at her stomach then back up to her face, although he didn’t mean what he said.

  Josephine smiled, but she made no move to leave. It was as if his anger excited her even more than his touch did.

  “Alden threw you out of Cerniw, didn’t he?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with secrets she longed to tell. “And you don’t know why, do you? I bet he gave you quite a welcome. Was he angry when he saw you? Oh, I can imagine his shock. Your timing couldn’t have been worse for him. Alden will do anything, you see, to protect Merton.” She stepped closer to him as she spoke until she was less that an arm’s reach away.

  She tilted her head and smiled gloatingly up at him. “Merton isn’t dead,” she whispered.

  Garren grabbed her arms so tight that his grip would leave a bruise. “What did you say?” he growled out.

  “Merton didn’t die. Alden is hiding him.”

  Garren pushed her away from him. “You lie. You are a poisonous creature. I can see that now. No wonder Budic threw you out of his bed.”

  “Budic didn’t throw me out, I left. I’ll not have a has-been for a lover. I suggest you ask Budic why Amandine was killed. Budic was there. I promise he will tell you the same as I did.” She chuckled. “Budic and I were kicked out of Cerniw too, Alden takes his role as Merton’s defender very seriously. Of course, Merton needs protecting now, seeing as Philippe and Bastian crippled him. They smashed his arm, then lashed the skin from his flesh. The last time I saw Merton, he was nothing but a skeleton with skin. The poor bastard couldn’t even stand up without support, let alone piss without someone holding his… And of course, he was all upset about his mistress dying. He blames himself. You should blame him too.”

  Garren didn’t respond. He just glared at her with hatred.

  “Of course, it’s a big secret. Merton has so many enemies that if it were discovered that he was alive, then all hell would be let loose.”

  “Enough,” Garren said grabbing her by the arm again and escorting her to the door.

  “I wonder why Alden did not take you into his confidence. The knights who escorted you here, they know. Of course, they would, being as they are Merton’s men and not Alden’s.”

  Garren opened his chamber door.

  Josephine shrugged free of his cruel grip. “I’ll come back tonight. I have a feeling you will need me when you have had a word with Budic, for he will tell you all about your despicable brother and your Jezebel wife.”

  Garren didn’t answer. Instead, he slammed the door in her face.

  18

  “Budic,” Garren said his brother’s name cautiously as he stepped into the King of Dyfed’s Great Hall.

  Budic was sat at the table, a plate of half-eaten food in front of him. There was no one else in the Hall apart from Budic and a couple of servants who wer
e busy cleaning up after the breaking of the fast, but even they gathered up the plates and quickly left the room. It was as if they knew something terrible was about to happen.

  “Garren,” Budic said between his teeth. There was no welcoming smile like there had been before. Budic sighed and pushed the plate away. He no longer had an appetite.

  Garren decided that the best approach was to pretend that nothing was out of the ordinary. If he acted guilty, then it would rouse Budic’s suspicions, and he didn’t have the energy to fend that off. He pulled up a chair and sat opposite his brother. He reached across the table and took one of the pastries off Budic’s plate. The pastry had gone cold, but it was still sweet and helped to rid him of the morning’s hunger pains.

  “Where is everyone?” Garren asked. It was unusual for the Hall to be this quiet.

  “Yrre and one of Aergol’s knight’s are taking advantage of the break in the weather. They are racing horses down by the river,” Budic mumbled. “Everyone has gone to watch.”

  “But not you,” Garren pointed out.

  “I do not think I could stomach the excitement,” Budic said with ridicule. He then leant back in his chair and regarded his brother with accusing eyes. “Did you enjoy her? My wife? Did she satisfy you?”

  Garren began to choke on the pastry, so he reached for the ale, taking a long sip. “Sard,” he muttered the swear word under his breath, and he wondered how the hell Budic had found out so quickly. Perhaps Josephine had gone from his bed, back to her husband’s. “Budic, I am sorry—”

  “Do not concern yourself,” Budic waved the grievance aside. “You are one of many.”

  “Why do you put up with it?” Garren asked cautiously.

  “She is pregnant,” Budic said, stating the obvious. “I doubt the child is mine, but if by a slim chance it is, then I do not want it to be labelled a bastard. Josephine will pay for her crimes when she births him. I have no intention of letting her see the child, let alone hold him. She has made a noose for her own neck, and I intend to be the one who tightens it.”

  “That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?” Garren asked with a frown.

  Budic shook his head and looked away in disgust. “I am the grieved party, not her,” he muttered. “She deserves no leniency.”

  “And if the baby isn’t yours?” Garren dared to ask.

  “If the child is not born with red hair, then it can be fed to the dogs for all I care. Or perhaps I will crush its skull in front of her, that would be a fitting revenge.”

  Garren could not hide the look of disgust on his face that was brought on by Budic’s words. “You would kill a baby?”

  “It is not like I haven’t done it before,” Budic said, raising his head to glower at his brother. “I will not raise a child that isn’t mine. Nor will I offer it protection. And besides, Josephine deserves it. She has wronged me. And she will pay. It is only right she should hang.”

  “I thought the passing years would have mellowed you. Made you more amenable. But I can see they have done nothing of the sort. You exiled Josephine’s father, and now you mean to kill his daughter.”

  “How many times do I have to say it?” Budic snapped, rising to his feet and pacing over to the other side of the Hall. “Josse tried to kill me. He took my eye.”

  “He did,” Garren agreed, rising as well. “After you murdered his wife.”

  “By God, you are as bad as Alden. I didn’t kill her, the Church did that, and anyway, she deserved it, she was a witch. She predicted my death—”

  “She did no such thing,” Garren argued, his voice level and calm. “You were jealous of her because she commanded Josse’s attention. He loved her, more than he did you, and you couldn’t stand that. Do you think none of us can see what you are? You are a self-centred bastard who thinks of nothing but himself. Mother may have been blind to your faults, but Father saw it. Your brothers saw it. I saw it.”

  “Lancelot wasn’t my father, and I do not consider any of you brothers — not anymore,” Budic hissed between his teeth.

  “The more Father gave, the more you took and even then it wasn’t enough, was it? Nothing was ever good enough. Nothing was ever your fault.”

  “That is because it wasn’t,” Budic snapped. “Father made me feel like an outcast. He made it very clear that I wasn’t his son.”

  “You were his heir,” Garren reminded him.

  “No,” Budic disagreed. “You were. Thank God, Mother persuaded you to give the throne to me before she died. Father would have seen me humiliated. I was the eldest. The throne was mine, by right. I should have known Father would favour you. He hated me.”

  “No, he didn’t. He did everything he possibly could for you, but it didn’t stop you from hating him. You cannot see what is right before your face because you are too caught up in yourself. No wonder Josephine came running to my door.”

  “Would you care to explain that?” Budic barked, his one eye bulging in anger, and his nostrils flared like a raging bull about to charge.

  “I could explain it until the cows come home. But you wouldn’t understand because you don’t listen and you cannot see yourself as others see you. You think Father wronged you? He didn’t. He treated you fairly. Everything that has befallen you, since Father’s death, has done so because you brought the misfortune down on your own head. It was no one else’s fault. The sooner you realise that, and take responsibility for your own actions, then the happier we all will be. Now if you will excuse me, I think it is best if I leave.”

  “You are not going anywhere.” Budic blocked the doorway and folded his arms in front of him.

  “For God sake, Budic. You are not ten anymore. We are not children. Trying to stop me from leaving a room isn’t going to work. You have said your piece, and I have said mine, now let me pass.”

  “Merton sard your wife,” Budic said with glee. His eyes shining with hatred. “He sard your wife, just like you sard mine and I am not talking about Josephine.”

  “I am finished with this conversation,” Garren stated, keeping his voice level. “If you don’t want to get hurt, then move out of the way. If you do not, I will break your bloody arm.”

  “Anna used to talk in her sleep,” Budic continued, ignoring the warning. “She did many things in her sleep. One night she was muttering and moaning, I thought she was dreaming of me, so I did what any man would do and took advantage. But it wasn’t me she was dreaming of. No. Imagine my surprise when she started to moan your name. I can still hear her. By God, when your boat didn’t come home I wanted to call a feast to celebrate.”

  “Step aside,” Garren said again.

  “ANNA WAS MY WIFE,” Budic yelled in Garren’s face. “I knew then that the child she carried in her stomach wasn’t mine, so I killed it. I tipped a poison in her wine.” He chuckled as he remembered. “It was simple. And I stood over her while she birthed your bastard. You should have seen the blood, for a moment I thought I had killed her too, more’s the pity she lived. I then took the child outside and burnt it. Your child went straight to Hell.”

  “Move aside, Budic, or I will make you,” Garren answered. It was taking all of his willpower not to break his brother’s neck. The thought of Anna and their child suffering abuse from this monster made him see red.

  “But that was nothing to what I did to your little girl. Your little wife,” Budic chuckled with dark humour. “Amandine was beside herself when you didn’t come home. Wailing and crying and carrying on, she was pathetic. Shall I tell you what I did to her? I married her off to an aged lord with a wondering hand. I was told he liked little girls. He didn’t wait for her to be all grown up, he wasn’t as noble as you.”

  “I am going to say this one more time, move aside.” Garren was trembling with rage now, and it was taking everything he had not to beat his brother to a pulp.

  “And then when he died, I found her another equally charming husband. By then she was so corrupted that she willingly spread her legs for The Devil. I bet Alden d
idn’t tell you that, but then he wouldn’t. What he and Merton used to get up to was immoral. They granted each other favours, and I am talking about the sexual kind. It’s a good job Amandine is dead. Otherwise, she would give you the pox.”

  Garren’s teeth ached for he was clenching his jaw so tightly closed to stop himself from speaking. It was best to let Budic spit his venom; eventually, he would tire himself out.

  “Look at you, so full of self-control. So calm. I am not fooled, Garren. You want to hit me, I know it. Go on then. Hit me.”

  For a moment Garren was tempted. But as a slave, he had learnt to pick his battles very carefully. And now was not the time for putting Budic firmly in his place. He was a guest here, and he would not disrespect that hospitality.

  “HIT ME,” Budic yelled. “What are you waiting for?”

  Garren took a couple of steps back until the back of his legs hit the table.

  “FIGHT ME,” Budic practically screamed the word, but still Garren gave him no satisfaction.

  “If you want to stand in the doorway all day, then so be it. I am not going to stop you. But, I am not going to fight you,” Garren stated.

  Garren heard footsteps running towards the Hall, Aergol’s guards would be here soon. Budic must have heard them as well because he started to curse and then with a roar he turned around and went to open the door. A knife flew through the air, skimmed the skin on Budic’s ear and landed with a thud in the door. Budic immediately touched his bleeding ear with his hand, and with fear, he turned slowly back around and regarded his brother.

  Garren had seated himself on the table and stared back. “If I hear that something has happened to Josephine, or something has happened to the baby she carries then I won’t ask any questions. I will find you, and I will gut you alive. Then, I will tear out your heart, and I will feed it to the swine. You have made an enemy of me this day. Watch your back,” Garren spoke in a levelled voice, which made his threat all the more intimidating.