The Agents of William Marshal Volume II: A Medieval Romance Bundle

by Kathryn Le Veque

  Edward looked up from pouring himself more wine. “I cannot say that it is a terrible idea, because it is not,” he said. “I have thought about taking her into my custody, but I do not think de Wrenville would allow it. I would have a fight on my hands. But if she escapes…”

  “If she escapes, he has lost a bargaining tool in the surrender of Hawkstone,” Caius finished for him. Then, he looked to William, who was standing over by the door that led to the outer bailey. “Did you find any other escape routes in the keep last night? Did you poke around sufficiently?”

  William stepped forward. “I did, my lord,” he said. “I covered the keep from the very bottom to the very top.”

  “And?”

  “There is one door and one door only – the entry door.”

  “Did anyone see you nosing around?”

  William shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “But… well, I do not know if I should tell you what I saw and heard.”

  Edward was looking at him by this time. “What did you see?” he asked. “Speak up, lad.”

  William came away from the door, looking at Caius. “I saw Sir Hallam and Lady de Wrenville speaking in the entry,” he said. “They did not see me, as I had just come up the stairs from the storage vault on the ground level of the keep. They were speaking quietly before he took her into Lord de Wrenville’s solar and shut the door.”

  “And?” Caius asked.

  William looked around the room at the knights. They were all looking at him curiously and his cheeks began to flush as much as he tried to remain unflustered and neutral.

  “And if you have any question as to whether or not their affair has been consummated, I can tell you that it has,” he said. “I heard them in Lord de Wrenville’s solar.”

  Caius could see how embarrassed the lad was about it and he grinned, chuckling as he looked at Edward, who also started to laugh. Soon, the entire room was snorting at the idea of Hallam and Lady de Wrenville fornicating in her supercilious husband’s solar.

  “I hope they did it right on his table,” Maxton muttered. “I hope they smeared it all over anything he touches. I hope he smells their sweat the next time he sits down in his chair and wonders what that stench is. It is the stench of Hallam Chadlington fathering the next de Wrenville child.”

  The laughter grew. They were just starting to loosen up, to pour themselves more wine and take a few pieces of bread, when the door from the outer bailey flew open.

  Covington had arrived.

  The laughter stopped in an instant as Covington looked at the room full of powerful knights, his nostrils flaring with rage. Hallam was behind him, his expression suggesting they were all in for a verbal beating.

  Covington didn’t waste any time.

  “Why must I come down here?” Covington demanded, his focus moving to Edward. “I do not usually answer any summons in my own castle, de Wolfe. This had better be important.”

  Edward cocked a dark eyebrow. “Yet, here you are,” he said. “And you will address me as ‘my lord’, as I am your liege. Like it or not, you are my vassal and subservient to me. Now, sit down. This will not take long.”

  Properly rebuked, Covington stomped in, snow on his boots that scattered across the floor, melting. He plopped down in a chair across the small table from Edward as Hallam quietly closed the door to the knights’ quarters. He stood just inside the door, next to the young squire who had just told everyone of the man’s indiscretions, as Edward’s intense gaze focused in on Covington.

  “Baron Darliston,” he said, using Covington’s formal title. “Nearly two months ago, you summoned an army from William Marshal to help you in your battle against Hawkstone Castle. That is why we have all come.”

  Covington lifted his eyebrows as if Edward’s statement was the most useless thing he’d ever heard.

  “I know that,” he said impatiently. “The weather has cleared and I have ordered Hallam to muster the armies and take them over to Hawkstone this morning. I also intend to send my prisoner with the army so she can tell her brother to surrender the keep. If he does not, I will slit her throat right in front of him. Her life for Hawkstone. That is the price.”

  My prisoner.

  Caius stiffened; he couldn’t help it. His entire body stiffened, and he looked at Covington as if to kill the man. He’d heard plenty of cold-hearted things in his lifetime. He’d even uttered a few. More than a few, actually, and he’d followed through on them. But this one involved Emelisse, an innocent in this situation.

  He was beginning to view Covington as the enemy, a dangerous perspective.

  Edward, however, was one step ahead of him.

  “Nay, Darliston, I am going to tell you the price,” he said, his jaw ticking faintly. “The price will be everything you hold dear, so I want you to listen very carefully to me. In the first place, you lied. You lied to The Marshal, to the king, and to all of us. The House of de Thorington does not support France. The only crime they are guilty of is being your neighbor, and the conflict between Winterhold and Hawkstone was the one you created with your greed, your malice, and your naked ambition. You simply want their lands, and mayhap the diamonds that were discovered there. Do not deny it because we have heard the tale from multiple sources.”

  Covington’s entire body began to tense up. Perhaps it was the truth, but there was no possibility he would admit to anything.

  “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 w
as 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 headi
ng 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.