The Dark Spawn (Battle Lords of de Velt Book 5)

by Kathryn Le Veque

“I would not lie to you,” she said. “What is the matter?”

  “When we ambushed the wagons as the Scots led them out of the encampment, where were you going?”

  She cocked her head. “Back to England, I was told.”

  “So they were releasing you.”

  She nodded, still confused with the line of questioning. “That was my understanding,” she said. “Why? Does it matter?”

  It was apparent that he was trying very hard to keep his composure and she truly had no idea why. “Why were they releasing you?” he asked.

  Corisande was greatly puzzled. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Cole, what is the matter? Has something happened?”

  His jaw flexed dangerously. “Answer me,” he said, lowering his voice. “Why were they releasing you?”

  She shook her head. “What else do you do with prisoners?” she said. “If you do not need them or want them, you release them, I suppose. We were of no value to them any longer, so…”

  He cut her off. “Did you make a deal with them?”

  “A deal? What deal?”

  He was starting to breath heavily, his chest heaving with emotion. Corisande had never seen him in such a state and, frankly, it was frightening. He looked as if he were coiled, ready to strike, and she took a step back from him.

  He took a step forward.

  “Did you warm some Scotsman’s bed in exchange for your release?”

  Corisande felt as if she’d been slapped. All of the color drained from her face and, in a panic, she went on the defensive.

  “Who told you such things?” she hissed.

  “Do you mean to tell me that it is not true?”

  Corisande backed up again, but he was on top of her. For every inch she put between them, he closed the gap and then some. She finally put her hands out to push him back because he was starting to overwhelm her.

  “I am not telling you anything,” she seethed. “But by the tone of your voice, you clearly believe it is true, so anything I tell you will not matter.”

  “Tell me the truth.”

  “Would you believe me if I did?”

  His jaw continued to work, infuriated and shattered. “Do you mean to tell me you do not know anything about the rumors flying fast and furious that you exchanged your body for your release?” He sounded like he was growling. “When we found your caravan, you were heading south. I want to know why they released you, so you will answer my question. And do not tell me that they released you because they no longer had need of you. In war, one does not simply release hostages. One uses them.”

  Corisande stared at him. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. She was shocked and horrified, everything she could possibly feel, but there were two things whirling through her mind that she could grasp above all else. The first was that Cole already believed whatever rumors he had heard and that cut her to the bone. Did the man have so little faith in her?

  The second was that she had to protect Gaia.

  There she was, back in the position of protector again. Her little sister had made the ultimate sacrifice and, horribly, there were rumors about it. Or, they were about Corisande. She wasn’t going to ask Cole because whatever the rumors were, he believed them.

  She wasn’t going to tell him the truth and destroy her sister’s sacrifice in the same stroke.

  Let them think it was her.

  Let Gaia keep the dignity she sacrificed to free them.

  “You believe the rumors already, Cole,” she said coldly. “There is nothing more I can say.”

  “You can tell me the truth.”

  “You have your truth as you believe it. Your lack of faith in me is clear and I will not dignify the question with a response.”

  “Did you let the Scots commander bed you in exchange for your freedom?”

  It was a direct question. Looking up at Cole, Corisande couldn’t have felt more grief had he ripped her heart out of her chest. The pain was beyond anguish. It entered the realm of becoming something that filled her as surely as blood filled her veins. The man she loved thought the worst of her without giving her a chance to tell him the truth. He had asked her for it, but he really didn’t want it. He already believed what he’d heard.

  He wanted a confession.

  She wasn’t going to give it to him.

  Leaning forward, she looked him in the eyes.

  “Go to hell,” she hissed. “And don’t come back.”

  Cole’s head snapped back. That hadn’t been the answer he had been expecting. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but that wasn’t it. Overwhelmed, and overcome with grief and rage, he spun on his heel and marched off, heading out of the encampment.

  Corisande stood there and trembled.

  Standing behind Cole, several feet back, were Julian and al-Kort brothers. All three of them appeared extremely grieved by what had happened and when Cole pushed through them, Julian and Addax turned to follow.

  But Essien just stood there with tears in his eyes.

  Corisande saw him but she kept her chin up, defiantly. She wasn’t going to let them know how badly she was crumbling. If they wanted to believe she had let a Scotsman take advantage of her, then so be it. She didn’t care.

  Better they think it of her than of Gaia.

  “Cori?”

  She heard a soft voice off to her right and she turned to see Gaia standing there, weeping. She had heard the entire conversation and she had seen what her sister had done to protect her, once again. She wasn’t going to let men know what Gaia had done and she’d let the love of her life walk away because of it.

  It was Cole or Gaia.

  She’d chosen Gaia.

  “Cori, go after him,” she sobbed. “Do not let him leave.”

  Corisande held up a hand to her sister to silence her. “Not a word,” she said, her voice tight with emotion. “You will not say another word about this, ever.”

  Fearful of her sister’s reaction if she did not obey, Gaia did as she was told. She returned to stirring the soiled linen as Corisande went to the smaller tent that she and Gaia shared and collapsed.

  She could hear her sister’s sobs all across the encampment.

  When she saw Ares moving for the tent, hearing the sobs also, Gaia left the linen boiling and ran to him. If the truth was to be known, then it needed to come from her and she needed to tell someone who had a reputation for being fair and just.

  Big brother had just become Father Confessor.

  Gaia didn’t want her sacrifice with Alexander MacDuff to be in vain.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “What happened to him?”

  It was Jax asking the question. It was nearing sunset on the seventh day and the fog was beginning to form along the coast, preparing to roll in, but from the battlements of Berwick, he could see Cole down by the river’s edge where the burned shells of longships were still lingering in the shallows.

  Cole was standing in the water to his knees. Simply standing there as the frigid water rushed over his lower legs as Julian and Addax stood about a dozen feet behind him on the shore, simply watching. They were all just standing there, looking out onto the river.

  Atreus was on the battlements with Jax, as was Essien. In fact, it was Essien who had found Jax on the parapet to tell him that Cole was in distress.

  Now, Jax wanted to know what that distress was.

  Essien had the unhappy duty of telling him.

  “My lord, I was running missives for William Marshal this morning and I began to hear some disturbing rumors,” he said. “I told Cole about them because they had to do with Lady Corisande.”

  Jax turned to look at him. “What rumors?”

  Essien hesitated before continuing. “There are rumors amongst the armies, my lord,” he said. “The men who were captured with Lady Corisande and Lady Gaia say that Lady Corisande went to the tent of a Scots commander, unchaperoned, and the next morning, all of the captives were released. The rumors are that she traded favors
for the release of the captives. Cole has only just heard the rumors and when he confronted the lady with them, it was… ugly. Very ugly. Julian and my brother are standing there in case Cole tries to drown himself in the river.”

  Jax stared at Essien in shock before returning his attention to his son, standing amongst the ravages of battle on the edge of the river.

  “God,” Jax finally muttered. “I’d not heard those rumors. But, then again, we’ve all been locked up in this castle. I haven’t heard anything. The men are really saying that?”

  “Aye, my lord.”

  “Which men?”

  “I heard it from Teviot’s men, but I’m sure it’s all over. You know how men talk.”

  Jax just shook his head, appalled to hear such a thing. But not surprised. “They gossip like fishwives,” he muttered, looking at Atreus. “Did you hear any of this?”

  Atreus shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “But I have been with you the entire time. We’ve lived isolated, like hermits for the past week.”

  Jax sighed heavily and looked out at his son again. “And you say he asked Lady Corisande about the rumors?”

  He was addressing Essien. “Aye, my lord.”

  “What did she say?”

  Essien was willing to tell Jax about the rumors, but revealing a conversation between Cole and Corisande felt invasive. Like he was gossiping himself. But if Jax knew what was said, perhaps he’d understand the seriousness of the situation.

  “Cole was… upset, my lord,” he said. “He asked her if the rumors were true and she told him that by the way he had asked her, he must have believed them already. They argued and she finally told him to go to hell and not return.”

  Jax closed his eyes, shaking his head regretfully. “He could not have taken that well,” he said. “I will go and speak to him.”

  That was what Essien wanted to hear. He looked to Atreus, hoping that meant everything would be well again, but Atreus’ expression didn’t seem too encouraging.

  As Essien waited on the battlements, Jax made his way down to the riverside where Cole was still standing in the water. He walked up beside Julian and Addax, standing there a moment and looking at Cole, before quietly asking Julian and Addax to step away and give them some privacy. They complied, backing off, as Jax walked to the edge of the river.

  “Cole,” he said. “I was told what happened. Come out of the water and let us discuss this calmly. Surely it is not as bad as it seems.”

  Cole didn’t move. He remained in the same position, looking out over the dark blue waters of the River Tweed.

  “Go away, Papa,” he said. “I do not want to discuss it.”

  Jax folded his big arms across his chest. “You know I will not go anywhere and you cannot make me, so you may as well accept my presence,” he said. “Tell me what happened with you and Lady Corisande. I want to hear it from you.”

  He heard Cole sigh heavily, a pent-up sigh that seemed to come from his toes. “I do not wish to discuss it.”

  “Then we are going to stand here a very long time. Do you not trust me with such matters?”

  Even in his state of turmoil, Cole was not going to insult his father. Of course he trusted him. But it was more that he didn’t trust himself to speak, afraid he would lose control and never get it back.

  He was hanging by a thread.

  And that thread was unraveling.

  “I… I feel like I did when Mary and Lucy died,” he finally said. “Grief… loss… but this is different. When they died, it was the will of God. That’s what everyone told me, anyway. It was something I could not control. But this… this cuts deeper, but in a different way.”

  “What way?”

  “Because I let myself be happy again. I was not prepared for the fall from grace.”

  Jax hated to hear that come out of his son’s mouth. “Tell me what happened so that I may understand.”

  Cole shifted on his undoubtedly frozen legs. “There is nothing to tell,” he said. “She gave herself over to her captor in order to secure the release of the English captives. I asked her and she did not deny it.”

  “So you believe the rumors.”

  “As I said, I asked her and she would not answer me.”

  “You just told me she did not deny it. Now you tell me she would not answer you. Which is it?”

  Cole did turn to look at him, then. “Both,” he said. “She would not give me a straight answer. That is the same thing as not denying the rumors.”

  Jax looked at his boy. He loved all of his sons, but Cole was his firstborn. He was the child who made Jax grow from a soulless barbarian to a man with feeling. Cole was the light of his life. But he was also stubborn, ridiculously so, and he had a temper. Jax could see that both of those things had come into play in the situation. Cole was seeing it the way he wanted to see it.

  He wasn’t seeing it from any other perspective.

  “So she did not deny them,” he said. “And now you hate her.”

  Cole shook his head. “That is the problem,” he said. “I don’t. I never could. Papa, I love her. How could she do such a thing? How could she violate everything we have between us?”

  Jax cocked his head. “Let me understand this situation as you see it,” he said. “She violated your bond, your trusts, in exchange for the release of captives. That means she does not love you?”

  “After our most recent conversation, probably not.”

  “The woman is so shallow that she could not love you after an argument. Is that what you’re telling me?”

  “Nay, that is not what I’m telling you,” Cole said, growing frustrated. “I don’t know what I’m telling you.”

  He turned back around, facing the river, and Jax walked in next to him. The water was so cold that he started to lose feeling in his toes almost immediately.

  But he had a point to make.

  “You thought she was honorable enough and wonderful enough to fall in love with,” he said. “Has that changed so drastically?”

  Cole’s jaw was ticking again. “She gave herself over to another man.”

  “Do you think she did it happily?”

  That forced Cole to think. It forced him to be honest. “Nay.”

  “Do you think she wanted to?”

  Cole paused. “Nay, she did not want to. I would never believe that. But she did.”

  “Did you ever think that mayhap she was forced to?”

  Cole’s head snapped to him. “Raped?”

  Jax looked him in the eyes. “If the woman loves you and she is honorable and loyal, what other circumstance could there be if, in fact, she did this?” he asked. “Did you ever stop to think about the fact that mayhap she was assaulted and too ashamed to tell you? Did you even give her a chance to tell you, lad, before you were demanding to know the truth?”

  Jax could see the color drain from Cole’s face. “Oh… my God,” he breathed. “Do you think that is what happened?”

  “I do not know. But did you give her the chance to tell you?”

  Cole started twitching, his eyes glazing oddly, as he suddenly slogged out of the water. “Nay,” he said. “I… I asked her, but I was upset… I was distraught. I asked her but… nay, I did not ask her. I accused her. I demanded… I don’t even know what I demanded. God, Papa, what have I done?”

  Jax put his hands on the man because he was coming apart at the seams. The thread that was keeping his control had finally snapped. “Breathe, Cole,” he said. “Breathe. Calm yourself. You’ve always been an emotional man but, in this case, you must not be. If that is what happened, Corisande needs your love and understanding, not your rage. This happened to her, not to you. It is not your right to go to pieces. You must be her rock. Think of her and not yourself for once.”

  Cole drew in several long breaths through his nose, like he was trying not to hyperventilate. As he bent over, trying not to get sick, he caught sight of something over near the stairwell leading up to the castle. Standing tall, he could se
e Ares coming from the stairs, heading towards him.

  And Gaia was with him.

  Jax, too, caught sight of them and he stood next to Cole as they approached. He thought that perhaps Ares had come to pick a fight with Cole for his argument with Corisande, but it wouldn’t have made sense to bring Gaia along if that was the case.

  In fact, he was most curious about their appearance.

  Ares, unusually pale and serious, looked straight at Cole.

  “I heard what happened,” he said. “Gaia has something she wants to say to you. She asked me to bring her to you.”

  With that, Ares grasped his little sister by the arm and pulled her front and center. Gaia looked at Cole fearfully, but she was looking even more fearfully at Jax, the legendary and terrifying warlord.

  She swallowed hard.

  “May I… may I speak with you privately, Cole?” she asked.

  Her voice was trembling. Jax graciously bowed out, but he didn’t go far. He went to stand next to Ares and they were easily within earshot of Gaia and Cole, but they were behind Gaia so she couldn’t see them.

  It was a good thing, too, because Gaia was very nervous. She’d just been through a soul-baring confession with Ares, who hadn’t been pleased, but at least he hadn’t exploded. He’d been surprisingly sympathetic, even more so when he realized why Gaia had done such a thing. He’d taken her straight to Cole because he was the one who really needed to hear her confession.

  She could hardly look at him.

  “I… I want to first say that I am sorry I pinched you,” she said as tears stung her eyes. “I knew you were fond of my sister, and she was fond of you, and I should not have pinched you. I am very sorry I did that.”

  Out of all the things Cole expected to hear, that wasn’t on his mind. Moreover, he had no idea what Gaia could possibly say to him and, frankly, he wasn’t in the mood to hear anything from her. He was desperate to find Corisande and apologize more fervently than he’d ever apologized for anything in his life.

  If she’d listen to him.

  Therefore, he struggled to stay patient with Gaia.

  “No harm done,” he said. “But your apology is noted.”

  Gaia nodded, wiping at her eyes because tears were starting to trickle through. “I wanted to tell you that I know my sister loves you,” she said. “She’s a wonderful, loving sister and I love her very much. She was so excited to marry you so I knew I had to help her. I had to protect her, so when MacDuff told her that he would release everyone if she warmed his bed for the night, I knew I could not let that happen.”