CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Westminster
Westminster was lit up with a thousand torches, burning brightly into the dark and humid night, as Garret came loping in through the South Gate.
Slowing his horse as grooms from the stable ran out to collect the steed, he slid off the animal and took Lyssa’s trunk from the back of the saddle. He’d strapped it onto the rear of the horse, that hadn’t been very happy carrying something so stiff and foreign, but at least the horse hadn’t tried to buck it off. His animal was high-strung, and skilled, but he could be excitable with unfamiliarity. They could have all ended up in the mud, trunk included.
He snorted at the thought. It seemed that he’d been doing a long of smiling today, something that he wasn’t used to doing, but it felt good. He felt good. Slinging the trunk onto his shoulder, his focus turned towards his plans for the rest of the night. He would leave the trunk off in his apartment, seek out Zayin and Gart, who had been in command during his absence, and have them report to him on the happenings of the day. Once he was fully briefed, he intended to go to Westminster Abbey and speak to the priests about a sunrise wedding mass.
It was an evening well-planned. Heading towards a row of two-storied apartments that was on the far side of the hall to the south, his thoughts never seemed to move far from Lyssa. He could hardly believe that, tomorrow morning, he would be a married man, but he’d never been more excited. Lost to that excitement and those thoughts, he’d hardly gone ten feet when he heard his name being called. Coming to a pause, he turned to see Gart and Gavin approaching him from the gatehouse. They’d evidently been in the gatehouse when he’d passed through.
“Are you both on the night watch, too?” he asked. “How are the soldiers who were ill this morning? Are they still sick?”
Gart, his shaved head gleaming beneath the moon, nodded. “Still down,” he said. “In fact, there are more men down. While you were gone today, we’ve had about two dozen men come down with an illness. The physic believes it is not related to the food; he believes it is a poison of some sort, moving from man to man.”
Garret didn’t like the sound of that and his good mood faded. “I have seen those epidemics before,” he said. “It will take down every man here if we are not careful. What are we doing to prevent such a thing?”
“The men are sequestered in the barracks,” Gavin answered. “We have moved all of the sick men in there.”
Garret lifted his eyebrows dubiously. “Then let us hope the rest of us do not contract whatever they have.”
It was then he noticed Zayin, Rhys, and Knox coming towards him from the direction of the barracks. Garret could see that all five of his senior men were still awake at this late hour, still attending duties and, he suspected, waiting for him to return. It was rare when he left Westminster at all, so they were undoubtedly waiting for him.
“What is this?” he demanded lightly, looking at the group converging on him. “Don’t any of you sleep?”
Rhys rubbed wearily at his eyes. “When you are away, we must be twice as vigilant,” he said. “Moreover, with men down with an illness, we must all put in extra time to cover the holes left by them.”
That seemed to be the predominant theme for the night – sick men and those who weren’t sick doing extra duty. The weariness was catching, however, because Garret suddenly stifled the urge to yawn.
“I take it de Lohr departed without incident?” he asked. “When did his army finally pull out?”
It was Gart who answered. “Not too long after you left,” he said. “He said to tell you that he and his men are staying near the Tower for the night in case you should need him.”
Garret lifted his eyebrows knowingly. “He means with Colchester.”
Gart nodded, hesitating briefly before continuing. “Is… is everything all right, Garret? I mean at The Wix? Rickard is not in danger because of what he told us, is he?”
It was a question they’d all been wondering but had been afraid to ask, mostly because Garret hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about where he’d been going when he’d left that day. They all assumed it had been to The Wix, something to do with Colchester and his brother’s tales of the duke being an ally of the prince, but no one wanted to ask. If Garret had wanted them to know, he would have told them.
Still… Garret had been acting strangely since the prince’s party, his mind seemingly not on his work, and there was speculation among the knights that a woman was involved. Truthfully, that speculation came from Gavin and was based on the fact that Garret had left John’s party with one of the Duchess of Colchester’s women. Garret was never seen with any woman, so that event had been an odd one. Still, no man in his right mind would ask for clarification and if Zayin knew, he wasn’t talking. Garret’s closest friend was remaining silent on the subject. Therefore, Gart was taking a chance by asking him questions about his activities.
But Garret didn’t seem distressed by the question. In fact, he shook his head, quite seriously.
“Rickard is not in any danger,” he said. “I just left the man and everything was as it should be, praise God. But that could change, so it is imperative to keep communication open with my brother. He is taking a chance by telling us what he knows. There is no knowing what Colchester will do to him if he discovers what my brother has done.”
The knights simply nodded. No one wanted to press him beyond what Garret was willing to tell them. They were obedient to a fault, men dedicated to Richard and his kingdom, and to Garret most of all.
Garret knew this, of course. He could see that they wanted to ask more of him because they were men of curiosity. More than that, things had been rather strange with him the past few days. He knew they wanted to know why. These were men that were his friends and brothers-in-arms and, as an awkward silence settled, he came to a decision. He’d kept his secret from them long enough. Zayin knew, and Rickard and Christopher knew, but because Garret was planning on taking a bride in few hours, he thought it only fair that his men should know of his plans. There would soon be a woman among them. Softly, he cleared his throat.
“There is something else, however,” he said, watching his men inexplicably perk up. “Something that has not affected any of you until now. But as of tomorrow morning, it will, so it is only right that you should know.”
“Of course, Garret,” Gart said, trying to pretend that he wasn’t deeply anxious to hear. He couldn’t quite pull it off. “What is it?”
Garret glanced at Zayin as he spoke. “I am honestly not sure where to start, so I suppose it is best if I start from the beginning,” he said. “On the night of John’s party, I prevented a young woman from being molested by men outside of the gates. It turned out she was a lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Colchester. Since Rickard also serves Colchester, it was quite a coincidence and I escorted the woman to Colchester’s table. However, shortly after I brought her, Hawisa evidently saw her and asked for her. As we all know, a request from John or his wife can never come to any good.”
The knights nodded in understanding. “Deviants, both of them,” Knox muttered, watching the other men agree with him. “How many women have we heard of them deflowering, or worse?”
Garret held up a hand to quiet them down before the conversation turned to the failings of John and Hawisa. “Exactly,” he said. “Gavin already knows this portion of the story because I told him the morning after, but I escorted the woman out of the hall and to safety, away from John and Hawisa. I was asked by one of Colchester’s women to do this and I did. I told Gavin that was the end of the story, but it was not. There is more to it.”
The knights were clearly interested. “What more is there?” Gavin asked.
Garret didn’t keep them waiting. “Instead of returning the woman to The Wix, I took her into London and bought her a meal,” he said, watching a variety of surprised expressions cross the faces of his men. “Do not ask me why I did it, for I cannot truly tell you. All I know is that I wanted to do it. Ask Zayin; he came with me. We spent a few hours with Lady Lyssa and, if you must know, they were some of the most wonderful hours of my life. I knew at the conclusion of the evening that I wanted to see more of her. And I have. I am marrying the woman at sunrise tomorrow and she will live with me here at Westminster.”
The last sentence brought the biggest reaction; eyebrows flew up, eyes widened, and expressions of curiosity turned to expressions of delight. All except Zayin; he simply grinned and shook his head as if the entire thing were foolishly sweet. Congratulations and well-wishes began to tumble over Garret like an avalanche, more pats and handshakes than he could keep up with. All the while, Zayin stood there and chuckled.
“I could have predicted this, Salibi,” he said. “I could tell by the way you looked at the woman that there was something more in your heart than you cared to admit. She is a lovely woman and I wish you many blessings.”
Garret was smiling, perhaps sheepishly. “I have been with her since leaving Westminster earlier today,” he said. “In case you were all wondering, which I am sure you were, I was with her. It was the most wonderful of days, I assure you.”
“It always is when we spend it with those we love,” Zayin said.
Garret chuckled, embarrassed that he’d confessed his feelings for Lyssa but, in the same breath, he was glad. So glad he could have shouted it to the world. So much about the woman made his heart sing and he was relieved that his men now knew his secret. He was happy to have them share in his joy. But soon enough, he sobered.
“There is something more you should know, another part to this story,” he said, holding up a hand to quiet his buzzing men. “Jago de Nantes has set his sights on Lyssa. He attacked her yesterday at The Wix, which is why I removed her from the premises today. Originally, I was going to send her to Lioncross Abbey to serve Lady de Lohr, but I decided this afternoon that there was no reason to do that. I want to marry the woman so marrying her tomorrow or a year from now would not matter to me; my feelings for her would not change. Therefore, I made the decision to simply marry her and bring her to live with me here at Westminster where Colchester can never get his hands on her. He’d be a fool to try.”
The mood of the conversation went from congratulatory to concerned in the blink of an eye. “Colchester attacked her?” Gavin repeated, aghast. “My God, Garret… what did he do?”
Garret knew he was asking because his sister served the House of de Nantes, as well. He was worried for her and rightfully so.
“From what I was told, he tried to force her to share a meal with him and when she refused, he threatened her. He also touched her, inappropriately, and when she resisted, he slapped her.” Garret grunted, hating the sound of even repeating that event. It was sickening to the ear. “We all know Colchester’s reputation and, clearly, I cannot permit Lyssa to be subjected to the man’s advances, which has also contributed to the swiftness of my decision to marry her. Ideally, I would not pursue marriage for at least a year for the sake of propriety, but this situation is different. I cannot, and will not, wait.”
Every man there understood, but along with understanding a suitor’s perspective, they understood the perspective of a man of honor. Colchester attacked what belonged to Garret and, this time, it was Zayin who asked the question.
“Does Colchester know the lady belongs to you?” he asked. “Please tell me you did not confront him, Salibi.”
Garret shook his head. “Although it went against every instinct, I did not confront him and he does not know of me and Lyssa,” he said. He signed heavily. “I am not foolish. I know what could happen should I challenge Colchester for what he has done. The man is a duke, a royal cousin, and untouchable by men such as me. Although my pride screams for revenge, the wiser part of me knows that is not possible. I do not intend to ruin my life before it truly begins. The best solution is to remove Lyssa and that is what I intend to do.
There wasn’t one man listening that didn’t breathe a sigh of relief at what they were hearing. To challenge Colchester would have been suicidal at best. Garret understood the way of the world and he understood that an open challenge to Colchester would only result in harming himself. It went against everything Garret stood for, because he was a man of honor and honor sometimes meant fighting for what he believed in, and what was right, but in this case he’d chosen wisely.
No one was more aware of that than Zayin. He simply nodded his head to Garret’s statement. “You are as wise as you are brave,” he said. “Marry the woman and keep her with you. Colchester will soon move on to other quarry when he knows he cannot have her.”
Garret averted his gaze, kicking at the ground as he did so. “I am not in the habit of feeling helpless against any man, so this has been… difficult.”
“Difficult but necessary,” Gavin put in. “You have no choice, Garret. You are doing what any of us would have done. There is no shame in that. The shame is on Colchester. In fact, I shall write my father and tell him to remove my sister from that house. He will want to know of Colchester’s behavior.”
Garret was appreciative of the support. “No one in their right mind would contest a directive from Valor de Nerra,” he said, smiling weakly. “Your father needs to know what his daughter is being subjected to. With all of the people he knows in England, he can send her to another fine house.”
Gavin was looking rather strained. “Mayhap I should go to my sister and see for myself.”
Garret put a hand on his shoulder. “For your sister’s sake, you should. She may need your protection.”
“Against a man who will never be punished for anything he does.”
Garret simply looked at him, a knowing expression that said what they both knew – Gavin was correct. As Gavin pondered a trip to The Wix, perhaps tomorrow morning, a shout came from the gatehouse.
The knights weren’t paying too much attention, still caught up in Garret’s confession and the revelations about Colchester, but they turned to see why many men had taken up the call. Usually it was only a sentry on the wall, but now even men who were at the portcullis were shouting. As Garret and his men turned to see what had them so excited, a man on horseback came bolting through the half-open portcullis.
But he wasn’t alone. He had a body lying across his thighs and it took Garret a few seconds to realize that he was looking at Rickard, charging right for him. As the horse moved closer, he could see the body across his brother’s legs – a woman.
A woman with bronze-colored hair.
It was Lyssa.
Garret dropped the trunk he’d been holding and bolted for his brother as the man came near. Because he was running, his men were running, and suddenly they were swarming Rickard and his foaming horse. Garret actually whimpered when he realized that, indeed, it was Lyssa spread over his brother’s thighs and he reached out to remove her, assisted by Zayin and Gavin.
“Careful!” Rickard roared. The man was half-dressed and harried. “She is badly injured, Garret. Find your physic now!”
Knox didn’t even wait for the command from Garret. He went running for the barracks where he knew the physic had been tending the ill men. Meanwhile, Garret very carefully pulled Lyssa from his brother’s lap. She had been on her stomach and, with incredible care, he turned her onto her back with Zayin’s help.
What he saw shook him to the bone; blood was seeping from her mouth and one ear, and her clothing was torn and dirty. It was the same dress she’d been wearing the last time he saw her. The one he’d pulled off her in the heat of passion. For the first time in his life, he felt the sting of tears and the bitter taste of panic in his mouth. Unfamiliar emotions swamped him and his hands began to shake.
“God in Heaven,” he breathed. “What happened?”
Rickard spit out the most terrible words he’d ever spoken. “Colchester beat her.”
The panic in Garret’s heart turned to a wildfire of anger. “He did this?”
No man had ever heard such rage from Garret’s tone, Rickard included. Once Lyssa was off his horse, he swung the excitable animal around, back in the direction of the gatehouse.
“Aye, he did that,” he said, sounding sick and furious. “I will tell you more when I can, but right now, I must return immediately. I do not know what else the man has done, or to whom, and I must return to see what else has happened. But you – you stay here. Do not come to The Wix!”
He bellowed it at his brother, as if shouting would make it so. He was terrified that Garret was going to fly into a frenzy and go charging into The Wix to kill Colchester. When Garret didn’t answer, he pointed at Zayin.
“Do not let him leave here,” he commended. “Keep him here if you have to tie him up!”
Zayin understood. God help him, he understood but he also knew that if Garret truly wanted to seek vengeance against Colchester, then he couldn’t stop him. No one could. With the limp, beaten lover in his arms, Garret had every right to demand vengeance, and Zayin was genuinely worried on many different levels. But he nodded sharply at Rickard, who spurred his horse back towards the gatehouse.
In truth, Garret wasn’t the one they had to worry over at the moment. Gavin was suddenly racing for the stables to collect his horse, scared out of his mind that, somehow, his sister might be caught up in whatever rampage Colchester was on. Gart and Rhys bolted after him, grabbing him before he could get away, and suddenly there was a brawl in the bailey as Gavin tried to free himself from men who were trying to save his life.
It was chaos.
But Garret couldn’t think about that at the moment. He had his own problems.
“Help me get her to my apartment,” Garret said huskily to Zayin. “If she is broken up inside, I do not want to aggravate her injuries. Take her feet and I will take her arms.”
Zayin was on the move. He could hear Garret’s voice trembling and it was like a stab to his heart. His friend, the bravest and most noble man he’d ever known, was upset beyond measure and there was nothing Zayin could do except try to comfort him.
“She is breathing steadily,” he said as he lifted her legs and they began to hurry back towards the apartments that housed the knights and officers. “That is a good sign. We shall take her inside and put her to bed. The physic will know what to do.”
Garret couldn’t even respond. He was carrying Lyssa underneath the armpits, his big arms trying to hold on to her body without any pressure. Bleeding from the mouth and from the ear was never a good sign; he knew that. He’d seen enough injured men to know that blood, on any level, was never a good sign, and it was a struggle to keep himself in check as he and Zayin carried her all the way to his apartment on the first level of the two-storied apartment structure.
It was dark and cold inside the apartment block. As they entered the building, they were in a room that acted like a foyer and there was a guard there to watch the doors to the apartments. The guard had been half-asleep when Garret and Zayin entered, his eyes wide at the limp woman they were carrying between them. But he quickly opened the door to one of the corridors and Garret and Zayin entered, pausing when they came to the first door on the left. Garret freed a hand to open that door, spilling them into the inky darkness beyond.
These were Garret’s apartments, two chambers for his specific use. There was an outer reception room and then a bedchamber attached to it. Garret and Zayin stumbled through the darkened reception room and into the bedchamber beyond, very carefully laying Lyssa upon the messy bed. Once Garret’s hands were free, he went straight to the table near the bed to light the taper there.
“Start a fire, please,” he told Zayin, sounding calmer than he had only moments before. “We must keep her warm if she is bleeding.”
As Garret lit one taper and then a second one, sending the golden glow of light into the chamber, Zayin did the same thing with the cold, dark hearth. A few sticks of kindling lit up quickly and he carefully placed peat upon it to stoke the blaze. Meanwhile, Garret took one of the tapers and moved over to the bed to get a better look at Lyssa.
She was ghostly pale. Even her lips were white. With a breaking heart, Garret tenderly smoothed the hair out of her face and began a very careful examination of visible injuries. The blood on her mouth was from a split lip, he could see, and her teeth seemed to be intact. He didn’t feel any broken bones on her face or her neck, but she was very bruised. When he came to her shoulders, he could see a massive welt on the right shoulder. A bruise was already forming on her neck. As he moved down her arms, he heard his name, very softly.
“G-Garret?”
His head snapped up and he could see that Lyssa was now awake, staring up at the ceiling. Heart in his throat, he stood up so he could look her in the face.
“I am here,” he murmured, touching her face. “You are safe, Lyssa. Do not worry.”
She lay there, staring. It was a moment before she was able to speak. “D-Did you save me? H-How did you know to come back for me?”
Tears stung Garret’s eyes. Dear God, he felt like such a failure at that moment. How did you know to come back for me? Truth be told, he’d been reluctant to leave her. He’d had a massive sense of uneasiness, something he brushed aside as foolish when he’d forced himself to leave her at The Wix. As clear as day, he could recall that feeling, knowing now he should have given in to it. He should have trusted his gut when it told him that something was amiss, that he should not have left Lyssa behind.
But he had. He’d left her and now she was gravely injured. He simply couldn’t stop the tears that filled his eyes.
“Rickard saved you,” he said hoarsely. “He brought you to me, sweet. Can you tell me what happened?”
Lyssa didn’t say anything for a moment. Her mind was muddled; Garret could see that. As she struggled to remember, Zayin came up on the other side of the bed, looking at the woman with great concern. Garret couldn’t even look at the man, fearful that if he did, he would lose his composure. He’d never lost his composure in his life but, at this moment, he felt if he were to let everything go, there would be no return. He would be awash on a flood of emotion and there would be no stemming the tide. It wouldn’t stop until Colchester was dead.
Or, perhaps, if he was dead, too.
“Lyssa?” he asked again, gently. “What happened?”
Lyssa tried to draw in a deep breath but when she did, stabbing pain radiated throughout her body and she gasped, her arms going around her torso and her face contorting with agony. Both Garret and Zayin tried to hold her down, preventing her from rolling up into a ball and possibly causing herself more pain. Through her gasps of anguish, she spoke.
“T-The duke was in my chamber,” she breathed. “H-He was waiting for me when you took me back to The Wix. S-Sir Rickard escorted me to my chamber and we both thought it was Juliana in the bed, but it wasn’t. I-It was Colchester. H-He… he said terrible things, Garret. H-He said that he saw us at the tavern and he knew I was a courtesan.”
Garret’s brow furrowed in both surprise and dismay. “He saw us at The Drunken Cock?”
She closed her eyes against the pain. “A-Aye,” she breathed. “He called me a courtesan because he saw me with you and then he told me that he would make me wealthy and important if I became his mistress. T-That is what he wanted; for me to become his mistress.”
A ripple of disgust moved across Garret’s features but, in the same breath, he wasn’t particularly surprised. Noblemen took mistresses all of the time and, in this case, Colchester had clearly set his sights on Lyssa. Now, the situation was starting to make some sense, as repulsive as it was. Colchester wasn’t simply after her to harass her; he was after her because he wanted something.
Her honor.
Gently, he stroked her face, her head, trying to comfort her in the face of such a horrible realization. “Naturally, you refused,” he said softly, “and he beat you for it.”
Lyssa finally looked at him, her swollen eyes locking with his. As he watched, tears welled and spilled over, and she burst into soft sobs.
“I-I was so frightened,” she wept. “H-He hit me and pulled my hair. H-He told me that he would kill Juliana if I did not submit. I-I do not know what happened to Juliana!”
Garret knew that Juliana was Gavin’s sister and he began to feel sick in more ways than he could possibly comprehend. He looked at Zayin, across the bed.
“Go and see how Gavin is faring,” he said quietly. “He must go to The Wix to see to his sister’s safety. I fear for the girl.”
Zayin’s expression was full of foreboding. “He cannot go, Salibi,” he muttered. “You know he cannot go, not in his current state.”
Garret’s jaw ticked. “The girl could be dying at this very moment,” he said, feeling some of the rage he was trying to keep at bay seep into his veins. “Someone has to go help her.”
Zayin knew that. He felt it as strongly as Garret did, but he also knew that charging into The Wix could be deadly for those noble men trying to save their women folk. Before he could answer, however, the chamber door bumped back on its hinges and men were entering Garret’s reception room, charging into the bedchamber. It was Knox, two of Garret’s junior knights, a few soldiers, and the physic.
Garret didn’t have to say a word. The physic, a large man with long, gray hair tied behind his head, went straight to the bed, setting his medicament satchel onto the floor as he bent over Lyssa. He looked in both of her eyes, and her mouth, before turning to the men who were crowding into the chamber.
“Out,” he snapped in a heavy Scottish brogue. “All of ye. I canna examine the lady with a pack o’ dogs hanging about. Get out!”
The physic wasn’t the most tactful man but he knew his business. He’d served at Westminster for quite some time, mostly for the soldiers, but he’d also been with Richard in The Levant and had worked on battle wounds that would have crumbled a lesser man. With hands the size of a trencher and a commanding presence, he was a man to be reckoned with and Garret trusted Alpin MacAlpin, a Scotsman who was more reliable, more skilled, than almost anyone he knew.
At the booming command from the physic, men started backing out of the room. In fact, Knox started shoving them out, far enough back so he could shut the door to the chamber. But he remained inside the room, as did Zayin and Garret. The physic didn’t seem to mind their presence as he bent over his patient. He was focused on his patient, on her head and neck mostly, visually inspecting before poking here and prodding there. Finally, he looked Lyssa in the eye.
“Who did this to ye, lassie?” he asked, his tone surprisingly gentle with her. “What happened?”
Lyssa gazed up at the man with the Scots accent, tears swimming in her eyes. She didn’t reply right away but Garret was on the other side of the bed, putting a tender hand to her shoulder.
“You may tell him,” he said softly.
Lyssa blinked and the tears spilled down her temples. “T-The Duke of Colchester,” she whispered.
Alpin drew back from her a little, as if surprised by her answer. He looked at Garret, who nodded in response, sickened by the fact that he had to admit another man had beaten the woman he loved.
…loved.
There was that word again, stronger than before. Was it possible to love someone after only knowing them so short a time? He’d asked himself that question once before. Now, he was asking it again, stronger than before. Traits he’d admired in the beginning were now traits that he loved. If he loved her traits – her warmth, her humor, her beauty – then surely that meant he loved her.
There was no longer any use in denying it. She belonged to him, as she had since the beginning of time and would belong to him until the end of it. He’d told her he adored her, but that wasn’t good enough anymore.
It was love.
Colchester had beaten the woman he loved.
Oblivious to Garret’s mental turmoil, Alpin returned his attention to the lady without any further questions. Now, he was intent on examining her so he stood tall and made a sweeping gesture with his hand towards the chamber door.
“Out, please,” he said quietly. “I must examine the lass and I willna do it with an audience.”
Garret moved for the door without hesitation, taking Zayin and Knox with him. Quitting the room in silence, he shut the chamber door behind him before turning to a room full of his men. They were all looking at him expectantly, perhaps with some fear, and the more Garret looked at him, the more he began to lose his carefully-held composure.
It was as if they were looking at him with pity, perhaps even with disappointment. Of course, that wasn’t true, but he saw it in their eyes nonetheless. The woman he loved had been beaten by another man and he was helpless against it.
He refused to be helpless any longer.
Brooding, he moved over to the window that overlooked the bailey. He looked out, not seeing Gavin or Gart or Rhys any longer. They were no longer fighting out there and he briefly wondered where they had gone. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zayin and Knox standing near him, hovering, waiting for any kind of reaction that they could either quell or support. Garret was a calm man even in the most harried of circumstances, but this situation had pushed him to his limit. His flexing jaw told them that.
“Bring Gavin to me,” Garret finally muttered. “I must tell him what Lyssa said about his sister.”
“I will,” Zayin nodded. But he didn’t move, not yet. “Will you tell him everything she said?”
“Aye.”
Beside him, he could hear Zayin sigh heavily. “What good will that do?” he asked. “Moreover, you do not even know if his sister is harmed. The lady said she did not see her, but that does mean Gavin’s sister has come to harm.”
He was pleading, trying to find reason in a situation that had none. Garret could hear the fear in the man’s tone, but he wasn’t interested in Zayin’s counsel this night. He was only focused on what had happened and what needed to be done.
“Bring Gavin to me,” he repeated calmly.
Next to him, Zayin looked at Knox with an expression that suggested he thought the worst was still to come. He was frightened; frightened of Garret’s unusually calm manner and frightened of what was to come. But he nodded, briefly, meaning Knox should find Gavin, and the blonde knight fled the chamber, heading out into the night. With Knox away and the other soldiers in the chamber huddled in the opposite corner, Zayin moved closer to Garret.
“What are you thinking, Salibi?” he asked softly. “I know you. You are pondering something the likes of which I must know. What do you think to do now?”
Salibi. Garret heard the name, something Zayin had called him from the beginning of their association. It meant “crusader” in Zayin’s native language and it wasn’t a complementary term. But when Zayin used it, it was meant with affection. Garret was, indeed, a crusader, or at least he had been, but he was also Zayin’s savior, and that was what Salibi meant to Zayin.
Savior.
It was the bond they shared. Therefore, he was honest with the man.
“You know this cannot go unanswered,” Garret finally said.
Zayin’s heart sank. He’d been waiting for those words and he thought he was prepared to hear them, but he wasn’t. “We have discussed this,” he said. “You know that you cannot act against Colchester. Everyone knows you cannot act against Colchester. He is a member of the royal family and beyond your punishment.”
Garret shook his head, slowly. He was still staring off into the bailey. “This has nothing to do with punishment,” he said. “It has everything to do with honor. He touched what he had no right to touch; more than that, he beat her. You saw the bruises on her, Zayin. He lifted a hand to Lyssa and I will not let that go unanswered.”
Zayin was starting to feel sick. “I beg you,” he said. “Please speak with Hubert Walter before you do anything. Christopher de Lohr is still in London; he’s not yet left for France. I will find him and….”
“I love her.”
Garret’s soft-but-firm statement cut him off. Zayin heard the words, like hammer blows, and he knew, at that moment, that the situation had gone from bad to worse. A man in love was a foolish creature, indeed, but he was also the strongest creature in the world. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for that love and Zayin stared at him, feeling pain in his heart that he couldn’t begin to express. For a man in love, there was no turning back.
This wasn’t about vengeance or honor. This was about protecting the woman he loved.
“Garret,” he murmured. It was rare when he used the man’s name. “Are you for certain this is love? Do you feel it in your heart and not simply your head?”
“I feel it everywhere.”
“You are about to risk everything because of it.”
Garret looked at him, then, and Zayin was stung by the emotion he saw in the man’s black eyes. Like an unseen hand, it reached out to grab him and he was unable to look away, not even when Garret began to speak.
“I hope I am always able to risk everything for love,” he murmured. “I hope I am always able to risk everything for the just and right cause, for the woman I see lying on that bed is my just and right cause. She is my hope for the future and if my life is worth anything at all, it is worth risking for a woman who holds my heart in her hands. I know I am risking all, Zayin. I know you are frightened for me. But this is something I must do.”
Zayin’s expression was full of pain but there was also joy there. He understood Garret. In truth, he understood Garret all too well. It was the honorable warrior speaking, the man who would do right above all.
This was the man he knew.
“Then you have discovered what few men have,” he said in a moment between them that was wrought with emotion. “You have discovered your heart, Salibi, and I could not be prouder of you. I am simply sorry for these circumstances because now you must answer to your heart – and your heart is telling you to seek justice.”
Garret was relieved that Zayin understood his position, even if he did not agree with it. He saw it as suicidal; perhaps it was. Garret saw it as something he had to do.
For love.
“It is not my heart telling me to seek justice,” he said quietly. “It is my love for Lyssa. Make no mistake; my heart is hers. All of me belongs to her. But love… that belongs to us. It is what we share between us, what makes us special to each other. At this moment, I feel as if I am led by my love for her. It is the only thing I can feel. I cannot even feel rage or disgust or madness at what has happened. All I can feel is my love for Lyssa and it is that love that leads me to do what I must. She deserves justice and I will not fail her.”
Zayin had no argument against a man who was led by love. “I never thought I would hear such things from you, but I am honored just the same,” he said. “Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be at your side. Your fight is my fight, and I shall be there until the end.”
Garret simply nodded, returning his focus to the world beyond the windows. It was quiet for the most part. His mind, however, was in that room with Lyssa and Alpin, and the longer the wait dragged on, the more apprehensive he became. If felt like hours when it was only a few minutes but, soon enough, the chamber door opened and Alpin was in the doorway.
“M’lord,” he called to Garret. “If ye will, please.”
He was gesturing for him to enter the room and Garret did, coming into his bedchamber as Alpin shut the door quietly behind him. Garret instinctively went to the bed but Lyssa’s eyes were closed. Concerned, he looked at Alpin, who simply shook his head.
“I have given her a sleeping draught,” he said. “The lass needs to sleep. Come here so I can speak with ye.”
Garret put a gentle hand on Lyssa’s forehead but she didn’t stir. With a sigh of sorrow, he moved away from the bed to where Alpin was still standing by the door.
“Well?” he demanded quietly. “What can you tell me?”
Alpin lifted his bushy eyebrows. “Tell me who this lass is to ye?”
“We are to be married.”
That made sense to Alpin; he could understand now why Garret had been so concerned. “Did the Duke of Colchester really do this to her?”
Garret didn’t look pleased with the question. “He did,” he said. “Tell me her condition.”
Alpin glanced at the bed. “The lass has two big bumps on her head,” he said. “I dunna believe her skull to be broken, but the injury to her head is of concern. She has a cracked bone in her shoulder and at least four broken ribs that I can feel. I will tell ye that I believe she is bleeding inside. Her heartbeat is weak, which tells me there is damage we canna see.”
Garret was trying very hard not to become distraught. “Will she heal?”
Alpin’s gaze lingered on Lyssa a moment before he looked at Garret. He put a meaty hand on the man’s shoulder.
“I dunna ken,” he said honestly. “The damage is bad. If it is too bad, she willna heal. If it is not, then mayhap she has a chance. She is young and she is strong, and that will work in her favor.”
Garret felt as if he’d been kicked in the gut. His gaze moved to the bed where Lyssa lay, sleeping from whatever potion Alpin had given her. He could hardly bring himself to ask the next question.
“Are you telling me that she may… die?”
Alpin could hear the turmoil in the man’s voice. He’d known Garret de Moray for several years and had never seen the man anything other than completely calm and in control. A wise, skilled knight with a stellar reputation. Kronos, they called him. The Father of the Gods. This was the level of respect the man had earned. But a perfect reputation and all the wisdom in the world couldn’t heal the woman he was going to marry. Alpin began to feel a good deal of pity for him.
“I canna say,” he finally said. “Time will tell, m’lord. But I will do all I can.”
There was nothing more to say. As Alpin opened the chamber door and went out into the reception room to give Garret some privacy, his final words still seemed to hang in the air.
I will do all I can.
Those weren’t words of hope. They were words of consolation as far as Garret was concerned. Stiffly, he made his way over to the bed and fell to his knees beside it. Taking Lyssa’s limp hand, he brought it to his lips. That was when the tears started to come.
“I will not accept this,” he whispered into her hand. “I will not let you go, not when I just found you. You will live and we will have twelve sons, just as we have discussed. The end will not come now, do you hear? It will not come because I refuse to accept it. You will get well, Lyssa. You will heal and we shall be married. I cannot believe God has led me to you only to have you so swiftly taken away.”
Her hand was wet and it took him a moment to realize it was because of the tears streaming down his face. Reverently, he kissed her palm, tasting his tears. And before he realized it, the soft sobs began to come. Laying his head on her breast, he wept quietly.
“I swear to you that Colchester will pay,” he said, his lips against her bruised skin. “He will not live to see the sunrise. If you can hear me, Lyssa… know that I will love you and only you until I take my last breath.”
Lyssa didn’t stir; she remained still, breathing heavily from the potion Alpin had given her. Garret lifted his head, looking at her pale face as he wiped the tears from his face, taking a deep breath to steady himself. His gaze lingered on her, drinking in his fill, because he wasn’t entirely sure this wouldn’t be the last time he ever saw her. Perhaps she would pass away while he was off dealing justice to Colchester, or perhaps he wouldn’t survive his bout with Colchester. Either way, the chance of him never seeing her alive again were good.
But it didn’t change his mind.
He knew what he had to do.
Regaining his composure, he stood up, leaning over the bed to kiss her gently on the lips. It was a sweet, warm kiss, the kiss of a man in love, and tears stung again but he fought them. He had to think of his rage now, his hatred of Colchester, and that was enough to steel his composure. With a final look at Lyssa’s sleeping face, he made his way to the door and quit the chamber.
When he emerged into the reception room, he was faced with not only Zayin, but the rest of his senior knights. Knox had found Gavin, Gart, and Rhys, and they were all standing there expectantly as Alpin slipped back into the bedchamber beyond to tend his patient. Garret didn’t even notice that the soldiers who had been there were now gone, having vacated the chamber.
Gavin was the first one to speak.
“Alpin told us of the lady’s condition,” he said, looking pale and tight-lipped. “I am going to The Wix, Garret, and….”
Garret cut him off. “I am going to The Wix,” he said calmly. “I will be seeking justice for Lady Lyssa’s injuries.”
Gart and Rhys were the most shocked of the group; they’d just spent the past several minutes calming Gavin down, now to be faced with Garret’s declaration against a man whom they all knew to be untouchable.
But that was the problem – Colchester knew he was untouchable.
At least, until now.
“You intend to challenge Colchester?” Gart asked, astonished. Then, his features relaxed into an expression of distinct approval. “It is about time someone challenged that bastard. I am with you, Garret. Tell me what you need from me and I shall do it.”
Garret looked at him, pointedly. “I am going alone,” he said, pushing through the knights as he headed to the door that would lead out of the building. “This is my fight. None of you will be involved. In fact, you will all disavow any knowledge of my intentions. For your own sake, it is necessary.”
The group of men followed him out of the door. “You will not go alone,” Zayin said firmly. “We have discussed this, Salibi. We have decided to go with you.”
Out into the dark, moist night, Garret was focusing on what he needed to do now that the path had been set. But his knights were following him like a pack of eager puppies and it was a distraction.
“This is not your battle,” he said, coming to a halt and turning to the group. “I appreciate your loyalty, but you know as well as I do that if you support me in this endeavor, it will bring the royal wrath upon you. Please do not give me any more to worry about than I already have. I cannot stomach such good and fine men becoming upswept in my quest for justice. This is something I must do.”
He was trying to be kind about it, but no one was buying it. Gart shook his head. “If you go, I go,” he said. “Garret, if the situation was reversed and one of us had such an endeavor ahead of us, you would not let us go alone, either. You would support us until the end. We have been through too much together, all of us, to let you face this alone. Besides… if we all band together, there is strength in numbers. Mayhap Richard will understand that this is something that should have been done long ago with Colchester. The man is vile and evil, and until now, it has been overlooked. Let us stand with you as the man meets the justice he so deserves.”
It was not only a logical argument, it was a truthful one. If they only knew the depths of what they were saying, it would make it all the more poignant. Neither Garret nor Zayin had ever told them about how they’d met, how Garret had saved Zayin from Colchester’s sword. It was something Garret never saw fit to tell them because he didn’t want it to seem as if he felt the need to be a hero in their eyes. But what he was just coming to realize was that they already saw him as a hero.
And heroes did what was right and just, always.
Garret sighed heavily as he looked to the faces around him; Gart, the man who struck fear into the hearts of all men, and Rhys with his fearsome double-swords. There was Knox, who was hell on the field of battle, and Zayin, whose loyalty was beyond measure. Finally, there was Gavin, who had a stake in this almost as much as Garret did. The man’s sister was potentially caught up in this madness and Garret couldn’t, in good conscience, deny him his quest to make sure his sister was safe. All of them, such fine knights, men that Garret considered himself extremely fortunate to serve with. But men who were going to risk everything just because of him.
“Is there nothing I can say to discourage you?” he finally asked.
Five heads shook. Resigned, and without the time to argue the point, Garret simply turned away, heading for the stables.
“Then be waiting for me at the gatehouse, for I intend to leave immediately,” he said. “I will wait for no man.”
His words were final. At least they were not words of denial, and the knights were grateful. But he was eager to get to The Wix, as were they all, so they quickly went on their way, preparing for what would come this night. But as they moved, it was Zayin who had the foresight to send for Hubert Walter. If Colchester was going to be challenged this evening, then Zayin knew that Walter would want to know. Garret de Moray was about to punish a duke for what the man had done to his intended and there wasn’t a damned thing anyone could do to stop him.
Tonight would see either great triumph or great tragedy.
Zayin prayed it was not the latter.