Chapter Four #3
His eyes were filling with a pond of tears and Garran glanced at Maximus, who simply shook his head with some regret.
“You did, Ty,” Maximus said softly. “You told her farewell before we left to go to Oxford those months back. Remember? Now, why don’t you lie down and try to sleep? You have had far too much to drink, more than I have ever seen from you. You need to rest.”
Tiberius wiped the tears that seemed to keep falling. He looked away from his brother and his friend, his gaze finding the bright carpet of stars in the night sky.
“She was ashamed of me,” he whispered, his lower lip trembling.
“Gallus was her shining star and Maximus was her strength. What was I? A misfit. A comic. I was her youngest son that had not accomplished anything to make her proud of me. Gallus married Catheryn and had two children, and then he married Jeniver and she will bear him a son. And now Maximus has married Courtly and they are very happy. What have I done to perpetuate the de Shera name? Nothing of note. I have done… nothing.”
Maximus didn’t want to hear any more of his brother’s drunken self-pity. As far as he and Gallus were concerned, Tiberius, the baby, had always been Honey’s favorite son. Maximus moved towards the man and pulled him away from the window, towards his bed.
“Go to sleep,” he said. “Garran will sit with you so you do not drown in your own vomit. Come along, Ty, lay down. You will feel better when you have had a chance to sleep.”
Oddly enough, Tiberius didn’t fight him. He let his brother push him down on his messy, smelly bed. All of that terrible cider had finally caught up with him and he could hardly keep his eyes open.
“Garran, your sister,” Tiberius rambled on, grabbing hold of Garran’s arm when the man helped Maximus pull up the coverlet. “She tried to beat me when I first found her in that room, you know. She is a brave and strong woman. She is also quite beautiful. Did you know that?”
Garran cocked a patient eyebrow at the man. “Men do not usually think their sisters to be beautiful.”
Tiberius was very serious. “But she is,” he insisted. “Why did you not tell me you had such a beautiful sister?”
Garran shrugged, trying to peel Tiberius’ hand off of his arm. “I told you,” he said. “Men do not go around telling others that their sister is beautiful. That would be strange.”
Tiberius’ cider-muddled mind tried to make sense out of that statement. “I saved her from de Montfort’s assassins,” he said. “Therefore, she belongs to me. You will tell your father, will you not? Lady Douglass is mine. I intend to keep her.”
Garran knew there was no arguing with a drunken man. “As you say, Ty,” he said. “She belongs to you.”
Satisfied, Tiberius let go of Garran and drowsiness quickly came upon him. “She will be the mother of my sons,” he muttered, his eyes fluttering closed. “She is a fine woman. My mother would… would be proud of me to marry such a fine woman.”
He continued muttering, trailing off and falling dead asleep in a matter of seconds. Maximus and Garran stood over him as he began to snort loudly.
“I will stay here for a time,” Garran said, looking at Maximus. “You may return to the hall if you wish. I will make sure he comes to no harm.”
Maximus nodded as he headed for the door.
“He will not remember any of this come the morning,” he said.
“I hope your father does not think he is truly interested in your sister. Although your sister is a beautiful woman, Tiberius is not a man to wed, at least not at this point in his life. I am not entirely sure he is capable of being true to one woman.”
Garran snorted. “Well I know it,” he said. “I would approve of Lucifer as a husband for my sister sooner than I would approve of Ty. I have seen what that man is capable of with the opposite sex.”
Maximus had to wriggle his eyebrows in agreement.
Tiberius was quite legendary with women and there was rumor of at least one de Shera bastard in London.
But they didn’t discuss that particular aspect of Tiberius’ character as Maximus left the chamber and shut the door softly behind him.
Garran pulled up a chair near the hearth and sat, taking a deep, cleansing breath as he thought on the day’s adventures.
It had been quite a full day, for all of them.
As Tiberius snored away, Garran couldn’t help but wonder if the man, once sober, would continue to show interest in Douglass.
Although Garran loved Tiberius like a brother, as he had told Maximus, he had seen what the man was capable of with women.
He was handsome, charming, and always got his way in everything.
Many a maiden had been ruined by Tiberius de Shera’s sweet talk and wooing ways, and Garran intended to make sure that his sister did not fall prey to the likes of his friend.
He wondered, darkly, if he would find himself fending off Tiberius at some point.
He hoped not because he would unquestionably defend Douglass to the death.
Perhaps even Tiberius’.