Chapter Thirty-Two #4
“Because Dustin befriended Lady Gabrielle, the earl’s wife.
” Christopher had no time to explain all of this.
“The earl killed his own sister because she relayed the information to my wife, for Christ’s sake.
Had he been successful in his attack on Dustin, we would most likely be picking up pieces of her, and God only knows what’s become of Deborah.
I want both of them away from this place. ”
David looked as if he had completely forgotten about his sister. “Jesus. Where is Deborah?”
“I sent Sean de Lara and a company of men out to find her. She and Dustin were together at the beginning of the chase but split up, so I hold hope that our sister has found safety,” Christopher replied.
“But I want you to find out what has become of Deborah when you have settled my wife. And keep Sean with you; I am demanding his loyalty to me, as well.”
“I thought you wanted me to help Dustin pack?” David pointed out.
Christopher gave him an intolerable look. “I changed my mind. My wife has an entire company of soldiers assigned to her, no one will get past them.”
David nodded without the grin he was feeling. “Then we leave tonight?”
Christopher glanced at Dustin, longing already filling his heart. “Aye,” he replied. “After I take care of the earl, we leave.”
David’s adrenalin flowed quicker and harder than just about anyone. He could feel his energy surge, eager to get a lick at the earl for what he had done to the ladies, and eager more to be on the battlefield once again. The man was a born warrior.
As requested, Christopher’s knights were soon congregated around him.
Edward, Leeton, and David were joined by three new faces.
Dustin had seen the men before, serving her husband, but he had not allowed them around her.
She knew from Marcus that Christopher was extremely selective about the knights who personally served him and assumed that these men must have met her husband’s standards.
Sir Nicholas de Burg was a nice looking man in his mid-twenties, his dark hair longer than the others.
Sir Sean de Lara was a very young, very handsome knight with a massively muscular build, and Sir Guy de le Rosa spoke with a heavy Spanish accent and had a broad smile that showed every tooth in his head.
Dustin watched her husband explain the situation to the men and saw their pleased faces when Christopher asked for their pledge to him.
Actually, he demanded their pledge, but the men were more than willing to give it.
These men were knights, independent of a liege other than Richard, and were pleased to be committing service to the Lion’s Claw.
Satisfied that his knight ranks were growing stronger by the day, Christopher gave each man individual orders and dismissed them.
David came to Dustin, taking her shaking arm. “Time to pack, Lady de Lohr.”
Christopher broke away from his private conference with Edward to see his wife and brother off.
“I shall meet up with you later,” he told his brother, then affectionately stroked his wife’s cheek.
“Are you going to have enough trunks? God only knows how much we have acquired since we have come to London.”
“I shall manage,” she replied wearily, exhausted to the bone and still frightened for Deborah. Yet her husband, remarkably, had remained fairly calm throughout the entire occurrence and she wondered about it. “Are you going to help Deborah now?”
Christopher wasn’t looking at her as he put his gauntlet back on again. “I have men going to Deborah’s rescue, Dustin. She will be amply protected. You will make sure she packs her things, as well. And try to limit the baggage to four trunks for each of you, if you please.”
He was talking casually, yet there was no mistaking his tense manner. Dustin eyed him warily. “Where are you going?” she asked.
He put his helmet back on, adjusting his mail hood beneath it. “To pay a call on the earl.”
Dustin’s eyes widened. She wanted to protest, to beg that he simply go with her and that they leave this place, but she could not and she wouldn’t.
Christopher was a soldier, the best in the realm, and fighting was his vocation.
She hated the thought of him fighting for any reason, wishing he were a simple scholar so she wouldn’t have to worry about him so, but in faith, she loved his strength and his power.
He was the Defender, and she loved him more than life.
As afraid as she was for him, she would never ask him to be less than he was.
“Are you going to kill him?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
He didn’t answer her, instead bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it sweetly. “I shall see you later.”
He turned abruptly and she cried after him, rushing to him when he paused. Tired and scratched and damp, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him through his helmet.
“I love you, husband. Be safe,” she whispered.
He stroked her cheek with a mailed hand and was gone.
David took her arm gently. “How are we going to pack George?” he wondered aloud as he led her away.