Chapter Thirty-Eight #2
“What do you want from me, David?” she wanted to know. “To swear to you that Christin is his daughter? Then I will. On the Holy Bible, I swear to you that she is his own daughter, and I furthermore swear to you that I never touched Marcus Burton!”
The latter was only a half-truth, yet, it could be the full truth. After all, she had once thought her encounter in her dark bedchamber to be a dream. Mayhap it was after all. Mayhap if she told herself enough it really would only be a dream again and not the reality of Marcus in the flesh.
David’s jaw was ticking and he refused to answer.
Dustin could see that there was so much more to his outburst but she still wasn’t sure what it was.
“This isn’t just about Christin, is it?” she said, her tone considerably softer.
“There is more to this than you are telling me. Why have you decided you suddenly hate me so, David?”
He wouldn’t look at her, nor answer. He pulled free of her grasp and paced a few feet away, trying to collect himself. Dustin stood there, watching him, wondering if he were ever going to answer her when Christopher came out into the small courtyard, his face grim.
Dustin’s eyes widened and she covered her cheek where David had struck her. David, however, had a bloody gash on his neck that was impossible to cover up as Christopher’s eyes bore into him.
“I heard a nasty rumor that you struck my wife,” he said calmly to his brother. “Is this true?”
David knew what he had done and fully realized the consequences. “I did.”
Christopher’s jaw flexed dangerously. “Might I ask why?”
David looked away. “Ask her.”
Dustin watched the two of them apprehensively, knowing a servant must have heard the struggle and had run straight to Christopher. She feared for David’s life.
“I am asking you,” Christopher said. “Answer me and I may be merciful.”
David turned to face him, then, and his face was glazed with scorn.
“Do you truly wish to know, brother? I struck her because she’s been playing you for a fool.
Look at Christin; does she look like you?
She does not and do you know why? Because she isn’t your daughter, she’s Marcus’!
” He gestured wildly toward Dustin. “She has been Burton’s whore all along and God only knows why you haven’t done something about it.
Why do you think Marcus left? Because he was in love with her and he could not stand to see her with you.
Goddammit, you are both in love with her and she has been playing both of you for idiots.
I stuck her because I will not allow her to damage you any further.
She’s already brought the mightiest knight in the realm to his knees and now she threatens to drive a dagger into your heart! ”
Christopher was astonished at his brother’s tirade. He always thought David had adored Dustin and he was honestly at a loss to understand his breakdown. But the fact remained that he had deeply insulted Dustin as well as injured her, and he would pay the price.
“David,” his voice was calm, controlled.
“Christin is my daughter, my flesh and blood. She has her mother’s gray eyes, her grandmother’s dark hair, and my nose.
Never think for one moment that Marcus had anything to do with that child.
My wife was not his whore, merely his friend, and it is his misfortune to fall in love with a woman he could not have.
You, little brother, have no right to accuse her of such a heinous crime and you furthermore have no right whatsoever to strike her.
And as far as weakening me, she has done the opposite and has made me the strongest man in all the world.
Mayhap if you ever fall in love, you will understand.
But I am afraid you will not have the chance; get yourself armed and stand ready to pay for your actions. ”
Dustin gasped, knowing that Christopher intended to kill his brother. “Nay, Chris,” she begged. “Do not!”
He ignored her as David brushed past both of them and he waited until his brother was out of sight. Then, he took a few slow steps to his wife.
“Let me see what he did.” He took her hand from her cheek and examined the bleeding welt. “He cuffed you good. Does it hurt?”
“Not much,” she grasped his hand pleadingly. “Oh, Chris, you are not really going to kill him, are you? He was only trying to protect you.”
“I do not need protecting,” Christopher replied, caressing her fingers. “And I cannot allow him to be a threat to you or to Christin.”
Dustin could not believe her ears. “You cannot kill your only brother. Chris, what are you thinking?”
“I am thinking that my brother has crossed the line,” he answered. “He has injured you and insulted you grievously, and I will treat him as I would treat anyone who would damage you. I will defend your honor.”
She was appalled and scared. “I do not want you to kill him.”
“And I do not want to, but I must do what is necessary,” he said more calmly than he felt.
“Dustin, what would have happened had I not come out here to stop my brother from further harming you? As difficult as it is for me to believe, the proof of his brutality is standing out on your face and I cannot allow that. Brother or no, he will pay.”
Dustin’s eyes welled with tears. “But I am only your wife,” she whispered. “He is your brother.”
He grasped her face between his hands, swallowing up her head. His gaze was hard and soft at the same time.
“You are my life, Dustin,” he whispered. “Everything else in this life, including my own brother, pales in comparison. He knows what he did was wrong, but he did it anyway.”
She blinked and fat tears fell onto her cheeks. “Please do not kill him.”
He kissed her and took her hand, leading her back toward the kitchen door. “Christin is sleeping. Go and relieve Griselda the sitting duties.”
“Chris, I….” she started to protest, but he stopped abruptly at the entrance to the kitchens.
“Not a word, Dustin,” he said hoarsely and she suddenly saw the pain in his eyes. “Please, sweetheart, not another word. Just do as you are told.”
“But Chris,” she tried one last time to defend David. “I struck him first in anger.”
Christopher sighed. “Be that as it may, he should not have struck you in return. And I will never forgive him for calling you a whore. Now, go tend to Christin, sweet.”
She put her face in her hands and dashed away from him. He followed not far behind and he could hear her sobbing all the way up the stairs. He paused a moment in the great hall, listening to the door to their bedchamber slam and feeling enough grief and sorrow to flood England.
He was deeply shocked at his brother and his behavior was inexcusable. Yet in his heart, he would rather kill himself than take his brother’s life. Torn, increasingly despondent, he made his way outside.
David was waiting for him in full armor.
*
Christopher was unarmed and without his protective gear, and he eyed his brother from a distance.
Edward and Leeton had dismissed the men and stood with Jeffrey, Max, Anthony, Nicholas and Guy on the edge of the practice field, hardly believing what they were seeing.
Edward was the first to approach Christopher.
“What in the hell is going on?” he demanded. “David said you called him out. Why?”
Christopher continued to eye his brother. “Because he called my wife a whore and accused her of bearing Burton’s bastard.”
“Christin?” Edward repeated with disbelief. “That is insane. Why would David say that?”
Christopher shrugged. “I do not know, and I furthermore do not care. He did it and he shall pay.”
Edward grasped his arm. “You cannot kill your brother, Chris,” he said firmly. “Banish him from your presence forever, disown him, but do not kill him. You shall never be able to live with yourself.”
Christopher looked at Edward for the first time, mulling over his advice. True, he certainly did not want to kill David, and banishing him was indeed a viable alternative. “I must punish him, Edward. What he did was unforgiveable.”
“Indeed, but discover his reasons and make your judgment,” Edward replied. “Good God, he’s your brother, Chris. Your very best friend, your flesh and blood. Can you, will you, truly kill him over one incident?”
“One incident?” Christopher repeated sharply. “Suppose I allow this to go unpunished and one incident becomes two, and Dustin suffers more than a bruise on the cheek? Suppose she suffers serious injury? Nay, Edward, I must punish my brother for his actions.”
“He hit her?” Edward echoed, eyeing David. “My God, Chris, what is going on in his head?”
“I do not know.” Pain inflected itself into his voice. “But mayhap you are correct in suggesting I should find out.”
He left Edward and walked deliberately toward his brother, who raised his sword defensively. Christopher stopped a few feet away, glaring at his brother with a mixture of anger and sorrow.
“Before I pass judgment, David, I would hear why you committed such terrible sins against Dustin,” he said quietly. “I would like to understand what provoked this event.”
David did not lower the sword. “She has blinded you,” he said. “Christin is Marcus’ child as surely as I am Myles’. Can’t you see how much she looks like him?”
“If that were true, then it is my problem to deal with, not yours to handle in my stead,” his brother replied.
“I told you once before that Dustin is my wife, not ours. If there is any revenge to be sought or any punishment to be dealt to her, it will come from me and not you. You have no right to interfere in my life.”
“Interfere?” David spat, suddenly dropping the sword and tearing his helmet off.
“Someone has to. She has turned you into a soft, gutless fool. The Christopher who used to be my brother would have killed Marcus the first time he laid hands on her. He would not have spared his life and allowed this liaison to continue. What has happened to you?”