Chapter Fourteen
Winterhold Castle
“Greet my son, Lady de Wrenville,” Covington said. “He has only just arrived.”
Alice had been taking inventory of every chamber in the castle in the course of her duties as chatelaine.
It had been an ordinary morning for the most part, with ordinary tasks, although she was simply trying to keep busy.
Her mind had been on Hallam and Emelisse at Hawkstone.
They had been gone about six hours and it was well into the afternoon when she opened the door to the solar, thinking it was empty, and saw her husband and his son standing there.
A distinct wave of shock washed over her.
Alice found herself looking at Marius. Covington’s son looked just like him, only younger.
They both had pale blond hair, although in Covington’s case, it had mostly gone gray.
The one thing they also had in common was their expression; there was no mistaking the haughty countenance that each seemed to possess as his natural state.
Marius seemed to have acquired that look particularly well, because he always looked as if he knew something everyone else did not and he was gloating over it.
He had that look now.
She braced herself.
“Greetings, Marius,” she said evenly. “Forgive me for not greeting you when you arrived. I did not hear the sentries.”
Marius didn’t like his stepmother, who was only a few years older than he was.
Although he knew why his father had married her, he still saw no reason to be even mildly pleasant to the woman.
He’d had a mother, once, and had no plans of ever warming up to another woman in that capacity.
Therefore, when she spoke to him, he simply looked at the cup in his hand as he responded.
“It is of no matter,” he said casually. “My father tells me that you have spent some time with Lady Emelisse and he further tells me that she is a great beauty. Tell me of your time with her and what your opinion is.”
He sounded as if he were assessing a prized mare. Alice was careful in her reply.
“She was not in the best state of mind, as you can imagine,” she said. “But I found her intelligent and pleasant.”
Marius looked at her, then. “What else? Does she have a fine figure?”
“She is quite fine.”
“Are her breasts large?”
That was a question better suited between men and Alice tried not to flush at it. “I did not notice,” she said. “Overall, she appeared lovely and slender.”
Marius’ gaze lingered on Alice for a moment before turning to his father. “Why did you send her to Hawkstone this morning?” he asked. “You should have waited before sending her back. I want to inspect her.”
Covington was well into his drink, even at this time of day. “I had no way of knowing you would return today,” he said. “Have no fear; she will return soon, after she convinces her foolish brother to surrender the keep. Hallam is with her, so she will not get away.”
Marius took another drink of his father’s expensive red wine. “From what you have told me, Hawkstone has been decimated,” he said. “But I saw The Marshal’s troops when I entered. Why are they not at Hawkstone? Should they not be tearing down the keep? Why are we negotiating, anyway?”
Until that point, the only topic of conversation upon Marius’ arrival had been of Lady Emelisse.
Marius was most interested in his father’s prisoner and wasn’t at all opposed to marrying the woman.
That had always been the plan, from years back, but they’d never been closer to it than they were now.
He had been coveting Hawkstone for three long years and, in truth, he was the one who had pushed his father into the aggression against the House of de Thorington.
It all came down to the situation being of Marius’ design.
He barked and his father moved mountains.
But that also meant that the details of the current situation had not yet been relayed to Marius.
Covington waved a dismissive hand at his wife, ordering her away, and Alice pretended to duck out.
She shut the solar door, but she did not leave.
She made sure the door was cracked open so she could hear the conversation.
She had told Hallam not to bring Lady Emelisse back to Winterhold, so she wanted to hear what was said. Marius’ appearance was not a good thing, in any case, because he was more conniving than his father.
Alice wanted to know what his plans were.
“We have a problem with The Marshal’s army,” Covington said. “Some arrogant beast by the name of Caius d’Avignon is in command of them. When he came, he brought Edward de Wolfe with him along with de Wolfe troops and even troops from Lioncross Abbey.”
“That’s Christopher de Lohr’s seat,” Marius pointed out. “I know de Lohr. A big man, quite arrogant. He used to be Richard’s champion, you know.”
“I know,” Covington said. “Everyone knows that, and de Wolfe is a close friend and ally. As I was saying, when they arrived, de Wolfe attacked me. Not physically, but verbally. He knows of our plans, Marius. He knows why I married Alice and he knows that Rupert de Thorington is not loyal to Philip of France. He is not sympathetic to our cause.”
Marius frowned. “Then if he is not sympathetic, why did he come?”
Covington shrugged. “I am not entirely certain,” he said.
“Mayhap he came in the beginning because he is allied with The Marshal and he wanted to lend support, but in the end, he tried to exert his control over me. He told me to leave Hawkstone and he wanted to take Lady Emelisse away from me, but I would not let him. I may have ruined my relationship with him, but I do not care. No man will push me around, even if he is my liege.”
Marius poured himself more wine. “Not to worry,” he said.
“You are becoming upset over something that does not matter. I will marry Emelisse and Hawkstone will become mine. No one will be able to dispute that, not de Wolfe or even the king. We shall have both Winterhold and Hawkstone under our control and in a year or two, everyone will forget the unpleasantness that preceded that merger.”
“I hope you are right.”
“Of course I am,” Marius said. “In fact, I shall not wait – I shall go to Hawkstone on the morrow and bring a priest with me. I will marry Emelisse at her family’s home and take them both, and then this situation will be finished once and for all.”
That was all Alice needed to hear. Leaving father and son in the solar to continue their plans for world domination, or at least their corner of the world, she rushed off to find a man loyal to Hallam to send a message to him.
The news of Marius’ arrival and his plans were heading to Hawkstone within the hour.