Chapter Eighteen #3
Hallam shrugged. “I am not sure,” he said.
“But… but there is something I want to tell you, Alice. Caius has offered me a position with his army. He would pay me well and it would be a position of honor. I told him I could not leave you and he suggested I simply bring you along, but I assured him that it would not be suitable for you. You have position and money now, something I could not give you. I am only a simple knight, but for a moment there… I was tempted to do it. To be away from this sordid place would be a dream.”
“I will go.”
She said it before he even got the words out of his mouth. He looked at her strangely. “What?”
She grasped his fingers, laying her cheek against them.
“I said that I would go,” she said. “Position and money mean nothing to me, Hallam. You mean everything. You should not be here. I have told you that time and time again. You are a man of honor serving jackals. Accept Sir Caius’ offer and I shall go with you.
I only wish to be with you, my love, wherever life may take us. ”
Hallam sighed faintly. “Would that I could,” he said, his hand on her carefully-coiffed head. “Alice, you must think of what it would do to your family. It would shame them if you ran off with a man who was not your husband.”
She snorted softly. “My guess is that Covington would not tell them anything simply to save his pride,” she said. “The man cares nothing for me. My disappearance would only be a blow to his pride and nothing more.”
Hallam looked at her; really looked at her.
Was it possible she meant it? Was it possible that he could actually leave Winterhold and serve a man who respected him?
He was trying to determine if she was serious when they heard something fall on the landing outside the door.
Hallam bolted to his feet, slipping into the small alcove next to the hearth just as the door to the chamber swung open.
Covington appeared.
He fell through the door, tripping as he’d tripped when he’d come off of the stairs. The smell of wine radiated from him. He fell to his knees as Alice rushed to help him up, but he rudely brushed her off.
“Do not touch me,” he snarled. “Get away from me. I do not want you to touch me.”
Alice backed off, her heart beating furiously.
Had he heard the conversation between her and Hallam?
She was waiting for the man to explode at her, but he stumbled over to her carved table and took the pitcher of wine by the neck, putting it to his lips.
As he downed two healthy swallows, it took Alice no time at all to realize that he was drunk.
She watched him warily.
“What can I do for you, Covington?” she asked evenly. “Do you require something?”
Covington looked at her. He didn’t answer right away. He simply stared at her, looking her up and down in a way that made her skin crawl.
“Ugly Alice,” he muttered. “That’s what everyone calls you, you know. And I had to be foolish enough to marry you.”
Then, he began to sing a song that was so common in taverns. He looked at her tauntingly as he sang it.
“Alice, my sweet, what joys you teach,
With some wine and a good deal of piffle.
My love for you grew,
Until the time that I knew
That Alice had a phallus, ’tis true!”
When he was finished, he giggled uncontrollably, drinking more of her wine.
But Alice wasn’t insulted by the nickname or the song.
She’d heard it before, from her youth when boys wanted to tease her, and she had learned to ignore being called ugly since Hallam told her it had no meaning.
He thought she was beautiful and that was all that mattered to her. Hallam had given her that confidence.
Nay, she wasn’t bothered in the least.
“No one forced you to marry me,” she said. “It was your choice.”
He snorted rudely. “And it was a stupid choice,” he said, slurring his words. “I was stupid to do it because you are absolutely worthless to me. Your uncle will not even let me use his army. There is no alliance with William Marshal.”
Alice wasn’t going to fight with him. Her only concern was for Hallam, who was in the alcove just behind her, hiding behind the heavy curtains. She was terrified that Covington was going to discover him, so she wanted the man out of her chamber, however she could manage it.
“They should be serving the evening meal in the hall at this time,” she said, trying to distract him. “Go and eat. We shall discuss this on the morrow when you are not drunk.”
Covington looked at her as if greatly insulted by her words.
“If I am drunk, it is your fault,” he said.
“All of this is your fault, Ugly Alice. You were supposed to be the solution to the problem, but you are not a solution at all. You did not know that, did you? That my marrying you was strategic.”
Alice had never tried to feel hatred for Covington, only pity, but at the moment that pity was being pushed out in favor of unadulterated loathing.
“I knew,” she said. “The only people who did not know were my parents. They were stupid enough to accept your offer.”
Covington stared at her a moment before breaking down in laughter of sorts. “What do you know?” he asked. “Tell me what you know. I want to hear it.”
“I know that you married me for the alliance to William Marshal.”
His eyebrows lifted in surprise and, after a moment, he started clapping as if applauding her brilliance. “Very good, Lady de Wrenville,” he said sarcastically. “You do, indeed, know why I married you. Who told you? My son?”
“No one told me,” she said coldly. “I could see that you had an ulterior motive. Mayhap I am ugly, as you call me, but I am not stupid. I am smarter than you can imagine.”
Covington looked at her as if interested by her boast. “Is that so?” he said. “Are you smart enough to know that if this situation does not remedy itself, things will not go well for you?”
Alice wasn’t intimidated by his veiled threats. “Please enlighten me.”
Wine pitcher in hand, Covington staggered in her direction.
“You are a worthless mistake, but I am going to allow you to redeem yourself,” he said.
“You will write to your Uncle William and demand he allow you to utilize his army. Not me, mind you – you. You will tell him that you wish for his army.”
Her brow furrowed but as he drew closer, she was wise enough to move away from him. He had never struck her before because he made a point of staying away from her, but there was always a first time. She didn’t like the look in his eyes.
“I will do no such thing,” she said. “You are my husband. That request should come from you.”
She had moved to put a table between them and Covington was nearly too drunk to move around it. He ended up slamming his hands on the surface.
“I did make the request,” he said, trying to set the pitcher down but he ended up spilling it.
“That army you see camping outside of my walls is the result of that request, but they will not do anything until your uncle, and his knights in command of the army, say so. You will write your uncle directly, do you hear?”
Alice backed away from the table as he came around it. She was backing herself into a corner of her chamber and the alcove containing Hallam was at Covington’s back now. She hoped it would give Hallam a chance to escape but, so far, he hadn’t moved.
“He will not listen to me,” she said. “Why should he? I am a woman making demands in a world of men. If he will not respond to your request, what makes you think he will respond to mine?”
Covington charged her, hands out like claws.
He’d only meant to grab her, but he tripped as he tried to run, which propelled his body against hers.
His hands landed on her shoulders, but they found their way to her neck.
As Alice screamed and banged her head brutally against the wall behind her, Covington began to squeeze.
“You worthless, foolish bitch,” he seethed, banging her head on the wall again to knock her senseless.
“This is all your fault. I thought you would bring me a great alliance with your uncle, but you have done nothing. Now, you are going to do as I tell you or I will squeeze the life from you. Do you –?”
He was abruptly cut off when someone grabbed him from behind.
Hallam pulled Covington off Alice and in the same motion, threw his arm across the man’s throat.
Using his other arm, he rammed it against the back of Covington’s head, pushing it forward.
In his anger, his panic, he torqued Covington’s neck as hard as he could.
He could hear the bones snap as he broke the man’s neck.
Covington was dead before he hit the ground.
But Hallam didn’t care. He was still in offensive mode, ready to kill anyone who would dare touch his beloved Alice.
He stepped over Covington’s body, kicking it, as he pulled Alice away from the wall she was slumped against. He swallowed her up in a crushing embrace as she shook off the ringing in her ears, bursting into hysterical sobs.
Hallam held her tightly.
“All is well,” he whispered quickly. “Everything is well. I have you, Alice. He cannot harm you any longer.”
Alice sobbed as she threw her arms around him, coughing intermittently because Covington had choked her.
“What… what happened?” she wept, pulling away from him to see Covington lying face-down on the floor. “Hallam! What happened?”
Since Alice was essentially unharmed, Hallam forced himself to calm. He took the time to look at the body of his liege but as he looked at the man, he felt absolutely nothing other than hatred and rage. In fact, he lashed out an angry booted foot and caught Covington in the hip.
“Bastard,” he grunted. “Bloody goddamn bastard. He was trying to kill you, Alice. I was content to remain quiet in that alcove through the insults and the demands, but when he touched you… I could not let him kill you. You know that.”