Chapter Fifteen #2
He didn’t hesitate, but he was gentle. “I am afraid she did not survive the fall,” he said.
“She was born about an hour ago, and I held her so she was not alone. I told her that she was beautiful, and I told her that she would go to heaven, where she could play in the sun all day long. I told her about a cat I used to have as a child and assured her that she could play with my cat in heaven. He will keep her company. She was at peace, my lady.”
That was possibly the most beautiful thing he could have said to her, delivering tragic news in the kindest way possible.
Emmeline burst into tears, weeping softly as Addax wiped away the tears that were falling down her face and onto her hair.
She lifted one of her battered hands, grasping at his fingers, and he held it as tightly as he could without hurting her.
“It was a girl,” she sobbed. “I knew it was. I named her Elizabetha. Will you tell the priests when they bury her so they know she has a name?”
Addax continued to hold her head, wiping at her tears and struggling not to cry himself. “Of course I will,” he said. “That is a beautiful name.”
“I named her for a dear friend,” she said. “My friend who died as a young girl. Mayhap I should not have given her a cursed name. Two girls named Elizabetha, and both have died.”
Addax shook his head. “It is not a cursed name,” he assured her. “What happened was simply an accident.”
Emmeline suddenly came alive. Her eyes flew open and her features were taut with rage. “It was not an accident,” she declared. “It was Maximilian!”
Addax felt a wave of horror wash over him. “What did he do?”
Emmeline was trying to sit up even as Addax and the physician were trying to force her to stay down.
“I was in my chamber, and I heard someone crying that there had been an accident,” she said, still sobbing, but now with anger to it.
“When I went to see what had happened, I saw Aline at the bottom of the stairs in the entry. Maximilian came up behind me and kicked me. I fell down the stairs, but I do not remember hitting the bottom. Only… falling. It seemed like forever.”
“And you are positive of this? He kicked you?”
Emmeline looked at him with an expression he’d never seen before. So… devastated. “He told me that he hoped I died,” she said, her voice quivering. “It was him, Addax. He tried to kill me.”
Addax had never in his life been forced to employ more restraint than he had at that very moment.
His accusing gaze moved to Claudius, who simply closed his eyes in agony and turned away.
The man was shaking his head, unwilling to respond to Addax’s expression because he knew there was nothing he could say.
He’d known all along—and Addax had too—that Maximilian was at the bottom of this.
Adonis had ridden off, looking for him, more than an hour ago.
It took less than an hour to reach Penrith, which was where Addax told Adonis to look, because that was where Maximilian usually went.
To the woman who was pregnant with his child, so the rumors said.
Maybe they were true.
The one thing for certain was that Maximilian had tried to kill his wife.
With Claudius unable to face him, Addax returned his attention to Emmeline, who forced a smile onto her pale, bruised face.
“I believe you,” he said quietly. “Trust me when I tell you that this will not go unpunished.”
Emmeline’s eyes were wide. “But what are you going to do?”
Addax shook his head, as if she shouldn’t be troubled by such a thing. “I must speak with Bretherdale, so I want you to let the physic wrap your shoulder so it will heal,” he said. “You must let him tend to your wounds.”
Emmeline was agreeable, but she wouldn’t let him go.
She was frightened, terrified that Maximilian was going to bust into that room and finish the job.
She knew that Addax would protect her, but still, she was in a haze of panic.
Addax patted her hand gently, finally peeling her fingers off him so the physic could wrap her left shoulder.
He needed to bind her arm to her chest to help the shoulder fracture heal.
As the physic and the cook propped Emmeline up so the physic could get to work, Addax went over to Claudius.
“My lord,” he said through clenched teeth. “If you know where your son is, now would be the time to tell me.”
Claudius was pale with distress. “I do not know,” he said honestly. “If I knew, don’t you think I would have told de Mora? He’s out looking for him now. I can only assume he is in Penrith with that wo—”
He didn’t finish, unable to look at Addax, but Addax finished for him. “You mean the woman he’s been spending all of his money on?” he said. “I know about it. The one who carries his child.”
Claudius did look at him then. “I heard,” he said. “Addax… I do not know why Max did what he did to Emmeline, but mayhap it was a mistake. Or an accident. You should hear his side of the situation before you judge him.”
Addax looked at Claudius as if the man had gone mad.
“Judge him?” he repeated. “I do not need to judge him. It is not my place to judge him. But I can tell you that the man who married Lady Emmeline is not the same man who has been my friend all of these years. That man is a despicable, vile excuse for a mortal being. To do that to Lady Emmeline is unforgiveable.”
Claudius was put in the position of defending a son who was indefensible. “You only say that because you are in love with her,” he said. “It is clouding your judgment.”
Addax was preparing to argue with whatever excuse was about to come out of Claudius’ mouth, but that statement had his blood running cold.
In fact, it enraged him, and that control he held so carefully began to slip.
Everything began to slip, including the respect of knight to lord.
Now, it was simply man against man. With Claudius’ statement, the respect was gone.
“Still your tongue, man,” Addax hissed. “Are you trying to deflect blame for your son’s heinous actions by accusing me of immoral behavior?
If you had raised your son with the slightest bit of moral character, we would not be having this conversation.
You have created a monster, de Grey. That monster is now trying to kill people, and you want to make it seem like I am at fault here?
If that is true, then you’re as despicable as he is. ”
Addax was a very big man with big hands, big muscles, and a menacing disposition when the mood struck him, so Claudius had to back away from a genuinely furious man.
“Addax, I realize you are distressed,” he said, holding up a hand as if to prevent Addax from charging him. “I realize this is a difficult situation. All I am saying is that things are not always the way they seem. There may be other—”
“I have returned,” came a voice from the chamber door. “God’s Blood, what’s all of this? What happened to Lady de Grey?”
Addax and Claudius were interrupted by Maximilian making a sudden appearance in the doorway.
He had the look of a man who had no idea what was going on, or what had happened, and he even marginally projected the sense that he might actually be concerned.
He was looking at Emmeline, but his focus soon turned to Addax and his father, who were looking at him in various degrees of surprise.
“Well?” Maximilian said to Addax. “What happened? De Mora tells me she had an accident.”
No one saw Addax move. One moment, he was standing with Claudius, and in the next, he was on top of Maximilian.
And Maximilian never stood a chance.
*
Stars burst before his eyes, followed by incredible pain.
The next thing Maximilian realized, he was out in the corridor, sitting on his arse, and Addax was bearing down on him. Another blow and he lost two teeth on the left-hand side of his mouth.
Maximilian couldn’t even get his hands up to fight back fast enough, because Addax was pounding him in the face and on his head and neck, and he was quickly starting to fade. No one long survived the fists of the mighty Black Dragon, who was in full force at the moment.
Maximilian could hear his father screaming.
“Addax!” Claudius was shouting. “Stop, Addax, stop!”
But Addax wouldn’t stop. He was in a rage—a blinding rage—and there was no seeing reason. He was out to kill Maximilian, and beating down his opponent with blows that were devastating. Maximilian was only half-conscious when he felt himself being lifted up and tossed.
He fell down some stairs, landing on his recently healed right arm.
The bones broke again.
But Addax came flying down the stairs, too, landing on top of him.
The body blows were coming, and when Maximilian didn’t respond fast enough, Addax grabbed him by the hair and dragged him down the stairs that he’d kicked Emmeline down.
When they reached the bottom, Addax half threw him, half slung him toward the entry door.
As he swooped down on him yet again, the entry door opened and Essien appeared.
Having just returned from Fourstones Castle, Essien had heard about the lady’s accident and was coming in to see if he could be of assistance when he walked into a bloodbath.
Maximilian was covered with blood, and Addax seemed to be the one spreading it around.
Claudius, Adonis, and Pierre were following at a distance, but Claudius was in a panic.
He was screaming at Addax to stop, and when he saw Essien, he called to the man.
“Stop your brother!” he cried. “He has gone mad!”
Startled, Essien threw down his saddlebags and went after Addax, grabbing him from behind.
But Addax didn’t want to be grabbed. He had Maximilian around the neck even as he shoved Essien back by the chest, but Essien came back stronger and grabbed him again, locking up his left arm and pulling him away from Maximilian.
“Addax, stop,” Essien demanded, trying to pull his brother away. “What in the hell are you doing?”