Chapter Twenty-Three #2
Essien closed his eyes a moment before looking at him. “The soldiers are saying because Lady Corisande traded favors with the Scots commander for their freedom,” he said quietly. “That is why they were being released.”
Cole didn’t quite understand. “Traded favors?” he said. “What favors?”
“Cole, she gave herself over to the commander,” Essien said quietly, making it clear. “She let the man bed her as a condition for their release. She was seen going into his tent, alone, and the next morning, they were released.”
Cole’s eyes flew open wide when he finally realized what he was saying. “Those men are saying that?” he hissed.
Essien nodded, disgusted with the entire situation. “They are,” he said miserably. “The rumors have been going around camp for several days, evidently, only we heard nothing about it because we’ve been sealed up at Berwick Castle. But I heard it today when I was running missives.”
Cole stared at him a moment and they could see that his cheeks were turning a dull shade of red. “It’s not true,” he said hoarsely. “It is not possibly true.”
Essien lifted his shoulders. “True or not, that is what they are saying, Cole. Surely there has to be another explanation other than the idle gossip of vicious tongues.”
Cole continued to stare at him, processing what he’d been told.
Something was building in him, something explosive.
Perhaps even something uncontrollable. Those two-colored eyes took on a terrifying gleam.
Without another word, he turned back to the stairwell and began racing up the steep stairs. After a split second, Julian followed.
Essien called after them.
“I am sorry, Cole!” he shouted. “I thought you should know!”
Cole didn’t answer. He just kept running. Distraught, Essien turned to Addax, who simply shook his head with pure, unadulterated disgust.
“I had to tell him,” Essien insisted. “He had to know.”
Addax nodded. “I know,” he said, greatly disheartened by the whole situation. “Come on. Let’s follow him to make sure he does not kill anyone.”
The brothers followed.
Corisande was stirring a giant iron pot filled with boiling water as Gaia gingerly tossed bloodied and soiled linen bandages into it.
It was not her favorite task.
“Gaia, watch what you are doing,” Corisande scolded. “We do not want to toss the bandages into the fire.”
Gaia was absolutely disgusted. She held up a linen bandage by the very edge, soiled with something green, and shrieked.
“It smells!” she cried.
“Then do not smell it,” Corisande said impatiently. “Just put it in the pot.”
Making a terrible face, she tossed the bandage into the pot as Corisande stirred. “This is awful work,” she said unhappily. “Why can’t someone else do this?”
“Because you are doing it. I have asked this of you.”
Gaia was pouting. Looking around their encampment, she was trying to think of something that wasn’t disgusting, smelly, or awful. She eyed her sister unhappily.
“Then let me stir the pot,” she said. “You can toss in the soiled linen.”
“Gladly,” Corisande said, rolling her eyes as Gaia took over with the big stick. “That’s right; stir it boldly. You have to make sure that all of the poison on the bandages comes off.”
Gaia was trying to stir and stand back from the flames at the same time. “It’s hot!”
Corisande grunted unhappily at her sister’s complaining. Everything she did was something to complain about and it was becoming frustrating. “Stir,” she commanded. “Keep stirring. I will go check on the men and bring back more soiled bandages.”
While Gaia whimpered and whined, Corisande headed off to check on her sick and injured men.
Behind the de Bourne encampment, she had a large tent set up and several lesser shelters, with canvas strung up over poles to create shelter from the sky and the elements.
The more badly wounded men were in the tent while the lesser wounded were under the canvas, carefully tended to by Corisande and several of the old soldiers who had been captured at the same time she and Gaia had been.
At least, the ones that hadn’t been too badly injured in that event.
It made for an efficient hospital.
In fact, Corisande had the most organized hospital out of all of the armies.
She had even taken in men who were too badly wounded from other armies because she seemed to know what to do.
She’d done some horrifying battlefield surgery on several men, but due to her skill, she’d only lost two of them.
The rest were in various stages of healing, although a few of them were still bad off.
She was keeping a close eye on them.
Her first stop was the tent to check on those with the more terrible wounds.
They were stable and she was grateful. One man was missing the lower part of his right leg and poison threatened, so she was bandaging him with clean linen every couple of hours.
She went to him to check up on him, pleased to see that he seemed a little stronger.
She had one of her helpers remove the bandages and she took them away as her helper wrapped the stump with fresh boiled linen.
As Corisande came out of the tent and headed over to the pot where Gaia was stirring, she happened to see Cole and Julian entering the de Bourne encampment.
A smile came to her face at the sight of Cole.
It had been two days since she’d last seen him and the mere sight did her heart good.
He was still safe, and whole, and that was all she cared about.
She dumped the dirty bandages into the pot as he entered the wounded area.
“Greetings, my lord,” she said sweetly. “It is good to see you on this fine day. I’ve heard the battle is mostly over. How is the castle holding?”
He marched up on her with the strangest look in his eyes. Not only did he not greet her, he also didn’t make any move to touch her. Not a hug or a kiss.
Nothing.
He just stood there, looking at her.
“I am going to ask you a question and you will tell me the absolute truth,” he finally said, sounding strangely tight. “Do you understand?”
Julian, right beside him, put a hand on his brother’s arm. “Cole, please,” he muttered. “Be calm. Be…”
Cole roughly shook off his brother’s hand. “Get away from me, Julian,” he growled. “This does not concern you.”
Julian knew that tone. He knew better than to argue. With a heavy sigh, he wandered away, leaving Corisande greatly confused by Cole’s manner.
Her smile faded.
“I would not lie to you,” she said. “What is the matter?”
“When we ambushed the wagons as the Scots led them out of the encampment, where were you going?”
She cocked her head. “Back to England, I was told.”
“So they were releasing you.”
She nodded, still confused with the line of questioning. “That was my understanding,” she said. “Why? Does it matter?”
It was apparent that he was trying very hard to keep his composure and she truly had no idea why. “Why were they releasing you?” he asked.
Corisande was greatly puzzled. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Cole, what is the matter? Has something happened?”
His jaw flexed dangerously. “Answer me,” he said, lowering his voice. “Why were they releasing you?”
She shook her head. “What else do you do with prisoners?” she said. “If you do not need them or want them, you release them, I suppose. We were of no value to them any longer, so…”
He cut her off. “Did you make a deal with them?”
“A deal? What deal?”
He was starting to breathe heavily, his chest heaving with emotion. Corisande had never seen him in such a state and, frankly, it was frightening. He looked as if he were coiled, ready to strike, and she took a step back from him.
He took a step forward.
“Did you warm some Scotsman’s bed in exchange for your release?”
Corisande felt as if she’d been slapped. All of the color drained from her face and, in a panic, she went on the defensive.
“Who told you such things?” she hissed.
“Do you mean to tell me that it is not true?”
Corisande backed up again, but he was on top of her. For every inch she put between them, he closed the gap and then some. She finally put her hands out to push him back because he was starting to overwhelm her.
“I am not telling you anything,” she seethed. “But by the tone of your voice, you clearly believe it is true, so anything I tell you will not matter.”
“Tell me the truth.”
“Would you believe me if I did?”
His jaw continued to work, infuriated and shattered.
“Do you mean to tell me you do not know anything about the rumors flying fast and furious that you exchanged your body for your release?” He sounded like he was growling.
“When we found your caravan, you were heading south. I want to know why they released you, so you will answer my question. And do not tell me that they released you because they no longer had need of you. In war, one does not simply release hostages. One uses them.”
Corisande stared at him. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.
She was shocked and horrified, everything she could possibly feel, but there were two things whirling through her mind that she could grasp above all else.
The first was that Cole already believed whatever rumors he had heard and that cut her to the bone.
Did the man have so little faith in her?
The second was that she had to protect Gaia.
There she was, back in the position of protector again. Her little sister had made the ultimate sacrifice and, horribly, there were rumors about it. Or, they were about Corisande. She wasn’t going to ask Cole because whatever the rumors were, he believed them.
She wasn’t going to tell him the truth and destroy her sister’s sacrifice in the same stroke.
Let them think it was her.
Let Gaia keep the dignity she sacrificed to free them.
“You believe the rumors already, Cole,” she said coldly. “There is nothing more I can say.”
“You can tell me the truth.”
“You have your truth as you believe it. Your lack of faith in me is clear and I will not dignify the question with a response.”
“Did you let the Scots commander bed you in exchange for your freedom?”
It was a direct question. Looking up at Cole, Corisande couldn’t have felt more grief had he ripped her heart out of her chest. The pain was beyond anguish.
It entered the realm of becoming something that filled her as surely as blood filled her veins.
The man she loved thought the worst of her without giving her a chance to tell him the truth.
He had asked her for it, but he really didn’t want it. He already believed what he’d heard.
He wanted a confession.
She wasn’t going to give it to him.
Leaning forward, she looked him in the eyes.
“Go to hell,” she hissed. “And don’t come back.”
Cole’s head snapped back. That hadn’t been the answer he had been expecting. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but that wasn’t it. Overwhelmed, and overcome with grief and rage, he spun on his heel and marched off, heading out of the encampment.
Corisande stood there and trembled.
Standing behind Cole, several feet back, were Julian and al-Kort brothers. All three of them appeared extremely grieved by what had happened and when Cole pushed through them, Julian and Addax turned to follow.
But Essien just stood there with tears in his eyes.
Corisande saw him but she kept her chin up, defiantly. She wasn’t going to let them know how badly she was crumbling. If they wanted to believe she had let a Scotsman take advantage of her, then so be it. She didn’t care.
Better they think it of her than of Gaia.
“Cori?”
She heard a soft voice off to her right and she turned to see Gaia standing there, weeping.
She had heard the entire conversation and she had seen what her sister had done to protect her, once again.
She wasn’t going to let men know what Gaia had done and she’d let the love of her life walk away because of it.
It was Cole or Gaia.
She’d chosen Gaia.
“Cori, go after him,” she sobbed. “Do not let him leave.”
Corisande held up a hand to her sister to silence her. “Not a word,” she said, her voice tight with emotion. “You will not say another word about this, ever.”
Fearful of her sister’s reaction if she did not obey, Gaia did as she was told. She returned to stirring the soiled linen as Corisande went to the smaller tent that she and Gaia shared and collapsed.
She could hear her sister’s sobs all across the encampment.
When she saw Ares moving for the tent, hearing the sobs also, Gaia left the linen boiling and ran to him. If the truth was to be known, then it needed to come from her and she needed to tell someone who had a reputation for being fair and just.
Big brother had just become Father Confessor.
Gaia didn’t want her sacrifice with Alexander MacDuff to be in vain.