Prologue #2
That was all William needed to hear. Standing to his full and imposing height, he looked at Ansel.
“How long have you been at Roxburgh, de Edington?” he asked in a decidedly unfriendly tone.
Ansel was terrified. “Six years, my lord.”
“How old are you now?”
“I have seen fifteen years, my lord.”
“And in the six years you have fostered here, you have not been taught that we do not beat women?” William asked.
“That we protect them and respect them, and make sure they are safe and happy in all things, but no matter how angry they may make us, we do not lay a hand on them? Have you not learned this?”
Ansel was at a loss. He was cornered and he knew it. Trembling, he moved his gaze to his sister as he struggled to come up with an answer.
“My… my father gave me permission to discipline my sister,” he said, sounding both weak and arrogant. “I will tell my father that…”
“Tell your father what?” William said, his eye narrowing.
He was particularly frightening to children with his one patched eye and growling voice.
“Tell him that his son is a foolish and pathetic child who beats on his tiny little sister to make him feel more like a man? By all means, tell him. You will have the opportunity, too, because I am sending you home. You can face him personally. You are not worthy of fostering at Roxburgh Castle, nor any of the de Wolfe properties, and I shall make sure that your father knows that. Go back to your chamber and stay there. Do not leave for any reason or you shall feel my wrath.”
Petrified with fear, Ansel took off running. William and Blayth watched him go before looking at each other, eyebrows lifted at the behavior of such a child. Blayth, an enormous man with a scarred head beneath graying blond hair, finally shook his head in disgust.
“It needed to be done,” he said in the quiet, deliberate speech that was his normal pattern because of a head injury years ago. “Young Ansel has been a troublemaker the entire time he has been here. That was bound to happen at some point.”
William was still angry at the nasty young man. “Why did you not send him home before now?”
Blayth cocked an eyebrow. “Because he was under the close watch of my knights, and we were trying to give the lad a chance to grow up,” he said.
“But truthfully, we cannot help him. He does not want to be helped. Like his father, he is full of ambition and doesn’t care whom he slanders or hurts along the way, so the fact that you have dismissed him personally will have far more weight than if I did it.
Let’s face it, Papa—you’re a bigger man than I. ”
He was grinning by the time he finished, and William, though still angry, cracked a smile.
“I am older, in any case,” he said. But his smile faded as he looked at Titus, who was still standing there with the switch in his hand.
“And you—you are not one driven to violence that I am aware of, so clearly, Ansel’s actions pushed you beyond your endurance.
Though I do not condone fighting like that between men who should be allies, I understand why you did it. It was noble of you.”
Titus thought he was going to be in real trouble until that moment. With a sigh of relief, he dropped the switch.
“He’s done it before,” he said. “I’ve seen him. We all have. If he becomes angry, he knows he cannot beat any of us, so he beats his sister instead.”
William shook his head, thinking of a young man who would target his own sister in his rage. He looked at Blayth.
“And you knew about this?” he asked.
“I did,” Blayth replied. “We have been keeping him far from his sister, so he must have gone out of his way to find her this night.”
“What was he upset about?”
“I was informed earlier that he received a tongue lashing from one of the knights for neglecting his studies,” Blayth said, his gaze drifting to the girl. “I should have known he’d go to great lengths to get to her.”
William looked at the young girl also. “How did your brother find you, my lady?”
She looked up at him. “I was helping in the kitchens tonight,” she said, still sniffling. “When I came out to collect some eggs, he was in the kitchen yard.”
“And he captured you?”
“How did he know you were in the kitchens?”
Katiana shrugged. “I do not know, my lord,” she said. “But all of the girls have duties, and mine have been in the kitchens for a short while.”
William could only guess how Ansel knew. He was probably stalking her and knew that if she had kitchen duties, it would only be a matter of time before she showed herself in the kitchen yard. He put his hand on her blonde head gently.
“He is going home,” he said. “You will remain here, and from this day forward, Titus shall be your champion. If you need help or if you are afraid, I want you to go to Titus right away. He will protect you and find you the help you need. Do you understand?”
Katiana nodded, her big eyes turning on Titus, who was both proud and fearful of such a responsibility at his age. He was the same age as Ansel, on the cusp of manhood. But he was ready for it.
He hoped.
“Titus?” William said. “Lady Katiana will be your responsibility from now on. She is very young and fragile. You will make sure she is protected.”
Titus squared his shoulders and went over to Katiana, holding out a hand to her. “Come with me,” he said. “I will make sure your wounds are tended. Are you hungry?”
Hesitantly, Katiana reached out to take his hand, and, with surprising gentleness, Titus led her from the stable, asking her what kind of food she wanted to eat and promising her that she could have anything she wanted.
It was a surprising show of compassion for such a young man.
William followed the pair at a distance until they were out of the stables, heading toward the kitchens.
“Titus will take care of her,” he said, turning to Blayth. “But you know that sending Ansel home will not be met with quiet resignation by his father.”
Blayth nodded slowly. “Paulus is a big man with a big mouth,” he said. “He has raised his son in the same fashion.”
“He has,” William agreed. “I will send him home with a Questing knight so he understands that this was my decision. Hopefully that will keep Roxburgh away from his rage.”
Blayth made his way over to him, pondering the situation.
“May I suggest that you summon de Edington to Questing to retrieve his son?” he said.
“Bring the man to you. He’ll be less in control if you deal with him at Questing rather than sending someone to Callerton Castle.
Edington created this mess—he should see the results of his labor as Questing demands he fetch his son home. ”
A gleam came to William’s eye. “He will be quite humiliated.”
Blayth had no sympathy. “For any man who would tell his own son that he had permission to lay hands on his sister, he deserves no less.”
William nodded. “Agreed,” he said, his gaze moving to the vast upper bailey of Roxburgh, bustling with people going about their business. “But something tells me that it will not be the end of it. Men like Paulus de Edington simply do not go away.”
Blayth looked at his father, his expression suggesting agreement, but there was nothing to be done about it.
A lad like Ansel, amongst lads that were being taught right from wrong, would be like a cancer.
He’d try to turn them to his way of thinking if he could.
Both Blayth and William had seen it before.
Something tells me this will not be the end of it.
Little did they know when, exactly, that statement would come back to haunt them.
And just how much it would cost them.