Chapter Fourteen
Deverill Castle
The morning after Trenton’s arrival to Deverill found him outside just after dawn, standing near the soldier barracks and watching Cort and Dane run new soldiers through a drill.
Deverill was a troop training center for crown troops, as well as Warminster troops, as Gaston had always been a trainer of men for the crown and that hadn’t changed from one king to the next.
The House of de Russe, historically, had a very close connection to the crown, and Gaston for the sheer length of his experience, was a trusted advisor to the king in military matters.
When it came to Trenton, however, Henry didn’t much care what Gaston thought of the capacity Trenton served in.
Henry did as Henry wanted to do, and that was simply the way of things.
Trenton had grown up around training grounds, so watching Dane and Cort put the troops through their paces brought back many fond memories.
Long ago, when he’d been quite young, he remembered his father’s dear friend and general, Arik Helgeson, a tall, Viking-looking knight who had been one of the best trainers in England.
The man had lost his life in an ambush years ago, something that Gaston had never quite overcome, and watching his brothers with the soldiers reminded Trenton very much of Arik and days gone by.
He’d missed them.
So, he stood on the edge of the field, waving at Cort when the man lifted a hand to him, and trying not to think of the very reason why he’d come to Deverill.
He’d hardly slept the night before, with thoughts of Lysabel heavy on his mind, so he’d come to the training field to distract himself.
He hadn’t seen his father yet this morning, but he was certain that he would soon.
His father had always been an industrious early riser.
He didn’t want to press the man about is plans to visit Wellesbourne, but that was certainly on his mind.
Over to his right, his brother, Dane, was bellowing out commands like a good drill sergeant, something that made Trenton smile.
His gaze drifted over his brother; while Trenton had Gaston’s enormous size and dark coloring, Dane took after his long-dead father for the most part.
He was average in height, very well built, with his mother’s eye color and a crown of cropped, blond hair.
He was quite handsome, as Trenton had acknowledged when Lysabel told him that she’d dreamt of Dane in her youth.
But more than that, Dane simply had something that women found irresistible.
Trenton often wished he’d had his brother’s charisma.
Ever since they were children, it was Dane who had taken charge of things and Dane who had been the brains of any operation.
Trenton had never met a smarter man in his life.
Trenton had been more of a follower in their youth, with Dane leading the charge and Trenton being the muscle.
Trenton often missed those carefree days of youth with his cohort in crime, Dane.
Even now, his brother saw him lingering by the edge of the field.
While Cort had simply waved to him, Dane turned command over to the nearest sergeant and headed in Trenton’s direction.
The brothers saw each other as often as they could, but it had been a long while since they’d last spoken. Trenton smiled as Dane ran up to him.
“So you are up early, are you?” Dane said. “Since you serve the king these days, I thought you might be a man of leisure. Up all night and sleeping all day, as it were.”
Trenton snorted. “A lot you know,” he said. “I’m risking my life every second of every day while you spend your time screaming at frightened men.”
Dane laughed, revealing a toothy smile that looked very much like his mother’s. “That is because they need to be screamed at,” he said. “I realize you are an important man, but those of us without a dukedom to inherit must work for our daily bread.”
Trenton simply shook his head. “You are no pauper,” he said. “Da told me that he’s moving you to Blackmore Castle on the Welsh Marches. A prestigious post, Brother.”
Dane nodded. “It is,” he said proudly. “You shall address me as Lord Blackmore from now on.”
“Does that make you feel important, little man?”
Dane started laughing. “I must keep up with you, after all. Someday, you will be the duke and I shall be your lowly advisor.”
“Advisor? Who told you that?”
“Me,” Dane said, incensed. “I have no idea how you have survived this long without me. You will need my wisdom when Warminster becomes yours.”
Trenton chuckled, his affectionate gaze on his brother. “That is true,” he said, sobering. “I have missed you. With the great reunion last night with the family, you and I have not yet had a chance to talk, just the two of us.”
Dane’s smile faded. It was the first time the two of them had been alone since Trenton’s arrival, and being the nosy and concerned brother he was, Dane had a million questions for him.
“I assumed you came here for an important reason,” he said. “Shall we go for a walk?”
“Indeed.”
Turning away from the training field, Dane and Trenton began to walk.
It was like days of old, when it was just the two of them, and the bond that formed those years ago was something that had only gotten stronger over the years.
Leaving the training area completely, they headed towards the main area of the bailey.
Deverill Castle had a massive outer wall that was nearly eight feet thick and the bailey had been a vast, oblong-shaped yard at one time that had been divided into sections by walls that Gaston had commissioned when he inherited the place.
Portions of the castle were actually built into the wall, creating something of a mammoth structure that dominated the countryside for miles in every direction.
It was a grand structure. Trenton found himself looking at the pale gray walls, made from limestone that had been locally quarried.
He was waiting for Dane to speak, because he could sense the man’s curiosity and concern.
As they neared an area that wasn’t heavily populated with men, Dane finally broke the silence.
“Now,” he said, “will you tell me what has brought you back to Deverill after six long years?”
Trenton sighed pensively. “A woman,” he said simply. “Rather than get into a long, drawn-out story, suffice it to say that I have fallen in love with a woman.”
Dane’s brow furrowed in shock as he looked at him. “What?” he hissed. “What woman?”
There was a crowd of men up ahead and Trenton came to a halt, turning to face Dane where they still had some privacy.
“In July, Henry tasked me with abducting a rival who had been a thorn in his side,” he said. “To make a long story short, I was sent to Stretford Castle. Do you know it?”
Dane blinked as if startled. “That is de Wilde’s home.”
Trenton nodded shortly. “Aye,” he said. “Upon entering the grounds, I could hear a woman screaming and when we breached the house and located our target, we realized that the screaming had been coming from de Wilde’s wife as he beat her. His wife turned out to be Lysabel Wellesbourne.”
Dane’s eyes widened; unlike Trenton, who was a rather stoic character, Dane tended to show his reactions without fear. He wasn’t afraid to let anyone know what he was thinking.
“God’s Bones,” he gasped. “I knew she was married to the man, but I’d never heard anything like that about him. That he was a womanizer, aye. But a wife beater? Never.”
Trenton gave him an expression suggesting that de Wilde’s actions had been very, very bad. “When I saw what de Wilde had done to Lysabel, suffice it to say that the man didn’t leave Stretford alive.”
“You killed him.”
“I punished him.”
A smile flickered on Dane’s lips. “I am proud of you,” he said. “Sounds like the bastard deserved it. What did Henry say? Did he want him killed?”
Trenton shrugged. “That was not an issue. The man is dead and Henry has accepted it.” He hesitated before continuing.
“I have spent some time with Lysabel. At first, it was to make sure she was healing after de Wilde’s beating, but very soon, I found myself…
attracted to her. To be plain, I have fallen in love with the woman and she adores me, as well. ”
Dane was honestly stunned. His serious, heartless brother wasn’t so heartless after all.
He’d never heard those words come out of Trenton’s mouth, not even with Alicia, his first wife.
Trenton had loved her, Dane was sure, but he’d never really said so.
It was mostly in his actions rather than his words.
Therefore, the mere fact that Trenton was voicing his love for a woman was shocking.
“I do not even know what to say,” Dane said after a moment. “Are… are you happy about this?”
Trenton nodded. “I have never felt like this in my entire life,” he said, a glimmer of joy in his eyes.
“She is beautiful and sweet, and she makes me smile. And she had two adorable daughters who have, for some reason, latched on to me as if I am something important to them. I cannot tell you how it fills my heart, Dane. It has opened up an entirely new world for me.”
Dane watched Trenton’s face when he spoke; he could see the happiness. But he could also see something else behind his expression, something cloudy.
“But…?” he asked. “But something is wrong.”
Trenton sighed heavily; it sounded like a growl. “You know what is wrong.”
Dane did. He’d been thinking it all along. “That bitch you are married to.”