Chapter Fifteen #3
Before he could retrieve his weapon, Kevin was suddenly in his midst, intercepting Buckland’s soldiers.
Several de Lohr soldiers also appeared and soon there was a vicious brawl going on.
Gart watched David jump feet-first into the fracas, broadsword swinging.
David wasn’t the biggest man in a fight, or even the strongest, but he was definitely the fastest. His speed was truly something to behold.
As Buckland’s soldiers found themselves swarmed with de Lohr men, Gart searched for Julian.
He saw him on the edge of the fight, screaming at his men.
His words weren’t even intelligible. They were simply screams and shrieks.
Gart gazed at the man, envisioning the brutal bastard who had beat Emberley senseless, and it was all he could think of.
The rage he felt only increased and murder filled his heart.
With his massive broadsword in his hand, he began to make his way towards Julian.
Gart wanted to snap Julian’s neck. He really did. But as he approached the man, he remembered Emberley’s words – please do not kill Julian unless it is in self-defense. This was a situation that warranted it. Julian had attacked him, after all. He was simply defending himself.
But as he approached Julian, another thought occurred to him.
He wasn’t sure how he could explain to Romney, Orin and Brendt that he had killed their father.
He began to wonder if that kind of cloud hanging over his head would somehow scar his relationship with the children, boys he had come to love as his own.
Perhaps not now, while they were young, but as the boys grew into men, he wondered how they would view the man who had killed their father, even under the pretense of self-defense.
He didn’t think he could take it if they grew up to mistrust or even hate him.
Not that they had any love for their father, but still, the death of Julian at Gart’s hands would speak volumes of what Gart was capable of.
He was a knight, sworn to chivalry and a moral code.
Killing the husband of his lover, no matter how vile the man was, would tarnish that reputation. It would be viewed as dishonorable.
So he forced himself to take a deep breath and rethink his plans, trying to remove the emotion and passion from his view of the situation.
He approached Julian, lowering his broadsword.
Julian spied him on the approach, however, and backed off, holding his sword defensively as Gart closed in. There was great fear in his expression.
Gart’s eyes were intense as he focused in on Julian, yet he made no provocative action against the man. The terror in the air was palpable.
“Gart!” David saw what was happening and he made haste out of the mêlée, heading for Gart. “Stop! Go no further!”
Gart held up a hand to his liege, a calming gesture. “I am not going to kill him,” he said. “I am going to ask him a question.”
David reached Gart by this time, putting himself between Julian and Gart. David put a hand on Gart’s chest to prevent him from advancing.
“Go inside,” he jerked his head in the direction of the manse. “Get your horse and go inside. I will take care of Buckland.”
Gart was quite a bit larger than his liege, towering over David as the man tried to stop Gart’s onslaught. But in truth there was no onslaught. Gart was oddly calm for a man facing his lover’s vile husband – still, David didn’t trust him. He knew only too well what the man was capable of.
“I simply want to ask Buckland a question,” Gart said calmly.
David shoved him back by the chest. “You are not going to ask him anything,” he told him. “Get out of here. That is not a request.”
“You – Forbes!” Julian came alive, feeling safe now that David was between him and Gart. “What have you done with my wife? Where is she?”
David interrupted. “Do not say a word,” he told Gart. “If you value your life, you will keep your mouth shut.”
“Let him speak,” Julian was feeling braver. “I asked him a question and I expect an answer.”
David opened his mouth but Gart spoke first. “Clearly, I do not have her,” he said. “I am quite alone.”
Julian was quickly approaching a shrill tone again. “You took her from Dunster!”
“How would you know that?”
“Because she is not there!”
“And what proof do you have that I am responsible for her disappearance?”
Julian began gnashing around, swinging his sword. “You tried to seduce her, you bastard!” he screamed. “I know you have her. Where is she?”
Gart’s gaze held steadily on the man, someone he hated more than he could comprehend, and eventually he broke out in a smirk. Julian was just too ridiculous to believe.
“If it is true that she is gone from Dunster, why would you seek to blame someone other than yourself?” he asked. “Perhaps she could no longer take your abuse and fled of her own accord.”
Julian screamed and charged him, only to be shoved to the ground by David. David and Gart stood over Julian, quite calmly, while Julian writhed on the ground.
“I told you to get off my property,” David growled. “If you and your men do not clear out of here immediately, I will call out my entire army to escort you off and their orders will be to do it by any means necessary, including deadly force. Is that clear?”
Julian was far gone with madness, rolling around in the dirt until he managed to get to his knees.
“You will regret this, de Lohr,” he howled. “I have the ear of the queen and she will punish you. Do you hear me? She will punish you!”
David merely lifted an eyebrow at the threat, watching as Julian spat and cursed, gathering his men and collecting their horses. De Lohr’s soldiers began to break off, allowing Buckland to pull out his men and retreat.
The dust of the road flared up, filling nostrils and coating skin as the two sides settled apart. Gart and David watched the man race off, screaming at the top of his lungs in an embarrassing display of anger. As they faded off into the distance, David turned to Gart.
“Get inside,” he rumbled. “If you are not in my solar in a half hour with all manner of explanation as to the heart of this situation, I will have you thrown in the vault. Is this in any way unclear, Forbes?”
Gart simply nodded. David gave him a lingering glare, one of fury and disbelief and understanding, before moving off to assist in collecting the wounded. Gart’s gaze lingered on his liege a moment before he went in search of his charger.
He knew he was in trouble. He just wasn’t sure how much.