Chapter Twelve #4
Thia couldn’t answer; in spite of the obvious wound on her face, she turned away from her brother as if to ignore his question. Brian gazed at his son with a mixture of grief and concern. “A small tussle, Alec,” he said quietly. “Nothing of concern.”
Alec would not accept his simple explanation. Instead, he looked to Toby. “What happened? And no lies, or my wrath shall be swift.”
Toby wasn’t afraid of his older brother; at least, not truly afraid. But he did harbor a healthy respect for his strength and fighting abilities. Feeling trapped, he avoided Brian’s piercing gaze and cleared his throat.
“A tussle, Alec,” he said quietly. “I intervened before anyone was seriously injured.”
Irritation growing at their evasive replies, Alec pulled Peyton’s face from the safe haven of his chest and gazed deeply into her eyes.
To his surprise, she smiled wanly and did not afford him the opportunity to put the same query to her.
“I saw…. that is, I….I was spying on Thia,” she whispered raspily.
“She had every right to become angry with me.”
Thia looked to Peyton in pure astonishment.
Peyton met her gaze from the vise of Alec’s hands, hoping that somehow the woman’s bloodlust would fade when she realized Peyton was unwilling to publicly condemn her.
Aye, she could have confessed, but she simply could not bring herself to repeat the disgusting facts.
Mayhap if Thia saw that she was disinclined to reveal her secret, the tensions between them would ease.
After all, Alec loved his sister a great deal.
Peyton did not want to divide them, no matter what the circumstances.
Furthermore, Thia was in a good deal of trouble already with the Warrington betrothal. Before Alec could respond to her admission, she changed the subject. “Colin is demanding to wed your sister in Ivy’s stead. You must not allow this.”
As she hoped, Alec’s attention was immediately diverted and his sky-blue eyes sought out his father with shock. “Is this true?”
Brian’s lips possessed the familiar bluish twinge as he looked away from his son’s intense gaze. He sighed heavily. “Thia should have been pledged long ago.”
Alec dropped his hands from Peyton’s face. “Have you gone completely mad? Pledging my sister to that bastard?”
Brian met his son’s gaze, feeling distinctly weary.
He had been an example of a weak-willed man within the past several days, giving his word only to refute it, making decisions only to change his mind.
And Alec had witnessed all of his failings.
Their clash not an hour before had been testimony to the fact that Alec no longer respected his father, and Brian was beyond devastated.
Gazing into Alec’s eyes, he could read the contempt radiating from his son.
But he was cornered; Nigel had made his demands known and he must comply, even if it meant betrothing his only daughter.
He had no choice if the Summerlin name was to remain unblemished, no matter what Alec thought of him.
Someday, mayhap, he would understand Brian’s sacrifice.
“You have given me little choice in the matter,” he said softly. “You married Lady Peyton and Ali has presumably married her sister. The Warringtons are demanding compensation.”
“Thia is not compensation for my actions,” Alec said hotly. “I shall not allow this.”
Brian looked to his son, his expression considerably less tolerant. “You are not her father. I am, and I believe a match between Colin and Thia will be a suitable one. ’Twill bind the House of Summerlin to the House of Warrington, establishing close ties.”
Alec listened to his father reason as if he were trying to convince himself that the union would be a beneficial one. But they both knew the words to be empty and desperate.
“I do not want to be married,” Thia suddenly whispered, her face ashen. When her father reached out to touch her, she backed away violently. “I won’t marry him. I…. I do not want him!”
“Thia, calm yourself,” Brian said softly, eyeing her wound. “Let’s have Pauly tend your cheek.”
Thia staggered away from her father, batting his comforting arms away from her. “I do not want him!”
Alec left his wife to go to his distraught sister, pulling her into a crushing embrace. Peyton watched as Alec stroked his sister tenderly.
“Be calm, Moppet,” he said gently. “I shall take care of you.”
“I won’t have him!” Thia renounced in a shaking voice. “I refuse to be made a peace offering!”
“Relax, love,” Alec repeated soothingly.
“Thia, you will do as you are told,” Brian said weakly, gazing at his grieving children. “We will all do as we are told.”
Alec’s eyes were blue flame. “Why did not you tell me the Warrington’s had demanded Thia’s hand for my actions?”
Brian met his son’s gaze. “The choice was given to me before you whisked Lady Ivy away. I opted for the obvious selection, your wife’s younger sister, since I felt Thia unprepared for a husband. You should have trusted me, Alec. I told you not to question my decision.”
Alec’s face glazed with disbelief. “And this is why? Because the Warrington’s gave you a choice between Ivy and Thia, and you chose Ivy? Christ, Da, why did not you tell me from the onset?”
“Because it wasn’t your choice to make.”
Thia understood everything instantly; in spite of her peculiar nature, she was an intelligent woman. Her small blue eyes flew accusingly to her older brother. “You did this to me!”
Alec focused on his sister. “Unknowingly, Moppet. Believe me, had I but known the circumstances, I would never have acted so rashly.”
Thia yanked away from him. “How could you, Alec! You are supposed to love me!”
“I do love you, Moppet,” Alec reached out for his plump sister once again, but she moved away from him. “Please, Thia. Do not be angry with me.”
Thia began to sob miserably. “I hate you, Alec. How could you?”
Alec caught his sister and brought her to him and she did not resist. “Do not cry, Thia. All will be well.”
Peyton suddenly felt decidedly less benevolent towards her sister-in-law.
A woman who had recently tried to kill her, whom she had lied for and protected, was cradled in her brother’s arms as if she were a complete innocent.
As far as Peyton was concerned, Alec should be comforting his wife who had suffered a complete whacking at the hands of the woman Alec was seeking to console.
Warrington betrothal or not, the taste of jealousy was bitter on Peyton’s tongue as she watched the tender scene. I do love you, Moppet.
Words she had never heard from him. Words she would probably never hear where they pertained to her. She realized how badly she wanted to hear them.
Incensed and bitter, Peyton turned away from the compassionate sight and moved down the corridor.
She simply couldn’t watch any longer, knowing that Alec loved his sister enough to tell her.
Alec called after her, but she ignored him.
She heard his heavy boot falls not a few seconds later, closing rapidly, and wasn’t surprised when a massive hand snatched her arm.
“What’s wrong? Where are you going?”
She jerked her arm from his grasp. “To my chamber to rest from nearly being beaten to death.”
He eyed her in the dim torchlight. “What happened between you and my sister?”
Peyton was feeling stubborn and rejected. When Alec should have been seeing to her needs, he was intent on consoling his fat, disgusting sister and declaring his love for her. More unreasonable envy filled her.
“We fought,” she said simply, still unwilling to divulge all of the distasteful details. “She was preparing to kill me, I think, but I doubt you would believe me. Go back to Thia and comfort her, Alec. I shall retire alone.”
She turned again but he stopped her with a crushing grip on her arm. She winced, gasping when his other hand clamped down on her free arm and she was trapped before him. Sky-blue eyes glittered at her. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Not a thing,” she said evenly. “Let us say that I am glad my sister is out of Blackstone, lest you force her to wed Colin in Thia’s place. I realize how precious your baby sister is to you. How much you love her. Now, let me go. You are hurting me.”
His grip relaxed but he did not release her. Instead, his expression seemed to soften and he did not say anything for a moment. Peyton could almost read the fluctuation of ideas in his sky-blue orbs. “What did you see, Peyton?”
Her sapphire eyes widened with surprise. Her bitterness forgotten for the moment, she tried to pull free from his grip. “I….”
“Answer me.”
She blinked, swallowing hard against his piercing gaze. “Why…. why do you ask what I saw?”
“Because you were about to tell me what caused the altercation before you changed your story. I know you well enough to know that you were not spying. Tell me what you saw that made my sister attack you.”
There was no point in refusing to answer.
Alec was the only person, aside from Ivy, that she felt she could confess to.
Her only fear was the possibility that he would not believe her; after all, what she was about to say was shocking beyond reason.
She would not have believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.
She relaxed in his grip somewhat, reluctant to meet his gaze. “Will you believe me if I tell you?”
“Without question.”
Her resistance fled and she could feel the repulsion of her admission.
“I went to look for you because you had been gone so long. I thought I could find a servant’s entrance in the west wing so that I would not have to walk past the Warringtons or your father in the grand hall.
I was moving down the corridor when I heard moaning.
I swear to you, Alec, I thought someone was in pain.
But when I opened the door, I saw….” she swallowed hard, ashamed and revolted.
“What did you see, love?” he encouraged gently.