Chapter Twenty-One #2
The first contact he made was with the man who seemed to be doing all of the negotiating.
War didn’t even go for a simple kill; the skills he’d learned at Blackchurch came into play, the nuances of situations where heavy force was used or light but deadly force.
At the moment, it was heavy force, for he sliced through the man’s shoulder and neck, completely separating his head from his body.
As the first man’s head went sailing into the air before hitting the ground in a burst of blood and tissue, the man holding Annaleigh screamed like a woman, but not for long.
War’s sword carved into that man as well, only he skillfully took off the top half of the man’s head rather than the whole head because he didn’t want to chance cutting Annaleigh.
The way the man was holding her was too close to his shoulders.
Therefore, half a messy head went sailing into the straw.
Annaleigh and the man hit the ground.
War was on Annaleigh faster than he could draw another breath.
He scooped her into his arms and rushed from the stables, still holding Alexei’s sword.
He was in panic mode at this point because she was in his arms and he was desperate to get her to safety.
But he could hear Kieran calling behind him and he slowly came to a halt just shy of the stable yard entry.
Breathing heavily, and protecting his burden, he turned to the big knight.
“War,” Kieran said, his features full of concern. “All is well, lad. It was just those two and not an entire army out to get her. She’s safe now.”
War was struggling to calm down but he wasn’t doing a very good job. “She’s injured,” he said. “I have to find the physic.”
Kieran could see that War was terrified. He’d never known the man, a Blackchurch-trained knight, to be anything other than cold and calculating in battle, but this… this was something different.
Emotion was involved.
Blackchurch had never covered things like love.
Kieran could see that, as plain as day. He put both hands on War to steady him before taking a moment to examine Annaleigh.
She was still unconscious, with a wound somewhere on her bloody head.
He didn’t have time to search it out. Turning towards the gatehouse, he began bellowing the alarm.
His voice carried all over the compound so men began running in his direction, no questions asked.
One of those men was Alexei.
He charged into the yard, his eyes wide on War with a bloodied lady in his arms and a bloodied sword.
“My God,” he hissed. “War, what happened?”
“He saved Annaleigh,” Kieran answered for him. “Will you help him into the keep and find the physic for Annie? She needs help.”
Alexei nodded, now putting his hands on War to direct him towards the keep. War was moving stiffly at this point, still wrought with panic but trying very hard to calm. He hadn’t taken two steps when men began rushing at him from the keep.
William was among them. One look at War holding a sword and bloodied Annaleigh and William went into battle mode.
“Stop there, Herringthorpe!” he boomed. “Drop the weapon!”
There was great confusion now as William began shouting orders. Hearing this, Kieran rushed to War’s side and held out a hand to William, who was ordering the men around him to produce swords in War’s direction.
“William, stop,” Kieran commanded. “This is not how it looks. War just saved Annie’s life from Argyle and Brendan. If it was not for him, Annie would be in great jeopardy right now. They did the damage to her – not War.”
William was still in battle mode, but now confusion was part of the mix. He looked at Kieran with great bewilderment.
“Argyle and Brendan?” he repeated. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
Kieran put his hands on War’s broad shoulders to steady him.
“Argyle and Brendan arrived here earlier tonight and demanded to speak with Annie,” he said loudly and clearly so there would be no mistake.
“They told her they had a message from her brother and demanded to deliver it privately, but their plan was to take Annie back to Langton and use her to coerce her father to surrender his position as clan chief. They were the ones who wounded her, William. Not War. He saved her life.”
William blinked, stunned at what he was hearing. His gaze moved from Kieran to War, holding a clearly wounded Annaleigh. Processing the turn of events quickly, he stood aside and made a clear path to the keep.
“Then get her inside,” he said hoarsely. “Quickly, now. Take her to her chamber immediately. I will send the physic.”
War didn’t hesitate. He ran past William with Alexei in tow, both of them running as fast as they could.
William followed swiftly, shouting to his men to seal up Castle Questing in case there were any more Scots about, perhaps waiting for Argyle and Brendan to emerge with their hostage.
As William and Kieran went about securing the castle, War was already up the mural stairs and into Annaleigh’s chamber.
William had already sent a soldier to the hall to summon the physic as War placed Annaleigh carefully on her bed.
There was a female servant on this level, awakened from her slumber in the alcove as War and Alexei entered.
Alexei sent the woman for hot water and as she fled, frightened and confused, Alexei managed to wrest his sword from War, who was still holding it tightly in his left hand.
War let it go.
His focus was on Annaleigh.
With the gentleness of a mother, he smoothed her hair away from her face, trying to get a look at the damage on the left side of her head. He could hear Alexei behind him, leaning over him to get a better look.
“It’s difficult to tell where the blood is coming from,” War said, his voice trembling. “It’s in her hair, so it must be a scalp wound.”
“Aye,” Alexei said, hearing the fear in War’s tone. “Wounds to the head bleed madly. It could be something quite small, in fact.”
He was trying to ease the man because he was so worried.
War touched the left side of Annaleigh’s head tenderly, trying to see where the blood was coming from.
Then, he spied it – a fairly long gash just inside of the hairline by her left temple.
As the servant rushed back in with a bucket of hot water and linen, Alexei quickly took it from her.
Dunking the linen in the water, he wrung it out and handed it over to War.
Carefully, War began to clean the area.
“It is still bleeding a little,” he said, inspecting the cut. “It is going to need stitches. Where is that damnable physic?”
“Coming.”
War and Alexei turned to see William entering the chamber. The reply had come from him. He made his way over to the bed, peering at his wife’s cousin.
“Has she awoken?” he asked.
War shook his head as he returned his attention to Annaleigh. “Nay,” he said. “She has a substantial gash and a lump the size of an egg on her head. They must have hit her over the head with something very hard.”
“Kieran says had it not been for you, she would more than likely be in a good deal of trouble.”
“I was glad to assist, my lord.”
William’s gaze moved from Annaleigh to War as the man tended to her with the concern of a mother to child.
Or husband to wife.
He watched War for a moment, the man’s expression as he looked at Annaleigh, the tender manner in which he cleaned the wound.
Had he known absolutely nothing about the man and this was the first time he’d ever met him, he would have thought him to be deeply in love with Annaleigh. It was in everything about him.
Kieran’s words came ringing back to him.
I suspect the death of his father has compounded his confusion and angst about the situation with you.
Perhaps that was true. Perhaps that’s why things went so badly in the solar between the two of them.
William remembered how the death of his own father affected him and he couldn’t imagine what would have happened had he been told, at the same time, that he wasn’t Edward de Wolfe’s offspring.
In hindsight, he supposed he didn’t blame War for being edgy about the whole thing, especially when William produced a letter that War hadn’t been ready to give him yet.
The man was still working through his grief with his father when William handed him the letter and demanded answers.
Nay, William hadn’t handled that well at all.
Perhaps apologies were in order.
He turned to Alexei.
“Will you leave us, please?” he asked.
Alexei did without hesitation. He quit the chamber, leaving the door open, as William moved to the other side of the bed, across from War. The man was still focused on Annaleigh, as he should be. The fact that William was in the chamber was inconsequential to him.
When in love with a woman, William rather understood that attitude. The world faded when gazing upon the face of the only person who mattered, especially when she was in distress.
“I was wrong, War,” William said softly.
“I realize this may not be the time or place for this, but I must apologize to you for behaving as I did earlier today. I should not have become angry with you for reasons I do not yet fully understand, but I know it was not right. Even if you do not wish to accept my apology, know that I am sorry all the same.”
War put the bloodied linen back into the bowl and looked up at him.
“I was going to say the same thing to you,” he said quietly.
“I was wrong. I behaved horrifically. My only excuse is that I suppose I wasn’t yet ready to deal with our relationship.
Things have changed so quickly in my life over the past several days that I find that I can hardly comprehend it all. ”
William held up a hand in an easing gesture. “There is no need for you to apologize,” he said. “I am to blame. I should not have told you I had your mother’s letter. I should have let you bring it to me when you were ready.”