Chapter Forty-Two #2
Dustin sighed, letting him comfort her for a moment. Marcus entered the garden, then, and they could both see the possessiveness in his expression.
“What goes on here?” he asked mildly.
“Nothing,” Dustin said, letting go of Edward. “We were speaking of Lioncross and other things.”
Marcus eyed Edward with a great deal of suspicion, much to Edward’s annoyance. “Good God, Marcus, we weren’t plotting,” he snapped. “We were saying our goodbyes, considering you are planning on leaving tomorrow.”
Marcus’ gaze was cool at the sharp tone but he let it slide. “Come along, Dustin,” he said. “I want you to make sure everything you will need or want is packed.”
Dustin preceded him from the garden, but Marcus paused at the gate to throw Edward another hard glance.
“She is mine now, de Wolfe,” he hissed. “You would do well to remember that.”
He moved away, leaving Edward fuming.
Before sunset that evening, an approaching army was sighted and Edward knew that it had to be Richard and David.
There was no other alternative. With renewed vigor, he ordered the dinner portions doubled and the remaining unoccupied bedchambers prepared.
He waited until everything was moving smoothly before seeking Marcus out.
As he suspected, he and Dustin were holed up in Lady Mary’s solar playing a game of Fox and Hounds. Marcus kept her very much to himself and very isolated from the others. Edward could not help the satisfaction that crept into his voice.
“Richard and David are approaching, my lord,” he said evenly. “Mayhap you would like to greet them in the bailey?”
Marcus lifted an eyebrow as Dustin shot to her feet. “Richard and David?” she repeated, agitated. “I do not want to see them.”
“Mayhap so, but they are here nonetheless.” Marcus put up a hand to calm her. “Why don’t you go upstairs and change into one of your new surcoats? That would please me.”
“Nay!” she yanked away from him, toppling the game board. “I do not want them here, either of them. They are to blame for my misery and I hate them.”
Marcus stood up. “Calm down, honey,” he said softly. “You shall only have to see them a moment and then never again. I promise I shall keep them away from you.”
Edward did not like the wild look to her eye. All of the healing that had occurred with Marcus over the past week was rapidly slipping away.
“Richard killed Christopher,” she said pointedly. “He is responsible for everything that has happened.”
“Be reasonable, Dustin,” Marcus said steadily.
“Christopher served Richard of his own accord; no one forced him. He is not the first man to die in the service of his king, and he certainly won’t be the last. Richard is not responsible in the least and I am sure his grief is great. Chris was his dear friend.”
She eyed Marcus with doubt and agitation, knowing his words made sense but not wanting to admit it. She had to blame someone for her husband’s death, and Richard was the most obvious target.
“I hate him,” she seethed. “And I am going to beat David to a pulp if he sets foot in my keep.”
Marcus never did ask what had happened between Christopher and David, but at this moment he decided to find out. Dustin was obviously very angry with her brother-in-law.
“What happened between Chris and David that you should hate him so?” he asked her.
She jutted her chin out, turning away from him. “He accused me of horrible things and we fought. Christopher banished him from Lioncross.”
“You fought?” Marcus repeated with mounting disbelief. “Do you mean that you actually exchanged blows?”
“I slapped him and he slapped me back,” Dustin replied. “Christopher was going to kill him, but he exiled him instead.”
Marcus shook his head. “What did he say to you that was so horrible? I know for a fact that David adored you, Dustin. What happened?”
She looked him in the eye. “He accused me of being your whore and of bearing your child. So I hit him.”
Marcus was almost physically impacted by the statement. Edward watched him as he tried to keep his steady demeanor, but it was apparent he was shocked. After a moment, the veins on his throat throbbed.
“Then David does not set foot in this castle,” he said in a low voice. “I shall run him through if he tries.”
“You will have no choice,” Edward informed him. “He comes with Richard, and Richard will gain him entrance. You cannot go against our king.”
Marcus glared at Edward; he did not like the way this was going already. He could not take Dustin with him tomorrow as planned if Richard were here, and he did not want David near her, yet Edward was correct in that he had no power to deny him entrance to Lioncross.
Muttering a curse, he turned away. Horns sounded on the wall outside and they knew that the army’s arrival was imminent. The huge outer gates were already swinging open.
Marcus turned to Dustin. “Honey, go upstairs. Wait for me there.”
Dustin turned immediately and quit the room. Edward and Marcus exchanged glances before proceeding out into the foyer and onward to the bailey.
As they expected, David and Richard entered the courtyard side by side.
Slightly behind them rode Sir Philip de Lohr, and a host of other distinguished knights that had come to pay their respect to Lady de Lohr.
Edward and Marcus were stunned; they thought that only Richard and David and a few vassals were coming, when in fact, the army that had come with them was made up entirely of knights that had served with Christopher in the Holy Land.
Marcus recognized every man he lay eyes upon, as did Edward, and they swapped awestruck gazes.
The courtyard was full of men in full armor and regalia, and even then the party still spilled out of the gates and down the road.
The men-at-arms were astonished at the show of support for their liege; they, of course, had always known the baron to be a great man.
But they could not imagine that the whole of Richard and his court respected him as much as they did. It was an awesome sight to behold.
Dustin saw the men from her bedchamber window, her hate and agitation fleeing when she saw all of the knights that had accompanied the king.
Without even being told, she knew that they had come to pay their respects to her for the loss of her husband, and all of her fortitude and mental stability returned in one fell swoop.
Out of their love and respect for her husband, they had come to pay him homage and she would not disappoint.
They wanted to see the Lion’s Claw’s wife, and see her they would.
She could feel the reverence radiating from the army, the very deep admiration they held for Christopher evident and she was deeply touched.
They would not see the crazy, dirty woman who had run mad with grief for weeks on end, nay; they would see regal, composed Lady de Lohr as befitting the baron’s wife.
Dashing from the window, she bellowed for rosewater and a towel.
*
Richard, his tunic of scarlet with three fierce lions as clean as anyone had ever seen it, held up a hand in greeting to Edward and to Marcus.
“Marcus, I thought you might be here,” he said. “Ever the faithful vassal to Chris, aren’t you?”
Marcus nodded slowly. “Sire, our prayers were answered with your safe return.”
Richard raised a heavy eyebrow and dismounted stiffly. “Indeed. Yet I come home to discord and chaos, even amongst my own ranks.” He removed his gauntlets and passed an eye over Edward. “De Wolfe, you are looking well. I understand you have been taking care of Lady de Lohr.”
“In a sense, sire,” Edward bowed. “I am making sure Lioncross is running smoothly.”
Richard nodded shortly then glanced over his shoulder at David. “Are you going to sit there forever?”
David dismounted, his eyes guarded against Edward and outright hostile on Marcus. Richard was no fool; he could plainly read the distrust and animosity between his men. All of his joviality and good feelings fled.
“Enough of this,” he snarled. “When we were together in the Holy Land, you men were inseparable. There were no stronger bonds anywhere in my ranks, and I return home to find everyone at odds. I shall not stand for it any longer. I heard rumor that Dustin Barringdon is the root of this problem, but I refused to believe it. Since when does a mere woman come between my knights of the realm?”
The three men looked decidedly uncomfortable and Edward cleared his throat. “ ’Tis not that simple, sire, truly,” he said softly.
Richard was impatient. “Then we shall discuss it later, but for now, I wish to see this woman on whom my kingdom hinges. Where is she?”
“Inside, sire,” Marcus replied. “I shall retrieve her for you.”
“No need,” Philip walked up on the small group, his faded blue eyes gazing over their heads at the front door to the keep. “She has come.”
All eyes turned to see Dustin emerging from the door, and not a man who laid eyes upon her beauty dared to breathe.
She was dressed in royal blue silk, Christopher’s color, the color that enhanced her gray eyes like nothing else.
Her hair had been brushed within an inch of its life and pulled softly back from her face, revealing her true loveliness.
Around her neck hung the huge cross Christopher had given her and those closest to her noticed color to her lips.
She looked as beautiful as ever, her head held high as she paused at the top of the steps.
Without introduction, the host of knights knew who she was.
It was as if she possessed an aura about her that distinguished her from another mere lady.
When she paused at the top of the stone stairs, waiting to be summoned forward to meet Richard, every man in armor dismounted and dropped to their knees, driving their swords into the dirt before them.
It was a unified show of support and respect, a sea of mighty knights in armor displaying their undying devotion to the wife of their fallen Defender.