Chapter Five
Avalyn paused to collect herself, gazing steadily into Inglesbatch’s round face. She had known William a long time and until today, they’d had a close and pleasant relationship. She crossed her arms, both defensively and protectively.
“How much have you seen?” she asked with resignation.
He was struggling not to judge. “Enough, my lady.”
“Are you going to tell my uncle?”
“I should.”
“Please don’t.”
He sighed heavily. The knight she had known for ten years relaxed and the man she had personally known came through, with the concern a brother would have shown. “May I ask a question, my lady?”
“Aye.”
“Candidly?”
“Aye.”
His jaw flexed. “Knowing the events of this morning, knowing that your aunt and uncle have forbid you to have any further contact with d’Aurilliac, still you steal out here in the dark of night to rendezvous with him? What are you thinking?”
She tried not to appear too defensive. “I do not want to marry Aubrey. I cannot.”
William wasn’t trying to be cruel; he was truly trying to help her. “That has nothing to do with your… your clandestine meeting with d’Aurilliac. Do you know anything about that man? Well, do you?”
“I know something of him.”
“Aye, from a sanitized view,” he continued when she opened her mouth to protest. “Do you know that d’Aurilliac is a man so feared that even the knights are hesitant to tangle with him?
They call him ‘The Monster’. He’s a killing machine, my lady, pure and simple.
He has been with Edward for at least twenty-five years.
He’s seen service in battle with your uncle’s armies and against them, ripping men apart with his bare hands and creating more carnage than I will mention in the presence of a lady. ”
Avalyn gazed back at him, doubt in her expression, perhaps a little fear. “Have you ever seen evidence of this?”
William nodded. “At the Battle of Wakefield when your great-uncle was killed. He fought with us that time, lest you forget that there was a time when de Neville sided with Edward. We supported the king back then.”
She was somewhat surprised. “He never told me he was at Wakefield.”
“He was indeed.”
“And?”
William just shook his head slowly; he did not want to say what he was truly thinking.
“I saw him rip heads off with my own eyes. Something about d’Aurilliac when he enters into battle…
it is as if the smell of blood seeps into his veins and turns him into an animal.
He becomes something not-human. That is why I did not engage him today when we found you on the edges of the Tower arena; had we been the first to draw blood, d’Aurilliac could have quite possibly turned into that maniac we all fear.
Moreover, he had you by the arm. I did not want you injured in his hysteria. ”
Avalyn began to think hard. She believed William; that much was certain. He had never lied to her. Yet she was having difficulty fathoming Brogan’s beast-like tendencies. The man was so gentle when he held her that surely William must be mistaken somehow.
“Then would it not stand to reason that it would be advantageous to have someone like that as our ally?” she asked.
William bobbed his head. “For certain. ’Tis better to serve with the Devil than be in his path.”
“Then how can my interest in him be detrimental to our cause?”
“Because he is unpredictable. I do not know if unpredictability like that, no matter how strong the man is, would be advantageous.”
“But you would rather have him as an ally than an enemy.”
“That is something you must discuss with your uncle.”
She drew in a long breath, her shrewd mind working. She didn’t want William to think she was scheming, so she simply took his elbow and turned him around for the distant feasting hall.
“Not a word, please?” she asked softly. “I will discuss this with my uncle in my own way.”
“Be sure that you do. And I do not want to catch you with d’Aurilliac again. Please, my lady. For your own sake.”
“Do not follow me and you’ll not see anything you do not want to.”
He lifted an eyebrow at her. “If I find you with him again, I will have no choice but to tell your uncle.”
She looked up at him, a sort of threatening glare, but did not reply.
She did not want to lie, or force him into a promise that would compromise his relationship with her uncle.
Inglesbatch had always been very kind and fair to her, and she had a better relationship with him than her aunt and uncle.
Still, she respected him enough not to push him.
She wanted him to work with her, not against her, and she knew for a fact that she would see Brogan again.
*
Aubrey was more than glad to see her returned.
The moment she entered the hall on Inglesbatch’s arm, he bolted up from his chair and practically ran to meet her.
He was breathing heavily, red-faced and sweating, and Avalyn passed a long look at William as he turned her over to her future husband.
William could do nothing more but gaze back at her.
Whatever happened, no matter how he felt about it, was out of his hands.
“Your uncle has gracious given permission for me to escort you on a short walk so that we may talk and become better acquainted with each other,” he said eagerly. “Will you consent?”
Avalyn felt sick just looking at him. She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn’t his fault that Uncle Richard had betrothed them. Charles was as much a pawn as any of them.
“A… a short walk, if you don’t mind, my lord,” she said. “I am feeling rather tired this evening.”
“Of course,” he said, his manner switching from eager to greatly concerned in a matter of seconds. “Is there something I can do? More wine, perhaps?”
She shook her head strongly. “Nay, no more wine.”
For lack of a better response, Charles took her hand and led her out the way she had come.
Avalyn made sure to make eye contact with Inglesbatch, silently pleading that he follow.
William remained at his post until they quit the door and then silently followed, if only to protect Charles from a fairly unstable Avalyn.
If he laid an unwelcome hand on her, the baron might come away missing fingers.
At the head of the table, both Anne and Richard saw Avalyn’s departure with Aubrey and Inglesbatch’s subsequent disappearance. Anne casually turned back to her wine.
“She’s not happy in the least,” she murmured to her husband.
Richard was into his fourth cup of fine ruby port. “That is her misfortune,” he said flatly. “We should have wed her off long ago. The older she gets, the more headstrong she becomes. She must know that with disobedience comes swift punishment.”
“And you think Aubrey will keep her in check?” Anne snorted, very unladylike. “You’re mad. More than likely, she’ll dominate him within an inch of his life. The man will be lucky if he survives this marriage into old age.”
“Aubrey will hold his own with her,” Richard didn’t look at his wife as he spoke.
“But if he cannot handle a strong wife, then that is his misfortune. What I am more concerned with is the fact that Avalyn will marry into the massive fortress of Guerdley Cross and a husband who controls the water rights for all of Merseyside. This is where we need her to be. We need this alliance.”
Anne sighed, having second thoughts about the entire thing. “We really should have asked her if this was acceptable. We should not have treated it as a punishment.”
“I cannot afford a rebel so close to me, not even my own niece. If she disobeyed me once with something as insignificant as d’Aurilliac, who is to say that she will not do it again with something of more significance. And I need Avalyn; I need her wisdom and obedience. She must understand that.”
Anne didn’t say anymore. But she wasn’t so sure betrothal to Aubrey was the right answer any longer.
Nor was Avalyn. The more she walked beside Charles out into the chill night, the more nauseous she became.
The man reeked of foul odor, she was sure, as a result of his profuse sweating.
He hadn’t said a word to her yet, but he kept her hand tucked against his meaty elbow.
She could feel his sweat soaking through his tunic.
“You… you’re uncle says that you enjoy horses,” he finally broke the ice. “I have several fine warmbloods in my stable. I do not ride them too often, however; I leave that to my grooms. They are much more agile than I am.”
“Do you breed the horses for sale or for your own pleasure?” Avalyn forced herself to continue the conversation.
“For sale,” he seemed thrilled that she had responded. “They bring about a tidy sum. And I have three stallions that command a high price for breeding.”
Avalyn nodded, not sure what else to say. He seemed so genuinely nervous around her that it was almost touching. “It sounds as if you have good business sense, my lord,” she finally offered.
Aubrey nodded humbly; by his expression, it was apparent that he was wracking his mind for more things to say. “Do you hunt, my lady?” Even as the question left his mouth, he quickly corrected himself. “I am sorry; that was a silly question. Ladies do not hunt.”
“On the contrary,” she replied. “I have and I do. I like it.”
“You do?” his fat face lit up. “’Tis my favorite past time. What is your beast of choice?”
Fat, foolish barons who talk too much. “Wild boar, I think, for the simple fact that they tend to be cunning. It is almost as if they can reason.”
“Oh, I agree,” he said enthusiastically. “Last year, we hunted a boar for three days before finally killing it. It was an amazing creature. I was almost sorry I had to destroy it.”