Chapter Fifteen #2
“And you told me to make this offer to Magnus.” Hugh leapt into the conversation, seething with rage. “You told me to offer Magnus the lady in return for his loyalty. Why did you do that?”
Denys was facing off against two men he’d manipulated, but he didn’t care. The situation had ended the way he’d hoped—Hugh without Magnus and Magnus without Delaina. He began to feel some rage of his own as he glared at both of them.
“Because a man like you isn’t worthy to lick Magnus de Wolfe’s boots,” he growled, posturing angrily.
“You are a parasite, Despenser. We all know it. You are the most hated man in England, and for someone like you to have the loyalty of an elite knight like Magnus de Wolfe is a travesty. You’re absolutely right that I told you to offer the lady to Magnus in exchange for his fealty because I knew I could stop him before he accepted.
But I had to get rid of the lady first. She is the common factor in all of this.
With her removed, Magnus does not belong to you, and you have no hold over him.
Now do you understand my actions, you pathetic fool? ”
Not only did Hugh understand, but so did Magnus.
He could see that Denys had put himself at great risk to save his honor.
God help him, that was the only thing he could see at the moment.
He also knew he needed to get Denys out of there before Hugh did something drastic.
Hugh had lost out on not only one of the Seven Jewels of London, but he’d lost the ability to command Magnus.
Nay, the day wasn’t going well for him at all.
“With me,” Magnus said, going over to Denys and grabbing the man around the neck. “You are coming with me now.”
Denys was still tensed up, still ready to do battle with Hugh, but now Magnus was dragging him out the door.
When Hugh realized he’d lost everything, he began to shout to his courtiers, screaming for them as Magnus pulled Denys out of the solar.
He pulled him through the puddles of blood on the floor in the corridor, and bloody footprints followed them out of the royal apartments until they were outside on the dirt path.
Then, and only then, did Magnus release Denys.
The two of them faced each other in the busy ward.
“Now,” Magnus rumbled. “You are going to tell me what you’ve done. Make it abundantly clear to me that you did not betray me in any fashion.”
Denys’ eyes widened. “Betray you?” he said, aghast. “I was trying to save you!”
“From whom? From Hugh?”
“From yourself,” Denys nearly shouted. “Magnus, you are the lord commander of Edward’s knights.
You are answerable only to the king. You have worked hard to achieve this.
But a beautiful woman entered your midst, and you’ve been behaving like an addle-brained squire ever since you laid eyes upon her. I cannot watch you ruin yourself!”
Magnus listened to Denys’ tirade with both anger and compassion, an unusual combination.
But Denys’ behavior warranted both. Magnus could see that Denys was trying to do him a favor, or so he thought.
That noble, stupid fool was genuinely trying to save him.
He wasn’t sure he could become angry at that, but Denys had managed to make a mess out of things.
Maybe.
Magnus held up a quelling hand.
“I appreciate that you are trying to protect me, Denys,” he said, trying to compose himself. “I truly do. But I am going to ask you again. Did you have anything to do with Delaina’s abduction from The Pox?”
Denys shook his head with great frustration.
“Of course not,” he said. “One of Hugh’s men saw you leaving The Pox, and since you’d refused to bring Lady Delaina to Hugh, it was pure speculation on Hugh’s part that you were hiding her.
He sent men to The Pox to grab any redheaded woman they could find. And they found her.”
Magnus understood. With a heavy sigh, he shook his head in disgust. “So he brought her here,” he said. “And you saw them bring her in?”
“I did.”
“But you told Hugh to promise her to me in exchange for my loyalty.”
Denys nodded emphatically. “Absolutely,” he said.
“Hugh was going to give her to some warlord, and I knew you would get yourself killed trying to get her back. Therefore, I told him to give her to you in exchange for your loyalty because I knew you would do it. You would have the lady, you would be alive, but at the cost of your honor. Am I wrong in any of this, Magnus? I knew the moment you came back to the knights’ quarters earlier that you were completely infatuated with the lady, and infatuated men often do foolish things in the name of that obsession. ”
“I think you are judging me harshly.”
“There are four soldiers you cut down in front of Hugh’s door that would disagree with that.”
Magnus eyed Denys. They’d been best friends for years, and he knew that Denys was extremely loyal. He appreciated that tremendously. But he could also see that a line had been crossed.
“Denys,” he said, trying to ease the situation. “You are my dearest friend, and I love you for it. But you cannot make personal decisions for me. They are my decisions to make and, if necessary, my mistakes to make. Do you understand that?”
Denys was starting to calm down, but not much. “I was not making any decisions for you,” he said. “I was trying to save you and your career.”