Elle looked up into that clear, cold sky. Perhaps that tongue lashing had put her at a crossroads. He told her to leave, but the truth was that she had nowhere to go. She couldn’t go back to Tywyl Castle, her family’s home. Gruffydd was there. She could go north to Llywelyn, but he was her grandmother’s cousin and she’d never even met him. All she knew about him was from her grandmother, how he was the only man truly dedicated to Welsh freedom, and when she’d purged the English from Brython, she was going to send Llywelyn word that Brython was now held by the Welsh without any English links. It had honestly never occurred to her that the English soldiers, thrown from Brython, would rush to Lioncross Abbey to tell Hereford what had happened. Before she realized it, the de Lohr army was on her doorstep. She’d never had the opportunity to send the missive to Llywelyn.
Now, she had nothing at all.
Did she want to be known as someone with hatred for the English in her veins? Because her hatred, and Llywelyn’s rebellion against the English, had not accomplished anything. In fact, she couldn’t think of anyone she knew where hatred hadultimately gained them peace and happiness. Curtis had told her to be humble in defeat, and he’d shown her mercy. He told her that he knew her nature. It occurred to her that she knew his, too.
Elle was forced to make a choice that night. When she saw Curtis heading from the encampment, heading east, she knew what that choice had to be.
She only hoped it was the right one.
*
“He’s left, Papa,”Myles said quietly. “Curtis has left.”
Christopher was standing in his tent, cup of wine in hand. Everyone else had cleared out about the time Curtis went after Elle, who had run out. After that, there was no more celebration. Roi, Myles, Peter, and Alexander had cleared out the sons and nephews, soldiers and junior knights, but Myles had gone in search of his brother and his new wife just to make sure something horrible wasn’t occurring between them.
Unfortunately, that seemed to be the case.
“Where is she?” Christopher asked solemnly.
Myles gestured toward the east. “Sitting on a rock,” he said. “She and Curt had an argument. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but they were agitated, and you know it takes quite a lot to agitate Curt.”
“He was angry?”
“I think so,” Myles said. “And then he collected his horse and left.”
“Do you want me to go after him?” Peter said quietly. “I will bring him back.”
Christopher shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “Let him be. He has been forced into an impossible situation, by me, and I can imagine that he needs time to reconcile this. I only wish he’dnot left her behind. She needs to reconcile it, too. They should reconcile it together.”
Peter and Alexander, two of the older and married men in the group, looked at each other and lifted their eyebrows in silent sympathy and contemplation of the situation. It wasn’t an easy one, that was certain. In fact, it had been damn awkward, celebrating both a marriage and a victory when the woman who had suffered the defeat and the forced marriage had been present, watching them congratulate Curtis and each other.
But it couldn’t be helped.
“Roi,” Peter said, turning to his younger brother. “Go make sure that the posts are set for the night. With Curtis out, we need a commander for the evening, and that will be you.”
Roi nodded, heading out without argument. Normally, Christopher gave those commands, but he didn’t seem willing to do so. Or as if he even cared about it at that moment. As Roi headed out, Peter turned to Myles.
“Watch the lady from a distance, please,” he said. “Make sure she comes to no harm.”
Myles headed off, leaving the three married men alone in Christopher’s tent. This was a situation that only men with wives might understand, although comprehending the complexities of a woman was beyond any of them to varying degrees. All three of them had married strong, determined women, with Alexander and Christopher in particular having married women perfectly capable of battle.
Now, so had Curtis.
But the situation wasn’t going well at all.
“Well?” Peter said quietly. “What now?”
Christopher shrugged. “They are married,” he said. “There is nothing either one of them can do about it.”
“But the marriage has not yet been consummated,” Alexander pointed out. “Did Curtis ride to the nearest church to see about an annulment?”
“He wouldn’t dare,” Christopher said. “He knows this marriage is too important. He would not try to dissolve it, and most especially without my knowledge.”
Alexander wasn’t so sure. Curtis was the silent, steady type, but he wasn’t beyond completely going against his father if he felt strongly enough about it. There were times when Christopher’s commands had been mere suggestions to Curtis.
They hoped this wasn’t one of those times.
“You cannot be sure of that, Papa,” Peter said, voicing what they were all thinking. “None of us can. When Curtis sets his mind to something, he never fails.”
